One week to go!

I have one more week to go until the 5K! I've written more about the details of my running and my plan for this week of training and the race over at RunWendeeRun (click here).

I'm behind on posting drawings and photos to Flickr and writing about them here, because, well, I've been a little single-mindedly focused on the whole running thing. I've been spending time getting my legs stronger and my stamina better, washing bunches of sweaty running gear, downloading and poring over data from each of my runs from my Garmin, and looking for something in a nice orange to wear for the 5K.Orange because Art Center is the orange dot school, after all. A nice orange, not 'Emergency' or 'Safety' orange.

I finally gave in and ran with my iPod last week, because although I prefer to not be plugged in to music when running on the roads (safety first!), I really, really needed the extra pick-me-up. The right earbud of the pair that I use at the gym had gone out, anyway, so I figured I was safe using that set of headphones, just listening to music through one ear. My half-functioning headphones fit the bill perfectly! Today, I went out, looking forward to more musical inspiration, and the left earbud died immediately. I wasn't even to the end of the block! Well! So much for that fine plan, huh? The run went fairly well, so I'm thinking I don't need to worry about music. I do, however, need to get a replacement set of headphones, for when I'm back running at the gym. 

That's pretty much how it's been: Lots of running on the brain.

Want to add an extra boost to my runs? I'm going to go back to the treadmill once a week starting this week, instead of doing all my runs on the pavement. I run far stronger and faster on the treadmll, actually, and - - not surprisingly - - really, really enjoy it. And that's what it's all about, isn't it, enjoying the feeling of running? Plus I can (and absolutely do!) listen to my iPod on the treadmill. I'm working to get to the point where I'm so happy while I'm running (and running at a strong enough pace) that I'm singing as I'm running (okay, maybe lip-syncing, not actually singing out loud). I'm not quite there yet. Leave me your favorite 'Kick it!' song in the comments and I'll be there in no time!