Mittens in May??

This morning brought a mixture of rain, temps hovering in the 40’s, and some bursts of wind.  What a perfect morning to run.  And even better to take Bella on the trails. 

I’m feeling great post marathon, but still in the mode of taking it easy.  I’ve been averaging 4 miles and not very often since Maine Coast Marathon.  And I’m completely OK with that.  My legs feel terrific, but I find my best mental recovery comes with taking some time to just “be”.  So, the last two weeks have consisted of runs that I’ve done whatever I felt like.  Last week, one of my runs was 4 miles @ 8:21 pace.  Today, I was barely maintaining 9:00.  There will be time very soon to focus again on the next goal (teaser!).  But for now, I’m enjoying whatever time I spend out there and it’s working for me.

Enter mittens.  Yes, mittens in May.  GASP!  They didn’t last for long, but they did help with the initial chill and more importantly, with the contact I made to the ground when I took my first fall of 2013…..

Curses.

I also wore running pants this morning, which although didn’t completely prevent blood and some swelling, did help temper the more dramatic “skinned knee” I certainly would have experienced had I been wearing shorts.  I’ve definitely had much worse, but you know, any fall is jarring.  It's amazing to me that I reached mile 45 at StoneCat last year before  my one fall, yet today I fell just before the 1 mile mark.  Go figure.  

As I sat on the wet ground assessing my knee, Bella took no mercy.  She had already run up the small hill and was barking incessantly, reminding me I was late in throwing her stick.  She’s definitely bad ass Labrador!

After the "fall" drama, we decided 3 miles would do the trick for today.  I’m fine, but like I said, have no real need to push to anything more today.  I started out tired, which probably explains my lethargic legs (and fall), and I have a couple running dates with Scott this weekend that I’m looking forward to.  I’d rather get this fall out of the way before I get into some real trails this weekend. 

My knees and I will live to run another day…hopefully without mittens!!