Here were the horses:

My brother, F. (age 15): Ran XC this fall, but had only run once since his season ended in mid-October. According to him, this one run "practically killed" him. However, he is 15--youth and flexibility are certainly on his side. He has yet to come anywhere close to his potential as a runner. It could be that sibling and in-law rivalry will light a fire under him and produce an inspired performance.

My sister, MA (age 18): My only sister with any eye-hand coordination and agility, MA generally prefers contact sports and is a talented lacrosse player. This fall, she played on her college's club team. She ran a few times a week, 2-3 miles at a time, in the month or so leading up to Thanksgiving. She seemed torn about her goals for this race--she's a competitive person, so she couldn't "just run" it, but she also didn't want it to hurt like hell.

My sister, K. (age 23): K. ran XC and track in high school, but is the first to admit that she participated mainly for social reasons. However, last year during her first year of grad school, she went on a kind of self-care health kick and started running again. She probably had the most consistent training and commitment to running of all my siblings over the past year. But she hadn't run for a few weeks at this point and denied any feelings of competitive drive for this race. She just wanted to have fun and recruited my other sisters to jog and chat with her.

My sister, M. (age 26): M. also ran XC and track in high school and experienced considerable success in our league in the 400m. outdoors and the 600m. indoors. She had been running only a few weeks, having switched from the elliptical at the gym to the treadmill once she and her husband had decided to race. She had also quit smoking 12 days before. Still, I felt that M., having been a 400m. runner in the past, was acquainted with a kind of pain and discomfort some will just never know. If she really decided to just go for it, she could probably put up with a lot more discomfort than others in our little group.

My brother-in-law, N. (married to M., age 27): A talented high school runner, N. ran one year (I think) of college before being sidelined by stress fractures and burn-out. In high school, he ran a 4:30-something mile as a senior, I believe. But he'd only run 3-4 days a week for a month or so and had only quit smoking for a week and a half. He felt very strongly that the rest of us should completely discount his earlier accomplishments as anomalies and give greater consideration to the weight he'd gained and the damage he'd done to his respiratory system since he was 17. He predicted that he'd run 30 minutes for the distance. However, he qualified this prediction with the assertion that he would run hard, "kill [himself]" if he had to.

My husband, A. (age 28): With me, A. had clearly done the most training leading up to the race. Still, like me, A. also had the most aches and pains associated with said preparation (A.'s ankle, my hip and quad). At first, he was willing to cede rank to N.'s genetics and previous accomplishments and F.'s season of training and knowledge of the course. But he is the most competitive person on the planet and was immediately comforted by N.'s and F.'s lack of confidence. Instead of 4th or 5th place in the family ranking, 2nd or 3rd began to look possible to him. And of course, he too was determined to "leave it all on the course."

Me (age 27): OK, so you all know something about my training and my hip soreness, etc. My hip was feeling better--I ran an easy 3 miles that day and was confident that I could attempt to actually race the next day. Still, it wasn't the all-out, do-or-die race situation I had hoped for when I signed up (I had hoped to be shooting for breaking 20:00--oh well!). So I had modified my goal to breaking 21:00 and I was definitely the only one of my family to care about where I placed in the field as a whole. Some decent local women have been known to show up at this thing, so I didn't think that I could contend for the win, but I also knew that this could potentially be my last race before the snow (if you don't count Fresh Pond runs) and I wanted to make it a good one.

So there you go--all the ingredients for an athletic family drama. What factors would aid in triumph--genetics? training? weather? sheer mental will and fortitude? For whom?

Am I dragging this out or what? =)

When I last wrote, I was contemplating the upcoming weekend and trying to decide how to incorporate my fast running for the week. I did ultimately run Fresh Pond--I always prefer that to tempo runs on my own. It was an incredibly cold day and, for a while, it seemed that not too many people were going to show up--just me and the old-timers. Eventually, we got a group of about 40 people, but not too many women. So I pretty much ran in no-woman's-land from the half-mile mark on. I wasn't really in contact with anyone for the rest of the race; combined with the fact that I went out in 6:23, which was a little fast for me, it pretty much felt like the longest 2.5 miles of my life. But I ran 16:08, which is 40 seconds faster than I ran in early September and is only 7 seconds slower than my Fresh Pond post-collegiate PR (I probably ran faster than 16:01 there when I was in college, but I didn't keep track then.). I was just happy to get the effort in and it made me feel pretty good about my conditioning as I looked ahead to the race I'd signed up for (with my whole family) on Thanksgiving. I started thinking about a time goal for that race and thought that maybe 20:40 wouldn't be too unreasonable for a 5K on the road.

Until I hit a roadblock.

