A baby boy...

It's a baby boy for Angie and Keith, Noah Andrew. He was born on his due date, January 30th around 9am, 7lbs 2oz, 20 inches.

I will post pictures when I have them...

Congratulations Angie, when do we start running again??

Running Tights

I love my running tights. Seriously. I bought my first pair after my eldest child was born and I was looking for some running motivation. I would put them on in the morning and all it took was a couple horrific passes by a mirror and I would be out the door! Last winter I spent weeks looking for a couple more pairs. I bought an Under Armor pair from REI and ended up returning them because they would fall down the whole run. Now if you think it is annoying when hose fall down you have not run in tights that are falling down. NIGHTMARE!!!! Then I found some that worked and I was in love. I feel like I have a relationship with my tights. They are with me on the hard runs, the long runs, the freezing cold runs and they do their job well.

This is all background for today's events. My husband is out of town so running is on a when-I-can-fit-it-in basis. Today I had a babysitter for a few hours and I needed to go to the grocery store, visit a friend, and squeeze in a run. I decided it was best to do it in that order as well (partially because I had to go to the grocery store first as we had no toilet paper or apple juice in the house, yikes!). So I dressed for my run and left the house.

Long story short... I did not feel the love I normally have for my tights while grocery shopping with other fully clothed people. I found myself doubting one of my favorite articles of clothing. The rift between me and my tights is not permanent but I don't think I will be wearing them in a non-athletic situation any time in the future.

So for anyone in the Harris Teeter on Lee Highway at around 11:30am today, the woman in the tights doesn't think she is hot stuff...her husband is just out of town!

Question of the Week

When is Angie going to have her baby?

I think we should start a pool......My guess is Friday Jan 25th at 2:07pm

Any other takers?

Speed work

YUCK. That is the first thing I think of when those two horrible words come to mind. And we start this Thursday. Double YUCK. We did a semi-tempo run last Thurs so this week it is intervals. Again, YUCK. The only thing I cling onto is the workout is fast and I get an extra half hour of sleep! Between 5 and 6am every second counts. So I will report on how the intervals go this week. The plan is to do either a tempo run or intervals every other week, it will help out in race times but will be hard for the training.

I feel like we are getting into a little bit of a rut and my mid-section is paying the consequences. I am going to try to be more regular with Pilates as that helps my running immensely. The nice thing is that we don't really have to up mileage for another couple of months. We are at about 26 miles a week or so and I feel comfortable with that for my base. Can't wait to start racing again...

Registered

Just registered for Zooma Annapolis. Allison has as well. I can't wait, it should be so much fun. Now I just need to sign up for the Baltimore Marathon. It is always so hard for me to actually pull the trigger on registrations. Anyone else have that problem? I probably look at the web page about 15 times and fill it out at least twice before I finally submit it. I know, I know......commitment problems!!!

The good news is we ran this morning and so are off tomorrow....So we don't have to worry about breaking anything running in snow and/or ice. Should all melt by Saturday so we should be all set for the long weekend run. And then Starbucks afterward, that makes the whole 10 miles totally worth it!!!

Group Picture

Here is a picture of everyone at Starbucks after a Saturday long run. Seriously, we don't only wear those "Virginia is for Runners" tee-shirts, just every time we are photographed!

Races

So here is the list of races up for consideration or that we are signed up for in 2008:

March 9 (Sun) - St Patrick's Day 8K (DC)
March 29 (Sat) - National Marathon and Half Marathon
April 6 (Sun) - Cherry Blossom 10 Miler
May 10 (Sat) - Arlington Battle of the Boulevard 10K
May 11 (Sun) - Virginia Run Sprint Triathlon
June 1 (Sun) - Zooma Annapolis Women's Half Marathon and 10K
July 19 (Sat) - Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K Runfest

Fall Marathon Choices in the area:
Oct 11 (Sat) - Baltimore Marathon
Nov 15 (Sat) - Richmond Marathon
Nov 23 (Sun) - Philly Marathon

Photos

I must admit I love blogs. Maybe not my own, but other people's and most importantly I love seeing pictures. So today I am posting some photos of our group. These are after the Marine Corps Marathon October 28th 2007.

New, New, New.

New year, new blog, new race team......I don't think I can handle all the change!

Coldest run of the season this morning, 5 miles at 19 degrees. Body temp was fine but my face was freezing at the beginning. I eventually warmed up and I feel like I will be able to handle this winter. The hardest part for me is getting out of the car at Gina's house. There is nothing better than a cold morning, running tights, and seat warmers.....mmmmmmm. But then you have to exit the car and start running, painful.

It is nice to spend time outside in the cold air and clear your lungs, I also love the ritual of dressing in the many layers required in the winter. Laying out the short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt, vest, jacket, tights, etc. the night before, checking the weather report to see the temperature in the morning. Those are all the things I love about winter running!