#CountdownToVegas Week 10: Pace Car

Showing off those tats; pic by Tess Barnard

Week 10 of my 18 week marathon training plan.  That means I'm over halfway ready?  Yikes!  56 days to go.  We've got our hotel reservations and our Fast Bottom Girls tattoos from Mile Markings; time to get those plane tickets too.

This week started out on a low note, as my Nike+ Sportwatch GPS reached the end of its useful life.  I had been noticing some fogginess in the upper right corner after my runs the past few weeks, and although I can't see any cracks, there must be somewhere moisture is getting inside it now.  The data is all still there, because when I connect it to our PC I can still see it, but the display no longer works.

Noooo!

I was pretty sad about it, not so much because of the watch itself but because of what it represented.  Kevin gave me this watch for Christmas in 2012, the year I started running.  I hadn't even asked for it, but he had heard me express my frustration with using apps on my phone to track my running, and he picked this watch out for me.  So looking at this watch reminded me of Kevin and his support for me.  I know I still have that always in my heart, but I will miss this physical reminder on my wrist.

Most of my runs this week were watchless, but since they were familiar routes I still know how far I ran, just not how fast.  In my head, Monday morning's run was really fast as that's when I discovered my watch no longer worked and I pounded out my feelings on the pavement.  I did 2 miles Monday morning, then a 3 mile "taper" hill workout with #TeamMoHills Monday after work.  Tuesday I ran 3 miles in the morning, had to miss BSRC's Prediction Run after work but I did make it to LF Bootcamp where Megan came up with a great workout for us.

Epic Vacation Wrap-Up

Ten glorious days at home in the mountains of western North Carolina: spending time with family, catching up with friends, eating lots of good food, and of course running.  This place is so beautiful; just being outside and looking around is refreshing and restorative.

Since Kevin died, people often ask me if I'm going to move back.  The answer is: I don't know yet.  This will always be home, but so will Indianapolis.  Both places tug at my heart, but sometimes so does the idea of starting over somewhere new.  When the time is right, God will let me know where He wants me to be next.  So for now, I'm just going to keep doing epic every day right where I am.

And where I've been for the past ten days is Paxton Holler in Canton, NC, so here are some of my epic vacation highlights:

Mini Marathon Wrap-Up

Pic by Judi Lee

It's been a month since I blogged, but it's been a really rough month and I just needed to pull inside my turtle shell and hide for a little while.  I sort of feel like still staying there, but I know that's not good for me, so here I am again to tell you about last Saturday's 500 Festival Mini Marathon.  Physically this race went really well, but emotionally/mentally I was all over the place.

Last Monday when I got home, I thought I saw Kevin.  The neighbor was standing right in front of our mailbox while checking his own.  He was turned so I only saw him from the back, and he was wearing an olive green jacket the same color as one Kevin had.  When I saw him standing there as I was driving up the street, just for a second I thought Kevin was getting the mail and I was a little surprised he was just getting home since he usually was earlier than me.  All this flashed through my head for just a second, and then I remembered.  And it broke my heart all over again.  I pulled in the garage and ran into the house crying hysterically.

So that kind of sets the stage for the whole week leading up to the Mini.  I've just been so weepy and emotional, and then I will go run and it's that magic reset button so I'm okay for a little while, until I start falling back down.  The nightmares came back - the ones where Kevin is alive he just doesn't want to be with me anymore.  All while I was still trying to get ready for a race that's a really big deal.  (For blog readers not in the Indy area, the Mini Marathon is huge: over 28,000 people ran it this year.  Seven times the population of Canton, NC, in one race.)  I was planning my outfit and posting updates on social media, but secretly I was wishing I hadn't even signed up for the Mini this year.  I thought maybe it was still too close to the crapiversary of Kevin's death and that I should've taken a few more weeks off from racing.

February Focus, & Finally Back To Racing

I'm having a hard time so far this month.  It's a lot like early December was for me: full of memories and also full of dread for the special days coming up.  Valentine's Day, of course.  VD candy has been in the stores since December 26th, but now it's not just candy and it's everywhere.  Even some of my favorite SyFy shows are sponsored by Kay Jewelers.

It's not just VD that's going to be hard, though.  It's all those other days that seem small until the person you shared them with is gone.  Super Bowl Sunday.  I probably won't even watch it.  By now we'd already be planning our menu of snacks.  It won't be any fun by myself.  Same thing in a couple of weeks with the Daytona 500.  I didn't watch any NASCAR last year after Kevin died.  I don't even know who won the Sprint Cup.

