Bucharest!

I had my first run in Bucharest today. It wasn't very long, but it felt good to get out there. There's a beautiful park that I live right next to that is a great place to run. The Romanians kept staring at me though. I don't think they're used to seeing people out running for fun.

4 miles!

Ran 4 miles mit dem Baer diese Morgen! Ja ja! I tried to pull out at the 3 mile mark, but Bethany was ready to go the distance, so - in a fit of guilt, ungoaded by Bethany - I kept going. I'm already pretty sore. I don't want to think about tomorrow.

Victory!

Okay, so maybe that's too strong of a word. But at 7:00 this morning, my plan to run 2 miles seemed like a really bad one. So I began listing excuses in head of why I didn't need to run. My ear hurt. I was sore and needed the rest, right? I had a long day ahead of me, and could use the sleep. I was about to roll over and fall back asleep, when the idea of making running a lifestyle, a habit, rather than a chore popped into my head. I got up, threw on my clothes and ran. I was right; my ear DID hurt, I WAS sore, and I DO have a long day ahead. But I still ran my two miles and it was good. This probably seems really trivial (it's only a 2 mile run, E) but I hope it represents an important shift in thinking.

In related news, I am SORE. I can run 4 miles and have absolutely no soreness, but I did 30 reps of lunges with 10 pound weights in the gym on Monday, and I have been insanely sore ever since. I guess it shows the necessity of cross-training. Dad, part of reason I ran today despite soreness was the many years of you waxing poetic about the virtues of working off the lactic acid. :)

My Sunday Afternoon Stroll ... er ... Run

Ran 4 miles this afternoon. It was a really beautiful Sunday afternoon and a nice run. I ran down Southwest Trafficway to 43rd and the up Main until 31st. I really hate running on Main St., because there are a lot of people and not a lot of sidewalk, but it always ends up being a part of my runs for some reason.

My goal for the next several weeks is to make running a habit, something I've never really quite achieved.

Click here for an article.

That article is a pretty helpful resource. So far, I've done the first two steps. I think I probably won't get bored, since I'll be in Romania in a few weeks, and that should keep running fairly interesting. My downfalls are mainly weather and sleep oriented. If the weather is even a little bad, I use it as an excuse not to run. And a lot of mornings, I manage to persuade myself that I need sleep more than I need to run. Things to work on!

Dad and I are running 5 miles this Sunday. Yay!

Mall + Runners - Tourists = Amazing Run

I just got done running my 4-miler. It was a good run! Today's high is supposed to be 92 degrees, so I got an early start. I was still absolutely soaked by the end of it. I took a four mile loop down 23rd street to Lincoln, over to circle the Washington Monument and then headed back (and yes, the hill on 23rd past the State Department almost killed me). The best part was discovering that at 7am on a Sunday morning, there are more runners than tourists on the Mall; what an excellent DC discovery!

Also, I don't know how B and I trained for the marathon in DC without a water belt. That thing is a life saver and will probably prevent severe dehydration in the future!

I'm trying not to get in the habit of passing out for a 2 hour nap immediately after every run... It's probably a necessary thing later down the road as the mileage increases and the runs get earlier, but right now I'm trying to stay awake and active after runs. Off to brunch!