Today’s run

I headed out for today’s run fully intending to come home, shower, and change before doing anything else for the day.

Oh, how plans change.

Instead, I’m sitting here 10 hours later still in my running clothes. I have been to a soccer game, the salon for a cut and color, and have been relaxing at home by the fire, working on my Snowy Owl afghan. All without showering. Or changing. And it feels great.

It was a tough 6.3 miles this morning. The five day old snow was crusty and had not had any traffic to pack it down. So things were a bit slow going. And I didn’t eat breakfast before heading out. So I needed my emergency gel 1.66 miles into the run. Good thing I had it stashed in my water bottle pocket. But, a bald eagle soared overhead at mile 4, and that was all I needed for a perfect run.

Anyway, it was a great run. And I saw my son’s soccer game, and I have a fresh cut and color on my head. Pretty perfect if you ask me.

Doesn’t everyone read Popular Science at the salon?

Glorious Spring

58 degrees and a beautiful Easter Sunday, perfect for a run.

Hope you’re enjoying the warm weather! Finally, spring has sprung!The turtles were enjoying the sun also.

trying new things

I did not go for a long run today.

I don’t have a really good excuse – just the fact that I just didn’t feel like it.  I sat around this morning feeling like I should go run, but not wanting to.  Then after my husband went out for a run, and I realized it was almost 10:00 am, I realized I had completely lost my running mojo for the morning.  I had 10 miles scheduled and I didn’t want to be gone until almost noon.  We wanted to do some yardwork, and we needed to run in to Menards for supplies.

Never mind the fact that there were 40 mph winds outside.  I opted to postpone my long run until tomorrow.  The forecast is for 60 degrees, sun and 5-10 mph winds tomorrow, so it should be wonderful running weather in the morning.

But don’t you worry, I did run.  I still didn’t feel like it, but this CD challenge is enough of a motivator that I felt I needed to run.  And it was almost impossible to justify running on a treadmill when it was 70 degrees outside.

So today I did something I have never done before. I ran in our neighborhood.  I’ve never done this before because we have a very small neighborhood of about 25 houses on a “y” shaped street that ends on a very busy highway.  I had mapped it out online before and figured it was about 3/4 of a mile, and I had never been able to get motivated to run past our neighbors 4+ times to get in a good run.

But today, efficiency and travel time won out over embarrassing looks from the neighbors.

I stepped outside and started running.  It’s been almost 4 years since I have been able to do that.  It felt, well, great!  And the only strange look I got was from the mailman (who I passed three times).  I helped a neighbor girl get her bike back on the driveway, and my 7 year old came out and ran 0.4 mile with me.  And I was home in seconds!  Well, technically I was “back home” four times during the run, which was even kind of nice.

Seen on my run…four times.  Five if you count when I started.

I doubt I’ll ever go more than 3 miles in our neighborhood, four laps is enough, but I’m glad I have a new option for when the weather is nice but I don’t want to leave.  I might even be able to do this with the kids playing outside in the yard.  Oh, the possibilities…

I just had a thought.  This morning my son was watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, (source of the most annoying songs ever written…) and he was singing a song: “…you’ve gotta try new foods ’cause they might taste good…”  It’s been stuck in my head all day, so I think it’s appropriate that today I tried a new running route.  Sometimes we have to try new things too, even if we’ve resisted them for years.

Soccer Scramble

This CD challenge is pretty fun so far. Tonight after a crazy day at work, honestly the last thing I wanted to do was run. Or go to soccer practice. But, I had to take my son and his best friend to soccer.

Now, usually what I do at soccer is sit and watch the boys practice. Or I read a book, or knit.

Today the CD challenge inspired me to run. So instead of changing into jeans and a sweatshirt, I put on my running gear.

In just these few short days of this challenge, what I am already learning is that putting on the running clothes is 90% of the battle. Once I’m dressed getting out to run seems a lot easier.

I got to the park with the boys, made sure they were all set for practice, and after they started I took off on my run. Through a new neighborhood, on unfamiliar roads, in 50 degree sunshine. It was fun.

And now I’m not stressed out about work anymore.

CD #3 done.

Now I can sit on this park bench in the suand watch the boys finish up their practice.

