Miles 16.5-21

James and I emerged from the house this morning dressed for winter weather. Imagine our surprise, then, when we found not only the blue sunny skies of North Carolina but also the warmth of 40°F light winds. 

Lovely.

After yesterday's strength training session, today's long run was a bit of a doozie.  It wasn't so much the sore quads from those killer squats (they loosened up around mile 2), it was the sore shoulders, upper back and abs. If I could have let my legs run while my upper torso laid at home moaning, I would have been just fine. 


James planned a 9 miler for himself today, so I tagged along for the first 5.5 miles. The fact that I could split off from James at that marker reminded me of just how fortunate we are to live where we do. Though fairly small, our neighborhood easily connects to four other neighborhoods.  Each one has at least one major loop (if not a series of them), allowing us to create any number of different mileage options (the 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5.5, 7, 9, 10 being our most often used). Before this Christmas, we didn't have a Garmin to help track the mile, so we used Gmap-Pedometer to help us plot our courses. 

One thing our routes don't have? Hills. After running on flat ground for 3 years, I'm itching for some incline changes that don't involve the pre-programmed settings on the gym's treadmill. 


And I'm going to need the practice if I am to keep up with my mom and sister at the upcoming 2011 GO! St. Louis Half-Marathon.

Look out, race. Janet, Emily, and Erin are going to bring it.