The Tuesday after the Fresh Pond race (after a 9.5-miler on Sunday and 5-miler on Monday), I went out for a run. Right away, my right hip and both hamstrings really hurt and my shins felt incredibly tight. Since these were the initial symptoms of last fall's bursitis in my hip, I turned around after a mile. I felt I was probably being over-cautious, but decided that my primary goal was getting to the starting line of the Thanksgiving race as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, it turned out that I wasn't being overly cautious--I ended up having to take three days completely off that week and did no more speed before the race. However, this did mean that I showed up to race on Thanksgiving pain-free with only a little bit of tightness here and there in my legs. Naturally, at this point, I'd re-evaluated my time goal; the new plan was to break 21:00 and to pick off as many women as I could throughout the race.

I'll save my race report for my next entry to keep this one from getting too long. Plus, if I'm going to get my run in before class, I better get moving. So I'm leaving you in suspense again...=)

Since Tuesday was Election Day, I decided to incorporate a visit to the polls into the end of my run. Fortunately for me (but not for the city), the polling place was not crowded when I got there (about 12:30 PM), so I was able to zip in, vote, and zip out before my sweat could dry and I could get chilled. I did feel a little bad for sweating all over my ballot, though. The cop at the polling place was quite amused by me--not only was I breathless and sweaty, I think that I might have been the youngest person by 40-50 years to vote there in hours!

Yesterday, I spent the day in my hometown of Hingham, hanging out with my mom. We had plans to check out a local yoga studio, shop, and have lunch. Since I was supposed to meet her at the house at 10:45 AM, I woke up at 6:00 AM to drive A. to work so that he could work out at his company's gym and so that I could have the car all day. Then I drove directly to the grocery store--which is so much easier to deal with at 7:30 AM! I drove the groceries home, unpacked them and put them away, scarfed down a bowl of cereal, fruit, and a vitamin, before running out the door again to do a few more errands before heading down to Hingham. I was wearing running clothes since I was hoping that I would get to Hingham well before 10:45 and I could then squeeze in my run plus a shower. Since I wanted to do about 6 miles, this meant that I had to get to Hingham by 9:15, especially if I wanted to be able to stretch. Which I did. Very much. I was definitely feeling my 10-miler from the day before.

Unfortunately, I underestimated my errand-running as well as the traffic (even though it really wasn't that bad) and didn't make it there until 9:40. My mom took one look at me and asked, "Did you run already?" To which I explained that I hadn't, but I hoped to--if we didn't have to leave the house by 10:45, I could do it right then or it could wait until after we got back from shopping, etc. "But," I warned her, "if I put it off, then I'm not changing out of my running clothes and I'm going shopping like this. Because if I change, then I might let myself be lazy and not run." Now my mom generally views the car as a gift sent by God so that we humans wouldn't have to do crazy things like run, but she also understands that my running is very important to me. Plus, I think she preferred that I not hang out with her all day in running tights and a big Patriots sweatshirt! So off I went.

I ran 6 mi. in 47:08--it was about 53 degrees and breezy, but the sun was still out then, so it was pretty nice. My legs were fairly stiff and sore from my first 10-miler in well over a year, but they hung in there. My hamstrings were, and are, particularly achy. Does anyone out there in blogger-land have any suggestions for hamstring exercises? I want to be sure that I'm definitely targeting them and strengthening them. The exercises I do now focus on other muscle groups (hip flexors, glutes, etc.) and strengthening the hamstrings is sort of a secondary effect. So I'd love any suggestions from anyone who knows any specifically hamstring strengthening exercises.

Today was my alternative training day at the gym: 30 minutes on the elliptical with stretching and core strengthening. I definitely didn't work as hard on the elliptical this week as I did last week; I read this past Sunday's Boston Globe magazine and just went nice and easy. I'm getting a little bored with the elliptical--I might try aquajogging next week. The gym's recreational pool actually has a section with a "lazy river," a kind of kidney-shaped track about 3-ft. deep with a current that you can run against. I think I might try doing my old drill workout in the water, too. I'm just a little afraid to get back in there--the last time I used the lazy river, my calves were screaming for a week since running in the shallow water makes me bounce up and down on my toes. As an inveterate "heel striker" when running on dry land, I have pretty wimpy calf muscles compared to the "toe runners" I know and those wimpy muscles are certainly tested in the lazy river!

Tomorrow I'm planning just an easy 4-miler and then I'm trying to decide what to do with my weekend. I can't decide how I want to get my fast running in on Saturday. Plain old tempo run? Hills? Fresh Pond race? Fartlek run? Intervals on a track? Hmmm...so many choices.

