Are You There God? It's Me, Sweathead

A 5 mile run at 8:45 in the morning.  I thought I would beat the heat.  Uh-uh.  The entire run I was praying to myself, "Please God, let it be 35 degrees on June 23.  Amen."  Let's see if He comes through.  If my prayer is not answered, well, I don't think I need to explain what that means (But if I did,  June 23 + heat = Atheism).

So now that I have blasphemed, not only will it be 137 degrees on June 23, but I will probably get struck by heat lightning...after being hunted by wolves...because I had to go to the bathroom in the woods...  These kinds of things happen to blasphemous Catholic school alumnae.  Who run.

It's Getting Hot In Here

Monday after the 10.112 Mile (That .112 is very important, don't ya know?), I did a 5 mile recovery run with the baby in the jogger stroller.  It was perfect running weather, cool and overcast.  Yesterday, it poured so I took the day off.

Today was speed work.  My schedule had me doing 3X1600s.  No track was available this morning, so I did some guess work on the streets.  I started off running for 2:30 at a slow, comfortable pace, then picked it up to a 10k/5k pace for 8 minutes and repeated three times.  My pickup pace was really supposed to be a half marathon pace, which I figured to be around 8:00-8:05.  I wound up doing the whole run at a 7:45 average.  Too fast?  Dunno.  This run seemed more like a tempo run than anything else.  Whatever.

So when I set out on my run this morning, the temperature was in the low 60s.  Not bad.  By the end, I felt overheated.  The warm weather has arrived.  It's supposed to be 90 either tomorrow or Friday.  What the fruck?  I'm kind of nervous about the forecast for our half marathon at the end of June.  I would welcome rain, if it's going to be Hell Hot.  This is the only instance where rain is a welcome relief.  My sister-in-law's brother just ran the Vermont City Marathon this past Sunday in the cold, pouring rain on ski mountains  (Remember it felt like March in metro NY?  It probably felt like January in northern New England!).  It was his first marathon.  If this was my first marathon experience, it very well may be my last.  I give him a lot of credit for persevering.

On a happy note, New Running Friend, Leah said there may be a spot for me in the Ocean to Sound 50 Mile Relay in September!  I'm psyched!

Long Beach Mayor's 10.118 Mile Trophy Run Review, aka Long Beach City Manager's 10 Mile Trophy Run*

I woke up at 6:30am and before you knew it the Nun arrived.  We drove to the Long Beach Recreation Center on Magnolia Drive.  We picked up our numbers and t-shirts (Mediocre cotton).  I asked the volunteer if any of the course was on the boardwalk.  She asked, "What boardwalk?"  I was disappointed to find out it was still unfinished for beach season (Although judging by this weekend's weather, you'd think it was March), but honestly a little relieved we wouldn't be subject to the direct wind from the ocean.  There was just enough time to drop off the shirts in my car and use the bathroom.  I looked for Tova (my new running friend whom I met on Thursday), but did not see her in the crowd.  The Nun and I walked to the start on Park Avenue.  It was a chilly 52 degrees and windy.

A lovely woman dressed in a military uniform sang the National Anthem with veterans at her side holding flags.  Always a moving moment.  Alicia and I said goodbye until the finish line.  The one wheelchair participant started first, and then everyone else 30 seconds behind.  I hit mile 1 at 7:37 even though I was trying to start out at an 8 minute pace.  I didn't freak and just went with it.  Mile 2 was 16:22.  I tried to hang behind a chatty group of about 8 or 9 older men.  I didn't have my music so I figured I could be mildly entertained, if not distracted by their conversation.  I started to get pretty warm in my sports bra, Uniqlo tank top, turtle neck, and Lucky T-shirt.  I slipped my turtle neck off while keeping the t-shirt over it still on, not an easy feat while running.  After this little stunt, I lost contact with the group of chatty men.  We were running the first of many long stretches east on Broadway, one block north of the ocean.  I could see the topless pylons which used to support the boardwalk.  A sad sight.

