How did I get this far?

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would have not only completed 6 half marathons by now but that I would actually look forward to runs over 10 miles, I probably would have told you you were crazy.

A decade ago, I considered 10 miles a really, really long run. The longest race I had run was a 4 mile race, but that was only once. Mostly I considered myself a 5K runner (and that was a stretch in 1992 when I ran my first one, but that's a story for another day.)

However, once I actually started to train for longer distances I was shocked by how quickly my body adapted. (I ran my first half marathon in January 2001. I didn't run my first 10K until that April.)

I knew something had changed in me the day I was on a long run, completed 1 hour of the run and thought, "Great! Only one hour to go!" Whaaaaat?

And again today, as I was updating my status on facebook (again, a sequence of words I didn't think I'd ever type) I wrote two phrases "Looking forward to my long run." "Only 10 miles."

How times change. All for the better.

Weather or not...

I'm generally fascinated by people's obsession with weather. On a positive note, as long as you have changes in weather, you've always got something to talk about with strangers. However, over my many decades living in the midwest I've often been annoyed by people complaining about the weather. If you hate snow and cold - why do you live in the midwest? However, this spring I've found myself obsessing about the weather more than usual.

First the wind. Strange thing to complain about - but it's been really windy! And given that I've had a mysterious case of overly dry eyes for almost a year now, running, walking, inline skating or biking out in the wind is even less fun than usual because if the slightest particle gets in my eye, it's seriously painful. But it's been really windy - not just breezy. Running across our many great bridges I've often felt as though I might be blown right into the river. Or into traffic.

Then there have been the weather fluctuations. Thunderstorms one day, unseasonably cold the next. This past Saturday I was alternating between freezing and overheating on my long run. I usually dress fairly appropriately and don't complain about being too cold or too hot. But for this spring weather, it's been difficult to get it right. But then wait two days - literally - and it's 80 degrees. It's just a little difficult to keep up.

But I'll adjust. We all will.

Hey, hot enough for you?