When we go to New York, A. and I always leave Boston late--around 8:00 PM--in order to avoid all traffic. This way, the trip generally takes 3-3.5 hours, rather 4-4.5 hours (and yes, we drive a little fast). Because A. had a meeting in downtown Boston until 9:30 PM, we didn't leave until then, so we didn't get to New York until around 12:30 PM. But my mother-in-law had just returned from the Philippines that evening, so it felt like the middle of the day to her. So we all stayed up until 3:00 AM or so, hearing all about her travels and the family members that still live outside Manila. By the time we crawled into bed, I promised myself that I would be up and running before noon. We had plans to meet up with A.'s brother and his family in Manhattan, so I had to have my run done for the day before we had to leave.

Surprisingly enough, A. and I woke up around 8:30 AM, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It's funny how sometimes a late night can just kill me the next day and sometimes I can just roll with it. I was lucky that this was one of those roll-with-it days. I jogged over to Cunningham Park in Queens and ran loops on the grass around the park. It was pretty busy with lots of little boys playing baseball, soccer, and football and their apparent legions of fans watching. It's such a wonderful and, at the same time, sobering thing that youth sports have become so serious--but that's another topic for another day.

I ran 5-4-3-2-1 hard with recoveries of 3-2:30-2-1 in between. And it felt hard. I think that I may have been going a little harder than I intended since I felt under pressure to finish this workout as quickly as possible and wanted to get in as much mileage possible in the time allotted so that A. and I could devote ourselves to a fun, relaxing day in the city. I am enjoying the fact, however, that a hard workout just feels hard because I'm challenging myself and not because I'm so out of shape and not used to running fast. I am feeling more and more like I've got my legs under me again. I ran just over 53 minutes for about 6.5 miles.

On Sunday, I had really wanted to get a long run in (about 8-9 miles for me, right now), but there was just no time. After staying up until midnight or so on Saturday night, my sleep deprivation definitely caught up with me, so I just slogged through 4 miles and tried to be contented with getting out the door at all. We had stayed up to watch "The Interpreter" with my father-in-law (my mother-in-law tried valiantly to stay awake, but she was no match for the jet lag). It was incredibly interesting to watch this movie with him since it is set in the UN and he used to work there, first as an assistant to the Philippine ambassador and then for the UN directly as an investigator for many years.

This morning I meant to get back on schedule by doing my long run today, but I was still feeling ridiculously tired and I needed to get to school to meet with my advisor. So I ran a 3-mile loop around the Chestnut Hill reservoir and promised myself that I'd get my long run tomorrow. I will, I will!

Unfortunately, I was in New York all weekend and was unable to get to any of the marathon festivities--I had hoped that our schedule would allow us to see the photo exhibit, go to the expo, and see the marathon itself, but it was a no-go on any of it. Oh well. I was able to see the beginning of the women's race through the first 10 miles before I had to get ready to go to A.'s uncle's party. I was impressed with my father-in-law who chose the women's winner from the very beginning!

OK, I should really be in bed, so off I go!

But my running has been going well. I felt a little more sluggish after my down week than I expected; I had hoped to feel rested and bouncy (but then, don't we all?). But I still feel that the down week was the right thing. It was pushing too hard too soon that got me into trouble last fall and I'm determined not to repeat those mistakes. Otherwise, I'm really encouraged by my progress this week.

The highlights: Saturday, I ran in the snow with A. on a somewhat bizarre errand. A. works in marketing for a certain quick-service restaurant (read: fast food) and thus often has to do research on other QSRs. So our run had to, at some point, swing by a particular QSR so that we could check out their offerings, prices, and how they present it. Kinda weird, I know. Here I am, a future mental health clinician and running coach with interests in health psychology and behavioral medicine and my husband is part of one of the forces behind our nation's obesity and heart disease epidemics. A. says that it's by being married to me that he's hoping to avoid hell. =) I don't know about that...still, it was fun to try out a new route and I loved the weird looks that we got from customers and workers alike as we came into the restaurant--"what are two runners with no money coming in here for and just looking around?"

Sunday, I ran 8 miles, my longest run yet. Yay! And on Tuesday, I went back to the Brookline Reservoir and repeated the workout that I did on October 15th--3 x 1 lap (1 lap = .921 mi.) It was, of course, a beautiful Indian summer day but HOT. I couldn't believe that I was running in a sports bra and shorts only 2 days after running in snow. But, hey, that's New England weather. It was also incredibly windy--at times I felt like I was hardly moving when running into the headwind. When, out of desperation, I asked the wind permission to pass, it either ignored me or took it as a signal to kick it up a notch. I'm surprised that I wasn't blown right into the reservoir!

