Survived the windy trip back to VT pretty well and after a day of getting ourselves settled in got myself back up the hill running. The wind has stuck with us and, along with a few inches of snow, made these last two runs cold ones, but I had lots of company. My college friend, Celeste, came up for two days with her two dogs and so it was a crowd of humans and doggies who went out Tuesday am for 5 miles. I will admit, it was a partial walk run, since pushing Brynny in her baby jogger over snow covered roads still turns any run into a power workout, especially going up hill, but the run parts were good, easier than in October, and it was so nice to run with Celeste again.
Today we did a 4 mile tempo run without Bryn - starting at the other side of the hill (Nate dropped us off), warming up for a mile, going up the "heartbreak hill" training hill (one mile of steep - perfect for training for that 3/4mile of torture!), and then kicking it down to home. Windy and wicked, wicked cold.
Celeste was my training partner when I'd get home to Durham every weekend the summer of 1995. It was such a joy to get out with her on long runs through all of Durham, following trails she knew from mountain biking and skiing, taking a mental and physical break from Brian's treatments, the obvious pain he was in, and the stress it was having on all of us. Those runs always brought me back to home with the strength and spirit to continue whatever support I could offer and is likely part of the reason I've returned to running this year and why the DFMC is such a fit.
I ran my first half marathon, the one I was training for that summer, two days after Brian passed. He ran with me that day...until I hit the wall at 11 miles, then we just laughed as I walked/ran, got some fuel in me, and still manged to run fast enough to take 3rd place in my age group, taking home a yummy apple pie.
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