I haven’t been writing much about individual runs these days. There seem to be so many of them. However, I will make an exception when it is a truly memorable run. Many of you know that I’m running the NYC Marathon this fall (if you didn’t, welcome to what is apparently your first visit to my blog) and that I’m running it with Fred’s Team. Before I get into my run, here’s a little about Fred’s Team.
I admit, this blog has taken a bit of a backseat over the past few weeks as I have transitioned from Long Islander Who Lives in a House to New Yorker Who Lives in an Apartment Again. My life has been nonstop packing, unpacking, buying boxes, flattening boxes, throwing things away, buying things, organizing, cleaning, putting things in drawers and on shelves and generally trying to create a nice living space for myself and the two dogs I inherited from my mom who I still sometimes have trouble calling “my” dogs even though they are now.
It is Monday morning at the time of this writing. I’ve started writing this blog post three times and still haven’t gotten around to finishing it. I’ve been busy; I’m preparing to move out of my mom’s house and into my own apartment (I’ll spill all the juicy deets about that in another post). This involves not just packing up my stuff, but packing up all of my mom’s stuff. And my grandmother’s stuff, much of which my mom kept. Letters, books, clothes, pots, wine glasses. Old bills, broken remotes, thousands of photographs. Preparing for an estate sale (a phrase I never thought I’d say). Donating items. Packing things. Throwing stuff away. Many trips to the recycling bin. Bubble wrap. Boxes. Tape. More tape. And even, some more tape.
Continue reading “I’ve Come a Long Way, Baby: A Weekend of Runs”
I decided to do my long run this morning, even though it’s a Friday. I’m running a 5K on Sunday and don’t want to do a long run the day before a race, nor the day of a race, of course. This will be my first “road 5K” since last fall and I want to give it my everything. And with it being Bagel Friday and all, I figured I’d just get the run done today. What better way to prepare for a huge, delicious hunk of bread? One that is most likely, given what I’m envisioning at the moment, smothered in peanut butter and banana?
The rain that was supposed to start Sunday morning looked like it was holding off until the afternoon, which was good news for my long run. I would’ve run in the rain, but was happy not to. I really hate wet shoes.
Fourteen. A good number, if numbers can be good, and I think they can be. It’s the age I turned when I received a cassette tape of Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven on Earth as a birthday present. It’s also the number of miles I ran yesterday morning – my longest run to date.
I had a nice, productive Sunday, which is all I ever want in a Sunday. After spending Saturday doing a quick upper body workout, cleaning the house like crazy for a realtor to do a walk-through (both the inside and outside of the fridge and the freezer), and making a couple trips to the supermarket, I decided Sunday was to be for two things: cooking and running.
This morning I hit a new distance PR: 13.02 miles. Aw, my PR is a teenager! Adorable, yet petulant. This it the farthest I have ever run.
I’m trying to gradually increase distance, but also: I am running a half marathon next weekend. My first. So I wanted to feel what that distance was like before I raced it. (I stopped .08 miles short of a complete half marathon, but I think I have it in me to go the distance next week.)
This morning I ran a good old 10 miles on my good old route around good old Northport.
I love running on weekends because not only can I run after the sun is up, I don’t have to rush to catch a train. It’s so leisurely. It’s also Christmas Eve, and I honestly love running on or close to holidays when hardly anyone is out driving. Christmas is not only my favorite holiday, it’s my favorite day to run. In fact, I only did 10 miles today – instead of going longer than last week’s 12 – so I’d have some energy left to run tomorrow.
I thought it was time once again to up my long run’s distance. After spending what seemed like months at 10 miles, two weeks ago I ran 11. Last week was the 15K (9.32 mile) race. So this week felt like the perfect week to go to 12.
My Body Is A Machine 