Seriously....THE COOLEST RUN EVER! (Part 2)

We had a half day on Wednesday to do whatever we wanted around D.C. Having been numerous times, I decided that the afternoon would be a great opportunity to get in a long run. The weather was perfect - 55 degrees. I had really just set out to do a 14 to 16 mile run but everything was just right. I decided, what better place to do an 18 mile run? I hit 18 and then decided..."go for it!" "Go for the full 20!" So, here's a recap of my most excellent run!

I started out running south down 15th street from the hotel towards the National Mall. As I approached the White House there were police and guards everywhere closing off the streets - even the pedestrian sidewalks. There was a motorcycle police escort blaring their blues and sirens and exiting the side entrance. Right behind the police were two black suburbans. The first one, the windows were all rolled up and completely blacked out. The second one, all the windows were rolled down and about seven Secret Service guys were hanging out every window in the their full suits, dark sunglasses and ear pieces. This is a picture of the first suburban as I caught up to them again on Jefferson Ave. My camera wasn't quick enough to catch the second SS suburban which looked pretty cool with all these guys hanging out the windows and casing the neighborhood. But, I found out later that night that it was Condoleezza Rice in that first suburban. Kinda cool! (My husband says that usually she wouldn't get that kind of motorcade. He figures the Prez or the VP was in there - COOL!)

This is the park just north of the National Mall. I took it around down to the Lincoln Memorial. Funny thing, on Sunday when I hit this park there was some kind of dog fair/convention going on. There were dogs EVERYWHERE and dog vendors set up all over the place. It was so cute to watch all these dogs and owners mingling and frolicking.

At about mile 2 I hit the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument just across from the Lincoln Memorial. They are doing some construction in front of it so half of the sidewalks are shut down and it gets really narrow to run around. It's quite the obstacle course running around all the tourists.

Then I headed over the Potomac River towards Arlington National Cemetery. I'm not sure if you can tell, but at this time it started to get very overcast and a bit colder. The breeze was blowing pretty readily off of the Potomac. So, not only was I fighting the wind, but now the temperature dropped several degrees too. I was getting COLD!

Two pictures of Arlington National Cemetery. It always just blows me away at how vast the cemetery is. It goes on and on and on and on. It is a very poignant experience.

Then I jogged along through Johnson Memorial Park and on into the Mount Vernon Trail. Here is a view of D.C. across the Potomac from the Virginia side.

The Mount Vernon Trail is approximately an 18 mile biking and jogging paved trail that runs along the Potomac River from Roosevelt Island, up through Alexandria and ends at Mount Vernon. The trail is so beautiful to run on - so many things to look at while you're sweating and cursing your knees and ankles.

The world's most disgusting porta-potties I've EVER been near. Seriously - you could smell these babies from a 100 yards away. And according to the friendly "last serviced" (yeah - right) sign, they hadn't been serviced (and by serviced the must only mean dumped) in three days. Nice. But, when ya gotta go....ya gotta go. At about mile 6 all the pre-fueling and watering hit my bladder and I was about to BURST. So, I just held my nose and hoovered the best I could. Do you KNOW how hard it is to hoover when your quads are already burning from running???? My legs were shaking. I know...TMI.

A really great thing on the trail is that you cross over several brooks and streams near the river. They have built these quaint little wooden bridges across. It was so serene to see all the colors of the leaves starting to change, to hear the soothing babbling of the nearby brook and to hear the dull thud as your feet hit the wooden planks.

At mile 10 I hit Alexandria. I had always wanted to go into Alexandria and walk around the old town shops there, but never managed the time. Well, I made it there this time and completely by accident! I really just took off running on the trail, wanting to get several miles in. I never intended to wind up in Alexandria!

So I decided, "While I'm here - I might as well walk around!"

Here are some pictures of the shops, pubs, cobble-stone streets and condos near Old Town Alexandria.

Funny thing...while I was walking around I figured I had better fuel back up for the 10ish mile run back. I had two packets of goo in my fuel belt, but as I was walking around I passed, not one, not two - but THREE ice cream stores. It was a sign. I rationalized to myself that ice cream is in fact a form of goo - all the sugars will give me the carbs I need, plus ice cream has protein that will sustain my energy later.

So, here I am enjoying a combo scoop of pumpkin ice cream (the seasonal special) and blackberry cheesecake. She gave me a HUGE amount of ice cream for $4.50!! But don't worry - I only ate about a quarter (OK - maybe a third...) of it. I didn't want to run on a full stomach.

Ahhh - I'm taking a break, just basking in my ice cream. Guess I gotta get up now and head back. 10 miles back....

Alexandria is a very picturesque city. Even as you get into town from the trail there is artwork and monuments like above to welcome you into the city.

I guess that's why I found this so humorous. About a mile outside of town on this beautiful trail is a Kaiser plant sitting right on the water. Now the plant is a monstrosity of rusted metal and filth, but Kaiser has tried to make it "pretty" by placing the muraled wall in front of the plant with a note of "thanks" to the community.

The next five or six miles just FLY by. I'm just enjoying the scenery and watching the bikers and runners around me, listening to my ipod. The next thing I know I'm at mile marker 15 (and for some reason Minnie coincided exactly with the mile markers coming back! Weird!).

Then I see THIS gorgeous site across the river - the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. I'm almost home!!!

At mile 18 I hit the Jefferson Memorial and I convince a nice tourist lady to take a picture of the very sweaty blond girl all geared up in her dorky runner apparel.

I turned at the Washington Monument a little after mile 18, not wanting to go back to the hotel just yet. I decided to finish out the run strong and get my full 20 miles in. So, I took a right and ran down the mall toward the Capitol. It was dusk at this point and to run toward the Capitol building, watching the sunset and to watch the Capitol light up was just...well...it was WOW! And the coolest thing was right as I started to run toward the Capitol, John Cooger's "Pink Houses" started to play across my ipod. This run was just MEANT to be.

Again - a sign that the run was meant to be. As I turned back up 15th street to head back to the hotel I had about a half mile until I reached 20 miles. Right as I hit 20 miles I look down and there is this plaque entitled "The Extra Mile". It's part of the Points of Light monument encouraging people to go that extra mile to help others. How fitting though for that extra mile to be my long run goal!

