Running Chick

There is a 2.5 mile hill on Paradise Road. It consists of long uphills which crest to short less-steep sections which lead to other uphills. I think this repeats about four or five times. I thought it would never end. I was so happy to finally come to the top of that endless hill at mile 7.5 and then realize that the rest of my run was downhill.

The weather was wonderful. No wind and lots of sun. I actually had to remove one of my layers because I was too hot. Lots of traffic, though. That was annoying.

My blisters returned despite my best taping/bandaging efforts. They didn't bother me too much during the run - just enough to remind me that they were there. I have no idea if it's from my shoes or socks or maybe I just have tender feet. In any event, I need to do some blister prevention research before my next run.

This week's totals:
18.04 miles @ 3:18:01
Average pace 10:59 (Woo!!!) (5.5 mph)

My hamstring has still been bothering me, so tonight I decided that I was going to try and avoid hills completely. I also decided that since I was running mostly without hills, I would try to run 10-11 minute miles for the entire distance. I did it! My average pace for the 4.5 miles was 10:31 minute/mile. Rock!

On the down-side, I got blisters the size of dimes on the balls of both my feet. Time to invest in some medical tape. Hopefully they'll simmer down by Saturday, when I have my 9-miler scheduled. 9-miles. Geez, that's a long way. I usually try not to dwell on the distance and just tell myself that it's just another run and it's not that big of a deal. My plan is to run the back roads to the Citgo in Chassell and have Josh pick me up. All my long runs so far have ended up at one gas station or another. Gotta keep up the trend.

I had a decent run today, despite feeling a bit under the weather. I scooted out of work a bit early so I could get my run in before the Big Storm that's supposed to dump eighteen feet of snow on us. The weather held out while I was running, and it started to snow lightly when I got to my house. If I don't miss my run tomorrow because of the stomach flu I think I may be coming down with, I'll probably miss it because of snow removal duties. Bah.