I've had two amazing runs in the last few days. I'll tell you about the first one in this post.
Last week, I planned to run on Friday after work, but a family dinner at D'Amico came up and I chose to attend that instead. You would have too. Yum! I planned to run on Saturday morning before Easter festivities started with my family. We celebrated a day early to accommodate schedules. A run wasn't going to fit in. I told myself that I had to run on Sunday, but Sunday was actually Easter and we had a full day planned. I needed a run though.
Fortunately, I have a son who wakes up ridiculously early, so we were up with him hours before the Easter church service was going to start. I told my husband that I was heading to the gym and off I went.
It was a gorgeous Easter morning. After days of rain, the sun came out. Seemed fitting to be so bright and happy on Easter Sunday. The drive to the gym was so pretty that I was actually really excited to go run. Because it was so early and because it was Easter Sunday, the gym was deserted. I had the top choice in treadmills. I chose one right by the window where I could soak in the sunshine. The music I chose to run to was a David Crowder Pandora station. Pandora made some great song choices and off I went.
My goal: 5 miles
It was 7:20 when I started the run. I started slowly to ease into it and it was so enjoyable that I think I was smiling. Yes, I was smiling... I know was... no reason to say, "I think." I wore my favorite green Puma hat and probably thought I could hide my happy face under it so nobody saw me acting all giddy. Who is this happy when running? Seriously.
I ran 1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles and as I approached mile 4, I started to feel fatigued. It was also around this time that my phone battery died. Noooo. It was just me, my thoughts and the gym music that kept me going. It was peaceful though. I got through mile 4 and hit mile 5 on the 54-minute mark. I never said I was a fast runner. I did a quick stretch and headed home. I had to get my adorable almost 18 month old ready for Easter! When I walked in the door at home, I found my son, who was freshly bathed, and my husband sitting on the top of the stairs waiting for me. They both smiled ear to ear upon seeing their wife and mommy gross and sweaty. What a day! And it was only 8:45.
Good run. Great family. Amazing holiday.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thank you!!!
You all are wonderful! The mothers in Haiti are so lucky to have such great supporters! Seeing the support encourages me to continue my training and to run strong for the moms. Thank you so much for helping me help them. It really means a lot.
After I posted about the fundraiser last week, I took my first 2-night trip away from my toddler. I flew to Seattle to visit my sister, who is a senior in college out there. We had amazing plans. The weekend schedule looked like this:
Dinner out Thursday night, hike Friday morning in the mountains, hang out in Queen Anne all afternoon, have dinner downtown Friday night, Saturday morning breakfast at a local bakery, drinks lots and lots and LOTS of coffee, and explore Pike's Market Saturday afternoon.
My sister had every detail planned out. She had arranged to get out of class early, take the day off from her internship, her roommates to hike with us and for her boyfriend to have dinner with us. She's adorable. My first vacation post baby! I was very excited. And then... I got sick. So sick. Thursday night I held my stomach and whined. We watched three movies on Friday in front of her TV and fireplace. I tried my best to sip on Gatorade. The plans were out the window. By Saturday afternoon, I felt well enough to visit Pike's, but only for 45 minutes. I left Seattle not taking one sip of amazing Seattle coffee. What a shame.
I was really looking forward to going for a run while in Seattle. I wanted to challenge myself with the crazy hills they have there. I don't think they have flat ground in and around where my sister lives. She trained for a half marathon on these roads and I wanted to do the same. But I couldn't. So. Sick.
Last night, I finally made it to the gym to run for the first time since that trip over the weekend. I was nervous how it would go since my caloric intake over those few days had been quite minimal. I went into it thinking that I'd run 2 miles and probably feel beat doing that.
Mile 1: I ran at 5.0 and felt as if I could run at that speed forever.
Mile 2: I ran at 5.5 and felt pretty good. I was definitely sweating, but wasn't breathing nearly as hard as I thought I'd be.
I stopped for a quick water break and started up again.
Mile 3: I ran at 6.0 and felt like I was pushing myself, but knew I could make it. I got pretty tired at 2.47 (yes, I remember) and felt a little discouraged. I kept telling myself that I am training for this race and I can do it. I also told myself that anyone can do anything for 5 more minutes. My husband tells me that and it worked.
I finished out this 3 mile run and felt great. I was doing some serious sweating, but my body was working hard after all the awfulness of last weekend. This weekend I'm planning a 5 mile run outside (IF it hits 60 degrees like its supposed to!). I love the way I feel this morning after that run last night.