Shockingly, I wasn't too terribly sore that night or the next day. Now, I was sore - truly, but not gimping around, popping advil all the time sore. I averaged right at 12:30 miles, but that's with frequent stops to take pictures and sight see. Every time I looked down I was jogging at about an 11:30 pace. So, if I can just keep around 12:00 miles for the marathon I will be one happy gal. It was a glorious run and I'm so super proud of myself for just doing it. One 20 miler out of the way. I have an 18 miler and then start tapering for the race. I'm getting excited!!!!!

Today I LOVE: The thrill of what seemed like a daunting run - accomplished!

Seriously....THE COOLEST RUN EVER!!! (Part 1)

Guess who has two thumbs and just ran 20.5 miles?? This gal right here!! I'm so excited I'm bouncing off the walls. AND I didn't have to stop and walk! I ran the whole thing!! Now I did stop and take loads of pictures (JUST for you Willie). So, as soon as I get home I'll upload those babies, post and tell you all about the run.

In a nutshell it was freakin' awesome.

To be continued....

Wish Me Luck!!!

Going for a nice long run this afternoon. I'm taking the camera (so quit nagging Willie!) and hopefully get some good pics. Stay tuned!!!

Coolest run ever!

I just finished up an AWESOME run around the National Mall and Johnson Memorial Park. The weather is gorgeous here in D.C. And I sort of mapped out a run from the hotel on mapmyrun.com. Then I just left the hotel and, well, just ran. I didn't worry about time (and good thing because I had to stop at several traffic lights). I just went and ran wherever my legs took me - 8.5 miles. I passed the Lincoln Memorial, across the Potomac River, down through several miles of Johnson Memorial Park, back across the Potomac, around the Jefferson Memorial, around the Tidal Basin, up near the WWII Memorial, around the Washington Monument, right by the White House and then back to the hotel. What a spectacular run! I just took it slow and easy and enjoyed the weather and the scenery. Ahhhh...this is what running is all about.

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful support and advice. I'm going to do the full. It may be ugly and I may be vomiting my way across the finish line and then I may collapse into the fetal position while I find my happy place. But I'M gonna do it! I've been training for months now. I don't want to give up now.

Cool thing, we have a half day off on Wednesday. I brought Minnie and my fuel belt so I may try for a slow, easy long run on Wednesday afternoon. What better place to do it? I'm going to take my camera and have fun with it. Stay tuned!

Running...what's that??

These past few weeks have been so tiring and yet rewarding at the same time. We were averaging 15 hour days (talk about raking in the overtime!!) I was constantly having to push myself more and more. Stress levels were through the roof (As evidenced by my stupid pimple-ridden chin...I'm an adult for goodness-sakes!! Where is this acne coming from!!??!??). I am so glad that I went, even though it completely wiped me out. I was really able to help so many people and re-pay the kindness and hard work that so many provided in our area after Hurricane Katrina. But, with all this came a big sacrifice...my running. I haven't run now in over two weeks - there was just no time while I was in Houston. If we weren't working, we were sleeping. Period. No free time for anything.

So, that brings me to my next delima. Do I still try and run (walk...) the full marathon in San Antonio? I'm really struggling with myself right now. I have about 5 weeks left to train. I've managed one 16 miler without too much problem. I can still squeeze in two 18 milers and one 20 miler as my training program schedules, but will I be able to do it since I've been off for the last few weeks? I can always run the half on that weekend instead of the full, but my heart was really set on running my first FULL marathon. I need some advice here guys. I may just plan to run/walk this one and then keep up the training for the Mardi Gras full marathon in February. And then I can shoot for a better time on that one than San Antonio. And I guess it all comes down to how my body holds up. These last two weeks my body has just been exhausted. I came home this week on Thursday and have done nothing but sleep. It's all finally catching up with me. And I have to turn around and head out to Washington D.C. again all next week. Maybe I can run on the mall which is one of the most awesomest, coolest, inspiring runs EVER.

Ok - enough whining for now. I'm going out tonight for my first run in weeks. Wish me luck!

**EDIT**



GREAT RUN!!!!!!!!!

Hurricanes Blow

SOOOOOO VERY TIRED!!!!!

Since Monday I have now put in 71 hours at work. O.M.G....it has been crazy hectic here. We're going from 6:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night. Nonstop. Barely any time to eat. Plagued by computer and Internet problems. Land line phones barely work. Cellphones have been shockingly reliable! But, I'm truly exhausted. At least I get to go home tomorrow! YEAH!! AND then I get to come right back, but this time only for a couple of days and then I'll have some relief.

Galveston is a complete mess. Debris everywhere. Boats everywhere. Jet skies everywhere. Restaurants demolished. No power hardly anywhere. They took a real hit. All the little black specs you see on top of the roof are actually birds roosting because everything else in the area has been blown away!

What I find interesting about this picture is that there is still one complete wall left in the building. Everything else was washed out, but this one wall somehow managed to stay. Crazy!

But the seawall actually did a decent job in saving a lot of the buildings along Seawall Blvd. Because if you go on either side of the seawall there is absolutely nothing left of these areas. Just slabs and debris. There are several restaurants just across the road at the seawall that are running on generator power and fully operational. Ya gotta have your priorities after hurricane season - Beer and Strip Bars....that's what's open. Ha!

This is the Flagship Hotel. Apparently it gets hits every time they have even a slight hurricane here and they just keep on rebuilding it right back.

And this is the ramp to get up to the Flagship Hotel. ummmm....don't think anyone's getting there anytime soon!

And this is what I've been looking at all week long! Mold, mold, mold, mold, mold. FUN STUFF!!! Actually...it's been a lot better than I had anticipated. The mold growth hasn't been too bad - mainly just a lot of wind and water damage without the rampant mold growth on top of it.

So - needless to say I haven't really had much time to run these last several days. I think I'm going to flip my 18 miler to next weekend and just do 14 this weekend. I'm just so exhausted that I don't think 18 would be good for me right now. Next week is going to be a little less hectic so I can actually prepare adequately for the run. My training has really just fallen to crap here lately. **sigh** Hopefully I'll still be able to at least hobble across the finish line in November. My goal is NOT to die three quarters of the way through the race.

