blue moon full moon

“We runners are all a little nutty, but we’re good people who just want to enjoy our healthy, primitive challenge. Others may not understand running, but we do, and we cherish it. That’s our only message”.

John J. Kelley Olympic marathoner

Blue mile training program week five:

Pre-fuel: 0700 3 dried apricots for a burst of healthy carbs.

Post-fuel: 9:00ish? Nova lox with tomatoes, capers and red onion on a whole wheat bagel thin. A small cup of Einsteins neighborhood blend and a few pieces of fruit shared with Cassie.

Today’s scheduled run was to be: 60 minutes or 6 miles easy, finishing steady.

I stayed up way to late last night (thank you coffee, and full moon), and because of it I woke this morning I didn’t feel rested at all.  I wasn’t sure how the lack of sleep would affect my run, but once I hit the pavement all signs of fatigue vanished.  Maybe it had something to do with the bone chilling air or the fact that I had someone to run with who shared my pain. My core felt well insulated with an undershirt, technical shirt and vest but my arms nearly froze off. I thought I was going to suffer from frost bite.

Early on into the run I was introduced to one of the Blue Mile’s mentors. He seemed to have the same pace as I so we decided to run together. After talking with him for a while I discovered his normal pace is usually around 8:15 whereas mine is a measly 10:00 minute mile. He was gracious enough to let me hold him back but to my surprise we were clocking 8:45!!!

The great thing about running with someone faster than you is the motivation of becoming faster yourself.

We ended up doing 6.6 miles in 60 minutes.

Woohoo!!!

I’m one tired little runner now, time to rest and recover. Part of tonight’s recovery ritual will be a tasty Italian dinner with friends.

Happy long-run Saturday,

Maria