I hit Mile 3 at 23:46 (I kind of wanted to stop running at this point and sit on the side of the road for a little while.  This feeling stayed with me throughout the rest of the race).  We turned around and ran another long stretch on West Olive heading back west.  Every time we headed west, the wind was against us.  I got to the 4 mile marker at 31:xx.  I think the 5 mile marker was MIA.  I got to 6 miles at 47:xx.  This was a nice surprise, faster than my fastest 10k.  I waited to hit 7 miles between 54 and 55 minutes.  I didn't see it until almost 57 minutes.  Odd.  We headed north and then east again on the same street where I parked my car.  At this point we could see the front runners running in the opposite direction on the other side of the road.  I hit Mile 9 at 1:12.  I knew if I wanted to beat my time of 1:20:02 I needed to hustle.  No fade (which is exactly what happened last year at this point).  The last quarter mile I was neck and neck with an older gentleman.  A man on the sidewalk shouted to me, "You can beat him!!!"  This was the little push that I needed.  I saw the clock in the distance read 1:19:xx.  I wanted to come in under 1:20 more than beat the guy next me.  I broke away and hit the mat at 1:19:57...or so I thought.

I grabbed the juiciest red delicious apple and orange Gatorade and headed back to my car to grab my phone.  I saw Tova had texted me what she was wearing.  I found her and Leah, whom she met racing to the finish.  Leah is also a marathoner.  She's hoping to run the Marine Corps Marathon this year.  I think Tova has an eye for really nice, cool, fellow runners.  Not surprising since she seems to be one of the friendliest, most outgoing people I have met (another one would be my neighbor, the one who introduced us).

Tova and Leah had some interesting news.  Apparently, the race was misdirected and wound up being longer than 10 miles.  It was 10.118 miles to be exact.  I think Tova told me to go grab my ticket over by the FLRRT van with the results.  I have never seen an individual ticket given out at a race, so I'm not quite sure what she was talking about.  I went to the van and saw they posted the results on the side.  They had me down as finishing at 1:20:00 exactly.  Um, I really thought I finished at 1:19:57.  I mean, a 5 second PR sounds so much faster than a 2 second PR, at least in my head.  They adjusted the pace to the true distance.  My pace was 7:55.  If the race had actually been 10 miles, my finish time would have been 1:19:10.  A 52 second PR is even better!  I finished 4th out of 32 in my age group, 16th out of 159 women, and 86th out of 384 total.

The Nun crossed the finish line a lot faster than I expected.  She looked great.  I was so proud of her since this was the farthest she had ever run.  We are ready for Stratton-Faxon, baby!

Tova, Me, Leah

The Nun and I

*Active.com changed the name of  the race to reflect the new distance.

Good Vibrations

I have been having my usual pre-race doubts about tomorrow's 10 miler.  I had a very low mileage week and didn't run today or yesterday (Cold rain at the end of May is a perfectly legitimate excuse).

As we were leaving our house to go get some family friendly pasta at Olive Garden (I had the capellini pomodoro with shrimp, which was yummy), Pete noticed a package addressed to me at the front door.  It was from the Wampanoag Running Club.  Why it was my race shirt (Size small, no less) from the February Old Fashioned Ten Miler that was cancelled due to a snow storm!  Right after the race was cancelled the organizers sent out an email to everyone who registered explaining that not only will the race not be rescheduled, but we will not be refunded the entrance fee, nor will we get the race shirt we paid for.  And fuck you very much, too.  I was extremely annoyed at the time, but eventually new annoyances took its place and I moved on.  What a nice surprise (Three months later...)!  Better late than never, right?  And receiving it the day before another ten mile race?  I'm suddenly picking up good vibrations about tomorrow.

The Nun is going to come to the house at 7 in the morning and then we will head over to Long Beach for the 8am start.  Wish us luck.  I may not need it since I will be wearing my new lucky t-shirt.

