Overdressed as usual

Today I did 10 miles and, while the last 2 were kind of sucky, I still landed up with a 10:24 mile pace!  Reminder to self though:  don't overdress.  When it's 45 degrees out wear just a t-shirt.  Not a hat.  Not a virtually vinyl weight fancy running zip up.  Just a t-shirt.  And, when it seems like a good idea to wear a magenta sweatshirt dress, a red beret and mint green sunglasses, don't do that either.

I look like a cross between Andrew McCarthy and James Spader here.  Really, I have the A.M. hair:

I may have been wearing pink, but this, this was not pretty.  Not even in an 80s way.

Two-Love

It's foggy and drizzly today here in B'ton.  I feel like I'm back in San Francisco again.  With some notable differences that I won't mention so I don't sound too bitter about not being able to find any g*dd**n good sourdough bread around here.

Since it has been rainy the past few days, the dogs have been cooped up or, when they're outside, trying to perform their bodily functions as quickly as possible so as to be able to bolt back inside and shiver.  Or jump all over the couch before politely wiping their paws.  Today Alice needed to run with me.  Or we would all have a not so good very bad Saturday.  So off we went...a full 5 feet before I went shoe-deep in a puddle.  Maybe this is what they call "technical" trail running.  My right foot was technically soaked.  But I persevered!  Mostly because I had only gone 5 feet and the embarrassment (in front of the neighbors who don't care) would have been too much.

Alice was a bit of a maniac on our run but that wasn't unexpected.  She is cozied up next to me now sleeping so I'm convinced the run was good for her, even though while on the run I was quite sure her head was going to explode she was so glad to be outside and moving.  At the end of the jaunt she found tennis ball #2 of her running career:  a very nice bright Dunlop Grand.  Like before she carried it all the ways home, ability to breath be damned.  I present to you the storied romance of a puppy and her beloved felt orb:

"How I love you tennis ball, let us spoon together."

"Oh no!  Tennis ball!  Why have you left me bereft?"

"Let me massage you gently with my jaws..."

 

"And let us frolic on this luxurious Tuesday Morning area rug!  Yes!  You on top!"

The End.

Puppy pedi

I took Alice to the vet today for a running check up -- he took a look at her paws and said it looks like she is doing great keeping me company on jaunts!  I've been using some pet salve on her paw pads to keep them nice and supple.  The stuff smells great so I don't even mind when she jumps up on the bed after we smear it on her. 

The vet told me 3-5 miles is a drop in the bucket for Alice (wish it was the same for me...) so I am thinking of taking her along for some 6-8-mile runs to see how she does.  After the checkup I took her up to the dikes to get our 30 minutes for the day in.  She had a great time!  It was muddy so we both finished the run looking good and grimy.

Number 9, number 9, number 9...

Today I headed into Clemson to run the actual race course for my long run -- here's a link to what I did (Just about.  I veered left instead of right at the end so I landed up doing 9 instead of 10 miles, no biggie, I was scheduled to do 9.5 today.)  The beginning of the course was hilly in that gradual build dammit-why-won't-this-thing-end way.  And around mile 3 the vitamins I took that morning started to turn my stomach.  That lasted for two miles.  Whole Foods, you make good vitamins but man are they not happy when being jostled around.  After 6 miles, I got to the really beautiful part of the run -- the dike on Lake Hartwell.  I had never been up there before and, with it being around 65 and sunny, it was gorgeous.  And flat!  And soft and grassy, which was actually kind of weird and a little uneven to run on.  Even if it was better for my legs.  Here's someone else's view:

It really took my mind off the run and I loved looking around -- Maddy and Alice would love it up here, so I think we'll take them back some time.  I spent about 3 miles on the dike and then headed back past the golf course and to the Brooks Center, where I finished!  I went in to say hello to Woody and steal some water from the green room. 

I just checked my pace for the run and I ran 10:31 miles!  Woohoo!  That is 30 seconds better than my usual pace.  I feel pretty good right now but that will probably change this evening when my body realizes it ran 9 miles today...

8:20 mile!

My blistering pace continues to be, well, not quite blistering.  It more like a persistent itch, or maybe the beginning of a rash.  Either way, 8:20 is my fastest so far!  I did three mile repeats today and that one clocked in at the most...itchy.

A couple of days ago I ordered a different hands-free leash.  The previous one was fine but not quite padded enough for the occasional moments when Alice pulls ahead.  And, given that it was missing a price and the great folks at Appalachian Outfitters gave it to me $15, I didn't feel too bad about shelling out for a cushier one.  Not to mention, it's called a Mt. Tam Leash and Belt.  And I sometimes miss California.  I am a sucker for marketing.

8 miles high...

8.25 miles this morning!  Alice came along for the first 5, here's how we looked:

(I took off my hat and gloves for the pic -- the hat makes me look like an old timey aviator.)  Woody took Alice off my hands after 5 miles and I went out on my own for the last 3.  She didn't seemed phased by that distance...until now (about 3 hours after the run).  She seems to be sacked out for the day.  Clearly it was hard work keeping up with my blistering 11ish-minute mile pace.

Look Ma, no hands!

Today I went running with the very neat hands free leash I got for Christmas from Woody.  Alice was happy because she could roam (within Rachel-determined reason), I was happy because I could use both arms (to beat off the throngs of admirers and paparazzi that follow me on each run).  And I got my best time on these 3 mile runs yet.  Now if only I could find myself a hands free nose wiper...