The Numbers

This is my 100th blog post. (I love numbers.) When I made my last post, I noticed that I had 49 posts in 2008 and 49 posts in 2009. I thought that was interesting especially since the time the blog was active during both of those years is not equal. I did not post much last year. I will try to be a bit better this year, but no guarantees. The only other real number of interest from 2009 is that I ran 40 some odd more miles in 2009 than in 2008. I know, I'm crazy for keeping track of these things. But perhaps this explains the lack of blog posts?

I did it...

A while ago, I wondered on this very blog if I could run 100 miles in one month. Well, I did it. This month my total is 100.4 miles! Yipee! That is all.

Running Loudly

So, during the race I ran a few weeks ago, my friend said to me that I run quietly. We were running at my "couch pace," so my effort was not great. This friend defined "couch pace" as that pace where you are most comfortable. I sometimes wonder how far I could run at my "couch pace." Could I be an ultra-marathon runner? Maybe. But the point here is that he said I run quietly. I didn't really know what my friend meant by that, so he told me that my foot strikes hardly made any noise. I didn't notice that- what sound his were making or that mine were soft - but it was an interesting observation. (I think it helps that he's a scientist.) I didn't really think about this again until I was at the gym this week running on a treadmill (I know, I know, this is a waste of energy, especially when there is perfectly good road out there, but the road would have been very dark, and somewhat dangerous.). The person nearby was really super loud when he was running. I couldn't quite tell if that was just how he always ran or if it was that he was doing speed work and therefore might be a bit louder than normal. Oh, and speaking of treadmill running... I sometimes wonder why people will choose the treadmill right next to you even if there are about 10 vacant treadmills down the line? I always try to observe the every other rule unless there's a lot of people and this is not possible. Fortunately at my new gym, there is almost always room for an every other motif - unlike the gym I used to go to where I'd often have to wait in line for a treadmill.

Running Log

So you might ask how many miles do I run in an average year? This year my total so far has been 620 miles. Last year, my total for the year was only 500 miles. The significant increase all started in May when I was feeling a little sad the weekend after my grandmother went to heaven. I decided to take my uncle's challenge up again. I had conquered this 8.5 mile loop near my house that includes some significant hills along with some nice water views last November. So I decided to do it again. This meant increasing my long runs from 5 to 8.5 miles. This is not something I recommend. But it turned out fine and it meant that I was consistently running over 20 miles a week this summer. Now that my race is over, mileage is going to go down hill. There is a conference to prepare for, students to get on track, and a grant to write. Too much to do to take the time to run so much. Plus it is getting dark so early now and I really hate running long distances in the gym. So instead my winter pattern is more speed work with shorter distances.

First race in about 2 years

Today I ran a race with a reward of apple pie at the end. I was running with a friend and at about mile 10, we started randomly exclaiming "Pie!" to each other. I don't know if it made the last few miles go faster or not, but it was entertaining.