Will I Run Faster Now?

While all my lovely knitting friends were off parading around the NY Sheep and Wool Festival at Rhinebeck this past weekend, I spent some time with my stylist on Saturday and with my running shoes on Sunday.

I am wondering if this new look will help me run faster?

I think it did, because on Sunday I had a 12 mile run on my schedule and believe it or not I felt great and was running some of my fastest miles on the Rockefeller trails. Even with a calf pain/cramp/pull issue at mile 6.

But seriously, what about the hair?

I decided with the cooler weather here in NYC and the Fall colors popping out everywhere, I needed to transition to a Fall/Winter color of my own. I wish I had a really good before shot to show you just how much of a drastic change this was. I am naturally a dirty blonde (like in my profile picture above) and over the summer I went to a complete white blonde. Now I am back to my second favorite color, red.

This is not the first time I have dyed my hair this color, but it is the first time I let a professional do it. I have to say that I am absolutely loving it. I feel it's a more natural color for me and matches my spicy personality that I can have at times. I didn't tell anyone I was doing it, so you can imagine the shocked faces I encountered at the office today. Everyone loves it though!

Now I am wondering if this fiery new hair color will help me run the marathon faster so I can eat some ricotta pancakes at Almond before they stop their brunch at 4pm on marathon day?!?!? I already know the answer is: Not a fat chance in h-e-doublehockysticks, but a girl can dream, right?

In regards to my calf issue during my last long run of my marathon training, after the first 6 miles I did some stretching before I headed back out to try and finish the run. While I still felt a presence in my calf muscle, I was able to successfully run the last 6 miles. I modified my course to avoid major hills, because I tweaked the calf on a tiny, but steep, incline and I didn't want to risk making it worse. I was happy I finished, but all I could think about how I only had 2 weeks until marathon day and a serious injury is the last thing I need. I have been icing the calf and took today off from running. I can still feel a presence in my calf when I go up steps, but there is no pain. I have a short run scheduled for tomorrow and I am hoping it will go well.