back to running

after getting an MRI and being diagnosed with arthritis of my knee, I have been nervous about running.  I got some injections and ran a marathon to celebrate a friend's 50th state and then didn't do much else for a while.

11/15 - ran OBX half marathon.  training plan = 5 mile run 2 weeks out, 9 mile run a week before.  lower your expectations.  run within your comfort zone.  be pleasantly surprised!  I kept thinking during the 1/2 that I would just see how my body was doing at 9 miles but I could probably suck it up and do 4 more at that point.....people around me were probably wondering if I was psychotic at mile 9 when I felt really good and started laughing hysterically! I felt good and knew I would finish fine, and comfortably under my self-imposed goal finish time.  it was good to be back.  unfortunately, I don't like to run in winter cold weather so I have slacked off until today.

2/20/16 - I needed to do a training run for my next half marathon, next weekend. out the door, cool, but not cold, however the wind was a bit blustery.
I love running along the beach.  there are so many beautiful and interesting things to see, hear, and smell.  I noted the sand overwash from the recent winter storm, a few oceanfront homes have a foot of sand in their driveways.
my random act of kindness for the day was picking up and moving several overturned garbage cans from the roadside to their homes. I saw quite a bit of flotsam and jetsam from the storm, beach chairs and damaged umbrellas, sand and surf toys of all sorts.  the two other runners I passed seemed genuinely happy to be out and to see another runner.  offseason is nice.
I turned around at 3.5 miles.  near Awful Arthur's, I pulled over to retie my shoe and upon returning to the road, I saw my husband about 100 yards away, walking toward me, crossing the street, and then turning around to run away from me.  he didn't see me, and I spent the last 1.5 miles trying to close the gap.  I was doing well until I noticed him sprinting in the last 1/4 mile.  oh well, I decided that a fast finish would cover me.  7 mile training run complete, let's hope it works for a half marathon.