WANDERING AIMLESSLY

Yes, I’m back to work this week. The company survived without me. I stayed up way too late (10:15) last night, but still forced myself to get out of bed at 5:15 and get my run in. The best way for me to get consistent and build my mileage is to get out the door first thing in the morning.

Getting consistent and developing a routine is hard enough under “normal” circumstances. However, not only am I coming off of an injury, but I also have to find all new running routes near work. Before my company moved locations I had access to great wide, flat, soft, non-motorized trails. Now I’m “stuck” in an industrial park where the lack of bike paths/side walks is rapidly becoming apparent. This morning it took me 15 minutes just to get to a decent bike path.

I’m always amazed at how long 60 minutes of wandering aimlessly feels compared to 60 minutes on a familiar route. I know this feeling will pass with time and that I’ll find some decent running routes, but right now it’s just bad timing. I’d love to be able to run on my old trails and just think about my next blog entry, rather than whether or not the next car will see me.

So where am I at mileage-wise? Two weeks ago – my first week “back” – I ran 32 miles on 5 days. Last week I ran 40 miles on 5 days. This week I’m hoping for around 50 miles on 6 or 7 days. Yesterday I pushed Katie in the stroller for 5 miles. I wish I could do that more often, but it’s tough since I usually only run from home once or twice a week. Anyway, she is fast becoming the most quoted person on my blog as I’m including two quotes from yesterday’s run. The first occurred when I was running about 9:00 pace. The second occurred about 5 minutes later as I was running downhill at about 7:30 pace.

Quotes of the day:

“Daddy, you’re a fast runner.”

“Faster, daddy. Faster!”