So I lied (just a little)...

I didn't run the 4 planned miles on Saturday morning. I slept in. And didn't even change out of my pj's all day while cleaning and watching movies and playing on the computer in general. I think it was what you could call a mental health day (even this early in the school year!) However, I did feel more energetic on Sunday and went out for what was supposed to be 5 miles in the afternoon. Um, yeah. It was way too hot and humid for any of that mess. I got about 2.25 (painfully mind- could hardly breathe with my stupid heat-aggravated asthma) then I turned around and walked back. I was already planning on walking 2 miles after the run (I'm doing that whenever I have the time), so that was fine. I was pissed I couldn't run farther, however.

I wanted to run 3 miles Monday morning before work, but woke up all night long with a terrible headache and ended up sleeping in instead. Tuesday, I was finally able to get up and went 3 miles. It was 68 degrees or so and I was feeling fast again! Felt great! Today, I was up a little earlier and squeezed in an extra half mile. I wasn't quite as fast as yesterday, but it was about 72 degrees and much more humid. Plan is to run the next two mornings as well. I need to experiment with getting up about 30 minutes earlier, though, since I have been late to work the past two mornings (OOPS!) We'll see how this goes......

Early morning run!

So I finally got my butt out of bed this morning at 5:30- actually woke up at 5 before the alarm and just laid there waiting. Got out the door at 6:15 just as I'd planned. Oops. Something I hadn't considered- it was still dark! Well, I was going either way. Luckily I know every single inch of the sidewalk, so I actually was just fine. I was going "fast" for me (about 10:20-10:30). It felt great. It was 68 degrees and 75% humidity (which the weather guy said was "dry air"??!!!) but overall it wasn't bad considering the normal daytime temps for August and it can often be closer to 80s even in the morning.

It was really nice to be out running. I'd missed it these past couple of weeks. Definitely beginning the schedule for the Silver Comet HM now. Feels good! :)

Tomorrow morning: 4 miles!

This weekend: Pt 3.

This is a great article!

Just thought I'd share this link here: Runners live longer, stay healthier.

Very interesting overall! I especially like the last part that says

The study also showed that people cannot use the risk of injury as an excuse not to run — the runners had fewer injuries of all kinds, including to their knees.

Good news!

Running through Europe, Part deux- Spain, Paris and Dublin

[again- please note all this is for my own sake, which I guess that's the point of a blog anyway, eh?]
We (the students and I) spent about 2 days together in Italy, then they returned home from Milano the next morning. Unfortunately, the place we were staying at (up on top of a mountain basically, with no place to run) and the schedule (arriving late and leaving too early) did not allow for any runs. I spent another day in Milan on my own and left the next morning to Firenze. Firenze was marvelous and has many many nice places for running (through the main squares and along the river around the bridges...) but they were a bit of a hike from my hotel room which was outside of town. I regret not at least trying to get a run in there- sunrise along the Arno river would have been amazing, I am sure. But- I will be returning next year (!) and will definitely make sure to stay closer to town and make the effort!

Due to travel complications (long story ;) ) getting from Pisa to Barcelona, and then a late night "good bye party" for one of Johana's sister's friends (where I stayed in Barcelona) we did not get up in time for any running. Sadly, I didn't do much of anything while in Barcelona due to time restraints. The following day, we had half a morning in the city before I had to board a train for Alicante to see Elke.

I had 3 very nice runs in Spain. The first one was from the teeny tiny town of Busot where Elke lives. We ran down the windy road that had no shoulder, intermittently dodging the huge delivery trucks that passed by! We went down for about a mile and a quarter when we stopped for a little stretching, then ran back up. I had to complete 3 miles minimum, so when we got back and it was only 2.75, I ran up and down the main (?!) street in Busot to make up the difference! I was surprised at how easy this run was compared to what I was expecting (I don't normally like hills!) and given the heat/sun.

Later that day, we went to the shore where there is a very nice promenade. I immediately knew this is where I had to do my next run!! I was even able to convince Elke that we should run there together! So Saturday morning, we got up early and headed out to the beach promenade, bringing our bathing suits along as well so we could swim afterwards. We did approximately 3.5 miles. The sun was getting stronger and there was no shade so it was a very sweaty run!! Best part was the amazing breakfast we had at the seaside cafe! We were still in our running clothes, but luckily no one seemed to mind!

I wanted to get at least one more run in by the shore, so I told Elke we had to go again. She wimped out this time, but I got in another run while she lounged along the water. I went for 4 miles. We slept in since we'd gone out to dinner late the night before, so it was already well past 10am by the time I started. The temperature must have been at least 80 degrees. It was a bit humid even. However, the view of the sea made up for all of that. I enjoyed looking at everything as I passed by- the cafes, people going to enjoy their day at the beach, cars randomly parked on the sidewalks... The best part was when I finally got back to the spot where Elke was and just taking off my shoes, ipod, hat, etc and running straight into the water! It felt so amazing at that point! I'm sure people were wondering what the heck I was doing but I didn't care a bit at that moment!! If only every hot run could end with running into the Mediterranean sea!!!

