I'm a Card-Carrying Member of the NTER

I love waking up early to run.

And by "early" I mean 6:30 a.m. Hey, when you are a college student staying up till 1:30 in the morning to work on a statistics project, 6:30 is early.

Today I had a good run. I did 16 on the elliptical at 9:57 pace and did negative splits, meaning that I ran the second half faster than the first. Pretty respectable. Last week I did 12 miles at 9:53 pace.

Why did I do the elliptical machine, you ask? A few reasons:

1. Time. I still have to finish that Stats project, read a marketing case study, do my finance homework, study econ, and bake blueberry muffins for Bible Study tonight.
2. Entertainment. You get to see all sorts of crazy people at the gym on a Sunday morning, especially on Halloween. Of course there are those people going to classes who are wearing a crazy wig or witch's hat. But then there are the really scary people - the ones who aren't trying to be. One fairly buff guy in his mid 40's was on the elliptical in front of me. He was doing all sorts of twisting and what looked like tai chi. He set the machine to max incline and then tried to go really, really fast while maintaining an intense expression. I was amazed he didn't fall off. And the get-up he was wearing was pretty hilarious. I tried to take a picture, but it didn't do him justice. There was also another man who was in his 60's - he was wearing a white tank top, what looked like thin pajama shorts, and flip flops. Definitely didn't take a picture of him.
3. Pride. There's something so exhilarating about spending 3 hours on the elliptical. You're better than everyone there and you know it. Plus, you get the best parking spots when you show up before 7am.
4. Keeping my NTER membership current. What on earth is NTER? It stands for North Texas Elliptical Runners. In January, my dad will be doing a 100-mile ultra-marathon on the elliptical at 24 Hour Fitness. (The PR campaign starts soon, so be watching for updates!) Now, my dad and I are both members of North Texas Trail Runners (NTTR) and my dad, somewhat jokingly, decided to start his own club when he was forced to run indoors due to back problems. So, I'm just logging my miles to keep my membership current. ; )
   

I've got two weeks of tapering ahead of me. Going to shoot for less mileage and higher intensity.

P.S. Here is my new favorite video - Things We Say Wrong. It just confirms the fact that I'm also a secret member of the Grammar Police - much to the chagrin of my roommate (who happens to be an English teacher).