Worthy Running Day 1

Back in college there were these things called "zero days." Honestly, they were rare as gold as when granted a zero day, you'd usually shriek with joy! While running for the University of Minnesota, we trained, like most programs, 7 days/week; so a zero day (another way of saying a day off, but not just from running but from all prescribed physical activity) came once maybe every month or two when in season. 
Yesterday, I took a zero day. And it was about the hardest damn thing I've done in a while. I'm so used to running every single day, that taking a day off just puts my entire routine all out of whack! Normally, I'd lace up the shoes and stumble out the door to jog at least an easy 3-4 miles rather than take a day off. But this time around, as is sometimes the case, I found it necessary to get in a full recovery day. The month of the November was a good conditioning period with little time off, and the month of December is going to be a HUGE base building month (as long as I can stay healthy - fingers crossed!). 
Today I ran 14 hilly miles. There's a 5 mile loop about 2 miles from my apartment, and it's one of my favorite places to run in New Haven. One time out, around, and back makes 9, so adding on a loop makes for an easy 14. I felt good. Admittedly, I was averaging around 6 minutes/mile for my runs during November, and while this felt great, I know that I need to work on slowing it down if I want to run more miles. (It almost sounds counterintuitive, right? Run slower to run more? Maybe not…) 
Anyway, it's a great start for my Worthy fundraising challenge! So far, y'all have pledged to donate $2.28/mile that I run in December, making the projected total raised $31.92 so far! And that's only day 1! If you're following along, please consider pledging to give maybe a few pennies! It isn't much per person, but cumulatively it will surely add up! Visit the Worthy donation page here to pledge now! 

Stay Cooped Up, my friends! It's safer that way!