Saturday's run was moved up to 5:30am due to the extreme heat in Michigan. Honestly, I was totally fine with that. Five years ago, I would sleep in until noon or 1pm every weekend and now, I was thrilled at the idea of setting an alarm for 4:35am! Who am I?
This week is a very popular week in Ann Arbor - it's our Annual Art Fair. About a thousand vendors come into the city and sell ridiculously expensive things. Ok, I'm a bit biased. I'm learning that locals despise this event and typically head out of town this week. Millions of visitors come to the city, no one knows how to drive, all the streets are closed down and the city is just crazy.
We found the exact opposite as we arrived at the store downtown Ann Arbor at 530am. It was still dark out (and I was cold and I think was hated for that) and no one was around but us. We could get into the city easily and find a parking spot right in front of the store.
One quick group photo and we were off. We ran a route that went right through the middle of the art fair, so there was no traffic to fight through. We did a couple loops around the city and pretty soon, we were already at 4 miles. The group I was running with was doing 6 miles and I had 8 on my schedule. So, just like last week, I ran the first 6 with them and then went out for my last 2 on my own.
The problem is that all of the people I run with (or who run my pace, I should say) are all training for their first half marathon and I'm doing the full, so our plans are going to diverge. I just didn't want it to be this soon. Most of our routes are out and back, so I'd only be able to run the first half of their mileage and then keep going on my own. That will be a lot of alone running time. Granted, there are a lot of other people in our group who are training for a full and will have the same mileage as me, they're just a lot faster than me.
So, that's where I'm at. I know that sounded all 'down' and 'complainy', but I love my running group! There are so few things in my life I'm willing to get up early for and that bring me so much energy and excitement and a sense of accomplishment, that it's totally worth it.
I was so productive when I got home, too. I was home before 8am, cleaned the house, vacuumed the car, baked some muffins and got a nap in before my husband woke up. I love Saturdays!!
Great way to start the day with a nice run! Great job getting out there but Cold? Ahhh....No, it was not cold! I'd run with you but I'm afraid we are a little off on our paces as well. I like the (overpriced) art fair.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to start the day, and you got so much done when you got back, too! Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteI've never been to the art fair, but pretty much all of my friends go every year.
ReplyDeleteCOLD?! You are crazy! It's been terribly hot all week here.
I love to bake muffins! It's too hot here to bake (sad) but usually in the fall my girls and I go muffin crazy. The ones that always pleases the crowd are probably my pumpkin muffins but my favorites are sweet potato and zucchini. So good!! I have to watch myself with the zucchini batter though... I tend to give a few extra taste tests with that.
ReplyDeleteI love group runs too. I never thought I would. I figured running solo was fine and dandy and I didn't need a group but it's so cool. Even with having to run part of the miles on your own, it's preferable to do that than to run the whole thing alone. I don't mind alone runs of course but if I had my druthers, I'm running with others... wow, lame, sorry for that lame-ness.... but you get the point.
I love starting my day with an early morning run!
ReplyDeleteI am dealing with some personal issues with my running group as well. I need to sit down and go over what my intentions are and go from there. I think I may reduce my 4 x's a week of running with a group to 2 x's. no offense to the other runners, but I really need to be pushing the pace more. The runners I run with are training for a full as well, I just like to run harder and faster on some days.