And then after February comes March, and Kevin's birthday.  Then April, and the anniversary of his death.  I try not to think about it all, but sometimes I can't help it.  Normally I would of course be planning something for VD, but I would have also already started planning something for his birthday too.  Remember what I said last week about living in the moment hurting a lot less?  I'm having a little bit harder time with that this week.

I came across the verse in that picture above in my Bible reading last week.  I would leap for joy, no matter how great my pain.  I know that God is Holy.  Job 6:10.  It's on my desk at work now.  It's on my phone.  I used it as Verse of the Day at LF Bootcamp this week, to go along with a jump rope workout.  It really resonates with me, and there's a lot of power in just saying those words.  And when my head starts hurting and my stomach starts knotting up with dread over the next few weeks, this verse is where I go.  Yes, I'm going to hurt, but God is still Holy and in control, and I WILL leap for joy in the midst of my pain.

February's not going to be all bad, though.  I've got three races that I'm looking forward to.  I haven't raced since New Year's Day, so it will be nice to get back to it.  This Saturday is the 500 Festival 3 Miler; then February 20 is the Circle City Donut Dash - part of the Indy East Race Series; and February 27 is the inaugural Winter Trail Frosty Quarter Marathon.  (WTF!  I'm going to have to update the Cussword Trifecta.  Cussword Quadruple Play?)

The Donut Dash actually has a Donut Challenge option where runners must eat a dozen donuts at the midpoint of the race.  I don't think I could eat a dozen donuts in a week, much less in the middle of a race, so I'm just doing the normal 5K with a donut at the end. They've posted the race t-shirt and it's super cute!  You can still sign up for $30, or sign up for all four races in the Indy East Race Series for just $65.  It's a bargain you can't beat: great local racing benefitting great local organizations.  Go HERE to register, and HERE to see my previous blog post for more details on these races.

If you're in Indy, I hope to see you at some or all of these races.  And no matter where you are, Do Epic Shit Every Damn Day, Badass!

With a Little Help From My Friends

This is where I'd normally write a wrap-up of the year, adding up all the miles I ran and posting pictures of all the t-shirts, medals, and other swag I collected.  But 2015 stopped being about all that for me on April 23.  It instead became about the sustaining love of God, and the amazing support of my family and friends.


I have always known how blessed I am to have such a great family.  I'm so close to my parents and sisters, I have a wonderful relationship with our kids, and I have many extended family members that I enjoy staying in touch with too.  But I have really been awed to discover just how many wonderful supportive friends I have.

There's no "I" in Indy, just US

Friends back in Canton, friends here in Indy, and friends all around the world.  Coworkers, former coworkers, church friends, runner friends, SMOMS, bootcampers, friends from grad school, neighbors.  Friends I've known almost as long as I've lived in Indy, and friends I just met this summer.  It's no exaggeration to say that for all the tears I've cried in sadness over losing Kevin, I have cried just as many in humble gratitude at the support I've received from so many friends.  It's also no coincidence that yesterday when I started working on this blog post, some friend or friends anonymously sent flowers to me at work.

We have other talents besides running

I find myself starting to say "I don't know what I've done to deserve all of you."  But then I think that's kind of the point.  When God pours out his love on us, whether through the people He puts in our lives or some other way, it isn't because we deserve it.  It's just because He loves us.  So we just accept it as a beautiful gift.  And then we go out and love each other in response.

Babes of Bootcamp

And so that's my goal for 2016: to be grateful and to give back.  I'm know I'm still going to have lots of bad days; days when all I can do is go home and put Kevin's clothes on and cry till my head hurts.  But on the okay days and the good days, I'm going to try to give back some fraction of the support you've given me, and love you and encourage you on your journey.

Closed eyes, warm heart?

Of course I can't resist posting one pic of race swag.  I call this the Cuss Word Trifecta.  I was joking with Laura the other night that we could make this our motto for 2016: Do Epic Shit Every Damn Day, Badass!  And with that in mind, here's some of the epic shit I have penciled in on my calendar:

Do Epic Shit Every Damn Day. Badass!