After I posted about the fundraiser last week, I took my first 2-night trip away from my toddler. I flew to Seattle to visit my sister, who is a senior in college out there. We had amazing plans. The weekend schedule looked like this:
Dinner out Thursday night, hike Friday morning in the mountains, hang out in Queen Anne all afternoon, have dinner downtown Friday night, Saturday morning breakfast at a local bakery, drinks lots and lots and LOTS of coffee, and explore Pike's Market Saturday afternoon.
My sister had every detail planned out. She had arranged to get out of class early, take the day off from her internship, her roommates to hike with us and for her boyfriend to have dinner with us. She's adorable. My first vacation post baby! I was very excited. And then... I got sick. So sick. Thursday night I held my stomach and whined. We watched three movies on Friday in front of her TV and fireplace. I tried my best to sip on Gatorade. The plans were out the window. By Saturday afternoon, I felt well enough to visit Pike's, but only for 45 minutes. I left Seattle not taking one sip of amazing Seattle coffee. What a shame.
I was really looking forward to going for a run while in Seattle. I wanted to challenge myself with the crazy hills they have there. I don't think they have flat ground in and around where my sister lives. She trained for a half marathon on these roads and I wanted to do the same. But I couldn't. So. Sick.
Last night, I finally made it to the gym to run for the first time since that trip over the weekend. I was nervous how it would go since my caloric intake over those few days had been quite minimal. I went into it thinking that I'd run 2 miles and probably feel beat doing that.
Mile 1: I ran at 5.0 and felt as if I could run at that speed forever.
Mile 2: I ran at 5.5 and felt pretty good. I was definitely sweating, but wasn't breathing nearly as hard as I thought I'd be.
I stopped for a quick water break and started up again.
Mile 3: I ran at 6.0 and felt like I was pushing myself, but knew I could make it. I got pretty tired at 2.47 (yes, I remember) and felt a little discouraged. I kept telling myself that I am training for this race and I can do it. I also told myself that anyone can do anything for 5 more minutes. My husband tells me that and it worked.
I finished out this 3 mile run and felt great. I was doing some serious sweating, but my body was working hard after all the awfulness of last weekend. This weekend I'm planning a 5 mile run outside (IF it hits 60 degrees like its supposed to!). I love the way I feel this morning after that run last night.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Harbor House
I started this I Run For blog because I felt like I had so many reasons to get my body moving. As a mom, I need to run to feel healthy and to get a little me time once in a while. As a mom and full-time employee for a global company, I need to run to just rid myself of daily stress. Last year, I ran my first half marathon and I did it for myself. I felt amazing when I finished, had a new sense of confidence and knew I would run that race again. I'm doing the Minneapolis Team Ortho Half Marathon again this June. However, this time I'm not doing it for myself.
I run for The Harbor House.
There are some amazing people I know who moved their family to Haiti roughly 5 years ago and are part of a team of people who run The Harbor House. This house is a safe home for teen moms and their young children. A place of refuge.
I had the idea to run for these young mothers months ago, but never acted on the nudge I felt. I was scared. Nervous. I felt like I am just one person and how can I possibly make a difference for these young girls and their babies. They have been through so much in their short lifetime and now as new moms will experience so much more. They will have joyful experiences and challenging ones, too. I was a new mom just a short while ago and felt those challenges myself. I ran the race last year to regain my strength and to prove to myself I could be a great mom. The nudge I felt would not go away and it was one Sunday morning while sitting in church that I decided I needed to run that race. It was on my heart and would not go away. I am running this race again, but this time to raise money for The Harbor House in hopes that these moms will too find strength, confidence and the insane amount of love for their child that I have found for mine.
My goal is to raise $712 by race day. This amount covers one week at The Harbor House. Please click on the Chip In event on the top of my blog if you're interested in helping me raise money for this home.
From the Livesay's blog:
"The house is in the process of being upgraded and changed each week and is therefore still very much under construction. We've been having fun painting and planning. Soon another carpenter is coming to build beds with drawers for each young woman and her child. The work is on-going and we're laboring to make the house feel like a home. We'll share photos of the house itself as things continue to change.
Each day there are planned activities (school, chores, classwork, group Bible study) and each month there are days the girls are able to leave to go visit family. Saturday and Sunday are visitation days when the girls' families can come to the Harbor House. Weekends are much less structured. The girls will soon begin taking a jewelry making class and in April we'll begin a trauma support group with them.
