Red Won a Turkey Trot Scarf!

Had a GREAT workout doing intervals on Thursday. I again did my speedwork on the treadmill as I'm still learning what it feels like to do different paces. I did 3x 1 mile intervals with half mile jogs in between. My intervals were at 7:03 pace (exactly 8.5 mph on the mill). When I was doing these intervals, I kept thinking, "How in the world did I keep this pace up for 10K in the Turkey Trot last Fall??????" Somehow I managed. I have the Top 100 Turkey Trot scarf to prove it! (I wear it everywhere - I'm so proud!) But I'm still not convinced it wasn't a fluke. I'm longing for my next 10K to see if I can do a repeat performance. I tell ya, race-day adrenaline must be super-potent, because I'm still in shock at my time.

So my hubby got a call a few days ago from someone involved with the Stoney Creek Running Club. We've been thinking of joining up for a few months. It'd be great to meet fellow addicts - er, I mean, runners. I'm kind of a solo-trainer, but that doesn't mean I'm entirely anti-social. We already know several people in the club anyway, and it'd be nice to meet some more. Perhaps I'll find running with others will push me to limits I didn't know existed. Perhaps I'll learn some training and racing tips from far more seasoned runners. Perhaps I'll just have a great time!

Anyway, the call was a personal invitation to the Sunday group run at the park. It is "Bagel Sunday", so that means free food and coffee after the run. That always helps motivation to attend! Plus, apparently there will be a few reporters on-hand from local papers to do write-ups about, well, running is my guess. Some of the elite Brooks-Hanson's guys and gals will be there too. I wonder if we got invited to help swell the ranks and impress the reporters. heh. I still think I'll put it on my calender. Free food, free food, free food...

Snowy Run

Matt and I drove out to Stony Creek Metropark again for our run this morning. It was about 22F and snowing - a lot. Snow. Lots of it. I have proof. We brought a camera. Now you can see how obsessed we are. Snow, shmo! I am running! I even had icicles on my eyebrows at the end. I wish we had thought to take a photo of that! Oh, I almost forgot to mention. The snow was blowing UP at times. I swear to god, UP. The snow was literally defying gravity. Weird.

We met another Stony Creek Running Club member. Morry. At least I think that's how he spelled it. He caught up with us at about mile 4 1/2 out of 6, so we jogged and chatted for a short time. Anyway, he got us thinking about joining up with the running club again. I think Matt is motivated to get up early tomorrow and join the group at Stony Creek at 8am. It's bagel Sunday, so if we do it, we get free food and coffee! Woo! That always helps in the motivation department.

First Group Run - kinda

Matt and I met a handful of Running Club members at the post-Detroit Marathon party last week and one lady told us about the group run that takes off from the Hanson's running store near our house. It sounded fun so we got up early today and walked to the store to meet up with the group. Unfortunately, I couldn't get Matt out the door early enough to get there with enough time to talk to anyone before they started the run. We barely made it in time period! I was a little miffed.

We ended up running by ourselves, though we kept a group of gals in sight most of the way so we could follow their route. The route was great! It was on dirt back roads most of the way. We hardly saw any traffic. The sun was just coming up. We saw it rise over one of Orion's many lakes. The trees are about at peak color, so the views were fantastic. Plus, I felt great this morning so the run went really well. I felt like I could have run forever. As it was, we did about 11 miles. I intended to do about 14 today, but I'm flexible! I have many months before I need to be able to finish 26.2!!

On our way to the store this morning, a group of the elite Hanson's boys ran past us. Matt knows a few of them since they frequent his pizza place. Most of them also work at Hanson's running store. I was amazed that they all remembered Matt's finishing time for the marathon! They all congratulated him. Nice guys.

Anyway, next Sunday the group run is at the metropark. I hope we can get there in plenty of time to meet people before everyone takes off!

I also hope to have my new Subaru by then!!!!