Pterodactyl checking out my new lucky shirt.

Pre-race dinner

The No. 1 Ladies' Running Group

My friend invited me to join her and some other running ladies, whom I had never met before,  for some sushi at a local restaurant.  I happily tagged along.  If there's one thing I love more than sushi, it's talking about running.  I have a few friends who run, but most do not.  They are always sweet and ask me about my training and races, but honestly I feel like I am probably boring them to death because I could go on and on about the topic (Proof: this blog).  It was so nice to spend the evening with some ladies who share this special bond.  They welcomed me into their group and treated me as one of their own (Like what a pack of wolves* might do with a lost runner in the woods, hopefully) .  One woman (you know who you are) and I are practically the same runner.   We ran in a lot of the same races at almost the same paces.  We are the same age, so either she'll place one spot ahead of me or vice versa.  It turns out she will be doing the Long Beach Ten Miler on Sunday too!  Running is such a solitary sport at times, I am really so glad to have made this connection with such a lovely group.  I look forward to seeing them again, either pounding the pavement or pounding the beers...

So I finally got my 6.4 mile loop in for the week yesterday.  After eating late and having a few drinks last night, I decided to put today's run off until the afternoon.  Lucky Unlucky for me, it started raining and didn't stop.  No need for me to get cold (High temperature of 55 today!  What the?!?) and wet on the first day of a holiday weekend.  I'll make it up tomorrow.

* (First Blog footnote ever) After rereading this, I realized this might seem like I am comparing these women to a pack of wolves.  They are more like lambs, only lupine on the race course.  The original comparison was made out of my totally justified fears of getting lost, getting lost alone in the woods, and wolves rejecting me as one of their own.

Seriously, who wouldn't be freaked out by these adolescent, topless, acting challenged, poorly scripted wolves?  (Besides 'tween girls everywhere)

Memory Lane

I was due for some speed work so I went to Senator Michael J. Tully Park.  This used to be North Hempstead Town Park.  There is an indoor pool where my friend's mother used to take us swimming when we were little.  She would also use the track while my friends and I went off doing whatever nine year olds did in a park at night.

I ran CYO track as a child in elementary school and one year in high school.  I was pretty fast as a young kid, even though it would not be unusual for me to stop and wait for friends to catch up during races (What?!?).  I retired in fifth grade after a "mishap" during a meet when I dropped the baton.  I joined cross-country track my freshman year of high school.  I guess that one season was enough for me.  I also thought the coach was kind of a jerk.  Back then, I could think of a million other things I would have preferred to do after school rather than run (Top of the to-do list: Smoke cigarettes).

Fast forward to the summer before junior year of college.  I was dating a Naval Academy grad who was pretty fit coming back from the Persian Gulf (Apparently, there was a lot of down time on a ship in the middle of the Persian Gulf...).  I figured I should start doing some sort of exercise myself.  I guess bar hopping didn't count (whatever...).  I'll try running.  Didn't Madonna lose a ton of weight running with her bodyguards in Central Park in the late 80s?  Why yes, she did!  I remembered the track at North Hempstead where my friend's mother would take us.  I decided to start there.  I was too insecure to start running on the streets in my neighborhood.  The track would usually be empty, maybe two or three other runners.  It is surrounded by an industrial area.  No witnesses.  I dragged whomever was around (Usually my "sisters" and the boys I used to babysit) to accompany me.  If they weren't available, I'd go on my own.  I started out running 4 laps, cigarette break, run another 4, smoke, etc. (Yep, I know.  I was so cool back then...not)  I discovered the runner's high and was hooked.

Fast forward to today.  I am cigarette free; Naval Academy grad free (Thankfully...); I could care less who sees me out on the streets; I'm now a mother of four and still running!  Being at the park was like running down Memory Lane, literally.  The construction companies  are still surrounding the field.  The track itself has been resurfaced, nice and bouncy.  My bones were jumping with joy.  There was one other person there, a female walker (Who, by the way, was taking pictures of the nearby construction companies with her phone.  Odd.).  It was an overcast, humid afternoon.  I did my 4 X 800s (Two laps at a 5-10k pace four times with an easy lap in between each).  I left feeling twenty years younger (Or maybe that was the endorphin blitz).