OK - going back to the hotel now to pack up and head home tomorrow! YIPPEEE!!!

Crazy Busy

I've been so bad! Someone smack me. I missed two runs this week. **sigh** I had to fly out to D.C. all week, came back on Friday and had to work late because the contractor for one of my projects was late and then volunteered to go to Houston next week to help with the hurricane recovery inspections. I DID manage to get my FIRST 16 miler in last weekend though (more on that later). AND I walked my *ss off all over D.C. all week and I got one run in and I walked the dogs. SO, I wasn't a total slob...just a non-running total slob. Today - a 14 miler. Luckily the weather is cooperating.

My first 16 miler

Again, I start off this morning's run with a lot of apprehension and nerves. I mean 16 MILES!! I've never done more than 14 at one time. And the last couple of long runs haven't gone so well. Heat, humidity, thirst, hamstrings...etc...all added to the not-so-wonderful experience.

It was mildly raining - just a slow, cool mist. Not enough to keep me from going but enough to really cool things down. The first three miles were excruciating. I guess because it was cooler and it took me that much longer to warm up? Don't really know. But I do know that I REALLY, REALLY wanted to walk at three miles! But...I didn't. I forced myself to keep going. Then after about three and half miles it just started to feel good. The misty rain, the quiet trail, the grey skies. It was so peaceful and serene. I even turned off my ipod and just rain in the quiet. It was so zen. I was just cruising along and made it to my 8 mile turn around with a 10:46 pace time. Not bad for me! I was really trying to keep it slow too. I didn't have to walk until mile 14 and then I ran walked the rest of the way back. I was a bit sore and hobbly that night, but surprisingly I was fine the next day!!!!

Today = 14 miles. An easy week this week and then my first 18 miler next weekend! Ack!!!

I'll be in Houston all week next week, so hopefully I can squeeze some runs in at Memorial Park between looking at moldy buildings.

Tired...

It has been a crazy week after the storm. I've had about eight building inspections to do along with cranking out the report for each said building inspection. I'm tired of looking at moldy buildings.

I ran on Friday and Saturday in the Ike 20 mph winds. Holy Cow that was tough! It really slowed me down and my quads were burning from all the resistance. It made the run quite interesting though. Running through our neighbor's subdivision I saw one little, skinnly, lone pine tree in someone's front yard. Now, I know that pine trees are bendy and can withstand high winds, but this little thing was almost bent over at a 90 degree angle...RIGHT into the street where I was running. Talk about running FAST when I went near it.


As promised, here are some pics and video from Gustav that I've been meaning to post. Here it is pouring down rain on Monday morning. This was about two seconds before we lost power at 9:30 a.m. It's dark and dreary and rainy and windy and Sarah, the wonder-mutt, guardian-of-all-things-food-related was busy at her post. ("guarding" if you will, the two sacks of dog food we had just purchased.) Yup...I know how to train 'em.




I was very thankful for a few Items:



Our fabulous generator that kept our refrigerator, freezer and a couple of window units going.







Ahh.....sweet nectar of the gods and remover from the reality of how stinkin' hot and humid it is in the house.





Here is a video of the winds and rain....we had this for about two days straight.



Here is another video of the cloud movement. You can see the bands moving across the sky quickly. AND you can hear all the generators running in the background.

Kickin' Butt and Takin' Names!

Thursday - 5 miles
Friday - 5 miles
Saturday - 6 miles
Sunday - 14 miles
Monday - REST!

YEESSIREEEE I'm back on track! Yeehaw! 30 miles in four days!!! I can't believe it. AND I can't believe that my knees aren't falling off. They're fine! The first three runs were stellar. I was running at a 10:00 to just below 10:00 pace for them. I averaged 10:07 for the 6 mile run. That's good for me. The one nice thing that the storm brought was overcast skies and cool, breezy weather. That helped my speed tremendously.

Sunday's long run was pretty ugly and painful, especially since I had missed the two previous long runs. But I was determined to complete it, whether I had to crawl back to the car or not. I did well up to mile 10 and then the sun and humidity decided to show back up. When I started the run it was 73 degrees. When I finished the run it was 92 degrees. Big difference. I just simply got tired and ran out of fluids. I had to slowly run/walk the last two miles, but I finished it. I was pretty sore Sunday evening and a bit on Monday but it's all subsided today. I'm going out for a slow, easy run this evening to loosen the ole legs up tonight.

We got power back finally on Friday, thank you little baby, tiny Jesus!!! The first thing we did was crank the A/C down to "ARCTIC" and basked in the icicles forming on our noses. Even the dogs are better now that things are "back to normal". Katie doesn't eat well when she's stressed and she didn't eat the whole time during and for several days after the storm. She wouldn't even eat when I gave them wet dog food (the jackpot in the doggie world)! The poor little, spoiled princess is used to having her air conditioning.

Funny thing, Thursday we managed to get a couple of window units from our neighbor's house. They came back early and they have two window units, but no generator. We have a generator but no window units. Match made in heaven. We set those puppies up and cranked them full blast to at least cool the living room and one bedroom down enough to make the temperature bearable. Little Miss Princess (Katie) decides to plop herself down directly in front of one of the units and quickly falls asleep. It was hilarious. All night she would strategically place herself in front of the unit to get the most cold air coverage.

OK - gotta go get back to the mountain of things I have to catch up on and do at work.

Today I LOVE: AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!!

Disconnected

I am posting from my blackberry since we have no power. We did fine. We got some strong gusts and a lot of rain, but that's pretty much it. No damage to the house or flooding to speak of.

We lost power and phone lines yesterday at 9 am. The power is still off today with no word when it might come back. 95% of our parish (county) lost power. So it may be awhile. We do have a generator (or is it a "Jen"erator!?!) so we can run a few essentials like the fridge.

On the bright side it feels like a cool, crisp autumn day here. It's quite pleasant outside. Hope that lasts.

And I got some cool pics and video of the storm Willie!

So far, so good...(don't ASK about the running though)

T-minus nine(ish) hours before this bastard is supposed to slam into us. We've been watching it and watching it and watching it to death all weekend long. This is my front yard at approximately 4:00 p.m. You can just barely start to make out some of the outer bands in the sky.

