…until the Boston marathon, that is.  It’s very exciting stuff, now that I have a full week of training under my belt.  Last week I finished with about 33 or so miles/week.  These next two weeks I’ll creep toward 40 and then probably top around 50.  I know it will fly by!

Saturday was also my first “double digits” run since my last 10-miler, pre-Kenya, pre-Thanksgiving.  Yeah, it had been a while.  Fortunately, Chicago has been going through a bit of a winter thaw, so the temps aren’t terrible, much of the snow has melted, and just some ice remains (definitely enough to warrant caution!).  Saturday morning, once the BB group left the FF store, we did our 10 by running north along the lakefront up to the 1.0 mile marker (around Lawrence) and then turning around.  There are some seriously speedy people in the group, which is both exciting and slightly intimidating.  My run was just lovely and super enjoyable, thanks to the nice camaraderie of Erin and Margaret.  We ran comfortably, took turns conversing the whole way, and the miles seemed to fly by.  We had the weather on our side, too, which is always a positive boost.

Running’s now back in my groove.  I missed it not being there.  I have a 6-miler home tonight, in the dark, to look forward to, an an easy 3 tomorrow before speedwork (a la hills!) on Wednesday night and 12 on Saturday… along with some other runs this week.  Looking forward to it.

And so it begins…. and so it begins, indeed.