Saturday Greenway 4 Miler -- First Jacket Run of the Fall: 9/17

Summer seems to have relented, and I can't tell you how happy this makes me.  I pulled out my waterproof Nike running Jacket for this weekend's runs.  I wore it more because of the possibility of rain than for the cold air.  But, when I saw my jacket, I was like "Hellooooooooo Old Friend!  Want to go for a run?"  And my Jacket happily replied, "But of course!"  That's right.  Inanimate running gear has begun to speak to me.  Really, I kid you not.  You should have heard the things my Velcro I-pod band was saying just last week because I had failed to wash it for a few weeks months (you also don't want to hear the things that Hiroko had to say on the subject).  Anyway, I've been pulling out all of my long sleeve Tech shirts from my closet and basically making a mess of our apartment, but I can't wait to start sporting them on a regular basis.  The only downside to the cold air is that it did cause a bit of tightness in my chest, but I was able to manage it.

Me & My Trusty Jacket at last years Krispy Kreme Challenge

The most notable aspect of this run was that my mind wanted to go farther.  However, my body was alright with four miles . . . in fact my body was more than alright with stopping at four miles.  It was like . . . "Oh thank you Sweet Baby Jesus.  Let's go home play with Basil and watch football!"  But, I mentally wanted to push on longer than four miles.  The appeal of longer distances is rather new for me, and I am not sure where it originates, but it is getting stronger.  I am to the point where anything under three miles feels like it's not worth lacing up my shoes.  I've been running the Greenway because I've started to day dream of the day that I can run along the Greenway to Umstead park and back as my long run.  A 12 mile long will get me about a mile into the park, but I'll really get to live out this day dream as part of my training for The Miami Marathon.  And even though I haven't even run a Half Marathon yet, and this 4 miler kind of kicked my bootay, I know that the day these daydreams become reality is just around the corner.  And, I am just naive enough to long for those days!

4 miles in 39:44 for a 9:55 pace.

1 9:47
2 9:31
3 10:32
4 9:52