#running librarian

I see you have registered for a "flat" half in Florida around the same time. Does this mean you're out for the Love Run?

Back in May, I started running with the Philadelphia Chapter of Achilles International. My first day I heard people planning 9 and 10 mile runs and felt totally intimidated. It wasn't that I couldn't run that distance, but I had never run that far with other people. So, when the woman who runs the group asked me how far I wanted to run, I just kind of stood there like a deer caught in headlights. Luckily, I then heard someone planning 3-4 miles and felt less panicked.

Since then, most Saturdays I look for the person looking to log the fewest miles under the theory that I won't be able to keep up with those doing longer runs. I've also run two dismal half marathons. Two years ago I ran the O'fest Half in Pennypack Park - a part trail, part path half - in 2.30 without stopping. I was logging sub-10 minute miles early on and just kept going. This year, I could barely break 2.45 and I was walking a lot. I'd get to five miles and think, "Oh, I can't keep running, I have to walk now." It's made me balk at even doing 10Ks lately, even though I PR'd by 4 minutes back in April.

Not sure where this fear came from. Maybe injuries? After that spectacular (for me) half two years ago, a stress fracture in my shin sidelined me for three months. After hitting my goal at the Steamtown Marathon last year, IT band issues kept me from running for four months.

Since the ODDyssey run in June, 2 or 3 miles has felt like my upper limit. Occasionally, I've handled 4 or 5 - those were usually Achilles runs.

I headed downtown yesterday. I met two of our newest athletes (walkers) at the train to walk up with them (both are visually impaired). I'm usually quick to walk since it feels less intimidating, but yesterday I really wanted to run, and there were lots of folks walking. One guy was going out and planning an 11-12 minute pace. But he was doing 10 miles (he's got two halves coming up in the next month). I could feel the deer in headlights thing coming on again. But I agreed to go out with him and his guide with the attitude, "I'll stick with you guys as long as I can."

Well, apparently "as long as I can" turns out to be 10 miles. I kept up, never fell behind, managed to talk the whole time, and took the lead for a little while. It was a glorious day for a run. Sunny, cool, not much wind. The Head of the Schuylkill Regatta was going on, so there were sculls all over the water. It also meant there were lots of people, strolling, so that slowed us down a little at a few points. We took quick breaks at the water fountains (because none of us had water with us), and a quick stretch break at the 5 mile turn around. We ran up the ramp from the trail to Market Street...I've always walked it. We got back to building with .13 miles to go, so we ran around the corner to finish the full 10. We came in at 2.01.

And I felt great. I still feel great today. My quads are a little sore, but not enough to make me walk funny.

This shouldn't be so shocking to me. But I don't think I'd have gotten here running on my own. I needed someone or a situation to challenge me with no room for excuses.

Seriously. I'm going to end up being one of those stories on the news about a runner who just keels over during a run. But it will be during  one of my morning runs, so I'll be demoted to "jogger" in the news story.

And it won't be one of those inspirational stories. It won't be because I've pushed myself too hard or trained for a super-duper ultra marathon and was clocking 300 miles a week.

Nope. I'm going to get scared to death during one of my runs. For example:

This morning, I managed to get my slow butt out of bed and do my three miles, as promised last night. (Turning on the heat in the house helped immensely.) I head out and at about the half mile mark, I saw a car driving very slowly down the street. If running didn't make me stupid, I would probably have taken note of this before the loud noise that made me jump out of my skin. It was the newspaper delivery, and he had thrown a paper up onto the walk of the house I was running past. I'm guessing he got a good laugh for the morning. So that was the first scare.

The third scare (I'm not mathematically challenged, the second scare will come last, because it's the most ridiculous) came around mile 2. Again, I run early in the morning, so at this time of year, it's dark for my whole run. Running up the street, minding my own business, when I came upon a bird who apparently wasn't paying attention to human bounding up the street in tons of reflective gear. He didn't fly away until I was two steps away from him. Then he took off in a flurry, that again, scared the bejeezus out of me.

