ah, fresh meat.

when i woke up in a sweat in my overly-steam-heated apartment this morning i suspected that it was warm outside, even if it was rainy. sure enough it was 57 degrees. it's *december 23rd!!!* it is NOT supposed to be almost 60 degrees outside. it made me glad i'll be trying to do something to stop global warming.

i was up late so i took a cab, and was happy to find that charlotte made it to practice because i just didn't feel like running on my own. handsome is still injured and so is drew, which is sad and so frustrating fo the both of them. drew's going to try to run on the 26th and see how he feels, and i need to check in with handsome, but i really hope the acupunture did some good for his knee.

because we ran 20 last weekend, i only had to run 8-10 miles. since i had a train to catch, i opted for the 8. it's so funny tha 8 miles is no longer even daunting in the littlest bit. we've been so well coached, thank goodness.

the run was uneventful - charlotte and i haven't seen each other in a while, so we had a good gab. when i came back in (charlotte was continuing on for another 4 after a water stop because she missed the trails), all the "kids" that are training for the spring season (the season in between arizona and the one i just signed up for) were already out stretching.

as i stretched myself, i almost chucked as i looked them over. they're probably 5 or so weeks into training, if that. less "seasoned" looking, a mish-mash of athletic-wear not necessarily designed for running, looking exhausted and proud. us "vets" heard someone tell his check-out mentor that he ran 5 miles for the first time ever, and we applauded. i thought to myself, as though i had been running for years, "i remember the day..."

we were talking with coach christine, and she excitedly said "so jen! i heard you are going to mentor!" grinning ear-to-ear i said yeah, i'm nuts. she said she thought i was going to be a great mentor, and that she's always amazed when people are brave enough to sign up for their second event when they hadn't completed the first yet. ha. yes...brave, stupid, hopelessly optimistic - whatever you prefer.

cheers from massachusetts, christmas greetings and a run update for you tomorrow.

today's mileage: 8.0
total mileage: 315.5