Making Progress

It's been a good three weeks -- not for posting to this blog, but for running. I've tackled two nine-milers, and have gradually increased the mileage up to the mid 30s, and one of those was a hilly run. And I've been increasing the speed a bit -- not breaking any land speed records but pushing it a little. Now I'm in a recovery week, where I'm only doing about 16-18 miles. Just writing that makes me realize the progress that I've made. When I committed to training 6-8 weeks ago, a 4-5 mile run was LONG. Now that's a fun little jaunt.

But the down week is actually a good thing as I'm fighting off a cold that seems to be infecting everyone in my house and beyond. I've actually had two days in a row with no running and it feels like a week since I've last run.

In a couple weeks I'll be on the full 18-week training program so I'm eager to get back out there tomorrow and try a short tempo run. Also eager to lace up my new shoes which I picked up at my new favorite running store, Rhode Runner in Providence. (http://www.rhoderunner.net/) If you're anywhere NEAR Rhode Island and need running gear, go here. They're friendly, knowledgeable and have a great selection of products. In 15 minutes, they watched my natural walk, put some shoes on, put me on the treadmill, changed me to a different shoe for a slight right foot pronation, and had me in the most comfortable fitting New Balance shoes I've had in a long time.