Still, it was a good workout. The last time I ran this workout, I ran 6:23, 6:09, and 6:02 with loose recovery times of 3:00-4:00. This time, I managed a 6:03, 5:52, and 5:55 and my recovery times were exactly 3:00 each. I warmed up for 14:00 and cooled down for 16:10 to make it 48:00 total, about 6 miles. So I felt really good about this effort and it confirmed my feeling that I've been doing things right so far. I'm not generally a paranoid or pessimistic person, but I am feeling like I'm looking over my shoulder a little bit for the Injury Monster or something. Things were going well like this last fall (albeit under more mileage and no alternative training and little core strengthening) when my hip and foot formed a conspiracy and decided to rebel together.

I'm really into personifying inanimate objects and concepts tonight, huh?

Today was pretty low-key. I went to the gym and risked getting caught on the elliptical for more than 30 minutes (a gym no-no) and ellipticalled for 45 min. For once, I actually worked hard enough to get my heartrate up a little. I often feel like I'm doing the equivalent of junk miles on the elliptical and that the effort I put into ellipticalling is hardly worth the effort it takes to get myself to the gym. But I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.

And it's on for Thanksgiving Day! It looks like all of my siblings plus my husband and brother-in-law will be running at my high school's Turkey Trot. I'm so excited--this will be a lot of fun. I found out that my brother's fastest time for 2.5 miles this season was a 16:51 and I ran a 16:48 at Fresh Pond...so it is ON! I have very little of Audrey's compunction about her desire to beat her brothers. As far as I'm concerned, the little punk is going down!

OK, I'm just kidding. I do think my brother-in-law is going to kick all our butts, though. He ran a 4:30-something mile in high school and I'm pretty sure that he has enough inborn talent to finish a good two minutes ahead of me. On no training. After smoking a cigarette at the starting line. Jerk. =)

Anyway, in that vein, it was honest-to-God sunny out when I ran this morning at 9:00 AM. There's rumors out there that the rain is coming back for yet another repeat performance this weekend, but I'm ignoring that for now. It was just a nice, chilly, fall morning. I have abandoned my denial about fall finally arriving and at long last succumbed to wearing long-sleeved shirts and tights. I just ran a nice and easy 4 miles, my Pine Manor College route, and I felt pretty good. Which I hope is a sign that my consolidation week is working out as I had planned and my easing off this week will give me renewed energy for next week and beyond.

Anyway, since I now have a working watch, I kept track of my splits of hard vs. easy/medium running. I came up with a total of about 14:00 of hard running with 5:10 and 3:12 being the longest splits of hard running uphill. The rest of the splits for hard running ranged from 31 sec to 1:00. I think I felt better during this workout than I had the first time I attempted it two weeks ago, although it's hard to compare. I wrote in my log the last time that my "stride felt a little awkward during the hard running" and I didn't really feel that way this time. I felt a little tired, but my stride has definitely seemed to have smoothed out a bit over the last few weeks. Not, mind you, that this is saying a whole heck of a lot!

But I'm feeling pretty encouraged by my training so far. I think this down week will be good for me and I'm looking forward to continuing to up my mileage. It's looking like my next race will be a Thanksgiving Day turkey trot in my hometown and that could possibly (with the exception of the random Fresh Pond race) be my last race before winter sets in. It's the winter that I'm starting to wonder about. I'm thinking about running maybe 3-4 days a week and trying to phase in some swimming/pool-running. But I was also thinking that I want to get back to doing the drill/plyometric workouts that I used to do in college. So I was thinking maybe doing those 1-2 days a week on the small, elevated track at my gym. I'm also trying to decide whether I'll cut racing out completely from December-February or if I want to try jumping into a race on the indoor track somewhere at some point. There are always a few open meets at BU, Harvard, or Reggie Lewis--it might be fun to get into a 3,000m and see what happens, as long as I stay healthy and my training is consistent. Hmmm...lots of questions for the next few weeks...

In the meantime, I'll stick with building my mileage and inserting hills and tempo runs and decide what to do after Thanksgiving.

I spent the rest of the day going to class (a really interesting guest lecture on health psychology and behavioral medicine), running errands, and doing household chores. Now A. and I have just come back from dinner with one of his friends from college and I'm battling food coma. We went to one of those Brazilian "all-you-can-meat" places where servers bring around different kinds of (generally roasted) beef, as well as chicken, lamb, pork, Italian sausage, and kielbasa, and cut pieces for you. It was absolutely insane and I ate way too much--but it was a great way to boost my iron this week!

The workout itself was pretty uneventful. I just did 30 minutes on one of the "cross training" sessions--I would have liked to do more, but we're only supposed to use a cardio machine for 30 minutes at a time. I would have done more anyway, but it was pretty crowded at that time of day (around noon) and the ellipticals were in high demand. I like these particular machines because there's a little diagram on the panel that shows which muscles I'm targeting at any given time. This will be helpful for me in the future since I'm trying to work on strengthening my hamstrings, so now I know which incline setting will get at that.

