Road ID, Daylight Savings & a Cleared Bike Path

So much has changed/happened since I last updated the blog. I now officially have my very own Road ID. It's a wrist band that has all of my information - most importantly, my emergency contacts on it. Thought being that in case I'm hit by a car, pass out, or have some other medical emergency, I have identification readily available on my person and they can call someone to let them know that I'm on my way to the hospital or whatever. Check them out at http://www.roadid.com/. Really it's a very smart idea. Especially with the number of drivers who are busy talking/texting on their cell phones these days. Imagine how many seconds it takes to look away from the road and end up hitting a runner. Yowza!

Another big change is the move to daylight savings. Finally a good chunk of daylight AFTER work. I've tried and tried a million times to force my lazy butt out of bed and head out running before work. I am just not a morning person nor will I ever be. For me the after work hours are critical for getting my training in without having to go to the Y and run on the dreadmill. Speaking of the Y, I don't think that I've been in a month. And gosh I don't miss it one bit. Running outside is soooooooooo much better than indoors. So yeah, daylight savings time is the bomb diggity.

And the last big change that has been fantastic is the warm weather and with it the clearing of the bike path. The snow has finally subsided enough that we can get full training runs in without doing funny loopy things in. And if you haven't already visited the bike path, you should. It's fantastic. What a wonderful resource that runs through this area. It's great for the fact that there is no vehicular traffic, no camber and the view is fantastic. So with my 18 miles this week, I say get out there. Check it out and live it up. Here's to another great week on the books. :)

Learning about strength and nutrition

The last week has been pretty reasonable. I'm finally amazed at how much easier I'm able to run. It feels good the minute I start and I feel more relaxed overall on my running days. I totally understand why people do this. In fact I'm beginning to wonder why I never did this before and what my life might be like if I hadn't picked it up. Running is making me feel stronger and more relaxed both mentally and physically.

Tonight we attended a nutrition clinic. Your basic eat healthy, whole grains, etc, etc. Then we went into endurance event nutrition. Pretty interesting stuff to learn about how the muscles work and the physiology (sp?) of what's going on. So we focused on race day nutrition and the way to practice what works and does not work on race day. I'm nervous to try out all of these race gu's and gel's, but I guess I'm going to see what it's all about. Not much choice in the matter. So, I'll experiment and I'll keep you posted as to how it goes. Here's to another good and strong week.

Falling behind......

Just on the blogging, not on the running. Nope, can't allow that at this point. So we're officially in week 2 of the 16 weeks of training. This week began with a long run in the snow on Saturday morning. There was snow and I seriously considered not going. I was certain that no one would be there and if there was anyone there it would be to tell us to get back in our cars and head home. Much to my surprise about 20 or so people turned out despite the 3 or 4 inches of fresh snow that coated the roads as well as the bike path.

So! We headed out despite an un-plowed bike path. We shortened our strides and made sure to take it easy. I couldn't believe how difficult it was! Around the 1 mile mark my personal running prayers were answered and a plow truck showed up. The rest of the run was completed on a paved, but somewhat slick bike path. I completed my first 6 mile run despite all this hoop-la. I only had a little trouble with a falling asleep foot in the last half mile or so. It turned out to be a beautiful morning and I ran with some really great ladies which is always a treat.

Sunday followed with a 3 mile run. It was interesting again due to the snow factor. While it hadn't snowed any, there were many a sidewalk left un-shoveled. This is so much fun and forces me to run on the road. I can see the contempt in the drivers eyes when I'm running on the side of the road and not the sidewalk. But I say .... you try it. Try and run on an un-shoveled, slippery surface and let me know how it goes. It's a risk I'm not willing to take. But instead I will battle it out with the cars on the road! Ha! Oh well.

Today I'm heading out right after work for another 3 mile run. Tomorrow will be 2 and Thursday will be 3. Not much rest for the weary these days. Another day, another run....... Yeah!