• The Indy East Race Series - I hope all my Indy friends will join me at as many of these as you can.  Four 5Ks for only $60!  That price is good through January 15th, so sign up soon.
• Pacing the 13-14 min/mile group with the Indy Runners Spring Training Program - I'm pretty excited about this!  I'll be helping other runners reach their goal of a spring half marathon.
• My second full marathon and first destination race: Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas!  Kevin & I always wanted to go to Vegas, but we never got to make that trip together.  So this one is for Kevin.  I'm going to run the strip, see all the sights, and take everything in that I can.  Several of the FBG are going too, so I know it will be a blast!
• Lots more fun new things I hope to try: ReFit, Barre Fitness classes, possibly a triathlon in late summer, possibly a 50K in December (or January 2017), hopefully going to summer camp with the FBG in August....

Monumental Emotion

Today Kathy & I were signed up to work the Results Tent at the Monumental Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K.  We arrived at the time we were told to be there, only to find all 6 spots at the results table were full.  And including us there were 6 other volunteers just standing around.  No one ever showed us how to look up results in case we needed to take someone's place.  And they really only needed one or two extras in case someone needed a break.  So after a while, we asked someone who sort of seemed to be in charge if they really needed us at all.  He said no, so we headed out to the Carmel Runners Club Cheer Zone.

DFL: It's a Badge of Honor!

Another Monday, another race recap.  I ran the Knobstone Trail Mini Marathon on Saturday, and I had several working titles for this blog post as I thought about it:

 

Lightning Couldn't Strike Twice

This was of course my consolation race since last weekend's Indy Women's Half Marathon got black flagged due to lightning near the course.  I decided against using this title though after I found out Laura's race got black flagged, although not due to lightning.  She finished 35 miles of the Table Rock Ultra 50 Mile Race, running in torrential downpours, until the race was black flagged due to flash flooding on the course.  She said they stopped them at an aid station, picked them up and drove them back to the Start-Finish.  She also said there were places on the out and back where the trail was completely gone just an hour or so after they'd gone through.  I hope Laura blogs about this soon; I'd really like to hear more about it.  I cannot imagine running 35 miles in perfect running conditions, much less in a heavy downpour.

 

Holy Hills Batman

The Knobstone Trail Half was much hillier than any trail runs I've done at Eagle Creek or Fort Ben before.  Some steep descents and lots of long uphill climbs with switchbacks.  About a quarter of the run was on gravel forest service roads, but most of it was single-track trails through the woods.  I really enjoyed it - one of my favorite races ever.  The trail was very technical in spots, and it was definitely one of the most challenging races I've run.  I beat my Summer Night Trail Half time by over 4 minutes to earn a new trail half PR of 3:38:46.

 

Half Fanatics Here I Come

Half Fanatics is the little sister club of the Marathon Maniacs.  Fanatics are people who love the half marathon distance and run lots of them.  There are different levels, but basically if you run a certain number of certified official half marathons within a certain time frame, then you qualify for membership.  I realized earlier this year that my fall race schedule had three half marathons within ninety days of each other, which will qualify me to join, so that became a goal for me.  This race was my first of those three.  The next two will be the Helen Holiday Half on 10/28 and the Santa Hustle Half on 12/13.

 

DFL: It's a Badge of Honor!

Yes, even though I set a Personal Record at this race, I still came in DFL.  And it's my second DFL in as many months.   (Here's a list of running terms if you don't know what DFL means.)  But there were only 97 runners who finished the race, so I was also in the top 100.  And in case you haven't seen it yet, here's Nike's ode to the last finisher:

 

Up Next

The Back On My Feet Marathon Relay with some awesome ladies from work.  We are calling ourselves the Pace Cadets. The weather forecast right now says low of 44 high of 65, mostly sunny with only 10% chance of rain.  I'm the first runner up for our relay team, so I should have just about perfect running weather at 8am.  I'm doing three loops for a total of 6.6 miles before I hand it off to the next runner.  It's my first time participating in this event, but I've heard from friends who've done it in the past that it's a lot of fun.

From Pirate Flag to Black Flag

Yesterday, September 19, was International Talk Like a Pirate Day.  One of my favorite days of the year.  After all, who doesn't love a made-up holiday that doesn't require you to bake, shop for presents, decorate, or do anything besides talk silly all day?  Only a scurvy landlubber wouldn't enjoy this day.