The most important thing happening at Harbor House is the daily modeling of respect, conflict resolution, child-rearing, and problem solving. The day in and day out real-life examples being shared by those of us that are living here in community with them far exceeds the importance of reading, writing, or arithmetic.
It is our hope and our belief that investing in these young mothers is investing in the future. Ten young moms raise ten secure, well-loved, well-attached children who go on to raise their own well-loved, well-attached and secure children ... "
I have run for myself. Now I run for all of the other new moms in Haiti.
I run for The Harbor House.
There are some amazing people I know who moved their family to Haiti roughly 5 years ago and are part of a team of people who run The Harbor House. This house is a safe home for teen moms and their young children. A place of refuge.
I had the idea to run for these young mothers months ago, but never acted on the nudge I felt. I was scared. Nervous. I felt like I am just one person and how can I possibly make a difference for these young girls and their babies. They have been through so much in their short lifetime and now as new moms will experience so much more. They will have joyful experiences and challenging ones, too. I was a new mom just a short while ago and felt those challenges myself. I ran the race last year to regain my strength and to prove to myself I could be a great mom. The nudge I felt would not go away and it was one Sunday morning while sitting in church that I decided I needed to run that race. It was on my heart and would not go away. I am running this race again, but this time to raise money for The Harbor House in hopes that these moms will too find strength, confidence and the insane amount of love for their child that I have found for mine.
My goal is to raise $712 by race day. This amount covers one week at The Harbor House. Please click on the Chip In event on the top of my blog if you're interested in helping me raise money for this home.
From the Livesay's blog:
"The house is in the process of being upgraded and changed each week and is therefore still very much under construction. We've been having fun painting and planning. Soon another carpenter is coming to build beds with drawers for each young woman and her child. The work is on-going and we're laboring to make the house feel like a home. We'll share photos of the house itself as things continue to change.
Each day there are planned activities (school, chores, classwork, group Bible study) and each month there are days the girls are able to leave to go visit family. Saturday and Sunday are visitation days when the girls' families can come to the Harbor House. Weekends are much less structured. The girls will soon begin taking a jewelry making class and in April we'll begin a trauma support group with them.
The most important thing happening at Harbor House is the daily modeling of respect, conflict resolution, child-rearing, and problem solving. The day in and day out real-life examples being shared by those of us that are living here in community with them far exceeds the importance of reading, writing, or arithmetic.
It is our hope and our belief that investing in these young mothers is investing in the future. Ten young moms raise ten secure, well-loved, well-attached children who go on to raise their own well-loved, well-attached and secure children ... "
I have run for myself. Now I run for all of the other new moms in Haiti.
Monday, April 11, 2011
processing
I run to clear my mind. Some days there is too much to process. Too much to think about in one day. Lately I feel like I've been surrounded by others who are going through great suffering in their lives. I don't understand it. I run to process it, but it doesn't take away the fact that there is still such great suffering happening. How do I help these people. If I am struggling to process and am not nearly as deeply affected as they are, how are they processing?
I run to process, to think, to hope, to pray, to remember life is short, to thank God for the beautiful child He gave us, to think about the endless list of things I love about my son, to smile when I think about my husband and pray to God that He gives us so many more years together that we're old and gray and can't hear each other speak.
Some days running is for clearing out my head and reflecting on all I've been given.
I run to process, to think, to hope, to pray, to remember life is short, to thank God for the beautiful child He gave us, to think about the endless list of things I love about my son, to smile when I think about my husband and pray to God that He gives us so many more years together that we're old and gray and can't hear each other speak.
Some days running is for clearing out my head and reflecting on all I've been given.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Family Fun!
Maybe this time the snow has melted for good. I hope so. My husband is very concerned the lake won't warm up very much this summer at the cabin. That won't stop him from waterskiing far too many times in one day though. If I waterskiied as much and cut as hard as he does in one day, I wouldn't be able to move any of my limbs due to soreness.
On Saturday, it was a beautiful sunny day. We put our little guy in the jogging stroller and headed out for a run around the neighborhood. We jogged through the "next step up" development and noted how close together the houses are being built. Maybe we don't want to live here. We kept going and went through the 5,000 square foot homes neighborhood. We each picked out our favorite house. He picked the one I didn't like and same for me.
It was a pleasant run. Good speed. Warm sun. Just enough hills to make me work harder than the usual treadmill routine. Our son was getting antsy, so we had to speed up. My husband's stride is so long and he will always be in better shape than me. He wasn't even breathing hard while running fast and pushing the jogging stroller with a 33 pound weight wiggling around in the seat (that weight was was also whining for more crackers the entire second half of the run). My husband kept saying, "You got it! You can make it home. Let's pick it up more! You can do it."
