Why I hate (but really love) Elizabeth Paul

Two runs for today's post--I know, I slack. Sorry!

This Monday I woke up to a monster snow storm (or, as it may be, what you New Englanders call a monster storm). All jokes aside though, crappy roads and snowy wind kept me home from work--though hardly a holiday when the babymac is with me. Still it's tough to get as much done as you'd like when you're working off-site, and Tuesday, usually a long day for me anyway, took on a life of its own. I arrived home at around 7:45, thinking it awfully late to be starting a trek through the snow. Here is the conversation that ensued that ensued with the lovely Liz Paul (see upper right for a taste of her style):

Abby [in a morose tone]: So...it's almost 8:00; one of you needs to tell me it's ok to not run tonight. [Who am I kidding with this, by the way?!]
Liz [chipper, and in star-spangled pajamas, mind you]: I think you should...I'm sorry; I think you need someone to make you do it now...
[Abby looking both morose and indignant, maybe a dash of irrational blackness creeping in]
Liz: You should run. Just don't do a long run. Do a short one!

After my admittedly terse reply of the fact that none of them are really "short" anymore, I huffed my way to my bedroom to change. As expected, a few miles in, I was much happier, and very glad she insisted. I did around 5.5, and enjoyed some QT on the Causeway looking at the stars--which makes it impossible to stay grumpy. Go Liz! I hate you, but I love you. :)

Today a Thursday 5:30 a.m. run with the ladies--cool, but nice. Though it's still HORRIBLE to get out of bed before 5:00 a.m., nothing beats being back home with 7 miles in the hatch and it not even 7:00 a.m. yet.

Rest of this week will be light, as it's a "taper" training week. Tapers are weeks in which I don't actually increase mileage--instead holding them steady, or even decreasing, which allows your joints a chance to rest and recover. Saturday I'll do a slow 10 miles or so with Caitlin (So weird! This is my taper week now! HA!), then a normal week next week, leading up to the Boston Prep on Sunday.