It's pleasant outside now, but this morning since I am a slave to the schedule of other runners, I started running at 7:15am in 6 degree weather with the GFRC runners. I had frost on my face, in my hair, and my butt was numb for the first 10 miles. My fuel belt drinks even became slushy!!! The other runners adviced me to put the belt under my layers to keep from freezing.
It was a nice run though, a beautiful morning with the sun shining through the trees. I ran with six other club members. We all started out in a pack and then slowly broke apart. For the first few miles, I had a conversation with Karen Oleski about training. Karen is sixty years old and running Boston for the 2nd time. She's run numerous marathons, but decided Boston would be her treat this year. To proceed her advice, Karen mentioned our age, experience and goal differences, but our goals are not all that much different. It's almost as if she read my blog last night, she assured me that training is very individual and to not worry about other one else with their speed workouts. Listening to your own body, and adding workouts, or missing a workout as needed is best. It was great to hear this advice from a vetran runner like Karen!
As she mentioned that training is an individual thing, I took off to catch up with the faster runners. I spent a few miles running on my own, enjoying the scenary, and concentrating on my form.
Then I finally caught up with Mike, Paul and Rosanna. We enjoyed a steady 9 minute mile pace together. Rosanna and I ran together for about 10 miles. For that amount of distance, it's a little over an hour of conversation, which I love. It's a great way to make a connection and I always get great advice.
Rosanna - my 14 mile running buddy
Rosanna mentioned that it's a MUST to wear a Hat during a hot sunny race. It never dawned on me, and over the months of advice, I had not heard that one yet. Personally, I had plans to wear braids and look adorable as I ran down the street... hats are useful, but I'm sure I will look ridiculous. Rosanna made in no uncertain terms that a hat is a must so I will pick one up for the occasion! She also sparked an excitement for a future running mission. Rosanna ran the Great Wall Marathon and spent two weeks on vacation with friends. I thought a destination marathon would be tricky, but running a marathon in another country sounds like the perfect addition to a vacation. So much to look forward to!
This was a critical run in my training. Each long weekend run is a victory now until the marathon since each run is the longest that I EVER done.
Overall, I'm happy that I joined the GFRC vs the Bottom Line charity group for this run. The charity was running along the Charles again today... and it's nice, but the hills of Holliston are more exciting! And, it's nice to check in with all the GFRC runners. They're all very supportive and excited about my marathon journey. They all have so much experience, advice and the meetings always cause me to laugh a lot... For instance, Maureen and Bruce's reaction of "Yes. - You should take one." to Barry's declaration of"Showers after the Marathon." I guess you had to be there, but it cracks me up still!
Well here is the Nike Plus result... I really ran 14 miles at a 9 minute pace. The MapMyRun says 14 miles. With the nice weather tomorrow, I'm going to run 1 mile around the track to calibrate my pod. Also a funny thing that needs to be clarified. I am always using my Nike iPod, but I never use any music!
Thanks to everyone for their donations!
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