Sure enough. I did it. I kept up with him. My heart was pounding and my legs felt like noodles. I like family runs. My husband is a great encourager. He got me over the 4 mile hurdle last year and I may need him to help me again this spring because...
I have a race in my future. A big one.
On Saturday, it was a beautiful sunny day. We put our little guy in the jogging stroller and headed out for a run around the neighborhood. We jogged through the "next step up" development and noted how close together the houses are being built. Maybe we don't want to live here. We kept going and went through the 5,000 square foot homes neighborhood. We each picked out our favorite house. He picked the one I didn't like and same for me.
It was a pleasant run. Good speed. Warm sun. Just enough hills to make me work harder than the usual treadmill routine. Our son was getting antsy, so we had to speed up. My husband's stride is so long and he will always be in better shape than me. He wasn't even breathing hard while running fast and pushing the jogging stroller with a 33 pound weight wiggling around in the seat (that weight was was also whining for more crackers the entire second half of the run). My husband kept saying, "You got it! You can make it home. Let's pick it up more! You can do it."
Sure enough. I did it. I kept up with him. My heart was pounding and my legs felt like noodles. I like family runs. My husband is a great encourager. He got me over the 4 mile hurdle last year and I may need him to help me again this spring because...
I have a race in my future. A big one.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Preparation
I thought spring was here for good. Nope. Wrong. All our grass appeared over the weekend and then it snowed making our roof, deck, yard, driveway, and work parking lot covered in a heavy snow mess. Oh the nerve. And since I'm not a fan of running in the cold or on icy streets, I headed back to the treadmill. I am just longing to run in 80 degree weather with the sun blasting it's hot rays down on me (side note: I always wear sunscreen now when outside in the summertime. My wonderful sister-in-law is a dermatologist and supplies us with never ending amounts of sunscreen. I even have one bottle that is 85 SPF. It took her a while to convince me that being pale was better than having a nice summer glow, but I know in 30 years I will appreciate her perseverance with me.).
Last night, I went to the gym at 8 PM. I had just put my son down for the night, sat down to catch up on all things important on my iPhone (Facebook and Iowa Girl Eats), and nearly fell asleep for the night. Get up and get to the gym. Do it. Yawn. Just get up and go change. Yawwwwn. One, two, three... okay, I'm up. I put on my tempos and that red shirt that I'm apparently addicted to running in lately. For me, getting dressed for the gym is quite possibly the hardest part of the workout. Just getting the motivation to take the first step is the hardest. But once I'm dressed I'm good to go.
I started my run out at a nice 5.5 mph. I can tell my lungs and legs are getting in better shape because bumping the speed up to 6.0 doesn't feel taxing anymore. I love feeling like I'm improving. Before I knew it, I was at one mile. Then two. I started to get bored and honestly, I was pretty tired after four of the five days of work this week. I started speeding up. I made it all the way to 8.5 mph. At first I thought I couldn't control my legs, but all was okay.
When my lungs started to burn, and it didn't take that long, I had a realization: the soccer season starts in just over a month. I have to be able to run as fast as I possibly can for an entire game in about 6 weeks. Four years ago, I joined a women's soccer team. I joined with my friend who also ran the half-marathon. At the time, the team consisted of women just out of high school, women the same age as my mom, and all of us in between. I hadn't even touched a soccer ball since the last game I played my senior year of high school, so starting to play in my mid-20's was a little difficult. I forgot how fast-paced soccer was and how much sprinting was involved. I played for two summers, took one off because I was very pregnant, took last summer off because, well, I just couldn't get it together with nursing, working, mothering... yeah, you read that post... but this summer I will make my return.
My position of choice is right defender. I played defense in high school and never thought of myself as anything else. The second summer playing soccer, I had the chance to try playing mid-field and forward. Now those positions are exciting! I finally scored my first goal and had a celebratory DQ treat afterwards with my biggest fan, my husband. Two of my favorite things about soccer: speed and aggressive play. I prefer sprints over distance and I love running down an opponent. I love having green grass and mud smashed into my shin guards and scrapes on my knees at the end of the game. (To my future opponents: Please don't throw elbows until after Memorial Day weekend... I can't get bruises before my matron of honor duties are over. My sister will thank you. Thanks!) I haven't played in two years and I'm a little nervous about my ability to compete. Let's just make one thing clear... we're considered recreational, but we're serious competitors! Do not mess with "Club America." I want to do well. I want to be able to run down those opponents on game one and finish the game without puking behind the goal post.