Then I did my stretching routine and a LOT of core strengthening stuff. I've been doing my crunches pretty faithfully, but had gotten away from my back extensions and my physical therapy exercises. So I attacked those, with a new resolve to be more consistent about doing them. I'm convinced that these exercises really will help with injury prevention, especially in my hips--but, of course, this is only if I do them regularly. Funny how that works.

Last week was a pretty good training week. The week before, I hit 30 miles for the first time in forever; this past week's goal was 33 (in keeping with the 10% increase recommendation), but I actually ended up with 36 for the week, mainly because of warm-ups and cool-downs, which I definitely count! This week, I'm dropping back to about 27-28 miles as a "consolidation week" before spiraling back up to 40 miles and beyond for weekly mileage. So far, so good. My body seems to be handling the workload well--although I made the mistake of wearing my boots with heels the other night and my feet and lower shins are still a little sore. I'm sticking to sneakers as much as I possibly can now!

So, let's see, highlights from last week. Here we go:

1) New running shoes! Always a good thing...it feels like I never notice how bad my last training shoes have gotten until I slip on a brand-new pair and feel like I'm walking on air. Yay.

2) I have finally built up enough endurance to be confident that I can run all the way to Jamaica Pond to do a workout and come back and not worry about stranding myself out there, miles from home. I really liked running there, although tempo pace doesn't let me sightsee so much. =) And apparently, I blew by a classmate of mine and didn't even notice! She told me in class today that she shouted my name and said hello and that I completely ignored her. Oops. I had no idea that she was even there. I'm planning to do a long run that incorporates the pond soon, so that I can enjoy my surroundings more.

3) Caught up with a former teammate of mine who's a grad student at BC and ran with her at the reservoir. It was fun to catch up, but she's clearly ahead of me in her training. I felt like I was gasping for air, only able to get a few words out on the exhale, while she was chatting freely and without effort. If we keep running once a week together, I'm going to have make sure that I plan it as a hard run!

4) On Saturday, I went out to my alma mater for their home invitational. I couldn't get over how big the team is--they now have 25 women on the roster. And the women were amazing, shutting out their other two competitors. I really think that they have a shot at going to Div. III Nationals as a team this year if they can stay healthy and focused and they all have a good day at Regionals--all of which may be very large "ifs." But their performance on Saturday truly was inspiring and I hope gives them confidence as they approach the championship part of the season. I ran the course as a tempo run before their race, which was tough. It was real cross country, in the sense that I had to really be careful of my footing, especially in the first mile. So it was hard to settle into a rhythm until the second mile because the first mile was so rocky and root-y. But I thought it was a successful workout with splits of 7:02, 13:57, and a final time of 21:41. I ran about 7 miles for the day after my warm-up, cool-down, and the mile that I'm adding on for running to various points on the course to cheer for the runners.

5) I was also further inspired by the Mayor's Cup yesterday. I had considered racing the Franklin Park 5K, but changed my mind on Friday after deciding that I'd rather do a workout at my college's XC meet and just enjoy a relaxing night out on Saturday with my husband to celebrate our wedding anniversary (4 years already!). When I saw the conditions on Sunday, I was glad I wasn't running! It was one of those days at Franklin Park that you could finish the race, go home, shower, and hours later, still find mud in between your toes, in your hair, or in your ears. I felt like we spectators needed spikes, too!

Anyway, after running an easy 6 miles earlier in the morning, I drove over to Franklin Park to check out the women's race. Another (different) woman from my grad program was racing and I wanted to cheer her on. She ran an amazing race, finishing in the top 5, which was very exciting. Also, it was fun to see Kim Smith race. I had seen her race on the BU track (last year, I think?), but on a cross country course, it just looks so different--she was flying! On the track, a runner of her caliber can just make her race look so smooth and effortless (especially if she's uncontested, as she was), but on a cross country course, I feel like I can perceive the strength and the effort of the athlete more. She was so impressive. And it was, of course, also great to see Alison again and P, and to meet Caitlin!

OK, gotta run--my stomach is grumbling. Time to make dinner!

A. and I spent most of the morning and early afternoon switching out our summer clothes (so sad) and purging the apartment of all the unnecessary crap we have. We've decided to streamline our life a little bit and are going to have a big yard sale and send a bunch of stuff to Goodwill. So, right now, our apartment looks like a small bomb has gone off in it. But I already feel lighter since we're getting rid of so much stuff.

