The First Half of the 13

In honor of my New Year's Resolution, here are the half marathons I've signed up for thus far:

1. Manhattan Half (Jan) 2:28
2. Austin Half Marathon (with JC in Feb)
3. National Half Marathon (with TK in Mar)
4. 13.1 NYC Half Marathon (not to be confused with the NYC Half Marathon, which I did not get into this year) (Apr)
5. More Half Marathon (Apr)
6. Still have to find one for May
7. Virginia Wine Country Half Marathon (june)
8. North Face Endurance Half Marathon DC (June - I still have to sign up for it)

Does 7 Miles Count As A Long Run?

I did a long-ish run today. I was looking forward to it because the weather was actually supposed to be in the high 40s, which is warm compared to most of the other runs this winter. However, there was a lot of wind. I forgot how tough it is to run against the wind. It takes a lot of added energy. Sometimes I felt like I was exerting a lot of effort for not a lot of distance. I did run longer than I had planned, so that is a positive. I ran around the mall (I know it's not surprising) and hit all four Presidential monuments. I went West to Lincoln, than crossed crossed Independence to hit FDR and then the Jefferson and, last but not least, the Washington Monument. From there I headed East to do a little mall loop to 7th. I should have gone to 3rd, but I was getting cold and the wind was getting to me. After that I headed home (with a stop at Whole Foods). According to map my run, it was 7.2 miles. Not too bad considering next weekend I'll have to run 13.1 miles in Austin!

Tomorrow is the Love the Run You're With 5k. It's supposed to be in the low 50s, but I'm guessing at 9am, it will still be chilly. The shirt design is cute. The shirt color is purple. Yep.

Running Consistently

I've actually started to run fairly regularly again. The weather has been good, but I think it also helps that I haven't been working crazy hours this week. I'm even using the Nike+ app on my ipod. It's about time I started to run more often. However, I also need to up my mileage, especially with Austin in a couple of weeks. I'm really looking forward to that!

Run Groups and Treadmills

Earlier this week I went to the Pacer's run group/fun run. As usual, I was the slowest person there. But they're really good about sticking with you or, in my case, since I wanted to do a shorter run, sending me with other people who also want do a shorter runs. It was nice. I considered it my pace run since I was running faster than normal.

I had initially planned on running outside today, but it snowed. I went to the gym. I was going to do the power class at noon, but it was so crowded I just did some weight work on my own. I also decided to run on the treadmill. I lasted 16 mins ( or 1.62 miles). I don't know why I can't seem to run on the treadmill any more.

Running When It's 14 Degrees Outside

Saturday was the Manhattan Half Marathon. The first of my 13 half-marathons this year (if all goes to plan). I almost didn't run it. It was 14 degees at the start of the run and 16 degrees at the end. In other words, it was cold outside!

How cold was it? You could see frost on the outerlayers of most of the runners, including my hat! Thankfully, I bought some warm running gear a couple of days prior and it kept me nice and warm. Once I started running, all was good. Even my toes warmed up after a couple of miles.

I thought about quitting a couple of times (usually when I passed by the street where I was staying), but I managed to finish. I was happy because, let's face it, I didn't really train for this run. It could be why I ran as slowly as I did. Hopefully this will be my slowest run of the year.

I almost forgot, the eating part. After the run, I went to Alice's Tea Pot (Chapter 1) and split the mad hatter with my firend MP. It was a pot of tea (Mt. Everest Breakfast, for me), a buttermilk scone with clotted cream and jam, a chocolate banana scone, a BLT (which was really just a bacon sandwich with a little lettuce and tomato, and then assorted "nibbles" (which in this case was cookies and a lemon tart). It was a lot of food. And really good!

Mall Run

It's been awhile since I did a mall run. So after much hemming and hawing, and also realizing that my afternoon plans are really for Thursday and not today, I decided to take advantage of the sunny day and to a mall run. Only a partial loop. In total I ran 4.89 miles (according to mapmyrun.com) I did the look between the GW monument and the Capitol building. There were a lot of other runners out there today. It made for a nice run, all in all.

New Year's Day Run

I took it easy on my first run of the new year, in part, because some parts of the roads and sidewalks in NJ were icy or still snow covered. I did my home loop, which I'm guessing is just under 3 miles. It was a beautiful day for a run. Not to cold, sunny and the streets were not too crowded. All in all, a nice way to start the new year.

My friend AK sent me this video, I Am A Runner:

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So funny, so true.