Starbucks Is The Enemy

I did five miles yesterday afternoon around 3.  It was pretty warm.

Pete has had crazy work hours this past week.  He went in early this morning.  I took the two little ones out to do errands and then rewarded them (and me) with a visit to Barnes & Noble.  We love hanging out in the children's section almost as much as we love the café.  I got my usual grande decaf skinny mocha.  I also got a triple chocolate chunk cookie (I know, the chocolate thing is a sickness with me.  I may have the discipline to get my arse out on the road to run twelve miles on 3 hours sleep and bird food, but not have a taste of chocolate for a day?  Impossible.  I am pretty sure I have had chocolate every day of my life).  We headed back home around the baby's nap time.  It turned out Pete was headed home too for a couple of hours.  Oh goody!  I can get my run in!

I set out to do my 6.4 mile route around 12:30.  A couple of minutes in, I realized I was wearing my "walking around sneakers" - (gasp) Nikes!  This surely was a sign of what was to come.  I didn't feel like going back home to change shoes and be delayed even more.   One run won't kill me - or will it? (Imagine dramatic music playing)  So I keep going.   I pass the local college (Hi bathroom I've used many times in the past, but will inexplicably pass up today) at around 1.5 miles and a church (Hello secondary bathroom I've also used on many occasions in the past, which is also quite clean.  Bye-bye secondary bathroom.) right before the two mile marker.  Then nothing but houses for two long, long miles.  Did I mention I had a mocha latte and a chocolate chip cookie bonanza?  My stomach at this point was mocking me.  Did I really think I could get away with a run after a coffee/chocolate free-for-all?  Poor, poor planning.  I had to call Pete at 3 miles and have him pick me up.  End of run.

TMI, you say?  I'm thinking we have all experienced this or something similar, as runners.  Now you are all relieved to read that it's not just you.  We have all been there, done that.  Right?  ...anyone?  I'm hearing crickets, but I'm typing this at night...

Running On Empty

I headed out yesterday around 7:30am for my one hour forty-five minute run.  We were having a barbecue at the house in the afternoon and still had a lot of preparations to take care of, so I decided to stay close to home.

I ran to Lakeview Avenue and took that across to Malverne.  Instead of heading north, I went south through Lynbrook on Broadway.  This was a nice stretch, not too commercial.  Eventually, I made it down to East Rockaway Avenue in Hewlett Harbor.  The road is pretty narrow on this stretch.  There are some pretty homes.  I think Pete's childhood buddy lives close by.  I made a cautious left on Atlantic Avenue.  I knew I had to take Atlantic, but I could have sworn East Rockaway Ave turned into it.  I just hoped for the best at this point.  I was pretty tired.  I hadn't slept well (again) and also didn't eat for the occasion.  I seriously need to get carbs back into my life.  My bones felt achy and eighty-five year oldy (if you read it in print on my blog, of course it's a word!).  I regretted leaving my cell phone at home.  What if I get seriously lost and wind up running miles out of my way?  Will I be lost forever?  How would I get in touch with my family?  What will I eat?  Where will I sleep?  Will a pack of wild wolves take me in as one of their own or will they eat me alive?  Oh wait -- are those the train tracks on Sunrise Highway? Yay and phew!  Rather than go back through Malverne, I decided to take the path and sidewalk along Sunrise back to my neighborhood.  At some point Sunrise and Merrick Road cross.  When this happens, there's no sidewalk.  Sunrise is a major thoroughfare.  It got tricky, but I survived.  I made it back to my house in exactly 1:45.  I wound up doing twelve miles at an 8:43 pace.  Slow going, but considering I was running on empty, I'll take it.

