TwentySixPointWhat?

I'm writing this morning snuggled up under a down blanket from the comfort of my couch - windows are wide open letting in the crisp, cool autumn air. I'd love to be out running this morning but my body is telling me that it needs to rest and I'm listening because I know I've been pushing it the last two weeks and I will continue to ask it to perform for at least another month, if not more. Yesterday morning we drove down to Lynchburg, VA, for the Genworth Virginia 10-miler. I'd won a contest on Facebook from Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine and decided, why not?! This was my first visit to Lynchburg and I was very impressed by the revitalization of the city. . .definitely want to plan another visit. I hadn't really thought through the logistics of making the 3-hour trip in time for the 8:00am start until earlier in the week, like Monday. Mid-week I decided to utilize the networking site, Couchsurfing.com, to find a place to stay Friday evening and had a plan to sta

Ran 5 miles this morning wearing the Vibrams. I made sure to stretch and lift some weights to warm up before heading out to make sure that I was ready to go. It was a near perfect run; I felt it in my core - I felt a deep love for running that I haven't felt in a while. When I wrapped up and looked down at my watch I was surprised that it read 44:31. Not bad. Not bad, at all! I'll take it!

Here we are, approaching the end of September, enjoying seasonable temperatures unseen since last year at this time, and yet I feel as though the calendar should read July instead of September 25. Where did September go? September followed August into oblivion. So here we are. This last week was a pretty incredible week for me. I went home on 13 September to run the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle. My training this summer was whatever I could get away with NOT doing instead of being focused and targeted towards my goals for the fall season. For the most part I've started out successfully; I ran Erie as a training run, but mainly because I miss marathon medals. I ran the first half in 2:06 but the pavement was tearing me up. I proceeded to run the shoulder of the road for the remainder of the marathon. When I realized I could probably match my finishing time from Vermont City in May (4:22:20) I started really pushing myself instead of just using it as a 'training run'. That&#