August Recap

Total Miles Ran:  188
Number of those miles that involved me holding a dog and a leash:  68
Trail Miles:  13
Songs with the most airtime on my mp3 player:  Emeli Sande - Next to Me
Number of P90x or Jillian Michaels Workouts: 6  

July was supposed to be my take it easy and relax month with August being the month where I would feel rejuvenated and ready to whip myself into serious shape for JFK.  Umm...not sure that happened.  I haven't really been feeling it this month but kept the mileage up and am hoping for a turn of events this month.  The Half Wit Half was a fun race.  Running with the dogs continues to be the running that I look forward to the most.  Hopefully in September all those long runs will turn into what I enjoy.

I started off September with another Appalachian Trail run with my local running crew.  We started at the start line of the JFK 50, ran along the road in Boonsboro and the trail section to get 16 miles for the day.  The only thing different from this trip was the inclusion of 6 strange men.  Six random strangers we met online joined us, all are running JFK for the first time and wanted to get a sense of the trail portion.  All of them were stronger runners than me.  Somehow though, I still ended up in the lead of the group of women we were the only ones familiar with the trail.  When we hit South Mountain Inn, I couldn't see the rest of the group but didn't want the guys to have to wait too long so we jumped right on the trail..  So, there I was running in the woods with 6 guys that I've known for all of about 15 minutes.  I still don't know all of their names.  Judging by the pictures one of them posted on Facebook, I point a lot when guiding strange men through the woods.  

Once we got to the point where they could just follow the trail, I had them go around me.  Then, I became a major slacker.  Without someone near me in either direction, I didn't push myself at all.  I wasn't loving the rocks on this day but got through it slowly with lots of walking. 

Then, today, things became even more strange.  I'll just let minds wander and ponder this status I posted.  

Even though the end was a little strange, a beautiful, slightly nervous husky named Oliver got my butt moving today when I wasn't feeling up for it.  We managed to run 7 miles at a decent pace and it felt wonderful in the end!