I ran at 8.5 for a couple of 45 second stretches. On my second stretch, suddenly my legs stopped moving, but I thought I was still running. Um, what's going on? Am I passing out right now? Am I about to be that girl who falls flat on her face because she had the treadmill going faster than she could handle? Oh dear, I don't want a treadmill burn on my face! Then I looked down. I had accidentally pulled the emergency stop cord, which leads me to believe that I must've looked like a complete idiot with flailing arms right before pulling the cord. I had NO idea that the cord came out. After a good laugh, I restarted the machine and did two more 45 second sprints.
I finished up completely dripping in sweat. Awesome run. I am convinced that with a few more sprint training runs, I will be right on my way to scoring my second goal this summer. Bring on the DQ lemon lime arctic rush!
Last night, I went to the gym at 8 PM. I had just put my son down for the night, sat down to catch up on all things important on my iPhone (Facebook and Iowa Girl Eats), and nearly fell asleep for the night. Get up and get to the gym. Do it. Yawn. Just get up and go change. Yawwwwn. One, two, three... okay, I'm up. I put on my tempos and that red shirt that I'm apparently addicted to running in lately. For me, getting dressed for the gym is quite possibly the hardest part of the workout. Just getting the motivation to take the first step is the hardest. But once I'm dressed I'm good to go.
I started my run out at a nice 5.5 mph. I can tell my lungs and legs are getting in better shape because bumping the speed up to 6.0 doesn't feel taxing anymore. I love feeling like I'm improving. Before I knew it, I was at one mile. Then two. I started to get bored and honestly, I was pretty tired after four of the five days of work this week. I started speeding up. I made it all the way to 8.5 mph. At first I thought I couldn't control my legs, but all was okay.
When my lungs started to burn, and it didn't take that long, I had a realization: the soccer season starts in just over a month. I have to be able to run as fast as I possibly can for an entire game in about 6 weeks. Four years ago, I joined a women's soccer team. I joined with my friend who also ran the half-marathon. At the time, the team consisted of women just out of high school, women the same age as my mom, and all of us in between. I hadn't even touched a soccer ball since the last game I played my senior year of high school, so starting to play in my mid-20's was a little difficult. I forgot how fast-paced soccer was and how much sprinting was involved. I played for two summers, took one off because I was very pregnant, took last summer off because, well, I just couldn't get it together with nursing, working, mothering... yeah, you read that post... but this summer I will make my return.
My position of choice is right defender. I played defense in high school and never thought of myself as anything else. The second summer playing soccer, I had the chance to try playing mid-field and forward. Now those positions are exciting! I finally scored my first goal and had a celebratory DQ treat afterwards with my biggest fan, my husband. Two of my favorite things about soccer: speed and aggressive play. I prefer sprints over distance and I love running down an opponent. I love having green grass and mud smashed into my shin guards and scrapes on my knees at the end of the game. (To my future opponents: Please don't throw elbows until after Memorial Day weekend... I can't get bruises before my matron of honor duties are over. My sister will thank you. Thanks!) I haven't played in two years and I'm a little nervous about my ability to compete. Let's just make one thing clear... we're considered recreational, but we're serious competitors! Do not mess with "Club America." I want to do well. I want to be able to run down those opponents on game one and finish the game without puking behind the goal post.
I ran at 8.5 for a couple of 45 second stretches. On my second stretch, suddenly my legs stopped moving, but I thought I was still running. Um, what's going on? Am I passing out right now? Am I about to be that girl who falls flat on her face because she had the treadmill going faster than she could handle? Oh dear, I don't want a treadmill burn on my face! Then I looked down. I had accidentally pulled the emergency stop cord, which leads me to believe that I must've looked like a complete idiot with flailing arms right before pulling the cord. I had NO idea that the cord came out. After a good laugh, I restarted the machine and did two more 45 second sprints.
I finished up completely dripping in sweat. Awesome run. I am convinced that with a few more sprint training runs, I will be right on my way to scoring my second goal this summer. Bring on the DQ lemon lime arctic rush!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Holy Hills
Spring!!!! Today I ran to breathe and experience the fresh outside spring air! I love it!! Was this the loooongest winter on record? I think it might have been... according to me at least. The sunshine was drawing me outside, so as soon as my son went down for a nap, I headed to the great outdoors hoping to accomplish a good run. And, I think I did.
