Lots of random things to say so let's make one post of them all!
I've had some fabulous long runs on trails so far this winter! Who says snow needs to be the end of trail running for the year? You just have to be prepared to not care about pace and not be in a hurry if the footing is bad. I have to say, though, I have a muscle right below my knee in the front of my leg that is rather angry about all of the crappy footing. I also had an 8 hour shift at my part time job that involved lots of heavy lifting and bending so that could be part of it too, though. I am pretty happy with how my knee seems to be fine with all the slip-sliding around, so that's a good sign. That said, sometimes the snowmobile trails can be beautiful running with good footing if you hit them at the right time. And the views in the winter are so different without the leaves around.
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I've recently discovered this wonderful thing called the 3 mile lunch break run! I can eat half my lunch at my desk if I'm late to lunch and it's a suitable thing to eat (because if I'm late to lunch I'm soooooo hungry that running first is a bad idea), run for 3 miles and have plenty of time to, stretch, cool off, change, sponge off my face and eat the rest of my lunch! How wonderful! It's feels incredibly awesome to be able to run in the middle of your work day even if it's just a little bit and I'm super lucky to have the opportunity! I'm downtown so I can hit the lakewalk or run down Superior Street. The only problem? This will only be doable in the winter - I'm much too sweaty to do this once the weather warms up and still be presentable. I'm going to be so sad when that happens, though! Especially since I could hit the hiking trail - it's the section heading up from the M&H so I wouldn't feel all that safe coming down it in a hurry in the winter. But maybe once the weather gets better, I could run home after work and just bike to work the next day, leaving my car in the parking garage. Hmm . . .
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For some reason, I've started eying up running skirts lately. I've never really been on board with them for myself but my mind seems to be changing. I might have to try some on and see how they feel.
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I feel like I haven't raced in ages! I suppose, not counting the NMTC series, I haven't raced since Wild Duluth and that was almost 15 weeks ago. And really, I don't have anything planned for ages, either! Next Saturday is a half marathon in the Cities but if I have next weekend off, I'm probably headed in the opposite direction :) I'll really be raring to race when the time comes.
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So how about some 2011 running goals?
- Stay injury free! Which means being careful about upping mileage and also:
- Keep that regular weight lifting
- Get a better handle on what my stomach wants/can take during longer races. Actually, lunch time runs might help me with this. If I'm eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, then I can eat one before heading out and one after to get my stomach used to running with PB&J in it. Of course, that's only 3 miles but it's something, right?
- Be comfortable with signing up for my first 50 mile and finish said 50
- I'll be setting a marathon time goal but not right now
- Race a road 5K so I can chip away at the PR some more - I didn't run a single road 5K last year!
- Yet again, log every run! I want a yearly total!
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