I ran all the way out past Old Town from my office, and then doubled back on the same path. I continued out the same path but in the other direction of my office, and I ran just shy of Reagan Airport (past the marina, past some awesome apartments, past this weird factory that I couldn't figure out what it did, through the woods). I'd admired the people who ran along the George Washington Parkway for a long time, and today I actually got to do it. It also made me want a road bike even more...grrr. Anyway, I have a series of running goals in mind - the first is to make is from the door of my apartment to this roundabout about 4 miles north of me, and back. I figure I should make the 8 mile mark in 2 or 3 weeks, depending on what sort of crap I get from the sports doctor next week. The other goal, I established today, is to make it from the door of my apartment to the door of my office, 10 miles. It should be a really quite cool run - running through Columbia Heights, through downtown DC, through the mall, across the 14th street bridge, south on the parkway, and along the Potomac river path. And then when I start working toward a full marathon...I'd turn around and run back from Alexandria back to my place. But, for now just the 10 mile run and hopefully someone giving me a ride back home. That's my goal for the weekend of October 25.
October is going to be a little complicated for my training, at least in terms of consistency. I'm in Denver for a week at the beginning of the month for work, and that presents two challenges: work travel means I start at 7:30 in the morning and don't stop until 8:00 at night. And then, the altitude. I'm only going to be there for a week, and I wonder if it's enough time to get accustomed to the altitude if I'm trying to run an hour and half+ by that time. I skied pretty hard last time I was there and I managed alright, but I feel like it's a different sort of workout? On the other hand, I realize that my lazy ass can't tolerate breaking from the routine and if I were to stop, it would be that much harder to pick it back up. Just gotta suck it up. Also in October, I'll be dog sitting across the street from my office and that means that I'll be able to take advantage of the river running trails right there. I'll be in San Antonio for a week at the end of the month too...by then the heat shouldn't be too bad (I hope) and I'll just be able to keep up my routine. I wonder how the weather here in DC is going to affect my training toward the end of the year. October should be pretty ok, while November and December could get uncomfortable. I'll need to explore some alternatives to running times, with night coming earlier and mornings not being ideal for 1.5 and 2 hour runs. I'll be in San Fran visiting my new niece and nephew for 3 weeks in December (yay), and I'll get even more hill workouts, so that's something to look forward too.
I'm so psyched on all this race stuff, especially when I have good runs like today and everything that annoys me in my anatomy is tolerable. Every time I am thinking positively during the run, I remind myself that I'll never live a sedentary lifestyle again. I spent a year sitting down! It is miserable trying to get back where I should have always been! Why would I ever have stopped running? Of course...it was easier to be in shape and feeling good when I was riding 4 times a week and skiing 2 or 3 days a week...but hey, college had to end sometime. I miss horse back riding...need to make some arrangements on that front.
I'll leave you with two humorous stories: a black squirrel almost fell on my head today. I was almost at the end of my run today when a black poof flew across the air about 10 feet from my head. He (she?) jumped from one tree to the next, about 4 or 5 feet, and almost didn't make it to his landing spot. It was slightly traumatic and I was fairly certain I was going to be killed by a falling projectile.
The other was that about half way through the run, a woman I'd been pacing off and had gotten 100 meters ahead of me got to the end of her workout and passed me going the other way. She just said, "good job!" I often wonder why people don't acknowledge each other while running. I think it's just reasonable to notice that what you're doing is pretty awesome. I always try to acknowledge people with a nod or a hand raise. I so appreciated her taking a moment to encourage me! Training solo has its benefits and disadvantages, and the lack of team mates makes it hard to push yourself sometimes. It helped move me along.
Tomorrow, just yoga.
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