Welcoming the lenten season...

I'm just a handful of days away from the Disney Princess Half Marathon - aka the Happiest Run on Earth - and so far this year have successfully avoided any of the typical injuries I get when running hard. That is, until I started to feel a twinge in my left calf tonight. Now, it was not really enough to be alarmed about at this point, just a bit of discomfort in miles 2-4 and it evened back out by mile 5 - leading to a super fast last mile. That said, I definitely need to watch it a bit. Especially if I hope to log roughly 28 miles before the end of the week.

On a more fun note - Happy Fat Tuesday! How did you celebrate? Me? French fries and about a gazillion oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. While most of the world, myself included, chart our goals for the year beginning on New Year's Day, fat Tuesday (or Shrove Tuesday to the Christian world) offers the opportunity to chart new goals for the spirit. I'm a stringent observer of Lent - much to the consternation of some of my co-workers who worry about mood alterations due to diet changes - but I look forward to the season when I cleanse my soul of both bad attitudes and bad food toxins. Lent cannot really be observed, I believe, merely by giving something up, but must also be observed by improving for the positive. So here's my list - giving up chocolate, soda, all forms of fried potatoes and cutting back on the coffee (let's be honest, attempting to give this up may cause me to become murderous...or at least VERY pissy), and I'll be improving my soul by engaging in at least one and hopefully multiple random acts of kindness in a day. Happy trails!

State -
Miles: 5.01
Time: 42:13 (average pace of 8:25 per mile, with a 7:52 on mile 5)
Location: Capitol Hill, Lincoln Park (I even ran around the House-side buildings....slumming, I know :) )
Feeling: I will be great if that calf doesn't go downhill