Second scare came about three blocks after the newspaper incident. There's a little horseshoe street that I run around. I was coming up the back end of the horseshoe when I saw something small and black next to my feet. Now, in my defense, there are a number of houses along this block with "Beware of Dog" signs. So my mind processes this way, "Small ankle biter dog is chasing me." But no. No small dog. Just my own frelling shadow changing angle as I passed under a street light.

On the plus side, I got my three miles in. I even ran past the house and down two more blocks to get the last 2/10 mile in--which I totally didn't need to do, because my Garmin didn't kick in for about 3/10 of a mile, but I wanted my Garmin to say "3."

I am a total cold weather runner. And it's finally the perfect running weather. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to leave the warmth of my quilt the past two mornings. My clothes are all set out and waiting to go. It's just so warm under the covers. But I solemnly swear I will get my slow hiney out of bed tomorrow morning and run at least 3 miles.

And then I will enjoy pizza guilt free during poker tomorrow night.

This morning I ran my first 5K since May. I finished around 33 minutes. Not bad considering the crazy humidity and heat and the fact that I'm still clearing the year's first cold from my lungs.

I ran this race with a few of the kids from our cross country team. My school is really small, so we only have 6 kids on the team. And there's only one team against whom we have "meets." So, when the coach or one of the families finds a 5K that has some meaning to the kids, we encourage them to register.

I'm the "assistant Friday coach." Basically, I run with the kids at the Friday practices (the only day I don't have other after school obligations) and I bring up the rear, running with the slowest team members. At a race like today's, though, my role is slightly different. I'm sort of the opposite of the rabbit at the greyhound track. Since I am generally slower than all the kids, I'm the threat. My parting words at the starting line are, "Don't let me pass you." If someone starts dogging it during the run and I'm catching up, I start yelling that they're about to be passed by a slow old lady.

Our team did great. They all finished under 30 minutes. Hopefully it will give some of them a confidence boost for their meet on Tuesday.

So, the idea of a streak totally backfired on me. Running became a chore that I *had* to do, and I was choosing cleaning the litter boxes over running. I couldn't even stand the thought of starting along any of my usual routes (ugh, if I have to do down that street one. more. time.).

I had a couple of good runs while we were on vacation. The deer and chickens and goats helped. It was a lovely change of scene. But I still only went out four days.

School started back this week (at least for us teachers) so I'm up again at 5 and out around 5.30. Not sure why it takes me so long to get going, but c'est la vie. What a change from just a few weeks ago. It's still dark out during the 5 o'clock hour. So I had to dig out the Road Noise vest and the reflective belt. I feel like a Christmas tree when I head out the door.

I went out a little later this morning since we had the day off. And things just felt good. My legs weren't heavy. Although my lungs were, but I think it was just more humid than I realized. Got though 5 miles and probably could have kept going, except I didn't have any water with me and I was starting to get a headache. My time wasn't bad, although compared to folks like happyhealthycook, karikeepsrunning, and runningintshirt, my pace is glacial. I came in under a 12 minute pace. It's taken me a while to realize that my neighborhood pace is affected by street crossings and traffic lights. So, on a race course or on the path at Ridley Creek, where I wouldn't have to wait for traffic my pace would be a little bit better.

I did a slightly new course today. I never really go more than a mile from the house-just in case-so that means a lot of up and down streets. Except today I went back and forth. One of the "features" of our town is that there is no business. Which means we have lots of homes and they're all different. It's one of the things I love about running through the borough. There can be a brick house next to a stone house next to a vinyl sided house. It keeps things interesting, especially if I haven't been down those streets often.

I'm embracing the walk break. I'm not ready to run all of my half next weekend. But I think I can put in a respectable performance if I do a bit of walking. Fall is my injury season and I'm determined not to be on crutches or in therapy at the end of it this year.