mindfirerunner

It’s amazing what you learn about someone you’ve just met in an elevator. Every morning I pack my lunch in a reuseable bag from the pantry. We’ve collected tons of bags from campus orientations, meetings, conferences, and…race expos. I happened to grab a Rock ‘n’ Roll bag this morning, which prompted a brief encounter with a new-found running buddy in the elevator.

I barely stepped a foot in the door when I heard, “You ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll?”. I was taken a bit off guard and in trying to sort through races replied “Which one?”. I’ve run Denver a few times and the husband ran Vegas twice, and we just signed up for Nashville and San Diego. Come to find out, this fellow runner ran Denver as well as Las Vegas and in the time it took to get up to the 6th floor we’d already spouted off a slew of information about both races. I recalled my post from the other day about how we as runners sometimes feel like the minority, but I think the other guy in the elevator was the one that felt a little out of place this time.

I’d been struggling the past few weeks with enjoying my runs. It’s been bitterly cold and challenging to get good strides with what feels like a dozen layers of clothes on. Saturday’s long run was absolutely wonderful though because I was able to run in the middle of the day and enjoy the sun and warmer weather, and take a mental break from the chaos for a while. But I haven’t had anything on my plate race-wise to look forward to until recently. Getting through the winter months with training has proven to be boring at times, but I know that I need some down time and base running (as coach puts it) to stay healthy and ready for what’s on tap next.

So, what’s on tap next? Nashville in April…it sounds so far away but I’m already looking foward to it as this starts the full swing of race season – and warmer weather. What’s next for you? Let us know of some great races in your area. Colorado is full of them, but it’s nice to take a weekend getaway and go someplace new. Talk up your town and let’s get ready for racing season!