First, if you were (one of the millions) reading my 110 Days of Running Blog and are now joining us here, welcome! This is really going to be quick because I have all of ten minutes before on to the next activity. Today is my one day at home from a week away of touring colleges with my daughter and some family time. What's been fun is that I've had the opportunity to run in some new places which always gives me a huge lift. It was extra welcome as I've been training very legitimately for the New Jersey Marathon, had done some really nice long runs but needed a little break in the action. Not a total break from running but some shorter, slightly faster runs.
My first two stops this week were perfect for it. We were first in Rehobeth Beach - well, technically it's called Broadkill Beach and it was truly the middle of nowhere. Actually nowhere might have been a few miles from where we were. We were further than the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless, there was some nice relatively flat land to run through with beautiful views of a nature preserve and plenty of beach. Did two nice 6 and 4 milers there.
After that, Monday and Tuesday we were in Washington and Georgetown. That is really a great, great city to run in. The first day was about turning lemons to lemonade. I recently read an article in Runners World about the joy of going "Naked". In other words, no iPod, no watch - just you and your sneakers. I did find that I was starting to get a little dependent on the iPod so I had gotten to a point of taking it with me on every other run. So, Monday, I went out without the iPod but of course, had the watch. As I was walking to the reservoir, I did something that shut my watch down. I did this before and all I really needed to do was connect it to the charter to get going again- but for now it was dead.
So there I am without a watch and without tunes which I've found to be sort of a fun way to time yourself if need be. The only thing left to do was just count by my own breathing and rhythm. So I did and got into a much better and evenly spaced breathing thing. As there turned out to be mile markers, I saw that I ended up covering about 6+ miles and the clock at starbucks showed me that I was around an 11+ mile. And it felt great. The day itself had a few irritates that I won't go into but suffice to say by the end of it, I felt like I needed a little treat...
I bought myself a pair of Brooks T7 Racers at the Georgetown Running Store, cousin of one of my favorites here in Bronxville, near Yonkers. These things just rock. I was happy to jump on a treadmill and go uncomfortable fast for a simulated 5K - what a way to get the frustrations out. The next morning, couldn't sleep and was up at 4:30...Since I don't know the town that well, wasn't quite up for being out there in the dark. So I watched Scream 2 on TV until 6:00 and then went out. I started out thinking I need a light day but really wanted to get the T7s on the street. So I did and headed to George Washington University. Well, soon enough I'm at 3 miles, then an easy 4 and 5 and back in Georgetown at Wisconson Avenue asking myself whether I want to tackle that hill - if you know the hill, it's kind of scary. Anyway, I decided to and still felt pretty good. So ended up with a solid 7 miles done by 7:00 at about 11 again and that was taking it easy. These shoes just make you want to run.
Anyway, tomorrow, heading to Boston, another great running city and looking forward to following the Charles River path, another favorite. We'll get back to the tips and Seinfeld next week - for now, nice to enjoy the ride(S)
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