Paczki run and going the distance

I know, with a picture like this on my blog I bet you are starting to associate me with running and eating all things pastry.

Just let me tell you, it’s not true!  Ok, I did indulge with the group on Fat Tuesday this week.  I have learned that Paczki’s are a Polish thing, and here in Toledo we have quite a few Polish families!  Since it was Mardi Gras, we all enjoyed a “last treat” before Lent.  Ironic because I don’t follow any religious or Lent traditions, but I’m all about the pre-Lent indulgence 🙂

We were invited to a super nice runner’s house, whom we had not met before (Thanks Larry!!).  Since we had that runner connection, he gladly welcomed us into his house and gave us food and drink.  Lots of yummy food!  But first we all participated in either a 5K or a 10K run.  I was a bit shocked when my husband told us that we were doing the 10K.  What the what??  Um, it’s my rest day.  And the people doing the 10K were his very fast buddies.  They all own neon yellow jackets!  They are in some fast running cult!! Nope, I opted to run with people I didn’t know doing the 5K instead.  It worked out perfectly.

During the run we all met up a location a mile away from his house, and a van was waiting for us filled with Paczki’s and water.  They were pretty good!  After our treat, we all ran back to his house together (1 mile) and had beer/snacks/more food.  A good time was had by all!  We will definitely be making this fun run a tradition.

Next up for my week was that 12 mile medium long run on Wednesday.  Once again I can happily report that I got my run done, and had time to zip through Starbucks (well, technically it was at Kroger, but same difference) and grab a new Molten Chocolate Frappuccino.  yummmmm.

Since I have a few extra fun runs this week, I decided to just skip my Thurs 5 mile recovery run.  That was not a hard choice because on Thursday morning my hand slapped the “turn off alarm” button on my clock faster than anything I have ever witnessed before!

Friday brings Long Run day, and Alan offered to run with me.  What luck, someone to drag along for 3 plus hours!!!

That was a Valentine I made for him.  Cute right??

He is quite generous because I’m already running almost 2 minutes slower than him for my marathon pace, so you can imagine what running a long run with me must feel like.  Think running through semi-solid cement.  Regardless, it was a cold day (feels like 10 degrees!!) and we went out a little later than my norm in hopes it would warm up a little outside.  Nope, it didn’t warm up.

It was a good run because I just ran by HR again, and average pace ended up being only 45 seconds under race pace.  Alan took me to the trails that he usually runs on at the park.  I don’t get out there much at all anymore, so that was a good change of view.  We got to run on the last portion of the Glass City Marathon course.  That was pretty cool because we saw the mile markers starting at 24.  I could just imagine me cruising on in on race day!  Sadly, my glutes were still pretty painful for a large portion of this run and post run I could have shed a tear.  Damn those stupid weak glutes!!

The funniest part was when we stopped for lunch on the way home.  We were starving!!  At the register some of the workers noticed our shoes (Newtons!!) and started up a conversation with us about them, and running… and running Glass City, and running Boston.

We learned they too were running their first marathon at Glass City.  Then, Alan realized one of the workers was a girl who had joined them one Saturday morning for the trail run in the park.  Note, this is a college girl (so young!!!!) and the trail run is at 5:30am (super dark!!) on the park trails (how don’t you trip??).  Alan had commented many times how she actually kept up pace with them for the entire run (what, are you Supergirl??).   She confessed that the run was actually her tempo run pace, so it was a bit of a challenge for her, but she will be joining them again, just to let them know it wasn’t a fluke 😉

We felt like rock stars being surrounded by the paparazzi!  Even funnier was me doing my normal “OMG, I can’t stop my body from shivering and shaking because I’m so cold and have low blood sugar”.  It must have seemed like I was having a seizure but they just kept asking us questions with no concern.  They wanted advice since they were first time marathoners.  And as a Glass City Ambassador, I am happy to give it 🙂

>> Thanks for hanging in with me for this long post today!!  You are all the best 🙂 <<

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Q:  Do you have any issues warming up after a long cold run?

I actually have that blue lip, shaking issue even in the warm weather following a hard run or race.  It’s quite lovely!!

Q: Do beginner runners ask you for advice?  

I love to help people get into our fabulous sport (or dare I say, “lifestyle”!)

Q: Do you have any special Valentine’s day plans?