Every Mile Earned

I have a little over 6 weeks to my 1st half marathon this year. I'm running the Scranton marathon with a team at work. Until this week, I haven't had very high mileage weeks, or very consistent running for that matter. So I sat down last weekend and worked out the next 6+ weeks of running. (worked on getting my half & marathon medals hung up too) This medal holder is for only marathon and half marathon medals. All my others are on a different display.  Last Sunday , Hill Dynamo and I ran 6 miles in the town next to us. We needed a change of scenery. It was in the high 40's which was wonderful, especially because we had wet feet by the time we were done. The sidewalks still had a lot of snow or big puddles from melted snow. We always have fun when running together, even when it sucks. I stopped for what felt like a million times because my legs and hips were bothering me.  I had to keep stretching but we got the miles done. It was a gloomy day but the co...

Fun one mile race This was a one mile race so not a lot of recap to offer for it. The star of the day was the cold.   I had every intention of running this race as hard as I could.  I had been having pain in my left glute and hamstring all week but I knew with a good warm up I'd be ok. Then these temps hit. We had been running in shorts and tee's the week before so I was not mentally prepared for the temps to bottom out.  My friend, Hill Dynamo and Superman were running the race and I decided to just have fun with them. The wind was right in our face no matter what direction we were facing I rode to the race with her and her family. My Musician and Tink stayed home, she had the flu. Hill Dynamo's hubs dropped us off at the finish line. The sun was out and it didn't feel too bad. That was until we got away from the shelter of the building where we parked.  The wind was so cold in our face.  In felt like it was blowing right through al...

It's early winter, I think December, 2015. I'm driving down one of our no-shoulder back roads, the kind that only those desperate to get out and run will run on. It's a road that I've run down many times in the almost 6 years of living here. I live in a small rural community with mostly back roads void of sidewalks. The main road that runs through here carries an array of tractor trailers to and from our "Industrial Park / Corporate Park" areas yet has zero sidewalks even there.   I'm driving down this road and I see a woman up ahead ticking off the steps. I was desperate to stop and say hi. I was just starting to pick my miles up again from marathon training and recovering from an injury.  I couldn't help but day dream about how nice it would be to have a running partner for some of the cold dark runs that our Northeast winters require we endure.  It was so hard not to bring the car to a screeching halt next to her but what if she carries pepper ...