"Extreme"

Seeing as how I am all injured and can't post about running, I thought I'd explain why we call ourselves the Shirlington Extreme Running Team. John and I aren't very extreme about anything. Actually, John may be the most risk-averse (grad school word!!) person I know. We both have good, normal jobs and have no real interest in sky diving, snow boarding, skate boarding or drinking mountain dew (the most extreme beverage, obviously).

We also live in a very un-extreme community -- Shirlington. I love the neighborhood because it is quiet, close to DC and the airport, has plenty of places to eat and go to the grocery store and most importantly -- I can run at night here and feel safe. Plenty of people debate with me about my night running, but they haven't been to Fairlington :) Shirlington is known for its cute "downtown" area where all of the neighborhood young families take their dogs and young children. I don't have dogs or children, but I do enjoy getting to play with them on occasion. The only major annoyance in Shirlington (aside from my extremely loud neighbors) is the large strollers on the sidewalk. I could have much larger problems!

Last winter John and I went running in a major snowstorm that basically shut the city down. At the time we were training for the Bel Monte Endurance Run and really couldn't miss too many runs. I found running on the trails and preparing for a race where we had to run through a shallow creek pretty intimidating but getting out on slick surfaces was good practice. So during that challenging and very fun run we told ourselves that we were really extreme for actually getting out in the weather and completing a run.

And that's how our ridiculous name was born as a joke about how un-extreme we (and our neighborhood) are. I don't think John or I consider training for a 50 mile race to be "extreme" but more of a challenge and an opportunity to see if we have the mental and physical ability to do something so daunting.

In other news, I went to a DC United game last night and we sit in the Screaming Eagles section which requires lots of standing up. I sat for a lot of the game so I wouldn't stress my foot and it actually felt better today than it has in over 2 weeks. So, I took advantage and walked slowly for about 25 minutes tonight. It felt ok. Not great or strong but there wasn't a lot of pain so that's progress and makes me happy! I'm icing now and hoping that in another 2 weeks I might be able to run and stop growing fatter.

Weekly Mileage Summary:
Monday - Sunday: 0