Claiming back my streets....my cold dark quiet morning streets

           I am reading the book, Run, by Dean Karnazes and in it he shares about running at odd hours, and I mean ODD hours....like 2am in the morning, at times even all night long. As a woman runner, the FIRST thought that goes through my mind is, "I could never do this for the mere fact that a woman can't be out at 2am on the streets anywhere in the US, or most of the world without worrying about her safety". Dean too felt afraid at times, he recalls a time when a woman almost ran him over at wee hours in the morning, but still, I was jealous at the freedom he enjoys, simply being a man. Once on my long training weeks I pushed my long run late enough that I found myself needing to run until midnight. The first and only night I did this I had some van stop halfway down the street and then coast slowly as he stared at me. That was the end of my odd-hours adventures. 

        But the book got me missing the beautifully quiet dark streets of the early mornings. Ever since my injury last year I was forced to work out at the gym and then just got used to doing my workouts in the gym. Now I have forgotten all about what it feels like to run outdoors.....these coming weeks I will begin to make efforts to run outdoors in the mornings....will report on my progress soon. 

6th week done!! 10 weeks to go!

      Yes! 6th week of marathon training done!! I chose to do my long run outdoors today and took a route I very much enjoyed. It had lots of long, endless hills of which I ended up walking and I was not very happy with my time at all considering the Marine Corps Marathon that I'm training for has a requirement of 14 minute miles; but for now let's focus on  the fact that I got 11 miles done. 

           I found my road ID this week. With three killings in 9 days of women runners, and in pure daylight, I needed to take precautions. The road ID was a gift from my sister a few years back when I first started running. Still has my old address on it, but all phone numbers on it are still relevant. I ended up taking off the reflective bracelet, the sun was coming up as I was leaving...

My newest addition to my 'safety arsenal' is this cute little knife I got from Dicks Sporting Goods for $20. It easily clips to your clothes or a pocket. I actually carry it everywhere now, even when I am not running. The man who sold it to me old me because it's a short blade, it's legal; as if I was fretting about the legality of carrying a 2 and a half inch blade!Nevertheless, he must have thought it was a piece of shit because he says, "don't be afraid to use it now, stick it in and twist."He explains this right in front of my 9 year-old and we both stood there soaking in the visual he so clearly described. 

I have run indoors so much I just realized how much I missed two very important things,  both my running shadow and spitting!!! yes, you read right...spitting. Oh it was glorious. I think of my shadow as my running partner. So many nights while living and running in DC I knew that the shadows would surely help me if a perpetrator were to chase me, I knew I'd surely catch that change on my shadow. 

         When I first moved to this area South Run park just seemed so far from home. It always took more time to go there than a closer rec center by our house, so we always chose the closer one instead. Today I ran there! The one glitch to this route is that it required me to run 1/4 mile on a fast road that neither had a trail nor a road and it was a bit scary running as far to the left as possible towards facing oncoming traffic, especially on the way way back when it was later and more cars were on that road. 

           Ran into a very sweet and super friendly female runner who belongs to the MRTT (Mothers Run This Town) group. She asked if I was a member. I explained that yes I was am a member but that I prefer to run alone. It was really nice chatting with her for the short stretch in which we overlapped and for a short minute made me wish I could run with others. But at my pace, most women want to either do intervals or walk and intervals is just too disruptive for me to achieve my running calm and walking the whole time is just not fast enough for a busy mom. 

Sitting in my screened-in porch wearing only my running bra and basking in the glow! Next week, 12 miles....

Needless to say I was a bit stiff all day and a bit tired. I finally left the house at 5pm to go buy some veggies to make my juice. Below are two drinks I made. I am trying to have less sugar and so I tried my juice with less sweet veggies and more greens. The drink for my hubby has 4 carrots, 2 small beets, 4 celery stalks and 4 bundles of bok choy. My juice (the one in the big pitcher) has all of the above plus 2 zucchinis, 2 green peppers. The color on mine is not very pretty but it was quite tasty. 