My husband, son and I moved into this neighborhood about 7 months ago and I didn't run outside very much before the first snowfall last year. I wasn't quite sure where to run today and where I needed to go to get a few miles in. Some of you are thinking "map it out ahead of time." Ha. Okay. Right. Actually, that is what I should do. We only moved roughly 7 miles from where we used to live (city to suburb), so I plan to go back to those running routes hopefully once a week this summer. Those were my half marathon training routes. Loved them. Huge, mature trees, old mansions, the river, the Minneapolis skyline only a few miles off in the distance. It was the best.
Today's run was suburban residential. I passed about 100 mailboxes, mini-vans plastered with the area's school decals whizzed by me and a friendly neighbor was walking his dog. It was different, but good. I ran through a new development behind our neighborhood. The houses are what we like to call "the next step up" and maybe someday we can buy one of them. Maybe. I turned a corner and exited the new development. The next neighborhood was about 20 steps up from "the next step up." Wow. I will never have the need for a 5,000 square foot home and I would never want to be responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of a home that big. But they're fun to look at. And imagine the Christmas parties you could host!
I left that neighborhood as a sparkling BMW entered the street. And then... there it was. A huge hill.
I was glad, but annoyed at the same time. Glad because I knew I needed to push my running self as this was my first outdoor run in MONTHS and we all know I always leave the incline on the treadmill at a nice round zero. I was annoyed because I knew it was be painful. I huffed and puffed up the hill. I got to the top. Woohoo. When I got up there, the hill went way back down to the end of the street. My plan was to run all the way down and then loop back on the same path all the way back home. Okay, back up the hill. I can do it. And enter a horrible, horrible wind. Cold, cold wind. I hate running in cold weather, so when earlier the wind was to my back and the sun was shining down on my very pale skin, it felt like a warm May or June day outside. And then I turned into the wind. Bleh. I quickly put myself in the mindset that the more hills I run up and the stronger the wind is in my face, the easier the hills will feel on the next run and the wind won't seem as strong.
I did it. I ran my cold legs back up that hill and all the way home. If I had to guess, I'd say it was about 2.5 miles. I may get around to checking it out online, but I think this run was more about putting my outdoor legs back on and getting up those hills. Good day in the neighborhood.
My husband, son and I moved into this neighborhood about 7 months ago and I didn't run outside very much before the first snowfall last year. I wasn't quite sure where to run today and where I needed to go to get a few miles in. Some of you are thinking "map it out ahead of time." Ha. Okay. Right. Actually, that is what I should do. We only moved roughly 7 miles from where we used to live (city to suburb), so I plan to go back to those running routes hopefully once a week this summer. Those were my half marathon training routes. Loved them. Huge, mature trees, old mansions, the river, the Minneapolis skyline only a few miles off in the distance. It was the best.
Today's run was suburban residential. I passed about 100 mailboxes, mini-vans plastered with the area's school decals whizzed by me and a friendly neighbor was walking his dog. It was different, but good. I ran through a new development behind our neighborhood. The houses are what we like to call "the next step up" and maybe someday we can buy one of them. Maybe. I turned a corner and exited the new development. The next neighborhood was about 20 steps up from "the next step up." Wow. I will never have the need for a 5,000 square foot home and I would never want to be responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of a home that big. But they're fun to look at. And imagine the Christmas parties you could host!
I left that neighborhood as a sparkling BMW entered the street. And then... there it was. A huge hill.
I was glad, but annoyed at the same time. Glad because I knew I needed to push my running self as this was my first outdoor run in MONTHS and we all know I always leave the incline on the treadmill at a nice round zero. I was annoyed because I knew it was be painful. I huffed and puffed up the hill. I got to the top. Woohoo. When I got up there, the hill went way back down to the end of the street. My plan was to run all the way down and then loop back on the same path all the way back home. Okay, back up the hill. I can do it. And enter a horrible, horrible wind. Cold, cold wind. I hate running in cold weather, so when earlier the wind was to my back and the sun was shining down on my very pale skin, it felt like a warm May or June day outside. And then I turned into the wind. Bleh. I quickly put myself in the mindset that the more hills I run up and the stronger the wind is in my face, the easier the hills will feel on the next run and the wind won't seem as strong.
I did it. I ran my cold legs back up that hill and all the way home. If I had to guess, I'd say it was about 2.5 miles. I may get around to checking it out online, but I think this run was more about putting my outdoor legs back on and getting up those hills. Good day in the neighborhood.
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