I’m doing a bad job at following a schedule lately, however, I am enjoying running just for the sake of running and mapping out distances after the fact. Gas prices are certainly having an effect on my running, as they are on many people’s leisure activities I am sure. I’ve taken to running around the block (as much of a block as it is) rather than driving to the various trails that I enjoy running on. On the plus side, this leaves me little choice but to run multiple hills on my routes, rather than seeking out a flat section of trail, so hopefully my body will benefit. So far this is the weirdest summer weather I’ve ever experienced, yesterday was the 4th of July and I was cold at night, granted it was perfect for my run as there was almost no humidity and I don’t think temps were much higher than the mid-70’s, but still…my brain just can’t really accept this upstate NY weather that passes for summer. Yesterday’s run was enjoyable, I had a route mapped out but changed it midway through and extended it by about a mile and a half, I was feeling good, so I figured why not. I think I’m going to start incorporating the school’s playground into my route to mix things up a bit, run up the slides, make my way across the monkey bars, climb a cargo net, I’m thinking if I do that at both the school and the park’s playground it could provide for an interesting sort of circuit training workout, which would be especially useful if I’m going to be running these same routes over and over again because I don’t want to drive anywhere else. Considering where I live, it’s really not a bad spot to have to walk out your door and run; once I’m off the main road there are a variety of back roads that all sort of loop together so I can decide how long of a run I want to do. The only downside is that half the time I’m going to be running uphill at the start and finish of my runs, but I suppose what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right? Speaking of which, I need to get new shoes or I’m going to kill my knees. They’ve still got some life left in them, but I’m starting to feel that knee twinge that I got when I first started running and I was using my old crappy tennis sneakers. Hopefully I’ll make it down to the LRS sometime this week and pick up a pair for a reasonable price. I like my Mizuno’s but I’m thinking I’ll be open to trying something else, I’ve been getting blisters on my arch, though otherwise they’ve been great to my feet. Most of the races I’ve got planned are trail races though and I’m thinking that I would like to get something a little more suited to that terrain.

We’ll see, I’m starting my new job next Thursday and hopefully this schedule is going to be flexible enough to give me time to run and not feel like I’m neglecting the rest of my life, and if I’m really lucky the extra money might allow for two new pairs of running shoes, trail and road, now wouldn’t that be nice! I’m excited and anxious about the position. It’s definitely going to put me outside my comfort zone, hopefully in a good way, as it is nothing like I’ve ever experienced or done before. It’s a step in the right direction though and I really needed to be doing anything other than working in the same place I have been. I’ll have more thoughts after I start next week I suppose. That same first day there’s a women’s 5k race in the town over that I think I’ll run. I had wanted to do it last year but couldn’t because we were going out of town for the weekend.  Looking at last years race, there appears to be a lot of walkers, I think due to the nature of the race as a woman’s festival, so at least I can count on not being DFL!  The course has rolling hills, so the routes I’ve been running around my house should be a good approximation of what to expect.  We’ll see what happens, I’ll have another RR to post next week at the very least.  The week after that is the Forest Frolic trail runs, I’m still up in the air as to whether I should do the 7 or the 15k, I was told it wasn’t a bad course and that I shouldn’t have trouble with the 15k, but judging by my running lately I think I’ll stick to the 7k and concentrate on getting myself on track for my fall HM.  Bonus! I just looked at the race description again and if I preregister it’s FREE this year in honor of their 20th running of the race.  Sweet!  I’ve never preregistered before because I never know what will happen that might distract me, but this is too good to pass up!  This post is sort of all over the place, so I think I’ll call it here, but I should have more to post than usual in the coming couple of weeks here.