running: the dawn

I may seem a little late in my embrace of spring, but you have to understand what its like for those of us who live in the north…we don’t trust the spring.  One day it could be sunny and 70 and then in the blink of an eye there’s snow everywhere and the temperatures have plummeted.  I’m never sure when I can let my guard down and truly enjoy the warmer weather.

Well, the sign that I’ve been waiting for is here!

the water pumps are on!!!

That’s right!  The water is back on!!!!  It has been a long winter with no water stops along my route.  And now….I can fill up just a half a mile from my house.  Hurray!  So, I can enjoy it for the next three weeks.  Super.

I did get in an awesome couple of workouts this week.  AND on Tuesday I did my first double in a long time.  I got off work, hurried home to change, strapped on Gigi, and hit the open road.  I set out with the idea to do 10, but with the beautiful blue sky over head and a renewed joy of running I decided to do my favorite 12 mile loop.  Of course Gigi quit about 8 miles into the run and then decided to beep at me for the last 4…which was super fun.  As soon as I was done with the run, I changed clothes and headed to Jazzercise.  Which was awesome because we’re doing a boot-camp inspired month and this week has been focusing on upper torso.  So by the end of the day my legs were nice and sore and my arms felt like jello.  Oh, three hour sweat sessions, how I’ve missed you!!!

Before the garmin malfunction, I was throwing down some pretty fast miles.  Like faster than I’ve run in a while.  Makes me miss my speed a little bit.  Honestly, I do miss the intensity of following a rigorous training plan and pushing myself towards a seemingly impossible goal.  But, for now, I’ve decided no more full marathons this year.  I promised Mr. Dawn that the earliest I would think about running a full would be the Lincoln Marathon next spring.  It was my first full, and I’d love to train really hard and see how different it is to run on a familiar route.

So, that leaves me with a lot of time and space to fill.  It’s the perfect opportunity to run some shorter distances and run for fun.  Starting this weekend!  I’m heading to Kalamazoo to run the Half Marathon with my girls Nicole and Erika on Sunday.  Can’t wait.  It’s seriously been over a year since my last half marathon.  I don’t really know how its going to go.  I know that I won’t be setting any records, but I also kinda wonder what I’ll be able to do….

THEN.  Next weekend.  A 5k.  I know that I thought I was going to run one over Thanksgiving, but it turns out that was a trail race with no actual set distance.  (Strangest race ever.)  This is an actual 5k.  Which will be the first in 4 years (or something close to that).  I’m really looking forward to races that won’t destroy and consume my entire life .