Day 51 - Road Trippin'

Today's scheduled run: 4 miles

Today's completed run: 4 miles
Pace: 8:59 (avg.)

I squeaked out that sub-9:00 pace tonight, and it was a struggle. I think that may have been because I sat in a car all day driving back from NC with my dad. That might be an excuse, but I think it's a good one. :) We had a funny drive back, because we are hilarious; but you might only agree with that after hour three of eight.

80's night

Also funny are the treasures I found while sorting through a bunch of stuff at the house in North Carolina. These included many artifacts from high school and earlier.

So many questions...

Grossest find: my hospital bracelet from when I had stitches in my chin after a bike accident at age 9... with the stitches themselves! Yes, wrapped in gauze were the actual stitches. SO.GROSS.

Weirdest find: there are too many to name.

Memory lane finds: lots of books and stuffed animals, trophies from sports, notes from friends, a few college term papers, and pictures, of course.

On the left: an 80's night with some youth group girls in high school. So much makeup! | On the right: me, with EmG - I have no idea where we are, why there is a giant inflatable ice cream cone, or what I was thinking with the Princess Leia buns. I promise to not do those again if my hair grows back!

Day 6 - Oh Say Can You See

Today's scheduled run: 8 miles

Today's completed run: 8.35 miles (double woot!)

The Fort

I'm glad to report that it is a beautiful day in Baltimore. It was in the low 40s when I set out this morning, but the sun was shining brilliantly. Perfect conditions for a fall run, and I decided to venture over to Ft. McHenry. I played around on MapMyRUN last night to figure out how to craft an 8-mile route out of that. It turned out to be relatively easy, as Ft. McHenry is just over 4 miles from my house. How convenient!

Ft. McHenry entrance

As I was approaching the Fort, I was inspired by imagining the broad stripes and bright stars, the rockets' red glare, and the bombs bursting in air. Sound familiar? I felt triumphant.

As I ran the loop and headed out of the site, however, I mostly felt the headwind into which I was running . Still, it was a strong run for me. I averaged a 9:01 mile, which is really where I'd like to be. All in all, a very encouraging run. Yay!

Good things about today's run: beautiful sun, strong pace, running past the Domino's Sugar plant (yummy smells) and lots of other runners on the road.
Less-than-good things about today's run: too many layers when in the sun, and I need a running buddy. Any takers?

And now, for something completely unrelated to running: I got a pair of TOMS today -- an early Christmas present from my mom. In her words, there could not be a more "Leslie" pair of shoes. They say "Carpe Diem" on them and -- for my favorite detail -- the insides are a world map! I'm so excited to wear them and to remind myself to seize the day, every day.