Saturday I wasn't able to make my long run (YES....again). I only managed a quick 4 miles before we began Operation Home Secure. This consisted of running to six different gas stations to try and top off the tank (luckily it was almost full so I didn't REALLY, desperately need it), running to the grocery store for non-perishable items, watching the weather channel, trading out the empty propane tank so that we had two full tanks, making sure the generator was running, washing any last bit of laundry, washing any last dishes, filling numerous water jugs, watching some more of the weather channel, moving potted plants indoors, getting sandbags, placing said sandbags around doors, watching weather channel again (they really need to fire their stylist btw), placing everything in the freezer in garbage bags, pulling the tarps and rolls of plastic down from the attic, eating everything in sight (a girl can stress eat can't she?), and watching yet MORE of the weather channel (SERIOUSLY... who picks out the suits for these people?????)

Ok, here we are now at 6:00 p.m. A little darker and a little more ominous. Some rain clouds are starting to rumble, bumble in. At least it's nice and cool. Perfect night for a run! :-) Nevermind those threatening winds and rain. After watching the weather channel ad nausium and discussing with multiple neighbors we decided to stay and stick it out. There are quite a few people in our neighborhood and on our street staying. We are about 40 to 50 miles north, northeast of New Orleans - a decent place to be, especially since this thing is heading northwest. We'll still get some crazy winds and rain, but should be fine. Plus, every update shows Gustav to be getting weaker.

Annnndddd then.....7:00 p.m. The skies opened up. Where the heck did this rain come from? Batten down the hatches! Hoist the Gib! Drop anchor and whatever other nautical term would be good to throw out. This is not a drill people! Move, move, move!! Thunder, lightening, torrential rain and THIS early???........ It wasn't supposed to make landfall until the a.m.????

(five minutes later)

Clear, calm, sunny. It was just a stupid rain band. Pffffff...... It has now been calm and breezy for the last three hours. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

I will post an update as soon as I can. Thanks for everyone's well wishes! In the meantime, I'm running around like a chicken with his head cut off and the dogs are situation normal. Silly and sleepy. Figures.

The Waiting is the Worst

Well, I managed to get three runs in this week and I have my long run tomorrow. 14 miles! Ack! I'm a bit nervous about the run becuase I missed my long run last week and I am now into the furthest mileage I have ever run. Plus, my last long run was so miserable. Little thoughts of self-doubt creep into my head. "Can I really do this?" I have resigned myself to just taking it slow and easy and starting off relatively early to beat the humidity and heat.

My stomach is also in knots right now about this stupid hurricane Gustav. It's the daily anxiety of waiting and watching that is the worst. Do we leave? Do we stay? The latest storm tracks have it hitting land further west of us. I have stayed through several hurricanes evacuating only once for Katrina. We are far enough north of New Orleans that we usually fare pretty well. I know all of my Gulf Coast friends are on high stress alert just like I am. Thinking about all you guys! I'm just going to watch it and decide on Saturday or Sunday what I need to do. In the mean time I'll just prepare as much as I can. My only solice right now is that I'm able to watch Jim Cantore (Mmm....yummy) on the Weather Channel as he reports to me. :)

Everyone please send my friend Sarah good and speedy healing thoughts! She's such an inspirational, awesome runner and poor thing has been hit with a pulled muscle injury right in the middle of marathon training. I hope you feel better soon girl! Mmmmwwaaahhh!!

Today I LOVE: All the wonderful friends and family that have been calling in to check on us.

Stay Away, STAY AWAY!!!

ACK!!!!!

BAD Runner....Bad Girl.

I'm such a bad, bad runner. I made all of ONE run...yup...ONE. I forced myself to go for a decent six miles, but still. Blah. Our work schedule was so hectic last week that I barely had time to eat some days, let alone get a run in (we had a couple of 12 hour days). AND it was a freakin' monsoon in Houston all last week - so that nixed any outside running plans. I also missed my long run. I'm not too torn up about that one. I really had a great time visiting with my family and that's way more important to me than a long 13 mile killer run. I'll just have to get back on the schedule this week and hit it hard.

Oh...and I ate like total crap all last week while I was on travel too.

Nice.

**Edit** **Update**

Ok - I'm not quite the lazy slob. I ran a decent four miles this evening. Average pace 9:43. It kicked my arse, but it felt good. Operation "Kick Jenn in the Seat" is starting off well.

Ugly, Ugly, UGLY

13 miles - complete....So...Very...UGLY

Ugh - this weekend's long run had to be THE worst run I've ever had my entire life. My body was going to have NO part of it. Nu-uh. Not gonna happen. I have never had my body just not cooperate like that.

The humidity here has been really awful. We've had a ton of rain recently causing the humidity to just be unbearable. When I set out, the temp was OK (around 80 degrees) and the humidity 94%...yup 94%. I don't know if it was that plus the fact that it got pretty warm quickly, but I was sweating and sweating and sweating. There wasn't a single breeze to help evaporate off some of that sweat and cool me down. So, I would just sweat some more. My pace was crap. My legs just did not want to go. My whole body was tired. I ended up having to walk a good portion of the run and just never got my groove. Then the headache and mild nausea set in. I'm figuring from all the fluid loss. I drank all four bottles and just resigned myself to walking the last few miles back to the car. When I got home I had lost 4.8 lbs of water. NOT good.

But, I at least finished it, albeit slow and sloppy. I finished the 13. I'm not going to let this minor setback deter me. Ehh...the conditions just weren't right. I'm just going to take an extra rest day before my next run and get right back on that road.

Did anyone watch the women's marathon this weekend?? WOW!! Poor Deena Kastor and Paula Radcliffe. To be sidelined by injury after all that training. My heart went out to them. And Constantina Tomescue's win - at 38 no less!

I leave for Texas tomorrow. I'll be out there all week and then I get to see my brother, sister-in-law and my niece. YEAH!!! Nice little present at the end of the week.

Today I LOVE: resting on my off day!

Running and traveling

5 miles - done baby. Avg pace = 10:17

I had a great run last night. The weather was a little cooler and the wind was blowing slightly. Ahhh... I only sweat off 2 lbs...ha. Plus the gates for the subdivision right next to ours were open and I was able to sneak in and run in their neighborhood. A new route always makes things a little more fun and interesting.

