Days 181-183: Six Months of Running!

I forgot. I can’t believe I forgot to point out on Day 180 that it’s been six months since I started running! What a difference six months makes.

This was at our neighborhood’s 4th of July parade — about 2 weeks before I started running — and the photo below was taken on January 2nd. Not the greatest before and after pictures, but it’s the best I’ve got.

DAY 181
Thursday was a rest day. I got home from work and had time to play with T Junior before making dinner. He loves to wrestle and so I got down on the floor on my back, put him on my torso, wrapped my arms around him in a bear hug and rolled back and forth as he laughed and laughed. Then, staying on my back, I put my knees up. T Junior sat on my feet and leaned forward onto my shins. I held his hands and lifted all 24 pounds of toddler up and down, up and down like Super Baby! I actually got a little strength training in!

DAY 182
Somehow, I peeled myself off of my mattress before dark and put on my running clothes. Then, I came down and had a piece of peanut butter toast, five orange Sport Beans and a glass of water.

I laced up my new shoes and put on all my gadgets — Garmin, Zune, phone — then headed out the door for three miles. I wanted to run slow and steady. Lately, I’ve been feeling pressure to go faster than what I’m comfortable maintaining. I don’t mind pushing myself, but I think maybe I should do it in more of an organized manner. I’ve gotta get my fartlek on! (Love to say that word, by the way.) Instead of trying to go fast the entire time, I will do some speed bursts throughout my run. That’s the future plan anyway.

But the goal for Friday was to run slow. I tried not to look at Coach G (Garmin) and just run comfortably. It was a nice run. A few raindrops fell here and there, but it was not a steady rain. My new shoes felt pretty good, but I’m being cautious. I finished my 3-miler about a block away from home and decided to stop and walk the rest of the way. I turned down my street and a strong wind whooshed in from the left. Then it was gone.

I reached my front door and as I stepped in, I felt another fierce gust that made it difficult for me close the door. The wind blew and shook my house! A few seconds later, heavy rain fell. And it fell and fell and fell all day.

1/15/10 – 3 miles: 33:12
Average Pace: 11:03
Mile 1: 11:25
Mile 2: 11:01
Mile 3: 10:41

DAY 183
The plan for Saturday morning was to go trail running with Heather (Almost Running). The night before, I was so excited, I could hardly wait!

We met at the High Point area, east of Issaquah, around 8 a.m. It was cold! In the low 30s. But it was not raining. Instead, there was some fog, which made everything beautiful.

Some parts of the trail were groomed, like in the photo above, and some parts were thin and littered with slick rocks and tree roots.

Heather hiked on the trail before, so she led the way, except she wasn’t always sure where we were going. “I think if we just keep going right, we’ll eventually end up back at the parking lot,” she said.

I looked at her with wide eyes. “Awesome.” But, really, I wasn’t nervous. We passed a lot of hikers, walkers and even some other trail runners out there.

This made me jump a little when she pointed it out, though:

I guess it’s been there a while, which is probably why the path we were on was called The Bus Trail. We also saw scenery like this:

A heron flew above the lake right before I took the photo. So pretty. Trail running is such a nice change from running along the road or even on the wide dirt trail near my house. My mind wasn’t focused on mileage or time because I was too busy watching the ground for rocks, sticks and roots. And, of course, it’s always more fun to run with a friend!

1/16/10 – 3.16 Mile Trail Run: 44:00
Average Pace: 13:48

Saturday was so fun! That night, me and Mr. T went on a date night — dinner and the Seattle Thunderbirds. I saw my first hockey game!

Here we are, above, getting tickets and, below, in our seats. Mr. T was being weird.

Of course, you have to have a beer at a hockey game. Blue Moon with an orange slice! How civilized!

Except hockey’s not civilized.

Zambonis are pretty classy, though.

So everyone was just playing nicely (well, as nice as you can get in hockey, I guess) and then all of a sudden, #3 just throws down his stick and flicks his gloves off. He smacks his thighs and then skates straight at a guy from the other team. Then they stand there and punch each other in the face for a long time while their teammates and the refs watch, and the crowd goes wild.

I was stunned. Not stunned enough to not take pictures, though! What a strange sport!

Whew! I need another beer.

You  may have noticed that I’ve been posting in between my normally scheduled posting days (Wednesday and Sunday). I wrote the posts earlier in the week and then scheduled the publishing date and time. LB at Muddy Runner gave me the idea and I think it’s going to work for me. Thanks LB and congrats on today’s 22-miler!