on the road again

i was very well behaved and followed my coach's suggestion of laying off the running until today's long run. it wasn't easy - the weather was lovely for running, i took a few days off work to spend time with my boyfriend and his family so i had some time, and you know how it is when you want to do something simply because you're not supposed to.

we also came out to new jersey yesterday, and the roads around here are hilly hilly hilly. the schedule called for a 7-9 mile run, and because of my testy hip and the hills, i decided i'd plot a course for the lower end of that range, trying to be wise. i used the trusty gmap-pedometer.com to figure out a down and back course that would provide a little convenience store in the middle to refill my fuel belt, and figured i'd go just 7 miles.

i stayed up a little late, and so was a little late getting out of the house - i probably didn't leave until about 10 or so. it was almost 70 degrees, but really wonderfully breezy. part of the route i was running, i had run before and it had been *hard*, but that was early early on, and i was feeling optimistic.

my run took me up and down many hills. i started to count, but then was focused on actually running said hills and lost track. i made sure not to run too fast, and i took it easy on both the uphills and the downhills - the downhills tend to be harder on my joints than the ups. while it was really hilly, it was certainly not monotonous...like running to coney island is.

i made it to the 1/2 point without any incident other than having to avoid a dead bambi on the side of the road (ick), got some gatorade and headed back up and down the way i came. i had a great run overall - as i crested a hill, and the ground leveled, i noticed i was positively cruising along - probably a little too fast - but it felt great. i've realized it takes a few miles for me to really warm up, and i start feeling my best after 4 miles or so.

i was feeling good enough that i tacked on a little extra run to the end of the road and back for a total of 7.7 miles, which was probably the effort of even more miles because of the hills. Not to mention, this run brings me to over 100 miles trained so far, which is pretty good if you ask me.

here you can see the route and the elevation which is quite the rollercoaster.



i'll try to do another 4 or so tomorrow because its likely i won't be running much on monday because we'll bus it back to the city early in the morning.

oh! and if you haven't seen we've also crossed the $1,000 mark in fundraising - yeeeeah!

today's mileage: 7.7
time run: not sure...i will buy new watch this weekend, i swear!
season mileage to date: 106.1