I will be on travel all next week and then I get to go see my brother, sis-in-law and niece that following weekend! I'm so excited that I get to spend some QT with them. I love them dearly and wish we lived closer. I wish we lived closer to ALL my family. *sigh* But, cool thing too - I get to run with Tiny Frog and her running group! I'm excited. Hopefully I can keep up. I'm always a bit nervous and intimidated to run with new running groups. I'm a slow runner and I'm afraid that they'll just smoke off and leave this poor little huffing, panting thing shuffling in the back (I'm the huffing, panting thing...). But every group I've ever run with has been great! There are always runners of all kinds. The only thing I'm worried about next week is getting my long run in. I'll be visiting my brother so I don't really want to do it then. I may just take Monday off to recoup from the visit and do my long run then. Or can I just up the mileage on my shorter runs during the week to get the same amount of mileage? Any suggestions?

I just got Chris Carmichael's "Food for Fitness" in the mail today! I'm so excited about reading it and learning proper nutrition. I've been doing better with the sugar and excessive carb loading. I've tried to watch it and supplement with more healthy snacks - fruits (I LOVE watermelon and cherries) and veggies and lean protein (like curry chicken salad and egg salad). The stomach issues have been better. Now I'm trying to work on portion control - stopping when I'm full...not when I'm FUUULLLLLL.

Another long one this weekend. We're supposed to have a lot of rain today, tomorrow and Sunday. Hopefully it will cool things down a bit.

Today I LOVE: Having every other Friday off with my new work schedule! It's AWESOME!

Happy Runnings everyone!

Curses to humidity, dog poo and 4 lbs of sweat

Long run - 12 miles COMPLETE!!! Avg. pace = 11:27

Saturday's long run consisted of dodging dog poo on the trail, sweating buckets and dredging through 86% humidity. But there were good points too.

OK, I went out Saturday and purposely made myself keep it slow and easy. It was so hard those first six to keep the pace slow. My legs wanted to go. I struggled finding my stride at the slower pace too. But, I was so thankful when I hit mile 10. I didn't have to stop and walk until mile 11 and then I only walked for about 3 to 4 minutes to recover. I finished out the last mile of the run with a good 10:15 pace. It felt great to stretch my legs out and just RUN.

The weather man said that it was supposed to be nice and cool on Saturday with low humidity. The weather man is a BIG FAT LIAR! It was muggy, hot, humid, thick, stagnant, murky, miasmic, ... You get the picture. I really thought I was going to die at mile three. I seriously just wanted to stop and walk. But I bargained with myself. "If you make it to 5 miles you can stop and rest before you run back." Well, I made it to 5 and felt great! Then I kept trucking to 6 turned around, gooed up (is "gooed" actually a word?) and started to head back.

By the time I got back to my car I had voraciously consumed all my water but you would think I just poured the stuff on my clothes. I was sopping, dripping wet. I literally took off my Bondi band and had to wring it out. When I got back home I had lost 4 lbs of water!! ACK!

I consumed my post-run bowl of SmartStart cereal, a banana (thanks for the food advice!) and copious amounts of water. I took my shower, relaxed and crawled back into bed for my nap. I was a total bum the rest of the day and it felt GREAT! I just lounged around and watched the Olympics.

Nice thing on the run was the cutie-patootie, shirtless, RIPPED guy who stopped me on the way back (I had passed by him on the way down) asking me what I was training for. Who...ME? Training? I actually LOOK like a runner, not a limp fish floundering around grimacing in pain and dripping buckets of sweat on the trail? Sweet. And don't worry...I had Mr. Pepper Spray all loaded and ready to go just in case cutie-patootie was a sadist perv who likes jiggly, sweaty gals. :-)

Oh - and my Garmin has now been christened with the name "Minnie"! As in Gar"Min" and it clocks "Min"utes as I run "min"imally. (cheese..I know). Although RBR's "f-ing liar" was a close second.

Today I LOVE: The San Francisco store See Jane Run. http://www.seejanerun.com/ What a great, empowering store for lady athletes who don't fit the mold. And the story of the founder Lori Shannon is so inspiring too! http://www.seejanerun.com/t-janes-story.aspx

Another good one!

4 miles - avg pace 9:52

What the hell!!??! I was under a 10:00 pace AND I held it for four miles! I about fell over when I stopped and checked my Garmin. (I need to give my garmin a nickname...any suggestions? My little running buddy deserves a name.) I was running a sub-10 and didn't even realize it. It was easy. Really. And I'm not just saying that!! Now granted we're having some unusually cool weather today. Cool breezes plus low humidity makes Jen a happy - and apparently fast(er) gal!

12 miles tomorrow!! Sad, but I'm actually a bit excited about the long run! I promise...I'll take it slow.

I'm off to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics! I especially LOVE the lighting of the torch. I don't know about you guys, but I can't say the word "Olympics" with breaking into a rendition of the olympic fanfare - either in my head or out loud. And by out loud I mean OUT LOUD at the top of my lungs, usually four keys off and at the poor expense of my husband's ears. (Only in the privacy of my home or car of course. I wouldn't subject other people to my imitation of an entire brass horns section) Heee...

Funny thing to share...Jeff and I closed our wedding cermony with the Olympic Fanfare. We wanted something bold and regal and inspiring instead of the usual Wedding March. So when I hear the Olympic Fanfare I think I love my country AND I love my husband.

Happy Runnings everyone!

Perfection

4 miles - COMPLETE! Avg pace = 10:07

I am shocked....SHOCKED I tell you. I ran last night. Four miles. And it felt great. WHAT the hell is going on? I forced myself to head out the door and just get the run over with before I even sat down. I got home, fed the dogs, changed into my running clothes, downed some water and out the door I went. The temperature bar on the computer said it was 88 degrees with a heat index of 94. Awesome. But I couldn't wait or I knew I wouldn't get the run in.

It actually felt pretty nice out there! There was a good breeze and my legs felt good. I was just kicking back and enjoying the run and next thing I know I've hit four miles. I LOVE runs like that! I LIVE for runs like that! Easy. Smooth. Fast. Perfect. Euphoric.

