Days 19 and 20

Oh. My. God. I thought I left behind the death-like weather in Tennessee. Apparently it decided to follow me home. Yesterday I ran with a good friend, a recently graduated member from my high school team and we were going to do six miles but she wanted to do 5, So we compromised: we did five miles but we also had to go up the monster hill in the park. It was awesome having company, though our first mile was at 8min pace and over the run we slowed down, which was probably good because despite the fact that it was evening and the sun was going down, the air remained hot and humid and not conductive for trying to run long distances.

I shouldn't complain about yesterday though, since today was significantly worse. I was exausted by mile one. I stopped three times for water and made a friend named Beverly, who invited me into her house to cool off quickly. I love nice people. You know, I've never understood those runners who carry their water bottles around with them until today. That is no longer a lame or dumb thing to do. But, despite the fact that my body hates me right now for putting it through that long, toasty, humid hell at 9AM this morning, it will thank me later this summer. I'm sure of it. Tomorrow is a day off. Man, I am so excited for that.

Day 18

Before my run I checked out some road races in the area. There's one in Philadelphia on Sunday to benefit Melanoma research which I might run in. That was enough to get me pretty pumped up for my eight miles. I ended up running them a whole minute faster on average per mile compared to last week, which was awesome (ignoring the fact that last week was close to terrible. I ran in the middle of the day- a mistake, definitely, but since I had hydrated adequately, I think I ran alright. Nutrition has been off though. I'll work on that.

Day 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

To be filled in

Day 9

With any luck today's run will have tired me out. It was only six miles, nothing extravagant, but the pace was very good. In fact, I was about 25 seconds faster per mile than Tuesday's long run. I'll admit it, I did try to go fast, but I wasn't pushing myself real hard. At the end I was, but in general it's good to finish fast- if you always finish a run fast you'll have the mentallity to finish a race fast. It was a hilly run and a slightly cloudy, not too hot day, which was also nice.

Tonight's an early night for me- have a plane to catch before 8AM tomorrow.

Day 8

Today was another successfully under-9-minute-mile-pace day for me. On average. To be truthful, my first two miles of my 4 miler were at 9:15 pace. I think there was somewhat more uphill than downhill on the way out, but regardless, I must have really picked it up during the last half of the run because my pace ended up being 8:47 per mile by the time I finished.

There were a lot of middle and high schoolers out waiting to catch their buses, and, having them around, I really worked on my posture, which probably improved my speed. Tomorrow's agenda: 6 miler, last run of the week.

Day 7

Wow, I'm cold. It's been a cool day today and rainy. I put off my run until early evening, and now, post-run and still in damp clothing, the shivers are setting in. I was going to settle for a pace similar to yesterday, but I blazed through my first mile in just a little over 8 minutes. By the second mile I was somewhere around 16:30 and of course, that last mile was almost all uphill. So I decided to fight. I love the feeling of speeding up a hill with great form. Although my breathing may be audible from some good ammount of feet away, I could care less. I feel so alive, pushing old air out and bringing new air in, air that will allow me to work harder and go faster. There are no doubts in my mind today. I felt strong.

Day 6

I meant to do a really early morning run but decided to take it easy after waking, seeing I had gone tobed late. As it stands, it's 10AM now and most teenagers I would suppose are just waking up, so I guess I couldn't have started my 6-miler that late. It's a cool morning, about 65 degrees, and there were very few clouds in the sky. The sound of a jackhammer pierced the morning. After just the first mile I could definitely feel the effects of my fast-paced run yesterday. Despite this, I was determined not to go slow. No sirree. I did the Stoney Road Hill route, which takes me into Jamison and back, and it was enjoyable. Only in the last mile and a half did I really try to fight, really work hard so that I would maintain that "under 9min/mile" pace. I ended up back on my property in a little over 52 minutes, having met my goal with room to spare: my pace was 8:43. It feels good to be meeting these little goals. I wonder what the rest of my summer will bring.

Days 3, 4, and 5

On saturday I went for a nice little three-mile run, and the rest of the day was a whirlwind of activity. Yesterday I took the day off.

Tonight was another night though, in which I flew. I wanted to wear just a sports bra. Pretty daring thing for me to do, right? Well I decided against it. Maybe next week. I weighed myself on Saturday and you know, I think that scale was lying. It said I was 125.5. I swear I'm a pound and a half more than that. I hate when scales do that.

The air was cool tonight and the humidity low. I had my favorite training partner, my Garmin watch, continually pushing me to go faster. Up and down the hills of suburbia for just over four miles I ran, sprinting a little here and there to see what I was capable of this early in the season. In my head were reels of fantasy footage of me racing in a 5K, trailing the lead girl the whole race, and then catching her off guard, sprinting into the finish and winning. I feel so alive right now, my lungs so clear from the fresh summer air mixed with laundry detergent.

Tomorrow morning I've got a six-miler on my plate. First one of the season. Bring it on.

Day 2

Yes! Eighty-five degree weather is so much better! Although my run was a little slower today, I felt a whole lot better- not fatigued like yesterday. It was short but sweet. Just a short while ago I finished a stress-releaving bike ride. Ten miles was just enough to pedal out my frustrations so they won't bother me again. Biking itself is so freeing, and it makes me feel as though I'm flying. Having gotten over my fear of being on the roads makes me so happy.

Day 1

I thought that taking the day off yesterday would be a positive thing that would allow me to face today feeling fresh. Well, I was sorely mistaken. I planned on doing my long run of the week, five miles (yes I realize that for a long run, that's pretty wimpy), today and while I accomplished that, I certainly didn't do it with ease. I couldn't do a night run because I won't be home this evening, and thus had to deal with a lot of humidity and heat that felt way hotter than 77 degrees. I slogged through the run, somehow managing to keep it under 10 minute mile pace by a good bit, and as soon as I finished, I laid down on the front porch. Not once did I quit, although I did want to, I knew that shortcuts would get me nowhere. One run down. Three months from now, this same run will be the easiest one in the world.

Day 0

What inspired me to write this blog was the impending date of my first race of the 2010Cross Country season. I, until I looked at a calendar, was convinced the race was on September 1st. I was wrong. I'm pretty sure the race is September 3rd. None the less, on a beautiful run last night I felt inspired to do something great. I wanted to be someone inspiring on my team, or atleast someone who could finish well, score points, and kick some Lafayette butt. Being inspiring would just be a bonus to all that. I've always found that, even if no one else is listening or watching, if there's the possibility of such, I have a higher success rate. So hooray for internet posting!

Oh, and the name? Well, since I don't like the heat and I've been doing my first few runs of the season at night, I've been watching the fireflies. When I was younger, I used to run around just for fun, chasing butterflies and fireflies. That's another thing I want to do this summer. Make running fun for me again. My first year of college nearly destroyed this notion. So that's why I'm chasing fireflies- to remind me to have fun.