May Race Is On

My regular 5 mile route this morning.  It was overcast, but definitely warmer than the last couple of days.

I am signed up for the Long Beach City Manager's 10 Mile Trophy Run on Sunday, May 26th.!  Yay!  I don't think I'm going to be as fast as last year, but I'm psyched to be there with my buddy, "The Nun".  Whoo hoo!

Before Hurricane Sandy, the boardwalk in Long Beach looked like this:

After the hurricane, it looked like this:

Back in February, the Long Beach Snowflake 4 Mile run was diverted from the boardwalk because it was still in disrepair.  I'm not sure of the condition today.  4 miles of the 10 mile race is usually on the boardwalk.  I hope it's back up for the sake of the residents.  Beach season is upon us and I would hate to see the town and the local businesses suffer yet another loss.  

Lions And Seagulls And Bears, Oh My!

6.4 miles yesterday and 5 this morning.  It's been chilly for mid-May at 9am, cold enough for pants and long sleeve shirts.

Now that May's race didn't happen, or should I say, happened without me, I need to find an alternative.  At the end of the month (Actually, the beginning of next month) I am due to run a 15k.  There is one Saturday of Memorial Day weekend in Lenox, Massachusetts.  It's a trail run in the Berkshires which sounds fun, right?  I figure since I'll be among 300 other runners, the chances of me getting eaten by a black bear decrease dramatically.  It is true that I have a fear of getting mauled by wild (and/or domesticated) animals, depending on what part of the country I'm running in (Florida = alligators, South Carolina = alligators and/or squirrels, Berkshires = bears, Long Island = bats, squirrels, and/or wild pit bulls, etc.)   I want to clarify that I am an animal advocate and lover.  Loving an animal does not also mean I am willing to be its lunch.  Anyway, participating in this event would require a weekend away.   Lenox is very close to our friend's camp where we usually stay, however there may not be any room that weekend.  The complicated logistics of a destination race need to be worked out.

The other choice is the Long Beach City Manager's 10 Mile Trophy Run which is the Sunday before Memorial Day.  I ran this race last year.  Even though it down poured for the first six miles, I was able to finish in 1:20:21, an 8:02 pace.  I was very pleased with this time.  It's a flat and easy course.  It's also only 15 minutes from home.  Easy peasy.  My biggest draw is that my buddy, "The Nun" will be in town that weekend and might possibly do it with me!  What's better than that?  (No bears in Long Beach, just a number of insolent seagulls.  Last I checked, seagulls don't eat people.  Just their lunches.  Sometimes right out of their hands.  Like my tuna fish sandwich in West Palm Beach.  Never.  Forget.)

Mother's Day 10K in Prospect Park

I didn't sleep well last night because of some annoying post-nasal drip crap going on in my head.  I reluctantly got up at 6:30 this morning.  I dressed 3 out of the 4 kids while Pete got coffee and bagels for the road.  It started raining at 7am so I grabbed my rain vest.

We took the Belt Parkway to Ocean Parkway and then made our way north to Prospect Park.  Even on a Sunday morning, there's traffic and poorly timed traffic lights.  I wanted to get there by 8:35 because the 10k start time was 8:50.  We made it to the park entrance at Ocean Avenue & Lincoln Avenue at exactly 8:30.  Pete dropped me off while he went looking for a parking space.  I ran over to the race staging area.   I saw a big finish line, but no start.  Hmmm...  It must be around a corner somewhere.  I asked someone where packet pickup was.  He led me to a suspiciously empty table with just one woman working behind it.  I told her I was picking up my 10k number.  Guess what!  They changed the start times.  I missed it.  Didn't I get the email?  Uh...no...that's why I'm standing here.  Of course, this turn of events was not the least bit surprising to me.  It is well documented that if there is a way to screw up race details of any kind, I'm your woman!  They apologized and gave me not one, but two very large race shirts (Size smalls are always the first to go).  I also can get a free entry into one of their fall races.  Okay, I'll take that.  I called Pete who still had not found a parking space.  He picked me up where he left me off.

