8 mile Sunday

Slept over 9 hours and felt tired still when I woke up. All the training has been intense and felt so nice to sleep in a bit! Have been enjoying going to bed early too these days. Today was beautiful in Burlington. Set off my my usual bike path course with 8 miles on the agenda. Stayed pretty consistent with my 9 minute per mile pace. Practiced eating every mile from the 4 mile mark on as well. One shot block per mile. Feels like the constant fuel helps my energy.

One of the main things I have noticed with all this training is feeling positive and relaxing my mind. Long distance running feels meditative. Enjoyed being in the sun and taking in the Lake Champlain views.                    

Nice Little Saturday

4 mile run, pace is faster than what I want to do in NYC. Hoping this is a good thing. Will have to remind myself to take it slow at the start. Nice bkfst, reading, bath, haircut, grocery shopping at HL, now settling in for a movie. R&R is the goal this weekend.

On another note NYC saw its first snowfall of the year today. Better this weekend than next!

Friday After Work Run

Tapering down the miles. Have been fighting a cold this week, so took the last 2 days off from running. Felt much better today (thanks to daily fresh juices from Healthy Living) and was ready for a run after work. Beautiful day. Blue & red sunset hues colored the sky. Fluffy clouds, Adirondack mountain views and vibrant trees completed the Fall landscape in Vermont. Weather is getting much colder. A Burton hoodie, beanie and glove liners kept me toasty while I ran beside a choppy Lake Champlain. Noticed that my right ankle feels strong again after spraining it almost 2 months ago. (Still running in an ankle brace and wearing it throughout the day as well.) This time next week I'll be going to sleep so I can be awake and ready for my 5:30am flight to NYC. Trying to stay calm and making sure to rest this weekend in preparation for the big day. My main goal is to stay calm mentally while running the marathon, and be present, enjoying the views and experience as it will probably be the only time I run the streets of NYC with 40,000+ people. After the 20 mile night run I know I can do this. that said, I expect miles 20-26.2 especially to be a huge challenge. Off to read the latest Runner's World issue and catch a good night's sleep. Happy Halloween weekend! Excited to be a ghost this year & choose rest & running over parties and hangovers.

A squirrel decided the pumpkin I carved, aka lil guy, was a good snack :(
P: Lindsay Dorey

4+ Mile Lunch Run

It's been nice to have running friends at work. Ran with Mike & Jamie at lunch.
Good dudes! Mike ran a marathon 2 weeks ago where he set a Personal Record & is running the Shelburne 1/2 November 6th. (Same day as NYC.) Jamie is running the NYC marathon too. Will be his 2nd time running it. Has been awesome to hear their advice. Yay for running buddies!

Weekend Warrior

Slept in Sunday, truth be told all I wanted to do was relax on the couch and play guitar. But a 12 mile run was in the cards for that day. Set out on the run late afternoon, but not too late. For once evading nightfall and rain. Amazing! Kept a consistent pace I was happy with. Listened to Pandora on mix... lots of Radiohead & Björk kept my eardrums and soul happy. The weather was perfect. Crisp, Fall air. Not too hot, not too cold. 12 miles felt enjoyable compared to the 20 mile night run I finished the Sunday before. The colors were incredible. As I ran on my favorite part of the bike path I was tempted to shoot an iPhone photo, but didn't want to slow down and kept to the task at hand, making a mental photograph. Thinking about the lost art of painting pictures with words.

That said, I was happy to see this photo pop up on Facebook land later that night... Turned out my friend Randy captured the same view on his bike ride.

Dreamy BTV Bike Path View. Photo by Randy Torcom

4 mile Jaunt

Woke up Saturday feeling a little fuzzy from the night before. Jack & Gingers sounded like a good idea at the time. Was fun to play music into the wee hours of night, welcoming the next day. Luckily all I had to accomplish training-wise was a 4 mile run. Kept a good pace & got 'er done. Last party night for me til after November 6th!

Another rainy run. 

Night Fall

Day 6 in a row of training. Set out on what I thought would be a nice evening run while the sun set over Lake Champlain. Foliage is at it's peak right now, enhancing the reward. I got to enjoy a little bit of this then my sunset vision quickly turned to another night run in the rain. Didn't even have my headlamp this time, yet powered through the 5 miles holding my 9 minute per mile pace. Feels good to have gotten through that one. Tomorrow will be a well-earned rest day.