Spring into Summer

Since the Boston Marathon I have been taking it easy in my running life.  NC is HOT!  Like 90+ degrees hot.  I need to make a real effort to run in the morning and if I don't then I usually pass on the 95 degree runs at night.  I'm running about 5 times a week, 4-6 miles at a time, with perhaps a longer run in there on the weekend.  Sometimes I don't want to run but I remind myself that exercise is important for humans!  I don't belong to a gym but, with this heat, this is the first time in a while I've considered joining.  I went on a business trip and ran in the hotel gym and I thought, I FEEL SO GREAT!  I DON'T SUCK AT RUNNING-it's just too hot to run at home!  J4 and I came to a similar realization one fall after a DC summer that we spent thinking we were total blubber butts.  In addition, with the reduced running the knee pain that plagued me from October through January with a recurrence in the April Boston Marathon is gone.  Yay!  I can bend my knee while I sit at work and on planes with no ill effects-there is no more "movie theater knee."

J4 and I just got back from a trip to Seattle.  I went for work and J4 tagged along and it was awesome.  The weather was GLORIOUS and we went on some great runs: 6 miles around Lake Union (J4 and I), 6 miles on a bike path from Queen Anne to downtown (J4 and I and our friend), and 9 miles past the Ballard Locks and through Discovery Park with our friend's running club (I got dropped hard).  We also went hiking at Snow Lake.  I have not spent much time on the west coast and I just thought Seattle was fabulous.  Oh, I also got the "Old Fashioned" donut at Top Pot Doughnuts.  Twice.  Love.  At the end of trip I had a day in Portland for work and I went running there-4.5 miles along a bike path separated by a fence from the highway.  It wasn't scenic but it was a safe place to run with cool weather.

Since last I wrote J4 and I moved into our first house.  We are busy getting things set up, spending money on furniture, and taking a few weekend trips out of town (many to places with cooler weather!).