I know first aide

I spent the last two days becoming re certified in first aid so that I can continue my winter training in the school weight room - and, of course, recognize symptoms of things such as shin splints, stress fractures, ankle sprains, muscular strains, compound fractures, compression fractures, neck injuries, spinal injury, death... (I don't think all will eventually apply to my marathon training, but I bet I will become familiar with a few of these.) As I sat in training, watching 30-year old videos presented by a 70-year old man, I kept thinking that I really should be outside running. It may be one of the last nice days before I need to put on the underarmor and hit the snow-covered road. I am not sure that my lungs will survive the cold runs in Upstate New York, but then again, I'm not sure that the will survive the LONG run in Paris, either. SO, I will continue my mind game (mind over matter, right?)

If any of you know much about training for a marathon, you will know that you spend three weeks building up your weekly mileage, and then take a step back to allow your body to recuperate for the next big push toward increased mileage. This week has been a step=back week for me. I was really looking forward to this week for a while, cause it looks so good on paper. What I have experienced, however, is that the quick, short, small runs are becoming more difficult than their longer counterparts. Curious. I don't know if it's because I get into a better zone, or because I enjoy the buildup of mentally preparing myself for an hour run...I can't figure it out. I can say that even though my two and three mile workouts felt brutal this week, they were fast. I don't know how or why that happened. It brings a smile to my face to know that my speed is improving - I'll keep you posted in ten weeks when I have to go 15 miles (it nearly pains me to type that.)

On the logistics home front, I am working on finalizing travel and lodging plans for the trip in April. I have a former student of mine joining me - still trying to determine whether she is old enough to participate. Both she and I saw age 18 at one point and now we are seeing 20. In any case, I am really hoping that she comes with us - perhaps a breakfast 5-k through the quaint streets of Paris is in her future (sounds very nice, doesn't it?) I think many people who plan to travel to Paris with us could accomplish this - wouldn't it be fun? Anyway, she already has hotel and plane reservations so I must catch up with that this weekend.

So, where was I going with this? 1 - if anyone gets hurt in Paris, I got you covered. 2 - I should keep running the long runs because they are easier (???) and 3 - call me if you need any information about where we are staying in Paris. (we should be close in order to party-it-up after the marathon)