I was feeling pretty bad that I missed my scheduled 3 miles on Tuesday and Thursday, so I decided to push my scheduled 9 miles on Saturday to an even 10. I arrived at the “Rails to Trails” route in the Farmington, Avon area on a very nice morning ready to go.
Thanks to my trusty PGS watch, which tells me how fast I’m running and how far I’ve gone, I set out to run 5 ½ miles up the trail, turn around, and come back for an even 10 miles. This would be the longest I had ever run at one time. I had my fuel belt filled with four bottles of Gatorade, one gel pack, and my I-Tunes packed with dance music (don’t judge me) for the big adventure. My plan was to take a sip of Gatorade every 15 minutes and have the gel pack at the one hour mark. I decided to keep it slow and comfortable.
Well I’m going pretty good, and at around the 8 mile mark I start thinking 10 miles is good, but if I could just go 3 more miles, that would be the equivalent to a half marathon, and a huge accomplishment for me.
So I pass my car at about the 10 mile mark and decide to keep on running. If I could run another mile and a half, and come back, that would be 3 additional miles for a total of 13! I pass the beautiful Farmington River, the lush trees that line the path and all the other people running, walking, and biking on this beautiful morning. My legs are starting to feel sore but I’m determined. I check my stride and my watch as I get closer to lucky number 13. At about 2 hours and 25 minutes I’ve done it! 13 miles. I'm psyched! Now if I can just make it up the stairs to my house.

Did a very nice 10 miles on Saturday then rode my bike with my neighbor Nick 35 miles on Sunday. We started in Unionville, went through Avon, Simsbury and several other surrounding towns, we pulled over for a little ice cream and finished up with a cold beverage.
It was a perfect way to spend a gorgeous weekend… and the legs felt pretty good afterwards as well.

Due to the rain, I decided to take the training indoors to the New York Sports Club. I’m scheduled to run 3 miles.
But, I start watching a TV show I had never heard of, “Miami Social.” It’s kind of a "Melrose Place" meets "Beverly Hills 90210" which then hooks up with “The Hills,” “Gossip Girl” and “Real Housewives of Orange County.”
Needless to say, I couldn’t stop watching this darn show and end up doing 4 miles on the treadmill laughing out loud during some scenes. People were looking at me like what’s that guy on.
Then of course that little type A voice inside my head thought it would be a good idea to swim some laps. So after about 15 minutes in the pool I packed it up and headed home.
By the way, If you like listening to music while you work out, and you like to swim, might I suggest the FINIS Swimp3 music player. It’s kind of like an I-Pod but the music is transmitted through your cheekbone so nothing goes in your ears. It clips right on to your goggles and is pretty comfortable. I bought mine online.

How about my two Co-workers Rachel Lutzker and Nicole Jacobs!!! (Applause Please)
Neither are runners. Yet both are setting out to do the half marathon (13.1 miles.)
My marathon group was scheduled to run 12 miles; the half marathon group was scheduled to run 9. So I figure I’ll run the 9 with them then run another 3 after that.
We all met at the fountain in Glastonbury at about 7:30 am and after a little stretching off we went. It was a big turnout. It’s always fun to see 30 or more people running down the sidewalk and watching driver’s reactions.
The run was smooth and comfortable. We kept a nice 11 minute pace and talked most of the way… which of course news people seem to have no problem doing… talking that is. (Wrap it up!!)
After the run we celebrated with a coffee and bagel. Well done team! Nice job.
Then of course I still had more running to do if I wanted to stay on schedule. So off I went. The enthusiasm of Rachel and Nicole must have stayed with me because I ended up doing 6 more miles instead of 3 for a total of 15. What was in the coffee?