When the kids were younger and we often still ate meals together as a family, I would make theme meals a lot.  Kimmy says my theme meals are some of her favorite memories.  And one year for TLAP Day I made a sort-of pirate meal.  I wish I had a picture of it, but I don't think we took one.  I got turkey legs and had Kevin grill them, and I made corn on the cob, a loaf of homemade bread, and some non-alcoholic grog.  Since the meal was all finger-foods, I didn't even put plates on the table.  The food was on big platters in the middle of the table, and I gave everyone bandanas and told them all to forget their table manners for one night.

Yesterday was also the Indy Women's Half Marathon.  As part of the Indy Women's Training Group, we had been training together for this race since mid-June.  It's one of my favorite races, starting downtown on Monument Circle and running northwest towards Riverside Golf Course before coming back downtown to finish in front of the War Memorial.  It's a lot of fun, with a real party atmosphere and lots of great ladies cheering and encouraging each other.

Unfortunately this year weather stopped the event shortly after it started.  There was lightning near the northwest part of the course, so they had to call the race off.  You can't take chances with severe weather, so it was the right call of course.  But it still turned out to be a really fun day.  Since the lightning wasn't close to the finish line area downtown, they were able to keep the festivities going.  Kudos to Carmel Road Racing Group and all the volunteers who kept everything rocking even in the pouring rain.

We still got our medals from polite, hunky soldiers.  We still got to pose with friends on the free picture stage.  And as part of the training group we had access to the VIP tent, so we still got mimosas and massages, donuts and coffee, and just had fun hanging out.

I heard some ladies say they didn't feel like they'd earned their medals, but I disagree.  We trained hard for months.  Hot humid summer months.  We got up and ran when we didn't feel like it.  We pushed each other and encouraged each other and learned from each other.  We made new friends and got closer to old ones.  We got stronger, mentally and physically.  We battled that awful flu that went around, and we still kept running.  We showed up ready.  We earned those medals.

I'm hanging mine proudly on my medal tree, just above last year's.  And next year, Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, I'll be back to earn another.

I'm Not Ready For This

2011, in Michigan

I think most of our readers know why I haven't blogged since mid-April, but for those who don't: my husband Kevin went home to be with the Lord after a sudden heart attack on April 23.  I am devastated to have lost him at only 47.  We had 11 years together, the last 5 of those married, but it doesn't feel like nearly long enough.  I feel angry & cheated out of the 40 or 50 years I thought we'd have together.  And I don't feel ready for this life I have to now live without him.

I know, however, that God is with me and will be with me in all the days to come.  He knows what I need to get through this and He will make sure I have it, so I am living on faith and taking each little step as I see it in front of me, even though I can't see any farther than that right now.

2 + 2 = 7; Recapping the Winter Night Trail Half Marathon

All layered up & ready to go!

Running trails is hard.  Running at night is hard.  Running trails at night?  2 + 2 = 7.  At least.  I had really been looking forward to the Winter Night Trail Half Marathon.  I've come to really enjoy winter running.  And this race is at Eagle Creek Park, which is practically in my back yard, & is the same place I ran the Summer Trail Quarter Marathon last year.  Not the same trails, though - this race starts & ends in a different part of the park.

The weather forecast was calling for temperatures around 36 & wind chill around 32 at 6pm start time, falling to 32 with wind chill around 28 by my estimated finish time of 9:30.  There was a 30% chance of some light snow starting around 8, but no accumulating snow until much later.  I debated on 3 layers + vest, or only 2 layers + vest, and in the end went with 3.  I'd much rather be hot than cold.

Tshirts & Totals of 2014

It's time for one of my favorite blog posts: showing off all the commemorative shirts I collected last year, & totaling up my miles, plus a little preview of my 2015 plans.

If you've been reading our blog for a while now, thank you!  You may remember from the goals I set for last year (14 Things for 2014) that I wanted to collect 21 commemorative t-shirts.  I ended up with so many that I had to split them out into 3 groups just to get them all pictured.  First up, my race shirts:

This pic is in chronological order, but it's missing the shirt from the Great Pumpkin Run.  I packed that away with my Halloween stuff.  So that makes 18 shirts just from races.  I actually ran 19 races, but they didn't all offer t-shirts.

Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon Recap

photo by Kathy Helmond

While we wait for Laura to tell us about her marathon yesterday, I'll recap last week's Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon.  This is one of the biggest races in Indianapolis every year.  It also has a full marathon, a 5K, and a kid's one mile fun run.  There are several official cheer zones set up along the course, and many businesses and neighborhoods along the course hold their own cheer parties as well.

