An Autumnal 8 miles

Wow. What a beautiful day to run it was last Saturday. We ran in Rock Creek Park in DC. We started out at Pierce Mill and went North towards Maryland. It was a bit chilly, but we warmed up quickly! I was so happy about the views along the run...beautiful changing leaves, the sounds of the creek burbling, birds chirping. Here is what the majority of my views looked like:

There were the occasional "bee swarming" aka cyclist groups that whizzed by you making it a bit adventourous :) We also had to run up a killer hill at the turnaround point at 4 miles. But, what goes up, must go down!

We have 10 miles this weekend. I am a little concerned b/c my achilles tendon is sore (both legs). I think it is from my new shoes (grr!), but I am stretching and icing and will see how it feels on my 3.5 miler tonight.

New kicks make me happy!

Why is it that the purchase of new shoes, new gear, etc. make you so happy? Last night I picked up my new running shoes. I went with the Nike Lunar Eclipse...they are VERY soft/cushiony and I am super excited b/c they aren't men's shoes (b/c I am a size 11, I usually get stuck with ugly men's shoes!). Here is a cool pic of the construction of the shoe:

I am debating trying them out this Saturday for our 8 miler or waiting for a shorter distance. Such a dilemma :)

I had two great training runs this week. Tuesday night was with Katie (my fellow TNTer) along my "fav" route (http://danifrot.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-favorite-route.html) and Thursday night was from OAI in Georgetown through Rock Creek Parkway for 3.5 miles at a 11:50 pace (very fast for me!). Feeling good about my running progress thus far!

Last but not least, I am almost to $2,000 in my fundraising. Thank you to my rockstar friends and families. I so appreciate your support (financially and emotionally).

Just keep running...

...It has been a difficult week to stay motivated on running. The weather earlier on in the week had been cold and rainy. Blah! I actually got a mani/pedi on Tuesday evening instead of running (sorry, coaches, a girl has to do what a girl has to do :) I did make it out on Thursday night for a nice 3.3 miles along Rock Creek Parkway. That is such a great trail. I am so lucky to work and live so close to so many awesome trails...it is almost a sin not to run on them!

We had 5 miles this past Saturday. BUT, the coaches gave us "bonus miles" by having us do about 5.6 miles. I was not very happy about it when I started my run, but survived and felt pretty good afterwards.

I went for a swim on Sunday for my cool down workout. Felt great! I also went for a LONG walk in the woods with Molly. She loves it in there. I am really enjoying watching her grow up and get more and more confident in the woods. She is pretty good about coming back when I call her name...but, I know I need to ensure that she understands the "recall" command.

We have 8 miles this Saturday. I am hopeful that I am in a better "running mood" this week.

Eight miles!

I ran 8 miles this past Saturday and was pleasantly surprised that 1) it wasn't too painful and 2) I was able to do it with a 4:1 run:walk ratio. We ran on the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda. When I first moved to DC and was crashing on Pam's couch in Bethesda, I used to walk/bike along this portion of the trail. It goes all the way down to Georgetown. It is beautiful....here are some views from my run:
We ran downhill the first half and then uphill for the last 3 miles. Ugh! That last mile was p-a-i-n-f-u-l! I averaged about 12:30 miles which is pretty good for me. We have 5 miles this Saturday (yay!).

I am above 50% of my fundraising goal!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who is supporting me. It means a lot and helps me get through these long runs!

A great 7 miles!

It is always a good thing when you surprise yourself. I went into this past Saturday's run with a little trepidation. 7 miles felt really long. I had some concerns. But, as I have done before and as my shirt told me to do, I "just did it".

We started off at Roosevelt Island off of the GW Parkway in Arlington, VA. We headed south on the Mt. Vernon Trail. The views were amazing:

I ran a little bit faster than my normal pace and it felt fine. I did the 7 miles in 1:29/12:40 miles. That is doing a 3:1 ratio. I might go up to 4:1 next week for our 8 miler. (yikes!)

I never in a million years thought I would run this far repeatedly. I had always been a "non-runner". I think that is what makes doing it so fun...I prove myself wrong every time I do more mileage. It is definitely a great confidence booster!

I am almost to 50% of my fundraising goal...just need $160 more! My friends and family ROCK!