Now what?  Well, we're in Brooklyn.  I decided I was going to run the perimeter of the park.  I've never done that before.  It should be around six miles.  Pete took off with the kids and I started my run.  After ten minutes, I found out long sleeves was not such a good idea.  I was uncomfortable, but it was manageable.  I ran on the sidewalks right outside the gates of the park.  I'm not a big fan of sidewalks.  I could hear my bones groaning, "Thud!  Thud!  Thud!" as I plodded along.  I realized after 23 minutes that my run was going to be closer to four miles than six.  Oh well.

I met up with Pete and the kids again.  My son was so psyched to be in Brooklyn for some reason.  He was doubly psyched because when I packed him into the car this morning while he was half asleep, I forgot to also throw his shoes in there.  He thought being Shoeless Joe in NYC was just about the coolest thing in the world.  We grabbed my grande decaf skinny mocha at the Park Slope Starbucks.  Everything turned out okay, after all.

Hope it was a happy Mother's Day for everyone else!

"Oops.  Did I forget something...?"

Shop Amnesia

I went to the high school track yesterday at around 6pm.  There was a father and son hitting baseballs on the field and a woman walking laps.  Pretty empty, but I wasn't complaining.  I did my 8 x 400s (8 laps at a 5-10k pace and 8 jogging laps) totaling 4 miles.

I was able to catch up on some much needed sleep.  My wonderful son made me breakfast in bed today because tomorrow we'll be rushing out the door at 7:30am for the Brooklyn 10k.  Afterwards, Pete and I did a short loop of the Sketchy Park trail at noon.  I noticed the construction crew that was cutting down trees on the north end of the trail did leave a bat house in tact on one of the last standing trees.  Yay bats!

I needed to get my eldest daughter some bathing suits for summer camp.  I went to TJ Maxx in Oceanside.  On the way to the girls' department, I "happened upon" the women's active wear.  They had some pretty good deals.  It would be a sin to pass them up.  Really.

Pretty much everything was 9.99 or 12.99.  Much better deals than Dick's and better selection than Modells.  

There weren't a lot of suits in my daughter's size (Oh yeah!  That's why I was there!) that she would be caught dead wearing, but I was able to find a cute red one-piece Speedo.  Perfect if she decides to join the swim team.  So on my outing to buy my daughter clothes, I wound up getting myself a new summer running wardrobe and her...one suit.  Bad mommy!  I'll try Marshalls tomorrow.  Hopefully, I won't have to pass the women's active wear on the way to the girls' department.

Where do you get your running apparel?

Glass Totally Empty

I got my 5 miles in yesterday morning a little after 7.  It was humid and gray, but I avoided any precipitation.  I did my 6.4 route this morning at 9.  Same weather as yesterday.

I keep track of my runs on Map My Run.  They changed their site once again, adding even more annoying advertisments.  I guess it's the price I pay for not actually paying the price.  If I upgrade their service for a fee, I can avoid the obnoxious advertisements.  It doesn't make sense for me to upgrade, though.  I map out new routes for mileage and keep a daily log on their site for free.  I really see no reason to pay for extras.  I appreciate the free service.  Making the free service so much of a nuisance, people buy memberships out of frustration, is douchebaggery (Sadly, you will not find this fine word in the dictionary) at its best.

On a more negative note, I am not feeling a PR for this Sunday's race.  I'm ill prepared for the 10k race distance.  Not enough 6+ mile runs.  I don't think the one 10+ mile run a week is sufficient for a PR.

On an even more negative note, I heard on the news today that more teenagers are dying from car crashes caused by texting than drunk driving.  Runners beware.

Tomorrow, Wendy...