My Monumental History

2012

In 2012 I ran the 5K.  At that time, I had been running for almost 5 months.  I had not yet run an entire 5K without walking some, but I was hopeful that would be the race I finally did it.  Race day was really cold, with wintry precipitation expected.  I had not run in the cold weather yet, and did not really know how to layer properly, nor how to breathe.  I made it halfway before I had to walk - I just really had such a hard time catching my breath in the cold air.  Shortly after I finished, it began to sleet, which later changed to snow for the people running the longer races.

I was not planning to run this year's Monumental.  I had such bad memories of the 2012 race that I didn't want to repeat it, even though I know how to layer and breathe in the cold now.  Although most of the ladies in my fall training program were training for one of the Monumental races, I said after the Hendricks County Half Marathon in September that I was just going to take it easy until mid-November, when it would be time to start training again.

Ketchup Post

Catching up on a few things I haven't had a chance to blog in the past couple weeks....

5K PR Watch

I made another attempt to achieve a new 5K PR at the 2nd Merrell Summer Series 5K on 8/28.  It was in the 80's and very humid that evening. I think they tried to help us ignore the heat by using race bibs leftover from the Polar Bear Run, but they didn't really help.I carried water with me since there were no water stops in the 1st race, but I still struggled through the heat and slowed down rather than sped up.  I'm okay with that, though. A lot of the reading I've been doing lately has said to run by feel, not by pace or speed.  So when it's hot and the run takes more effort, it's okay to slow down.  I'm still working hard and getting the benefits of that conditioning. As always, I had a lot of fun running with my friends from the Indy Women's Fall Training group.  And got a bonus t-shirt! Carmel Road Racing Group was giving away old race shirts to people who had preregistered.  Everyone knows how much I love Christmas, so I'm sure it's no surprise I picked this 5Ks of Christmas shirt.

 

I Am A Spartan

One of my friends told me about the Spartan Workout Tour, a free group workout designed to teach you how to train for a Spartan Race.  I've never done a Spartan Race - they look pretty hard core - but the workout was free and included a free t-shirt. So how could I say no?

500 Festival Mini Marathon Recap

This race was an amazing experience!  I have to thank Blue Mile again for their training and support, and for giving me the opportunity to run this race as part of Team Blue Mile.  And thank you to the 500 Festival for putting it on, and to the thousands of volunteers, and thousands more people who lined the course to cheer for us, just because.  Wow.

Pre-Race Thoughts on the Mini

Josh on the cover of the 500 Festival Guide in 2000

My friends & family who aren't in the Indianapolis area might be wondering what's so special about this race?

I will try my best to tell you, but it's hard to explain if you haven't visited Indy during the Month of May.  The whole city takes on almost a holiday feel during May - very much like how December feels special because of all the celebrations and special events surrounding Christmas.  Of course the Indianapolis 500 is the big holiday, but celebrations and festivities go on all month.  We have one of the best parades in the country (I'm in it this year - more on that in a future blog post).  We have qualifications and practices all month, Community Day at the track, free concerts, Kids Day and the Rookie Run....  The holiday parties go on all month long.  Kevin & I went to the 500 in 2008, and I've been to the parade, Kids Day, and all the other events many times.  The Mini is the only event I haven't participated in yet, other than as a volunteer.  Once I really began thinking of myself as a runner, I realized I had to do the Mini.  Running from downtown out to the Speedway, doing a lap around the track, and then back downtown is something you can only do during this race, and only here in Indianapolis.  I love this city, and I love this time of year, and I love being a runner.  Combine all three, and that's why this is such a big deal.

500 Festival Parade 2013

To track me during the race, download the free Indy Mini app (Apple or Android) and enter my bib # 30719 into Tracking and Results.

Kevin & me at the 500 in 2008

Winter Miles Bring Spring PRs

Winter Miles Bring Spring PRs.  It's a saying that I first heard in the Winter Miles Challenge on Run With Jess, and it certainly seems to be coming true.  I haven't run any races yet this year, so I don't have any official times or new PRs yet, but my training pace is more than 1 min/mile faster than I was training last summer for my first half marathon.  I ran that one in 2:50:08, and I am hopeful that I will significantly improve on that time when I run the Mini in May.  I haven't set a definite goal time yet, but I will soon.

