Leap Frog.

I'm not going to lie... if someone could tape record or transcribe the thoughts that run through my head as I'm running... I'd probably become famous, or at least win some sort of award for the profoundness that occurs in there haha. Unfortunately for you, the readers,  no one does that for me, so you actually miss out on a lot of the humorous and/or life facts I think of while running. But tonight I was pretty good at keeping mental notes... lucky you.

Still smiling.. and yes you'll see the neon green jacket a lot
(it's an awesome running coat for night runs) 

Tonight I only had to do 4 miles, and I felt really good. I headed out around 6pm, right from the office, not allowing anytime to get home and become lazy. My run tonight acted as my "de-briefer" from the busy day at work of to do lists, discovery, and deadlines. And let me tell you... running up Huntington Avenue, putting myself in the midst of several different colleges was an easy way to not think about work.

Blurry... but it was pretty much my view
with the addition of hundreds of college kids/cars going by

I'm not sure if there is a competition between the local colleges and universities for obnoxious students, but Northeastern is putting themselves in the running quick (please see yesterdays blog if this statement confuses you). Now I know I'm guilty of texting and walking, but I at least think I have it down to an art form... NOT  these students. You would think they were drunk (which hey, maybe they were considering tomorrow the snow Apocalypse is going to hit and Menino has shut down the entire city so they probably don't have classes. Actually, I definitely saw some students with the typical college thirty racks walking around... I'm talking about you, Keystone..), but anyways... when I'm running, I typically try to work around the people ahead of me, and if they're on the left, I'm going to run right... WELL.. that apparently is NOT the way you do it walking near Northeastern. Their style is more a Russian roulette type of style, like one where you might even have your life on the line... I swear if one more person all of a sudden jolted to the opposite side of the sidewalk, you know.... the spot I was about to run.... I might just start acting like Vince Wilfork and take someone out (and maybe even do a little dance after).

Pick a side people I have a pace I'm trying to maintain!

One cool thing about tonight's run, besides the fact that I was actually keeping up at a faster, more consistent pace, was that I was also playing a little game of leap frog with the Number 39 bus. It was interesting passing the bus, getting passed, and then re-passing the bus. I don't care if it had to stop to pick people up; stop at red lights; and deal with traffic... I definitely won. [I mean seriously, I had to deal with the drunk-texting-sidewalk-hogs, which is way worse than any amount of traffic]

So I was feeling good about my pace, right up until I hit my halfway mark... and then it happened... some other female runner was out and she FLEW by me.

Talk about a motivation killer. It wasn't even like she was a little ahead of me... she literally... flew... by.. me... Before I could even figure out what had happened she was already out of my visibility further up the sidewalk.

After a moment of self-pity...

 I told myself it's probably better I start having people do this to me on my runs... 1) for motivation to push myself to a faster pace and 2) to prepare for the marathon... please, I'm no qualifying time participant... the passing is going to happen for the entire 26.2 miles, might as well get use to it... to a point.

When I was done I looked at my gps and I had finished my 4 miles in less than 42 minutes, which was a big 'F you' to my Nike Plus which was it's predicted finish time for me... ha ha Nike plus, I beat you! :)

Oh boy...I guess I can even find competition with an iPhone app.

But as I've said throughout this post, I felt good tonight. My body felt good, and I felt energized, which was refreshing after having run 6 miles yesterday. It's giving me hope that I really can do this if I keep to the training schedule. For the first time ever, 4 miles felt short... awesome.

I honestly don't think you could've asked me at any point in my life to date that I would expect to be doing what I'm doing right now, but here I am... doing it. It's a good feeling. Which is something I think we all need in our lives... something to feel really good about.

I've also been pleasantly surprised by some of my supporters who have donated so far. You know who you are, and your support is beyond appreciated and I will continue to thank you a million times over. I kept reading fundraising posts of other participants who said their supporters helped motivate them, and I don't think I truly understood that until recently.

To my supporters... Thank you. You really are helping put the extra push in every mile. 

Now... to end my night.... already feeling good about my workout. I come across this waiting for the bus... talk about something to bring a smile to your face... some people.

Just your typical man with a unicorn mask, purple spandex and rainbow leg warmers...
WHAT?!?!

Tomorrow is a rest day, which I'll enjoy to the fullest... especially since my office decided to close completely for the day. I'm thinking a Bar Method or Yoga DVD workout will be in order along with a lot of stretching, icing, and resting... I'm looking forward to it!

IF by chance the snow isn't as bad as it's suppose to be, or if it at least allows me to get on a sidewalk, I'll be attempting my first "distance run" of my training... 12 miles... Oooofff... I'll keep you posted!

Tomorrow: Rest Day
Saturday [pending snow]: 12 miles