April CD Challenge Day 1

Well, now I’ve done it. I went and committed to an April consecutive day (CD) running challenge. The challenge is to run at least a mile every day. If you miss a day, the next day you run 3, if you miss two, the next day you run 5. Now for a distance runner like myself the 3 and 5 mile “punishments” don’t seem that bad. So I am going to try not to allow myself to take a day off just because a 3 mile run seems easy. We shall see…I imagine there will be more than a few evening 1 mile runs on Betty.

I also thought that while I’m at it, maybe I’ll post daily this month (what? Is she crazy? That’s more posts in a month than she’s had in the last 6!). Well, at least I thought I’d post something short after each run. Who knows, maybe I’ll find some really deep thought to share.

Today is the boys’ last day of Spring Break and I took a day of vacation to spend with the family – so I got to kick off the April challenge with a nice outdoor run in the morning! 4 miles felt awesome and I was loving the sunshine, even if it was a bit chilly (30 degrees! Spring, where are you?)

I took a picture to prove that it was sunny. With a day that looks like this, I don’t think you can have a bad run.

Cold, Concrete & Betty

Everyone has at least one.

The friends that, when you get out with them, you lose all track of time, and possibly part of your rational mind.

Apparently that happens to me when I head out for a run with friends.

I know a few guys that have been running insanely long distances to train for Leadville.  They are already running 30+ miles on a Saturday, to train for a 100 mile race that isn’t until August.  Well, at least Jay is running that much.  I’m not sure why Josiah is running so far, except that he can.

Today, I met up with them for what I thought would be a 6 mile easy run, for about an hour.  It turned into almost 10 miles (9.8 to be exact).  I find that when I’m running with a group, it’s so much easier for me.  If I had been out in this 13 degree weather alone, I bet I would have stopped at 5.  I mean, that’s what the half marathon training plan calls for this weekend.

But when I get out with these guys, something happens, and I instinctively run farther and longer.  The last two weeks I have run with them, I get in the car afterwards, heady with a runner’s high, and drive home dreaming of marathons.  This can’t be good, right?  Or can it?

I definitely want to keep this up.  I feel so much better when I get up and run with them.  I know this, yet in the dark Saturday morning, that 5 am alarm clock still hurts.

Oh, and since I mentioned the word “hurt,” I took a nice spill on the bike path today.  Somehow I tripped over a quarter inch edge of concrete and, although I almost caught myself over the next few steps, ended up crashing hard on my left side.  I’ll be fine, all the winter gear provided plenty of padding and the only visible injury is a nice skinned knee.  I think my hip may be bruised but, there’s plenty of padding there too (come on, I’m a mother of three!) so it may not amount to much.  It all happened somewhere around mile 2, so I just ran it off.  It was cold enough my legs were numb for most of the run anyway.

So, in honor of my spectacular fall, here’s a picture (not mine) of “What I Saw On My Run Today”

Concrete. Up close and personal.

 

In other news, the treadmill has a name.  Betty is my new training partner.

 

Did I mention it was cold today?  Brrrr.

Winter reflections

Winter is my favorite time to run. I love running after a snow, when everything is cloaked in white. It’s peaceful and quiet. The snow muffles sounds, even my footsteps feel lighter.

I love running in the cold, too. No sweat-fest, a winter run is spent trying to warm up my body. It’s usually a mile or two before I even start to feel warm. And when I do, it’s such a stark contrast. I’m running, in the snow, breath making frosty clouds, and yet I’m unzipping my jacket and removing my gloves. I love the feeling of warmth paired with with the chill of the air on my skin.

Once in a rare while, I get the opportunity to be the first runner on the path after a snow. It’s a bit surreal to be breaking the first footprints into the fresh snow. To think that I’m the first one to be out there is a pretty sweet feeling (and not one I get to experience very often). I’m running alongside the tracks of the rabbits and other critters, with not a shoe print to be seen.

It’s a run like this that make me remember just why I love to run.

What’s your favorite running season? Do you like the cold?

Too pretty for words

I was able to get out today on a crisp fall morning for a 12.5 mile run.

The fall leaves are so gorgeous right now that I found myself stopping often to just enjoy the beauty of a perfect panorama.

So today, I thought I’d share some of these perfect moments with you. Not one of these pictures can do the scene justice. I find that a picture never quite captures the true essence of a place. To experience it you have to be there.

But these are still pretty sweet pictures, nonetheless.