Finally, we got out the door to run around 4:00 PM; the rain had taken a brief rest and it was just kind of drizzly. A. went one way to do a regular distance run in Chestnut Hill and Newton and I went the other, up to the Brookline Reservoir to do a 3-lap tempo run. I used the trip up to the res. as a warm-up, picked one of the benches as my start/finish line, and off I went. However, as I began my first lap, I quickly began to feel that I had gone out way too fast and that there was no way I was going to be able to do three laps at this pace. So I changed my mind again and instead decided to attempt 3 x 1-lap hard. We used to do this workout in college--it was always our last hard, hard workout before Regionals and signified the beginning of our taper (something I always looked forward to). Each lap is .921 miles; sometimes our coach would measure out the full mile, sometimes we'd just do the lap. I couldn't remember what the old markers were for the full mile, so I just did the laps. Here were my times:

1st - 6:23
2nd - 6:09
3rd - 6:02

I was pleased that I negative-splitted, but I would have liked them to be a little bit more consistent. I gave myself roughly 3-4 minutes recovery between; I didn't time it exactly. I just started a new lap when I felt like I had my breath back.

The path was pretty puddly. On the first lap, I was weaving in and out between them and running well out of my way in an effort keep my shoes as dry as possible for as long as possible. By the third lap, I didn't much care how wet my shoes were and went splashing through whatever puddles were in my way just so that I could run the shortest distance on the inside!

Overall, I felt OK--I definitely felt capable of the work, but my stride still feels pretty awkward at a faster pace. I was pretty tired by the time I was finished and thankful that the way back is pretty much all downhill. For my cooldown home, I really just have to rely on gravity to keep my legs moving, which is nice. I ran about 6 miles total when all was said and done.

I got back to the apartment before A. did and when he came back, he was positively glowing about his run. He had been out for about an hour, so he probably ran more like 7 miles and felt great. It was nice to see him so excited, because I know that he's been frustrated with how long it was taking him to get back into shape and feel good on a run. He said that he just kept thinking about how awful he'd felt just a few weeks ago in the heat and humidity--he felt like he'd traveled lightyears since then!

Now I'm just looking to have a nice, quiet night at home--make some popcorn, some hot chocolate, and settle down to a good movie. Aaaahhh...

I guess this weather makes me sleepy, too, because I really overslept this morning. I jumped awake, feeling well-rested but also like I'd wasted the day. It wasn't just misty with scattered showers and lots of wind, like the past few days. Today was a full-blown rainy day--which I actually prefer. I don't like wishy-washy, foggy, "will-it-or-won't-it-rain"-type days. I like the real thing and boy, did we get it today. But I refuse to complain about it anymore--especially after I saw that Barb has already had snow! Yikes. I'm definitely not ready for that!

Since I felt like I'd killed the day already, I decided to get some household chores done before I went out on my run and give the rain a chance to let up a little. (As much as I like to run, and even race, in the rain, I also like to be able to see where I'm going--and the rain was definitely heavy enough at that point that I was worried about that!) So I pulled out the slow cooker for the third time since this weather began and made adobo. Lately, this weather has really been making me crave soups and stews and stuff. My husband is first-generation Filipino-American and every once in a while, I like to take a stab at a Filipino dish--in this case, adobo chicken. for those of you who don't know, adobo is basically chicken (I use leg quarters, cut up and de-skinned) stewed in soy sauce, vinegar, onion, crushed garlic (the recipe I use calls for 8 cloves!), black peppercorns, and bay leaves. Technically, you're supposed to do it on the stovetop, but I found a "short cut" recipe that uses a slow cooker. It's definitely not as good as my mother-in-law's, but my husband gave me an A for effort. =) However, I was reeking of garlic when I was done and I can still smell a faint hint of it on my hands!

I cleaned up a little before going out to run--I wanted to do laundry, but wanted to include today's running clothes in the load. So it was time to run. I had been warned by a running friend that the Chestnut Hill Reservoir path was a mess of puddles, but I headed over there anyway--it's just a prettier run and I really like to avoid pavement whenever I can. Besides, there was no way I was going to avoid getting wet on this one!

I just ran an easy 3, but enjoyed every minute of it. I left my watch at home and just ran for fun, weaving in and out between puddles when I could, and splashing straight into the ones I couldn't avoid. We used to do this in high school all the time. It was great! I kept thinking about John Jerome--he has a passage in his book, The Elements of Effort: Reflections on the Art and Science of Running (Simon & Schuster, 1997), entitled "Child's Play":

"Somehow my running keeps getting serious on me...I have to remind myself not just to stick to my side of the road and grind it out, but to go leap ditches and climb hillocks, to bushwhack, to break out of that rigid plodding that is good for the coronary arteries but not necessarily for the heart or the soul. To go ahead, every once in a while, and jump in that puddle with both feet. It takes conscious thought to keep play in our running." (p. 26)

Still, I'm hoping that it all rains itself out tonight (it is, yes, pouring even as I write) because I'd like to race at Fresh Pond again tomorrow morning. I don't mind racing in the rain, but I'm not a big fan of warming up or cooling down in it--and there's no parking garage, unfortunately, like there was at the Tufts 10K! (I thought that was a brilliant stroke of Alison's--I'm definitely going to remember that for the future!)