I wrote last December about needing to sign up for events and commit to training so that I wouldn't end up taking the winter off as I had done in the past.  If I had known Indianapolis would have the 3rd snowiest (so far) winter on record and the extreme cold of the polar vortex, I might not have been so eager to keep at it.  But now, with Spring finally close, I am glad I did.  Besides the increase in speed, I feel stronger.  I actually did come to appreciate the beauty of winter, & took some nice pics along the way.  I didn't get cabin fever or the winter blues, nor did I gain any winter weight.  I have several races coming up, and I'm ready for them.  How did I do it?  Three main things that helped me are:

Bad Example, Good Run

The Tardis covered in snow after work Friday

I was initially going to title this blog post Half Marathon Training in the White Room, although only Helix fans would get that reference.  We had another 6 inches of new snow last Friday evening, before our Saturday training run.  I'm beginning to think we will never get out of the White Room. 

But instead, when I thought about all the mistakes I have to confess to, I had to call it Bad Example.  Yet I still ended up with a Good Run, so hopefully this encourages you to get out & do your activity of choice anyway, even if you think you aren't doing it "right".

Treadmills: Maybe They're Not That Bad

Another snow day

When better than a snow day to blog about treadmills?  Lots of runners call them dreadmills, & I've probably said that once or twice myself.  But since I committed to start training for the Mini with Team Blue Mile, and we have had LOTS of snow days so far this year, I have been hitting the treadmill at the Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center twice a week.

Treadmill selfie

At first I really struggled - running 30 minutes on the treadmill seemed a lot harder than running 30 minutes outside.  But I wasn't out of breath, my legs weren't tired, & I wasn't in any pain anywhere; so why was I struggling?  After really thinking about it, I realized it was because I was bored.

I switched from listening to music to an audio book, but even though it was a really good book it still didn't change anything.  Then I tried a funny podcast, and listening to something funny seems to work for me.  So there's my first suggestion: change up what you are listening to and see if that helps.  Here in no particular order are a few of my fave podcasts (links go to their websites, but all are also available on iTunes):

1. Brant Hansen from Air1
2. Nerdist
3. Nerd Lunch
4. Nurture and Support

   

   Workout summary

My second suggestion is to change up what you are doing.  I read an article which I can't find now to link to, but it said that you get a lot more out of a treadmill workout by varying the speed and/or incline every few minutes.  You can find plans online, use a preprogrammed workout on the treadmill, or do what I've been doing & just watch the timer & change the speed, incline, or both every 2 minutes.  It really does make the workout seem faster, definitely more interesting, and more challenging physically.

I still much prefer running outside, but I no longer hate the treadmill. Anyone else?

Team Blue Mile Training in the Snow

Monon Trail

The forecast for our second training run last Saturday was for 2-4 inches of snow.  I was very nervous - not about running in the snow, but about driving to Blue Mile on snow-covered roads.  I've lived in Indiana for almost 22 years, and I don't think I'll ever get used to driving in the snow. 

I set my clothes out the night before, made sure my headphones were charged, and set my alarm a little bit earlier to allow for extra time.  Once I got up, I watched the news and checked my Facebook & Twitter feeds, trying to decide if I was going to be able to drive or not.  I was so nervous about it, that I forgot to post anything about middle sis Laura, who was running a 15.5 mile trail run that morning.  Sorry Laura!

Once I made the decision to go, I had to get out, clear the snow off Josh's car, move his car, pull mine out of the garage, then put his back in the driveway.  Again so nervous I forgot something - I forgot to close the garage door.  Sorry Kevin!

Team Blue Mile Spring Training Has Begun!

We met this past Saturday at the Broad Ripple Blue Mile store for our first Spring Training run.  Calling it Spring Training in the middle of winter must be a mind-over-matter thing.  It was 14 & flurrying, but there was a large turnout.  It's nice that we meet inside to listen to the trainers, before heading out to run.  I can handle the cold as long as I keep moving - it's just that standing around waiting outside that is miserable.

I can tell I'm really going to get a lot out of this training.  If you shop at Blue Mile, you already know how approachable & helpful the staff are, and the trainers are just the same.  It's not too late to join if you are interested in training for a Spring race - click here.  After meeting the trainers & going over the program & some of the upcoming sessions, we headed out to walk or run the Monon.