That night I took the train to Madrid (and sort of attempted to sleep in the airport) and took a 5:30 am flight to Paris. I was going to see Virginie!!! Due to the odd schedule, I obviously didn't get a run in that day (Monday), but I woke up nice and early and headed over to Les Tuileries. I got off at Hotel de Ville (it was direct from my youth hostel). I crossed the bridge walking to warm up and then started off. What a beautiful morning! Nice sun, low/no humidity and probably in the 60s. I ran to the park along the Seine, crossing back over to the north side (I can never remember which is right or left back since to me, you can't have left and right when the river flows east-west!!!) The park was full of other runners, people walking to work, workers cleaning and maintaining areas of the park, or just folks sitting on one of the benches scattered around the park. I have been wanting to run through Les Tuileries since Feb 2006 when I was there with my sister in the cold rain, watching all the runners (and runnin' runnin' and runnin' runnin' ;) ) I have several photos I took with the disposible camera that I haven't developed yet. Once I do, I will insert them here! :)

The last part of this post is Dublin. I went to Dublin after just two days in Paris, since I had only come back to visit Virginie. I stayed with friends who I had met through Kick in Philly last November. When I told them I was coming to Europe the following summer, they invited me to come visit! Uh, ok! It was a great time, too. The first night I was there, we all went for a run along the river front (near where they lived in the dockland area). We ran along the river then crossed at a bridge that led to a famous sculpture in remembrance of the great famine. We also came across a replica of a Viking ship from centuries ago that had been made and then sailed to Dublin. We paused for a bit to watch the owners fiddling about with stuff on the boat, then continued on. We crossed back over at the far end of river (towards the sea) and wound our way through the canals and docks. We passed by U2's studios, as well! (AWESOME!!) Of course, I came back here the following night and ended up hanging out for four hours, listening to them do some recording while I was there!!!!! We finished up the run racing each other to the doors of their apartment. Liam won, though, despite my best efforts (he was already ahead of us and had a head start!!) Probably ended up with about 3 miles total. This was not really a training run, but more for the company of friends and to do a little sight-seeing. Hopefully next time, I will be able to stay longer and do some runs at the Phoenix Park, which is the largest park in a city in all of Europe! There's also Steven's Green. I didn't even have a chance to just visit either of these spots. It will all be there waiting for me next year, though!

Next up.. Nottingham and London! :)

My European running adventures: Part I- France!

[I should note that all of this rambling below is for me! I want to be able to remember what a great time I had this summer.]

I spent the entire month of June (and a little of July) far away from home. I had the great fortune to visit 5 countries in that time and run in 4 of them (Seriously, who could run in Italy??) I had been fighting some low motivation for several months, but the thought of running in some of my favorite places on earth got me out early mornings at home, so I’d be ready to really enjoy the runs. I had planned to do a half marathon with a group of friends in Madison, WI the weekend before I left. Due to some mysterious knee pains, I couldn’t train for a few crucial weeks before hand and ended up dropping down to what they called a quarter marathon (basically a little longer than a 10k). I had dreamt of running my favorite routes in Paris and London since I’d been there the year before. The thought of pushing myself too much and not being able to run in Europe was enough to convince me that changing races was the right thing to do.

The trip started off in Paris. We arrived on a Tuesday morning and had a fabulous day visiting Notre Dame and other sites of the city. I was eager to get out for my first run in Paris!! We were staying next to the Parc de la Villette. Sadly “parc” was a slight overstatement. It was mainly a concrete area with some modern art scattered around. Wednesday morning, I set off for about 3 miles around 5 am (it was already light, though!) I ran through the park area and discovered there were canals right behind the hotel. I ran along till they ended, turned around and ran to the other end of the path. I was still quite short and turned to run up into the streets above the canals. I got several confused looks as I did so, but it didn’t matter. I was running! In PARIS!!! It was a very easy, comfortable run. I loved every minute of it.



The next morning, I headed to my favoritist park in all the world- Jardin du Luxembourg. It was a beautiful morning! Nice sun, light breeze.. and I was in major luck- today was the local fire station’s training at the park day! :D For the first time ever, I was happy to be running slower as they lapped me several times doing what seemed to be hill repeats. Niiiiiiiiiice! Oh and they finished first, so there was some stretching along the wall, as well. Hehe. I mean, the uh, natural beauty of the park was stunning!

Unfortunately, I had something bad at lunch that day (I suspect it was an undercooked egg on my crepes) so I was sick the next couple of days, literally only having hot tea for every meal. I wasn’t able to run for the next few days in Paris. Saturday we took the train early early for Nice, so I wasn’t able to run that morning.

Sunday morning, however, it was drizzly and grey. There was some lightning in the distance over the water, too. But I had a great run. I went out for 5 miles along the Promenade des Anglais, the major walkway along the beach in Nice. Despite the rain, I was not alone! Lots of runners, early morning sanitation workers, a few people who I suspect spent the night out there…. An interesting mix of sights while running.

Here’s a photo of the Promenade the next day in sunnier weather:



And this is the view of the sea I had as I did the outbound leg:



I was able to do one more run along this promenade on Tuesday morning as well. This was our last day in France before we got in the coach to go to Italy. I was glad I got that run in, because it turned out it was the last one for the next week! But really.. who could run in Italy??? ;)