Friday

I love Fridays, doesn't everyone? Many Friday nights, we go and hang out with some good friends and tonight is one of those nights. Always fun times on Friday nights!

The weather is getting nicer which means better running is in my near future. I've felt so weighted down with extra clothes lately and my runs have been SLOW! I was able to run 5 miles yesterday at a decent pace (9:20 ?) and I also had on just one layer of pants, but two layers of shirts. Still, that's a lot less than what I have been wearing.

I also went running by myself yesterday..I always run faster when I'm alone. I felt like pushing myself a bit and it felt really good. I think I may just do that 10K on March 20 in Holyoke. Hoping some of my Freihofer teammates want to come along!

I have to mention the girl in California that was murdered while she was out running. Sometimes we feel indestructible, like that would never happen to us. Hopefully, it never does, but we must think ahead try to imagine what we might do in that type of situation.

Personally, whether I'm running with someone or running alone I bring pepper spray. I'm not saying 100% that's going to save me if I'm attacked or whatever, but at least it's something. I also bring my cell phone and I try not to run in remote areas. We just need to remind ourselves to be alert while we're out on the road (or anywhere for that matter) because things can happen so fast.

Well, hope you go out for a nice run this weekend and don't forget to stay safe!

Winter Running

I think we have 19" of snow right now. That's a lot of snow! The kids had a snow day so we were home all day long. I finally ventured out tonight to go to the grocery store. I was pretty impressed to see that the roads are fairly clear. If it weren't for the 2nd storm on the way, I think I'd be able to go out running tomorrow! Unfortunately, because of the other storm I think running will be put on hold for a day or two. Hopefully, not much more than that.

I'm wondering if most people that consider themselves runners, run all year long? Specifically, if you live in the northeast and have snow to contend with, it can be difficult. Personally, I used to take winters off. I was a fair weather runner. It has only been these last couple of years that I decided to run all winter. Actually, I used to run on the treadmill from time to time in the winter. But, since I've gotten more and more into distance running, I've been running outside all year round. I love going for my Saturday morning long runs. I'm a creature of habit.

Of course, you sometimes have to cut back on your mileage in the winter. It's hard to avoid that. I used to get a little bummed out about that, but I recently came up with a new spin on that..I've decided that it's a good thing to cut back your mileage during the winter a bit. It gives your body some time to recover and/or rest up for the upcoming season. How's that for a positive spin?

Anyway, that little spin helps me to not get too freaked out about missing a run or not being able to run as many miles as I would sometimes like.

I'd be curious to hear what other people do? I'd love to hear from you :-)