Birthday Run

Someone asked if I would run my age in miles today. And while I'll admit to being intrigued by the idea of an ultra marathon some day - I would love to be able to say I had the determination and mental strenght to accomplish that - today is not that day. I forgot my garmin this morning but I know that we ran at least my age in minutes. 53 if you really must know.

Today was the first long run of training for Bob Potts. I put out a call to my running friends to join me and we ended up with a very nice group. Most of us ran 6 miles on the River Trail and three went out for an extra 4 miles after that.

As December should be it was a very brisk morning. My friend Kristie is not a fan of cold weather and so it was extra special to see her. The sun was shining by our 8 am start and it really was a beatiful run. I wish I had taken more photos along the trail but I was too busy listening and chatting. The conversations started out with thiings like "I can't feel my face/legs/hands" and moved on to what everyone had planned for the holidays and into next year. We talked about family holiday traditions both those being upheld and some that were being broken this year and how that was being dealt with - or not. You had to be there and know the people to fully appreciate it I suppose but it was an awesome way to spend the miles.

In addition to chatting and listening I also fell down. It stung and my leg felt a little sore for the next few steps but after a group recovery walk I felt fine and finished the last 3 miles. It is starting to sting a bit now as I sit here and I can feel some tightness in muscles around it. I've already iced it once but I think I will do some more and some gentle strectching as the day wears on.

 

So week #1 is almost complete. I have a 60 minute cross session tomorrow. I hope to spend that on the bike. There is rain in the forecast though. I know at some point I will have to ride in the rain because there is no telling what the weather will bring when I do the goal ride in September but I don't think it's necessary to do that now. The question is what should I do instead.

I'm disappointed that I forgot the Garmin. I don't need it to run - in fact I often take the side of running tech free - but I had wanted to track a few things in this training cycle including heart rate. No harm done there are many more long runs in this program.

Thanks to my friend who ran with me today. I know they all had options. I'm glad the time and place fo my birthday run worked for them.