Warming up?

It's such a change leaving the house in the morning and not freezing. I'm only turning the seat heater in the car on low instead of super high. Yesterday went up to the 60's - yay!

It was even warmish when we ran. Pam and I ran our usual short short route last night in Danville. The air was clearer than normal but I could still feel there was some schmootz and pollen floating about. We ran slower than usual since I was talking the ENTIRE TIME, telling her about the race and my trip. I felt good when it was done, although my lungs felt a bit raspy. The temp was comfortable to stand around and chat and stretch afterward without shivering. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it feels like spring is coming.

Tuesday night was the second TnT buddy run. Only 4 other people showed up, including Marvelous Mentor Marcie. My slow running companion from the past week wasn't there so it was just the speedy people and me. They decided that 30 minutes was good enough, and we're running on the Iron Horse. I kept running when they stopped to stretch because I wanted to get in a few more minutes. I was going at a pretty good clip (for me) and although I kept telling myself to slow down, my legs weren't interested in listening. It was dark and a bit creepy out there but at least I could see the lights of the other runners so I didn't freak out. Next week I'm bringing a whistle that I can blow to get their attention if I need it - it'll make me feel safer and maybe I'll slow down to a comfortable speed. I was coughing pretty good when I finished so I knew I'd pushed it. The air was not good and I know better.

I finally have my first appointment to try and figure out whether or not it's asthma that's causing my breathing problems. My feeling is yeah, it is, because it's so much worse when the air sucks (heh heh; air sucks, get it?). I think my heart's pretty strong, despite family history, and I'd like to believe I didn't totally trash my lungs by smoking heavily for over 20 years. For my own peace of mind asthma is the least bad of the conditions that could cause the gasping. I'll know more at the end of next week.

I have 2 runs scheduled for this weekend. A short TnT mentor run in Livermore on Saturday and a 14-16 miler with my gals in Lafayette on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the runs, not so much the getting out of bed at the crack of dawn part. This will be the first real time that I run with the team and it'll be fun to see how the runners are and whether there's anyone my pace.