Ramping up

I still have yet to sign on the dotted line for Washington, but if my mood and efforts this week about running are any indication, I think I'm starting to get mentally ready. And what a difference sun and positive temperature makes. If memory serves, this is the highest mileage week I've put together since... well, probably when I was officially training for Chicago last year.

Thursday - planning ahead
A beloved colleague is transferring to Paris and we had to send him off in style, or at least hungover on the plane the next day. Knowing that it was going to be a long night at the bar, I decided to run in the morning. And like I did several times last year, I packed my work clothes into the car and sent CMan ahead to his work where I would meet him about 45 minutes later. I forgot how nice it is to run outside in the morning. Mostly quiet, not a lot of cars spewing exhaust in your face. I might have to consider this option much much more. I got to thinking, if I run nearly 8K to work, and CMan drives about 6K to work, do our respective carbon footprints cancel each other out? Probably too simplistic a way of thinking about that.

Friday - tired but not hungover
So it was a late night as predicted and I had to open the office at 6:30a.m. The reality is that I'm not as young as I used to be and I actually do need a little bit of sleep. And I didn't even sleep well. Boo. Thankfully, for me and everyone involved in the festivities the night before, it was a relatively uneventful day at work. The great thing about opening the office is that you're the first one out. And on a bright sunny day, especially a Long Weekend, it feels even better. I had dragged my running gear to work, with the grand plan of making myself go for a run by the water before heading to my 6p.m. spa appointment (a pre-wedding facial! And a run before will get my face suitably grunged up to be deep-cleaned).
I started slowly and kept a very plodding pace. Every footfall felt heavy. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go, or would be able to go. Maybe it's because I associate a good chunk of this 12.6K route with Yumke so I just wanted to do well. So I had to keep moving, in case I ran into him. I wanted to be in good form!

Tally: 27.6 kilometers/17.1 miles this week (and the week isn't even done yet!). Am I ready to devote more time to get to D.C.?