Marathon Monday

What do you do when you watch the forecast for the week and see you are about to get over a foot of snow, and you are trying your hardest to keep motivation for a May half marathon? You force yourself to run the day before the snow gets dumped on your region (at least it was more motivation for a weekday run).

Then you are faced with the aftermath of the massive snow. We were lucky to have our street plowed the morning after the storm. By plowed, I mean one little strip down the middle, but I will take it and count it as a blessing. As someone who does not own a treadmill, and doesn't even like treadmills, this winter has been a little difficult for training. I have googled free indoor tracks every weekend in both January and February, hoping for more success than the weekend before. It's a fruitless labor...they never build one in the days between my googling. There have been a lot of frigid days, and more snow than your typical Northern Virginia winter. This latest snow has created massive piles of plowed snow blocking and trails that might, or might not be, cleared. Theres still a good amount of snow and ice in the streets. I really wanted to get some miles in. My friend started googling trying to find places that get plowed. Naturally, she had no luck either. Then I thought about outdoor tracks, so while Matt and I were out and about yesterday I had him drive past the high school near us. Their track wasn't clear, but I noted they have a huge parking lot. It's also connected to the elementary school next door. I could easily make a mile loop out of it. Desperate times call for desperate measures friends. I somehow convinced my friend this was a good idea. Thank goodness for running partners (that link is an article on partner running, number 6 is my favorite, followed by 5), or I probably wouldn't have much to write about on this Marathon Monday. So on Sunday we did 5 miles around Patriot High School and T. Clay Wood Elementary. We each only almost fell on ice twice. It kept things interesting I guess.

I rounded out the week with a 5k this marathon Monday. I went around my neighborhood and was feeling great about my pace until I had to forge 3 icy snow mountains which killed it. I will just be glad I got through that treacherous terrain. So my 5k brought my total mileage to 11.07 this week with only 75 days until Pittsburgh. It looks like we are getting much better weather this coming week. I am excited to take advantage of it!