Week One

That's me in toward the
back in the bright yellow hat.

Today was my first long run of the season. As I heard someone say after the run "only 16 more to go." When you say it like that, it doesn't sound that bad does it? Of course, the week after 17 is the worst long run of them all (or best if you have a good attitude).

Anyway, running with CARA and a big group is way different than what I did last time to train for the marathon. First off, the path is a lot more crowded on Saturday mornings than it is on Sundays as most of the training groups run on Saturdays. There is a training group on Sunday mornings, so I could go out with them, but the nice thing about running on Saturday mornings is once it's done you're done for the weekend, which is really nice.

There are of course a ton more people running summer marathon training than there were during winter half training. It's great to see so many people and be part of such a big group, even if it does make the lake front kinda crowded. I feel bad for all the other runners out there that are not running with groups and I feel really bad for the cyclists. I know how frustrating it is to have to get around big groups of people. And no matter how hard runners try to stay over to the side, when you've got 10, 20 or more people in your group, it tends to spread out. Not to mention there are other people on the path. That and the fact that the path is pretty narrow in places and there are some cyclists who don't want to slow down no matter what, and, well, let's just say last week I came pretty close to getting hit and learned (relearned) a lesson to stay over as much as possible. I've been on both sides of this coin as I've done some pretty major bike training up and down the path, but at the end of the day, when it's crowded, bikers should slow down and for safety sake, it would be great if they could at least announce themselves when they're coming up on a group of runners. Usually we'll move over. Now, walkers walking four abreast...that's another story.

England Monster says "Go ENGLAND" 

So it's been a crazy week for me. I'm going to Paris tonight for work and, more importantly, my sister is graduating with her master's. So last night was a hooding ceremony but unfortunately due to time constraints, I wasn't able to make the commencement this morning. I did think of her every mile and, don't tell her, plan to pick her up something special in Paris. On top of that, of course, I had work to do and also had to finish knitting the England Monster before I left so Mr. H. would have it for tonight's World Cup game.

So I'm off in a couple of hours. I'll be doing two of my mid week runs in Paris, which should be fun, if I don't get lost.

Thanks to everyone who has donated so far: Dad, Sarah, Jamie, Grandpa, Brett, Katie, Alain, Joanna, Paul and Meschelle!

Stats for the week:

• Miles run: 15
• Miles left to go: 446.2
• Raised so far: $494.20
• Left to go: $505.80