Well, life happened this afternoon, instead of my run.  Pete got home from work early enough, but he was tired and napped, the neighborhood kids were playing in our backyard, Santos had his first t-ball game and practice early which meant dinner needed to be cooked and eaten earlier, blah, blah, blah no run.  On the plus side, I signed up for the Mother's Day 10k in Prospect Park and I went to see Iron Man 3 with Santos and an old friend.  Fun movie!!

Rain showers and a morning event in my 3 year old's school which means an early run tomorrow.  I have to get it in or I'll miss out again.  Can't forfeit two consecutive scheduled running days.  All work and no run makes Mama unhappy (and Jack dull).

A Perfect Mother's Day Gift

I took yesterday off.  Apparently, I was so tired from the 10+ miler (and two Communion parties) the day before, I actually passed out and napped in the car during my eldest's soccer game that evening.

I did an easy, slow 5 miles this morning at 9.  It was in the mid 50s.  The temperature has been downright chilly the past few days.  Tomorrow is speed work.  I have plans to see a friend in the evening, so I have to either find a track in the middle of the day or do a little schedule juggling.

According to my Hal Higdon Half Marathon plan, I am supposed to run a 10k race on Sunday.  I found only two in the area.  One is the New York Road Runners' Healthy Kidney 10k in Central Park on Saturday.  It sounds like fun, but getting to and from the park on a travel soccer Saturday is too stressful and unrealistic.  The other 10k is in Prospect Park on Sunday, Mother's Day at 8:50am.  This race is one of the many events at the park that morning, including a duathlon, a 5k, and some other sporty things I can't remember off the top of my head.  Santos has a soccer game around 11am.  I think I could swing this.  The entrance fee is $35.00 which is a little pricey.  I will discuss it with Pete.  Despite his recent unfortunate and relentless bout with PMS, he may be okay with watching his kids for a couple of hours that morning since it is Mother's Day.  If they ask me what I want for the occasion, I'll say, "A 10k."  Interesting gift, but I'll take it.

Sands Point

I went up to the north shore for my 90 minute run at noon.  It was around 67 degrees and sunny.  I decided to venture into Sands Point from my mother's house.  Running on Plandome Road into Port Washington becomes a little tricky because the road narrows.  I did a lot of sidewalk running.  The Port Washington dock overlooking Manhasset Bay is always a pretty sight.  I get nostalgic remembering my teenage years hanging out along the water here. Sands Point is a beautiful run because of all the gorgeous mansions (not so much when you have to go to the bathroom...sigh).  I took Port Washington Boulevard and Stonytown Road back to my mom's.  There were definitely some hills throughout the route.  I wound up doing 10.89 miles in 92 minutes and change, an 8:30 pace.  I'm very happy to have checked that off my weekend to-do list.

The Port Washington dock

Am I A Minimalist?

Quiet (No music) 5 mile run.  I took a different route today.  Sometimes a change of scenery is necessary.

I have two pairs of sneakers that I use regularly.  My Adidas Supernova Glide 5s I wear most days, then I switch them out for my Boston AdiZeroes for my long runs.  I'm due to replace the Supernovas, as much as I looooove them.  Under Armor posted a picture of Michael Phelps (Actually, just his feet) wearing a pair of minimalist running sneakers.  I kind of liked them.  I went on the website and saw the women's version.  I think I have to try a pair on.  I've never really considered getting minimalist sneakers in the past.   I see the shoes with toes and they just look strange.  I'm reminded of monkey feet or hand-feet (whatever that is), for some reason.  Not only do I have small, dainty feet (Two physical assets I feel comfortable boasting about.  The rest are not worth mentioning, unfortunately), but I also have short toes.  They would never fit into the hand-feet shoe-gloves.  Two races ago, also known as, two months ago, I got a 20% off coupon from the local running store in my goodie bag.  Maybe next week, I'll check out the Under Armors.  Hopefully, the coupon is still valid.

Women's Under Armor Micro g Toxic Six Running Shoe

Do you wear minimalist running shoes?  What are your thoughts about them?