Michelle's Running Blog

Today was a bit of a sad realization but inevitable.  I usually run with my neighbor, Michelle.  I was out of town last week and we both ran alone.  She is getting faster, and I am getting slower.  Typically, when I am not pregnant, I have a little more speed then she does but we still run well together.  This morning, she was fast, I could not keep up.  She said she increased her speed last week while running alone and realized she could go faster and enjoy it.  Not the same story for me.  Anyway, I kept up with her for 3 miles but knowing the 4th mile was all uphill and already feeling beat, I told her to run ahead.  I was surprised how much distance she put between us in the last mile, good for her.  So, I think I am running alone most of the time now.  I can still definitely continue running, maybe more jogging, just not at 9 mm.  I am 22 weeks in my pregnancy and an easy comfortable pace for me is 10-10:30 mm.  I hope to keep that up for a few more months still.  But if I am going to continue running/jogging, it has to slow down so I can do it and still enjoy it.  It is time to embrace slow running.

Today was a nice run.  My neighbor and I walked out our doors at the same time so we ran a few blocks together and then she took off.  It was nice to listen to tunes and settle into a nice pace and enjoy running instead of too much exertion.  I really did enjoy my run today, it was great weather as well.  I think I am going to try to get out the door a couple minutes earlier each morning so we will finish our run about the same time, then we can do a cool down walk together and talk for a few minutes.  It would also help to not watch my neighbor run away from me and never be able to catch up.

I had to fight myself to get out the door today.  As always I am glad I ran but sleeping felt really nice at 6:00.  The doughnuts I ate last night were good motivation to get moving.

I love the weather this week, spring crispness with a bit of overcast skies.  I think it is perfect running weather.  I lived in Pennsylvania for 9 years and Michigan/Ohio for 3 years so I love the overcast rainy weather.  My family thinks I'm crazy but there is something cozy about stormy weather that I prefer to bright sunshine.  I am sure I would get sick of it if it was like this all the time, but a week is nice.  

This morning I was supposed to get out the door 3 minutes early and my neighbor was leaving a few minutes later.  We thought this would allow us to meet up at the end of the run and walk a cool down home together.  I hesitated in bed a few minutes too long and left maybe 1 minute early but probably not even that.  At about mile 1.5 I could see my neighbor behind me in the distance, so I tried to keep up the pace so she wouldn't pass me too soon.  She caught up to me around 3.5 miles, then passed me and I couldn't keep up.  She did awesome today!  Her AP was 8:45 which makes me feel good because that means I was at least in the 9's and not the 10's which is a good pace right now.  I was more tired at the end of the run because I had run harder then when no one was chasing me.  I guess it is good motivation for her to catch me and good motivation for me to not get caught too soon.

It was cold and rainy in the morning so I went to the rec center and ran on the treadmill.  It seemed a bit long and boring compared to outside.  It was nice to get 6 miles in on a rainy day.