Run 9

We're exposed to a lot of numbers on a daily basis- most with negative connotations. Whether it's the number of barrels of oil that are pouring into the Gulf on a daily basis or the rising national debt, it's hard to find any kind of statistic that's going to put you in a good mood. For now, these are the numbers I need to focus on- 7.42, 4.15 and 5.35. These are the mileages of the legs I will be running in the Hood to Coast this year. The lineup is officially out and I am really excited.

Last year, I volunteered to run one of the first legs and was put in the second position. Honestly, I had no idea what I was signing myself up for, I just figured that running downhill had to be better than running uphill, and I knew that my first run had a huge downhill. What I didn't realize was that this meant my legs and toes would be absolutely dead after running the downhill. No more. This year, I will be running the sixth leg of the race, which means I will be far from the sloping terrain of Mt. Hood.

The legs I'll be running this year couldn't be more different than the ones I ran last year. Whereas last year my legs were all roughly the same distance, this year, there's a huge difference in mileage. Last year, my toughest leg was my last. Big mistake. This year, I'm getting the toughest done with first. I don't know if any of this guarantees that I'm going to run any faster than I did last year, but I'm thinking that this can't hurt my chances.

On to the run. After not feeling well for the early part of the week, I came to Thursday realizing that I hadn't run once. Still not feeling back to normal but realizing that not running would take an entire week out of my training, I decided to go to the Pacific Beach boardwalk again and hope for the best from my body. Fortunately, my body performed way better than I was expecting and I didn't feel any ill effects after not running for a week. I don't know if it was the perfect running weather or the remarkably solid music my ipod had in store for me on the run, but I felt really good and I ended up finishing the run 5 minutes faster than I had the first time I ran it.

Now, I know exactly how far I'm going to have to run, it's both inspiring and a little scary. To be honest, I've never run 7 and a half miles at one time in my life. So while this is a little intimidating, I'm determined to make sure that when Hood to Coast comes around, the first leg isn't still the first time I've ever run 7.5 miles at one time. Soon, it will be time for the serious training to begin and I'm hoping through it, that 7.5 number will seem a little less of an obstacle.