Happy International Junk Food day!

Now, that's not so reverent and Memorial Day appropriate, I am aware, but I'm coming off a lovely four-day weekend / running constantly vacation, and all I can say about the extra day off and grilling dinner tendencies is, bring it! I just drank a Coke. And ate potato chips. It's been a good six months since either passed my lips, and I am pleased. I am so committed to my family's gluttonous barbecuing prospects that I forced the hapless clerk at Whole Foods to get me white hot dog buns to go with my uncured organic yuppie-ass beef hot dogs. That's right - no whole grains in this house!

Anyhow, I had a lovely long run in the heat earlier today, and I haven't felt this good after a long, hot effort in a while. I credit the gels I took in lieu of Gatorade, and the only reason I'm now on the internets is because I wish to procure a box or two of those, cheap. That, and continue to obsess over procuring the cheapest possible yet developmentally appropriate middle distance spikes for little Duff.

I finally did that Siwony Trail run I mentioned a few posts ago on Friday (I never actually did it on Mother's Day, since the lake-like conditions at the trail head kind of prevented it. I improvised on pavement instead) and I now have large, red, bug-induced welts all over to prove it. It's a nice run - probably a nice hike, for that matter, but I can't imagine holding still for all of those bugs - and has the added bonus of taking you out of range of all the damn teenagers walking from the 6 train at Pelham Bay Station to Orchard Beach. Trust me, this is no small bonus. You haven't lived until at least three separate groups of Bronx teenagers have yelled, "A jogger! A jogger!" as you pass, and at least one of them sprints ahead of you for a ginormous 100 feet or so, then stops and dies with laughter as his / her pants fall off past their ass crack. Charming, especially when multiple teenagers independently think they are the first to do this. Anyway, the trail takes you away from all that, because these particular teenagers are afraid of woods (unless they provide cover to spark a joint, I guess) and actually used to think my husky mixed breed was, in fact, a wolf. Great job, New York City public schools!

So, it's a nice groomed single-track that takes you through some moderate woods until you get to Orchard Beach. There's a northward option, as well, that I have yet to explore but have gleaned travels along the marshy coast of Long Island Sound, before connecting with the under-construction-until-Fall 2009 bridle path. I may hit it as part of my planned 12 next weekend, my last long run before the Mini on June 7. Yay, Mini! I'm excited for this. It seems like every time I run a 10k I'm knocking two minutes off my PR, but I'm pretty humble about it. If I match the last one (or shave a few seconds off...) I'll still be inordinately pleased.

It makes me think, though. If I had been training appropriately for the last few years, how freaking fast would I be now? Oh wait, I only started running, period, in the last couple of years. But I'm (oddly) amazed at how quickly consistent training shows results. I keep breaking weekly and monthly mileage highs, too, so I guess it all goes to building a good base before I start marathon training in earnest, about the last week of June or beginning of July. However, I'm currently (and have been) putting in more miles than are called for in the first few weeks of (both of) the training program(s) I've picked. Does this mean I should move up to a harder program? Run less for those weeks? Keep running the same mileage until the program(s) catch(es) up with me? So many questions. Where is a marathon coach guru when a slow first-timer needs one? Woe is me. And a happy international junk food day to you.