Anyway, I spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and schoolwork. I really just wanted to spend a quiet evening at home with A., but unfortunately, I had to go to the annual fall meeting of the "Friends of Athletics" alumnae group for my college. I am the Alumnae Weekend Fun Run Committee Chair (and the fun run committee's sole member! =). But the athletic department decided to hold the meeting at a really nice restaurant with incredibly good food--a restaurant that I could never afford to go to otherwise, so I was looking forward to a great meal. And I was treated to a bonus in that, halfway through our meal, who shows up for a 7:30 reservation but Tom Brady of the Patriots and his fiancee, Bridget Moynihan! I was psyched, but I did my best not to stare--it was probably fortunate (for them, anyway) that my back was to them, but it was killing me not to turn around and gawk. =) I never see famous people. It's a joke with my husband and me. Once I joined him on a business trip to L.A. because I'd never been to California and we specifically went to certain places, like the Ivy, supposedly a "celebrity hot-spot," to see somebody famous. A. had been told by a co-worker that he had never been to the Ivy and not seen a famous person. However, this being my luck, I did not see any famous people, but I did run into someone I went to high school with! =)

Anyway, I left gloating messages on two of my sisters' cell phones (MA, who will think it's cool and K., who will not care and need a minute to remember who Tom Brady is), but I did reach the one sister, M., who would care most of all (she and her husband are huge Patriots fans) and she was appropriately envious. ;)

Well, I should try to go to bed already if I'm going to race tomorrow! I don't feel the least bit tired--probably because of my sleeping late this morning combined with the two cups of tea I had at the restaurant. But I should give it a shot, anyway.

It is true that I've been trying to ease back into a complete training program, similar to the one I used to do in college, but the "easing back" has been hard. I'm feeling pretty good, it's looking like I'll crack 30 miles for the week for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, and since starting this blog as well as watching the Tufts 10K, running a race at Fresh Pond, and meeting other bloggers, I've definitely been feeling inspired...and antsy. So I've sort of been picking up the pace in terms of how quickly I'm adding new elements--but I've also been doing "baby versions" of these elements, for example: my weekend "long" run has been holding steady at 6 miles, my tempo run will stay at 2 miles for a while before I aim for my goal of 4-5 miles, and I'm doing my strides only 6 at a time and, so far, only once a week. Thus far, my legs are holding up well as is my overall energy level and enjoyment--all good signs. And I've been pretty disciplined about stretching (I don't let myself go upstairs to my apartment after a run until I've completed my full stretching routine), which I think was part of my downfall last time. All of this is basically to explain why I don't seem to be sticking to my original promise to phase all this in sloooooowly. I'm now phasing in "slooowly."

This is why I decided to attempt this little hill/fartlek run of mine, which I've haven't done in over a year. It's just a typical 6-miler into Chestnut Hill and Newton and back that has a number of good hills, including Heartbreak Hill (well, a portion of it). My neighborhood is loaded with hills. The "fartlek" comes in when I run each uphill hard during the run. It doesn't matter how long the uphill is; any upward slope discernible to the eye is fair game. For this run, that means that I put in a good surge over roughly 7 hills of varying length and steepness--from the 10-sec. easy incline up to our apartment to the 5-min. (?) monster that is that portion of Heartbreak. At the crest of each hill, I slow to a jog until I've resumed relatively normal breathing and then move it back up to regular distance-run pace until I get to the next hill.

It was, of course, still drizzly and wicked windy (I really thought that I was going to blown into the Chestnut Hill Reservoir after one stiff gust), but the workout went pretty well. My legs weren't turning over quite as easily today; my stride felt pretty awkward. But I liked the challenge and it made the 6 miles go by really fast. On the first big hill up Beacon St. by Boston College, I felt pretty out-of-breath and my quads were already burning--but as I got more into the run, both my breath and my quads seemed to adjust (as if they were saying, "Oh, OK, if we really have to."). By the end, it was actually my butt and my hamstrings that felt tight and tired, which makes me think that I still have a lot of work to do to fix the muscle imbalances that I believe led to my last injuries. I ran about 49-50 minutes total.