I've been having some trouble with motivation and energy levels lately. I would get home, sit down and just crash. Night before I fell asleep on the couch at 5:30! I'm getting enough sleep at night, but I think my habits during the day are sabotaging my runs in the evenings.

Some things I did differently yesterday:

• Ate a light lunch (I ate about half of what I usually eat - no gorging myself)
• I didn't eat when I got home. I had a light snack at 2:30.
• No sugar except for what was in my protein bar at breakfast.
• I refused to sit down and watch TV when I got home (what I usually do).
• I got straight into my running clothes and did some things around the house until 6:00 when I went for my run.
• I drank about 48 oz of water at work and then drank a big glass of water before my run.

Today I LOVE: Edamame! I have a whole bag to eat tonight. YUM!

Ravenous Runner

First - thank you so much Willie, RBR and tiny frog for your comments! Yup - I need to slow my ass down on these long runs. They're wiping me out a bit and I don't want to risk injury. So - (right hand raised in the air...) I solemnly swear that I will not try and kill myself on Saturday's run (12 miles again...) by pushing too fast too quickly.

So, here's the question that I have for today. After the long run on Sunday I have been RAVENOUS for the last several days. Seriously...I'm eating myself out of house and home. Ack! I need to get hold of my nutrition and eating habits. I'm sugar loading. I think I'm reaching for the sugar because I'm not consuming enough calories directly before and after the run. (I'm not a nutritionist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express...ha!) Yesterday I focused on hydration and that helped a bit. I made myself drink my 64 oz of water. That curbed the cravings a bit. I would really appreciate any nutrition/eating advice that you guys have though. I seriously need help.

Tropical Storm Edouard missed us completely, but not before pushing a truck-load of humidity up to us. Joy. So, now it's 95 freakin' degrees with 80% humidity. Awesome. I saw some runners out yesterday at lunch time. In. The. Middle. of. The. Day. Are they insane? Whew...I don't know how they do it, but more power to them.

Today I LOVE: www.mapmyrun.com to find new cool running routes!

Impatient Runner

I forgot that I had a hair appointment early on Saturday morning (why in the WORLD did I schedule it so early???) so I only managed to run 4 miles on Saturday morning. I pushed my long run back until Sunday, which was good because it gave me a little more time to recover from the week's illness and stress. Saturday's run went really well. Having missed two runs that week I was a bit nervous to how I would perform, but I managed to log a 10:14 pace.

Sunday...um...not so much.

Sunday I got up early and got geared up for my long run. I decided to fill up all four bottles on my fuel belt since I burned through the two bottles last weekend. With the humidity being so high I'm really using the water I carry. It's funny that I could tell a difference just wearing the two extra bottles of water. Not like it weighed a ton, but I could still tell that extra weight was on my body. I took my pre-run goo and took off. I set a goal of 12 miles. I would like to get several 12 mile runs in before I start hitting the upper mileage and my schedule only calls for two. So, I upped the ante just a bit.

The run started off great. It was cool (albeit humid!) and everything felt great. My 6 mile split showed a pace of 10:24! I was excited! The run back was much, much harder. Whew. Mr. Sun decided to come out and the humidity started to get to me. I was sweating buckets and burned through all four bottles of water by mile 10. I pushed through and finished out with a pace of 11:12. OK - but not really where I want to be. But, I'm really glad that I was able to get the run in this weekend.

Funny thing, because of the humidity and heat down here you sweat BUCKETS. Out of curiosity I like to weigh myself before the long run and then right after. I lost THREE pounds of water from sweating so much. It was obvious because the rest of the day I was zapped. It really took me about four hours of rest and hydration until I felt energized again. Whew. And then I was famished! There's actually a run in Baton Rouge in August in the middle of the day. It's only a two mile race. The catch is they weigh everyone before and then right after. Whoever loses the most weight (from sweating) wins.

I am such an impatient runner though. I want to run the 12 miles. I want to run them quickly and I want it to come easy and I want that to happen NOW! I tend to get discouraged a bit after these long runs when I don't have the pace I wanted or if they're more of a struggle than I anticipated. Then I start the panic. Thoughts go through my head, "If you can barely finish 12 miles, how are you going to finish 26?" But then I have to step back and realize.."Jen, you've only been training for six weeks - you still have three and a half months of training left. You'll get there."

So, you marathoners out there...please tell me I'll get there.

Sick....UGH....

My husband gave me his lovely illness. Booo.... I stayed home from work yesterday. I tried to get up and run yesterday morning and I could barely even make it 2 miles! I was running a mild fever and just generally run down. I ended up sleeping for four hours yesterday. I feel MUCH better today and renewed and refreshed.

I missed two runs this week though. Ack! I'm going to try and make one up tonight and then long run tomorrow. Or, depending on how I feel, another short run tomorrow and long run on Sunday. It all just depends on my energy levels. I HATE missing a run, but I know that resting and healing are what my body needs. Plus, missing a couple of runs won't kill me. I still HATE missing a run though!

It's been raining for the last several days. It's great because it's cooled off this awful heat a bit but it has raised the humidity level to biblical proportions. I'm expecting the locusts to come swarming at any second. :-)

Today I LOVE: that I actually have ENERGY again. Whew.

New Friends!

I found a new running group for Thursdays! I'm super excited. I usually run with a group on Saturdays. The main goal of the Saturday group is to train together for the Mardi Gras marathon and half marathon in February. Right now the group is just maintaining until Sept.1 when they officially start up training again. They're running a different, shorter route, so I haven't really been able to train with them too much lately.

One of the guys in the Saturday group owns an awesome running store in town. http://www.varsityrunning.com/mandeville.html They hold a group run on Thursday nights! I got on their e-mail list and they started up their Thursdaynight runs again. They post the running routes on http://www.mapmyruns.com and this Thursday they have posted a 3 mile and a 5 mile route. So, I'm going to meet the group for the 5 miler tomorrow night. New route and new running friends. I'm excited!

It's the little push I needed this week. This week has been a bit of a motivational struggle for me. Sunday our neighbor was rushed to the hospital for heat stroke and we helped out the family until late Sunday night. And then yesterday Jeff's father had to be rushed into surgery for a detatched retina. He's fine now - it was a quick and easy fix, but between those two things my sleep patterns have really gotten off. I have just not been motivated to run. The excitement of running with a new group is exactly what I needed!

