Thanksgiving Running Summary

I'm feeling pretty good about the last 7 weeks. Just after Halloween, I had a cold that knocked me down a peg and between a busy work schedule and a lot going on at home, it took me a week to get back on my feet.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Long Runs with the Stroller: I found a win-win-win scenario by taking my daughter in the jogging stroller. My wife gets free time, I get my long run, and Emma gets a nice nap and the occasional dog bounding off a front porch to greet us.
• Windshield for the Stroller: A few weeks ago, my long run plans were seriously threatened because I it was raining off and on all day. The upside was that it was warm--65 degrees. I took my chances when there was a break in the rain, put my daughter in the stroller and covered her with a raincoat. Everything was fine for about 15 minutes, then dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees, and it began to pour down rain and, for a while, SLEET. I was soaked, my daughter was halfway there, and I still had to get home. I had been putting off the wind/rainshield for a Christmas gift, but nixed that idea and ordered it right away. I've already put it to good use with a run in 32 degrees with high winds and today with mid-30s and rain. The winshield plus a "Baby Bag" by LL Bean ($2.50 from a thrift store) and my daughter is tugging off her hat because she gets too warm!
• Turkey Trot: I ran a neighborhood Turkey Trot at my parents house with the stroller and was proud to finish at 7:00 pace. I had no idea I was in that good of shape.
• Run/Walk: After years of being intrigued by Galloways run/walk approach, but being too proud to not gut out every run, I finally gave it a try. I'll elaborate in a later post, but so far I've managed to get faster, recover sooner, and not terribly sore after my long runs.
  

Staying Safe in the Dark

With the change in Daylight Savings Time, I'm now running in the dark after work. I'm not normally running in places with a lot of traffic, so when a car or bike comes up on me, I want to know they can see me. Some things like headlamps and red blinking lights help, but they aren't always as visible as you'd like them to be, especially if they are angled the wrong way. That's why I prefer reflective gear that picks up light from all directions and reflects back...making you much more obvious to a driver or cyclist. The problem is much of the reflective gear out there is ridiculously expensive, or if affordable looks like something you'd wear picking up litter along the roadside.

So I was pleased to find out about See-Me-Run. They offer a number of stylish reflective designs that you can iron onto your already-owned running clothes. I went with the Running Man (picture left). The hardest part about the whole thing was finding the iron buried in a long lost drawer. After that, the process was really easy.