A Very Slow Start (But a Start Nonetheless)

So, technically, this week was the first week of my Hanson's training plan for the Chicago Marathon.  18 weeks from today, if all goes according to plan, I will be lining up in Chicago and setting out to run 26.2 miles.  (This seems ridiculous right now.)

But, this week was also doing double duty as a good recovery week from the Windermere Half, and, if I'm being totally honest, a big "welcome to the glorious decadence of Summer -- enjoy it while you can" week.

So, I was very social.  In lieu of a scheduled run, if there was an opportunity to talk on the phone and walk, I did so.  There were two opportunities to run-walk with friends and chat, and I took advantage of both, opting to count total mileage and not worry about total time running.    Friends of mine who are moms had time to go out to dinner now that their kids' school schedules had changed and I took advantage of that too (I didn't get home 'til 11:45 PM!).  And, this Thursday, in a surprise after last week's soft opening BBQ, we hosted a *huge* barbeque full of perhaps the most eclectic cross-section of our friends that has ever graced our home and I didn't get to bed 'til 12:30 AM.

I walked every day this week.  But, I didn't run very much.  And I didn't run faster than 10 min/mile at all.

However, I managed 32.62 miles total, approximately 10 miles of actually running, and I feel ready to head into next week's running mileage.

My favorite run, by far, was today's 4.2 miles of run-walking with E2 in the early morning calm of Santa Cruz fog and surf.  Years ago, E2 was my go-to run buddy.  But she's been battling injuries and stress-related pain for several years.  Recently, she's gotten her pain under better control and has started running a bit, so today, after they graciously hosted us for a Saturday night evening, we left their home and headed out for a beautiful fog-covered run along the harbor, out to the lighthouse, along the beach, through neighborhoods and back to their home as the fog burned off in a wonderfully awesome return to something I've missed so very much.  There are few things better than a good run and chat with a good friend.  Oh, unless that's followed up by some much needed rolling and stretching and a perfect bloody mary and brunch overlooking the harbor under the bright blue sky.