Today I LOVE: meeting new runners! It's always so inspirational.

Inner struggle

10 miles - (10:40 pace)

Total mileage this week = 21 miles

I woke up yesterday morning desperately trying to talk myself out of going for my run. My knee's hurting a bit, you'd better lay off. It was raining last night, it might rain on you when you're running. You've waited too long, it's going to be too hot. etc., etc., etc.

But, I'm to the point in my runs and training that if I miss a run, I beat myself up and feel like such a failure. So, again, I overcame the nagging laziness inside my head, put my running gear on and headed out to the trailhead.

Whew, it was a humid day. I usually carry two bottles of water on my belt and keep an extra big bottle of water in the car for when I get back. I burned through my two belt bottles by mile 8 and then downed the bottle in my car when I got back. My shorts, shirt and headband were so drenched with sweat (gross...I know) that I literally had to wring them out a bit before getting into the car. The rest of the day I was playing catch-up with my hydration.

I was struggling with my pace all week this week. For some reason my legs felt really tight for my runs and they just weren't loosening up for me. Plus we've had some ungodly humidity this week that the hurricane pushed up. It's like running through pea soup. So, I started out my run nice and slow, listening to the inner struggle between my brain and my legs. But my heart won out...it wanted to go on.

The first couple of miles were pretty slow. I had the attitude to just take it slow and easy today. I hit mile 2 and something just clicked. Everything aligned and it felt GREAT! I was cruising along at 9:30 to 10:00 pace for the next three miles and it wasn't a struggle. I felt like I was gliding over glass. My gate was smooth, my breathing was controlled, my shoulders were relaxed. I stopped at mile 5 to turn back, re-fuel and goo up. I think I'm stopping too long on my half-way points. It really messes up my rhythm for the journey back.

I managed to keep a really good pace until about mile 8. I ran out of water and my body just said, "OK - we can't keep this up. You need to slow down." I finished out mile 9 slowly and then had to run/walk the last mile. I was a little disappointed that I had to run/walk that last mile, but it got me thinking.... Two to three weeks ago I couldn't finish 8 miles without walking. Several weeks ago four miles felt like murder. Several weeks ago my average pace was 11:00. This week my overall average pace was 10:11. I'm sticking with it, completing my runs and making progress. That's an accomplishment to be proud of.

Today I Love: Looking at all the mileage I'm racking up on my weekly runs!

Nice and cool

3 mile run - Monday complete
4 mile run - today...tentative

I got up this morning to go for my run but it was pouring down rain - I think as part of the outer bands from Hurricane Dolly. It's since stopped and it's a cool and breezy 76 outside!! Hopefully this cool weather will hold up until I can get home and go for my run. I LOVE running just after a rain.

I am loving my Saucony shoes. I really think I'm a convert. I like my Brooks shoes pretty well. They're good too, but not as wonderfully squishy and awesome as my Saucony's.

Monday's run was rather warm. I had a dentist appointment at 11:00 so I relaxed around the house before I went out for my run at 9:15. It was already blazing hot by then. I think we tied a record high that day. I was DRENCHED in sweat by the time I completed my measly 3 miles. The heat really does zap your pace. I was talking with my dentist who is a triathlete and we were discussing running in the heat. He says he knows a guy who intentionally runs at 2:00 in the afternoon heat down here to give him a competitive edge when he runs races farther north. That's just craziness! But I do remember running the Chicago Half Marathon last year. It was truly warm for a race that distance, but it really didn't faze me. Actually - I had a PR for that race. It had to be from training in the Louisiana heat and humidity.

Today I LOVE: http://www.runnersworld.com/ for great inspiration.

Stronger, Better, Faster...

10 miles - COMPLETE!!!! (avg. pace 10:51)

What a FANTASTIC long run today. NO knee problems. NO hip problems. NO stomach problems. NO humidity/weather problems. I'm kind of bouncing between a couple of schedules and today was supposed to be a 7 or 8 miler. But, the run felt so great that I just decided to keep on trucking.

I hit the trail/trace at 7:00 a.m. ready to pound out my grueling 8 miles. But today was different. I usually have a bit of a self-defeatist attitude before I go out on the long runs; anticipating the pain, tiredness, soreness, shortness of breath, frustration, etc. I tend to have a "just get it over with attitude". Not today. I decided to just go out and have fun with it. Using that philosophy I didn't constantly look at my pace watch to see how fast or how far I had run. I have several land markers that tell me approximately where I am and at what mile. I got to the four mile marker and still felt really good. I had a good rhythm going and I didn't feel like turning around and heading back. So, 4 miles turned into 5 miles which turned into my 10 mile run. And I'm stoked that I kept a steady sub-11:00 pace. I just love the sense of accomplishment that you get when you finish a long, good run. You feel like you can do anything!

One of the great things about running on the trace is all the wildlife (as I've probably mentioned before). Well today, I saw not one, but TWO cottontail rabbits at two different times, grazing on the grass less than one foot away from me. They didn't even budge until I was practically right on top of them and then each rabbit just sauntered away casually. It was serene and peaceful yet awe inspiring at the same time. To be given such a gift not once, but twice it seemed like all was right with the world at that instance. It's at times like these that I know that God is truly present all around us. We just have to be open to the signs and wonders of the world that he provides.

Today I LOVE: that super high feeling after a GREAT run!

4 miles...scratch that...3 miles

3 mile run - complete (should have been 4, but trying again tonight)
2.2 mile walk with the dogs - complete

I went out last night for my scheduled 4 mile run. It started off great. I was feeling pretty good. It wasn't too hot and my legs loosened up quickly before the first mile. I was keeping a pretty good pace and then I hit mile 3 and my stomach just cramped up again. Now I'm pretty sure this is acid reflux related because it was my upper stomach/lower diaphragm - right where I usually have pain from the reflux. The good thing is that I didn't feel like I had a lead brick in my stomach. So, the three miles that I did get in felt great. I decided to follow up the run with a nice walk with the dogs. That way I didn't feel totally defeated.