     I save all my lettuce and celery bases and place them in water for a week or until green leaves sprout out of them. I then plant them in my garden. In my garden now I have one successful celery plant growing fast, as well as a pineapple plant....I know it's not much but for a woman who was born and raised in the city, in apartments, this is HUGE!!! The part of my garden where the celery is growing so well is somewhat shady. Unfortunately, the tomato plants and the zucchini plants are NOT doing so well. Looked up some info on them online only to find out that celery grows well in the shade, hence it's success there. I need to move my tomato plants someplace sunny before they die. 

            One of the realities of most runners is chafing. From past experience I know exactly where to apply huge amounts of vaseline before an long run. I place liberal amounts of vaseline on the space where my legs meet my private area, over my c-section scar, and under the strap of my bra on both the front and the back. If wearing a tank top I will also place a ton of vaseline under my arms, about 2 inches down from my armpit. Below is the chafing I got from my bra, in fact, which I ALWAYS get from my bra. I gave the same marking in the back as well. Normally, the sensitive skin heals pretty fast after a few days. Not much care needed, just time. I hope the new bra I ordered from Brooks for a whopping $50 does not do this. It could be caused by the fact that my bra is now tighter due to muscles. I HAVE been at the gym doing weights for about 3 months now. 

My First Ever Trail Run

                          In preparation for my trail race in two weeks I have been meaning to do some practice runs in some trails, any trails. The one that is most convenient to me is Rock Creek Park, literally, a few blocks east. For those of you who do not know Washington, DC, Rock Creek Park is where Chandra Levy disappeared right before 9/11. In attempts to get ready for my run, I searched online for advice and safety tips on running in Rock Creek alone, etc. What I discovered were lots of posts from women stating how they are afraid to run Rock Creek. So with some trepidation I arrive at on of the the parking lots of the park at 6am. The sun had just come up, it was 62 degrees, and no one was around; all I see are green luscious trees and all I hear are bird chirping in a warm spring morning. I had my pepper spray in one hand and my water bottle in another, my phone strapped to my hip with a timer set and MapMyRun app ready to record my coordinates and time my run. I was so blown away by my run that I think I want to have part of my weekly miles to be on trails from now on. Below are pictures I took form the trail.... 

Up a hill....

Looking down at a creek below...

and run back down a huge hill......to water level.....the stream was so calm...

And looking down from way up high....

I wanted to bad to take my shoes off and soak my feet in the cool water.....maybe next time...lol

Oh what fun!!

This path is like an obstacle course...

Down by Pierce Mill.....

A view of the sky from below

Roots, roots and more roots....picking up those feet...

A Dog-filled Run

                      I was running around the towns of Baldwin, Freeport and Oceanside, NY in Long Island this morning for my long run (10 miles) and I must have seen about 3 dogs who were not on a leash. One actually ran up to me while I passed his house and I got really startled. I could tell within seconds that it was a friendly dog, but it still made me stop out of fear. For a few blocks there I actually considered carrying my pepper-spray in my hand instead of in a little pocket inside of my arm-band, where I always carry it, but I was too lazy and trying to conserve energy.

                     I love dogs, but I would not hesitate to spray one that comes after me. A few years back when my sweet, gorgeous and super friendly German Shepherd dog, Duncan, was alive, a very angry dog ran out of his back yard and for many minutes attached his teeth to the back of my poor dog as I frantically called for help. Three thousand dollars later he was fine but it was such a traumatic experience that I could not do runs again for years. I tried continuing my running, but each time I would have this overwhelming fear that out of nowhere an angry dog would come running after me.

                      So now I carry pepper spray and I don't play. I also now have two kids and need to be home for my family. I believe every person, especially women, should carry pepper spray on their runs. It's much better to be safe than sorry. What do you do to stay safe?