Spring is in the air here in New England! After endless complaints of the cold and snow, today was a picture perfect – and might I add – well deserved Spring day. (Must be the luck o’ the Irish!) I have been hiding from my Asics and avoiding looking other runners in the eyes over the last week, and have not run even once since – gasp – a week ago. I realize I’m taking a huge gamble on this, with a half marathon coming up on Sunday, but with my foot and my stomach getting progressively crankier over the last week I felt I needed to scale back a bit. Well… scale back I did! At this time last month, while complaining about the weather, I had accumulated about 60 miles. Today, I’m up to 30. I knew it was critical that I got in a decent run today if I had any chance of completing the half on Sunday, and at some point I had to dust off my foot and see how it held up. With temperatures in the 50’s, today was the perfect day to give it a shot.
Todd, Kerri and I were supposed to run together at lunch but at the last minute Todd bailed (for some “work related” conference call – this is the first evidence of Todd actually “working” since I met him in December). Luckily Old Reliable was still up for a run, so Kerri and I headed out on our favorite Ice Cream stand route. Technically Spring doesn’t begin until Sunday, but today for us was the official start to Spring. Here’s why:
· Today marked the first day we traded in our full length running tights for running Capri’s. A small change to some, but to me having my ankles exposed felt like I was running around half naked. (Not to mention my pasty ankles would no doubt blind some drivers).
· The roads were so crowded with runners and walkers it was akin to running an organized race. Part of me expected to see an aid station on the way back.
· The driving range was open! The driving range is adjacent to the ice cream stand, and from a good distance we could hear the unmistakable strike of the golf ball and the subsequent crackle as the ball ricocheted between trees after taking a sharp slice off the tee.
· It’s still unclear if the actual ice cream stand was open but we once again confirmed our future Summer plans to someday stop in for a cone during our run.
As we headed back to the building, we were honked and waved at by a guy on a motorcycle, who I’m pretty sure was mesmerized by our exposed ankles. Seems even the motorcyclists have a touch of the Spring Fever.
For all the preparation that had gone into training for Hyannis, I have done surprisingly little for New Bedford. There have been no dress rehearsals, and no time spent fretting over directions, pre-race foods, or energy gels. At this point there’s nothing I can do to improve my fitness so hopefully the base I had developed for Hyannis will be enough to get me through this race. And if that’s not enough, maybe the Luck O’ the Irish will carry me through! J
(In the interest of full disclosure… I’m only a wee bit o’ Irish. But it’s Saint Patrick’s Day, so why not jump on the bandwagon. Plus, it’s way cooler than say… Bastille Day.)
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