18 weeks and a day

I keep having these great ideas for posts to the blog, but have had trouble making it to the computer to post. So here I am at the computer, but without the great ideas. As the Supremes once sang, "One Day, We'll Be Together".

On Wednesday I met my friend and blog follower Helen for coffee. With only five followers so far, I can take all of you out for coffee, pretty much on demand. Maybe I will try and improve the blog before I start begging you to tell your friends.

Inspired by Helen, I went home and did a speed workout on the treadmill, with a warmup for 10 minutes, then between minutes 10-14, 16-18, and 20-24 I ran at 8.0 mph, or a 7:30 pace, with a two minute rest in between. Its not an killer speed workout, but its a start, and I do find it difficult to work myself really hard after work. Then Thursday I did a steady treadmill run, and Friday my trainer Stacy worked me fairly hard with weights at lunch, all the while telling me she was trying to leave me with something for my long run on Saturday. Of course I didn't want to wimp out, so I kept telling her it was ok and to keep pushing. Stacy is also preparing me for the hearbreaking day when she moves to Minnesota, so we spent some of the workout going over how to do workouts on my own.

So Saturday comes and its time for my last long run before the Boston Marathon training schedule kicks in. My friend Tim was sick all week and couldn't run. Helen's sister Hannah wasn't answering either phone or my Facebook inquiry, and I would have called Helen but her Facebook entry said how glad she was that she had already done her run. Since I had been in Florida the week before, for an indoor 7 miler on the treadmill, it took me a while to remember how I wanted to dress for a cold blustery day in New England. The good news is that I made 12.5 miles. And I don't care that it took me 2 hours and 26 minutes to do it, yes its an 11:37 pace, but it was my first run over 8 miles since last June.

It is getting late and hopefully tomorrow I will tell you about this running clinic I went to today. I know this blog will be better with pictures, so I am going to include a couple. I tried carrying a disposable camera at the Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving, it wasn't the easiest thing to carry during the race, so I have ordered a used small digital that should arrive this week. And since I was planning on writing a little about runners in costumes, here is a picture of Wonder Woman. I almost tripped over my own feet taking this picture. And because its cold, here is a picture of me in the Sarasota marathon last March.