Monthly Archives: October 2012

Very Lucky

First off, if you missed it, I did a guest post on Monday over at Betsy Transatlantically.  Go check it out.  Betsy is awesome.

Second off, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  I hope you all have a wonderful, safe evening.  And take care of those black cats.  Poor fuzzy guys are always in danger on Halloween.

My house and I (and the cats) survived the storm unscathed.   I lost a few limbs from the big tree in the front yard, but they seem to have fallen straight down and not into my car or my house.  Just down the street, a large tree fell on a house and ended up doing serious damage to that house as well as to the house next door.

I lucked out and kept both power and cable through the storm, which meant that I was warm and safe and glued to the storm coverage.  My heart goes out to everyone in the areas much more hit than my area and I hope that everyone reading this is safe.

Before the storm hit, my mom reminded me that it’s all just stuff, what mattered was that I stayed safe.  And while I totally agree with her, I also didn’t want a tree on my house.  My car, well that was an easy fix.  Expensive, but easy.  The house, less so.  Of course, mostly what I wanted was for everyone to be safe.

I’m worried about the houses I pass on my running route.  I run through a very beautiful, very wooded area, and every time there are storms, big trees come down.  I just hope none came down on houses.  I may be able to get out there this weekend to check it out.  It sort of depends on whether or not my race on Saturday gets cancelled.  Time to wait and see.

Marathon Training: Hurricane Style

You know what makes running a challenge?  Hurricanes.

I’m writing this post a day early (it is Monday) because I’m fairly convinced I won’t have power tomorrow.  Perhaps not for the rest of the week, if the power companies are to be believed.  We got home from Florida late last night (before the storms hit) and while it is nice to not have to go into work this morning, the doom and gloom isn’t all that great.   I’m currently looking at a tree in my backyard and thinking that it better stay put.

While I’m worried about my house and my stuff, I have to admit that what I’m most worried about is getting back into training.  Because of the wedding last week, I took the week off from running, aside from the wedding 5K.  So this week, I need to kick things back into gear.

Except there is a hurricane outside.

I could hit the treadmill and hope that the power doesn’t go out mid-run (which would make me fall off the treadmill in a very graceful fashion).  That’s probably my best bet.  Otherwise, I’m just going to start running laps around the kitchen table.  I probably wouldn’t be the first marathon crazy to try that method.  I’m just hoping to be able to get out for the weekend.

And that my house and my friends’ houses all come through the storm unscathed, of course.

So what do you do when the weather thwarts your running plans?

Nerves

I haven’t been running much this week because I’m out of town for Katie and Steve’s wedding.  I’ve been on my feet, but that’s not the same thing.  I’m not doing a long run this weekend.  And while a weekend of rest is never a bad thing, it makes me nervous.

Of course, when I setup my marathon training plan, I planned for this week off.  I also padded my plan in case long runs went awry.

But I’m nervous.  I think it’s because the race is getting closer.  (I touched on this a bit on Monday, but wanted to discuss a bit more.)  Next weekend, I have a 15 mile run, and the distances ramp up from there (following a modified Higdon plan).  Prior to this, I’ve been focusing on other milestones.  Vacations.  Weddings.  Other, shorter races.  But now, the next big thing on my list seems to be the marathon.

Sure, I’ve got the Philly Half in there, but that seems like nothing, since it will be a stepback week between a 16 mile run and an 18 mile run.

16 miles.  18 miles.  All distances I’ve never covered before.

I’m not sure if I’m going to be training alone or with others.  It just sort of depends on schedules.  And I like both.  If I train with others, I have company.  If I train alone, I can choose my own pace (and I can run from my house rather than driving to a central point).  Perks to both.

I’m nervous.  I know that I can do this if I put my mind to it.  But it scares me.

Happy Wedding Day!

Today is a very special day.  It is the wedding of Katie and Steve!

And this is totally appropriate for a running blog because they MET while RUNNING!

Amazing how this sport can change your life, isn’t it?

I know that Katie has all sorts of running themed things planned for the wedding and I hope she lets me share some pictures with you (or better, shares them on her own blog).  Also, she made us run a wedding 5K yesterday.  And we all showed up.  That’s friendship.