The Boys of Lunch

I meant to write this post yesterday, but my work day was short and filled with data entry, meetings, pizza, and emails. After work was filled with errand running, cooking, laundry, and packing. I'd also planned to go the gym, but the class I wanted to take was canceled due to the gym closing at 8PM. Oh well.

Anyway, I ran at lunch with just some of the guys in the group at work on Tuesday. I managed to keep up with them which is always nice. It was cool and windy but, thankfully, not raining.

We did the "long" three mile route. The other woman in the group calls it this because she says it feels like longer than 3 miles. Since I'm the only one in the group with a Garmin, I had to inform them that, yes, it is indeed longer than 3 miles. That it's more like 3.75. "But wait," one of the guys said, "that would mean that our 4 mile route is more like 4.5."

"Yes," I said. "It is."

They all seem very intrigued by the Garmin. I'm honestly surprised none of them have one yet. Actually, I take that back. One guy has one but he doesn't wear it on lunch time runs. I admit that I think it's totally strange that you would have one but not wear it. I LOVE mine.

Just before mile 3 of this route, there's a small, short hill. It's not much compared to those of you that live in actual hilly areas, but it's still a hill. I'm not sure why or how this happened, but I don't suck at hills. In fact, by the time we reached the top of this one I was leading the pack when previously I'd been falling further and further behind. The downside to leading the pack at the top of the hill?

Geese. Lots and lots of Canadian geese. Geese that have no respect for runners. I was literally running on the heels of one goose that refused to move off the sidewalk. Every time it flapped it's wings I was terrified it was going to turn around and lunge at me. Not to mention having to dodge all the goose poop. Gross.

Thankfully we escaped without injury.

That evening I went to the gym to do strength training. Many of you have expressed amazement that I do 45 minutes of weights. So, I timed myself to see how long it would take me to do Tuesday night's segment. The print-out was focused on legs. I warmed up with 15 minutes of walking on the treadmill (for a total of 1 mile) and then started the timer on my stop watch. The Legs workout, including the ab series at the end, took me 36 minutes. It was an intense 36 minutes, though. My abs still hurt.

Today I am off to drive the 2.5 hours to my hometown to spend the holiday weekend with my family. I'll be staying at my mom's house and I'm hoping to tag along on her fitness routine of walking 5 miles in the mornings.

I'm thankful that when I visit family and friends they don't think it's weird if I say I need to go out for a run. Heck, I'm thankful that I CAN run. I'm thankful that I've been running for over 2 years without any serious injury. And I'm thankful for all the people who comment on this blog (or elsewhere) with congrats, advice, or just their thoughts. Having this blog has definitely changed my running for the better.

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Tuesday's Stats

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 591 ft Location: Chicago, IL Elev. Gain: -6 ft Date: 11/24/09 Up/Downhill: [+121/-127] Time: 12:19 PM Difficulty: 1.8 / 5.0   Weather: Fog/Mist   48 F temp; 92% humidity   48 F heat index; winds SE 9 Performance Distance: 3.63 miles Time: 0:31:34 Speed: 6.9 mph Pace: 8' 42 /mi Calories: 430 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 47 +0' 05 6.8 -0.1 -26 ft 2 8' 59 +0' 17 6.7 -0.2 +14 ft 3 8' 38 -0' 04 6.9 +0.0 +3 ft end 8' 30 -0' 12 7.0 +0.2 +3 ft Versus average of 8' 42 min/mile

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