Tomorrow will definitely be an easy day--I'm planning to go the gym and get on the elliptical for half an hour and then focus on core strengthening. I'm not going to run at all. The elliptical is a little bit of an experiment. Last Thursday, I took the day completely off, but I felt a little stiff and weird when I returned to running on Friday. I'm trying the elliptical this week to see if I can still get a "rest day" effect without any stiffness or weirdness the next day. We'll see.

And it was really great to see Alison and meet her boyfriend, the famous "P.," as well as Blondie. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to meet Audrey, since I didn't catch them until after their cooldown and wasn't able to join the group to go to P. and Alison's apartment. But it was really fun putting faces to names. I was really impressed with Alison's race and, since I didn't have a watch on the race, I was hoping for good things after she passed me with a brilliant smile on her face! So I was glad to hear she chalked up a new PR.

My own run this morning was pretty uneventful. My husband joined me again--this time for a 4-miler including a loop around the Brookline Reservoir. He only wrinkled his nose slightly when I suggested it--I am not known for the most adventurous runs, especially very early in a training cycle, as I am now. A. much prefers to dodge in and out of new neighborhoods, doing house-hunting-type neighborhood tours, and follow hunches that a new road will lead to a familiar place.

So we ran the Reservoir with only the ducks for additional company and ended at the park near us where we ran 6 strides before jogging home. It was chilly and misty, although not actually raining. Unfortunately, the harder, steadier rain wouldn't come until the middle of the Tufts race later on, but I was well bundled-up by then and shrouded in an enormous green poncho.

Well, it was a nice, sweet long weekend, but it's back to reality tomorrow, so I better get to bed!

Thursday--I took the day entirely off. I don't think I'm at the point yet where I can run every day without risking too much, so I decided to factor in a day off. Thursday's a good day for me to do this because of my class and internship schedule--it doesn't give me a whole lot of time to dwell on the fact that I didn't run that day!

Friday--If Thursday's day-off should have made me feel all bouncy-springy during Friday's run, it definitely didn't. My 4-miler, which included 2 laps around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, was a real slog from start to finish. I felt tired, my breathing was labored, and my legs felt heavy, but I was glad that I at least stuck it out for that second lap of the reservoir to make my run a full 4 miles.

Saturday--A. decided to join me for a 6-mile loop into Newton and back over Heartbreak Hill, nice guy that he is. Having company made me more willing to get out there. After Friday's slog, I was sort of dreading my run, especially since it was so warm and humid and just generally soupy. I had been toying with the idea of throwing 2 miles of tempo into the run, but couldn't get psyched about it--especially with the very humid conditions and light, but steady, rain. I just decided to get out the door and start running and if the running gods were in my favor, I'd attempt the tempo. It turned out that they were--or at least, A. did a nice job setting an easy pace for the first 2.5 miles, the perfect warm-up. At that point, he gave me the house keys and said, "Go--I'll see you back at home." So I took off at tempo pace (probably somewhere between 7:00 and 7:30) for a little over 2 miles. I ran 16 minutes at this pace just to be sure that I covered a true 2 miles. I was surprised how good I felt--even going up the third hill of Heartbreak Hill (don't ever let anyone tell you that Heartbreak Hill is singular!). I trotted the last mile and a half home for my cooldown--not that I would have been able to go much faster anyway with all the people on the sidewalks making their way to the BC football game!

Sunday--This morning, A. and I got up and pretty much went right out the door. I wanted to do another 6 miles today as my "long, slow distance" of the week and I wanted to get off-road for at least part of it. So we chose a course that took us for a loop each of the Brookline and Chestnut Hill Reservoirs. Again, we started out together for about 2.5-3 miles before A. shooed me ahead of him (with his work schedule, he hasn't been able to run much lately, so our levels of fitness aren't quite in synch. But usually we're pretty compatible running partners.). So I went on ahead. Today was much nicer since the temperature had dropped and it was just kind of misty or drizzly without actually raining. I felt OK--nowhere near as terrible as Friday, but definitely not as good as yesterday. Just a normal run. Not bad.

Tomorrow I'll probably just run 4-5 miles with some striders before heading down to the Tufts 10K to do some serious spectating. I'm very excited--I need the inspiration! Good luck to all who are running tomorrow! Unfortunately, I only know what Alison looks like, so I'll only be able to cheer for her directly. But know that I am cheering on all participating bloggers in spirit!

Last year, I went to the Tufts 10K by myself--I was supposed to run, but ended up giving my number away since I injured my hip just before it. I cheered my little heart out all by myself on a stretch of Comm. Ave. on which I was the only spectator. I kept getting weird looks from some of the elite athletes who I would cheer on by name--"Do I know you?" Anyway, I hope that next year, I'll be able to join in the fun and I'm looking forward to everyone's recaps!

Good luck to all and to all a good race!