The Prilosec is really helping though. I can already tell a difference in just how my GI feels without all that acid production. Hopefully I'll be good to go by Saturday's long run. My schedule only calls for one 4 mile run this week, so I'm going to flip-flop it with tonight's run and try for four again. Wish me luck!

Here's the thing about today though. There's a blood drive in the basement of our building and I was going to go down there to donate. I ate a big breakfast and I'm going to donate early so that hopefully I won't be zapped for my run tonight. I need to find someplace for lunch that's serving red beans (not too hard in New Orleans - ha) to replenish my iron. I don't eat beef or pork, so I need to find that iron somewhere else. Maybe a big ole spinach salad and a side of beans.

Today I LOVE: Darra Torres. What an inspirational woman! I watched her compete during the Olympic trials and she just blew everybody out of the water. AND I want her physique! WOW - she is in awesome shape!

3 Easy Miles (are they ever really EASY?)

Well, I did my easy 3 mile run last night. It poured yesterday afternoon, essentially cooling everything down - or so I thought. I walked out the door at 6:30 and the temp read 78 degrees with a heat index of 84. Not too bad. Usually after a nice, long rain the weather is perfectly cool and breezy. Whew - not yesterday. It was muggy, stagnant, hot, steamy, and muggy. Ugh.

My legs were a little sore from the long run on Saturday, but not too bad. I kept it slow and easy with a avg pace at 10:12. It took me a little longer to get warmed up last night, I think mainly because of the tightness in my calves. Usually I'm good to go after the first mile. It took a good mile and a half to two miles to start "feeling good" during the run.

The worst thing though was my stupid stomach again! Argh! I ate a pretty big lunch, but that was at 12:00. It should have digested by 6:30. Nope - felt like I had a lead brick in my stomach. Again I'm thinking that it may be partially realated to my acid reflux issues. I started on a round of Prilosec. That should hopefully help. Other than that I'm trying to eat more bland and less quantity. Smaller meals more frequently.

I have a 4 mile run for Wednesday but I might get it done tonight instead.

Today I LOVE: Highlighters...what a cool invention to getting to the important stuff.

Saturday Long Run

Saturday, went for my long run on the trace - 8 miles. Complete. It's so much easier to run on the trace than around my neighborhood. For one, most of the run is shaded by the tall trees, so you don't have the sun beating down on you. You also don't have to worry about or avoid cars on the road. The occasional crazy biker, but no motorized vehicles. The road is a softer asphalt instead of the concrete pavement roads in my neighborhood. Plus, the roads in my neighborhood have a pretty decent pitch to them for drainage. The trace is flat. It's actually quite an interesting place to run too. I often see an assortment of wildlife. Like on Saturday I saw a red bird and almost stepped on a little grass snake sunning on the asphalt.

The run itself was a mixed bag. Friday night I was having bad stomach cramps. I had red beans and rice for lunch and it was either all the fiber in the beans or the pork sausage that killed me. I haven't been eating a whole lot of meat lately and when I do, it's usually chicken or fish. It could be part of my acid reflux problem too. I didn't even eat dinner because it was hurting so bad. I took some antacid and I just went to bed. I got up on Saturday morning and had my morning coffee and half a bowl of oatmeal. My stomach was still sore, I couldn't finish the whole bowl. But, I was feeling OK, so I decided to go out for my run before it got too hot.

I need to also prefice this with the fact that I bought a new fuel belt on Friday. It's a really cool pink one with a nice, padded neoprene belt made specifically for women. It fits like a glove. This being the first time that I had used a belt, I think I put it on too snugly around my waist. I think my diaphragm couldn't expand fully.

Anyways, the first four miles down were awesome. I was trucking and kept a nice, steady pace at 10:22. I stopped at four to drink my water and down my gel. I guess I just shouldn't have stopped because no sooner did I stop than the stomach cramps came back. Ack! I loosened my fuel belt and that helped a bit but the last four miles were not fun. I took it slow and easy determined to run the full 8. I had to walk a bit and the last four were a slow 11:30. It was a disappointing run, but I did it, so I guess I should be proud of the distance.

The nice thing is that STILL no knee pain and I'm not sore from the long run!! YEAH!! My legs are starting to get used to all the running again. My lower buttock/upper hamstring is still a bit tight, but I've been stretching it out as much as I can.

Knee problem...WHAT knee problem??

Saturday - 7 miles = complete (painful and slow - but complete)
Sunday - 2.2 mile fast walk with dogs
Monday - 2.2 mile fast walk with dogs
Tuesday - 4 mile run, 39:36 (avg pace 9:54)

I took Saturday's long run slow and easy. Partly because I didn't want to push it too much when my knee had just started feeling better and partly because I waited too darn long and it was hotter than Hades and muggier than an equatorial rainforest outside. But, I got 'er done. I gimped around a bit on Saturday afternoon but for the most part I wasn't bad at all. Sunday and Monday I walked the dogs but kept the pace around 14:30 so that we both got a decent workout and I walked most of the soreness out.

Today was my 3 mile run, but it felt great and I decided to push it for four. My first mile I ran pretty slow - 10:30ish and then the stiffness in my calves and thighs worked out. I was trucking around 9:40 for my last three. Yeah me!

But the best part of it all is I've had NO knee problems since Friday! I little soreness and stiffness, but no constant throbbing pain like before. Ahhh... I do however have a pesky little sore muscle in my left lower buttock! HA! I need to go stretch it out. I keep asking Jeff to massage it for me but he refuses (OK....so I say "Hey Honey, come rub my ass!" giggling - but nonetheless!) :-)

Alright...gotta go take my shower 'cause I smell. I'll chime in tomorrow.

Today I LOVE: The fresh, clean air after an afternoon shower.

Happy 4th of July!

It's officially the holiday weekend!!! Yeeeehaaawww!!! I love that it's a holiday and everyone will be out grilling and playing outside. I dread the plethora ("I do no theenk it means what you theenk it means.") of fireworks that will be blaring in our neighborhood until 1:00 a.m. I shouldn't complain. At least we don't have the idiots firing their guns in the air like they do in New Orleans. The fireworks FREAK poor Katie out. She just starts shaking and get so scared. It kills me because we can't comfort her but she seems to find some solice in my closet. Poor baby. So, I'm going to take them for a nice long stroll today to try and wear them out.
I skipped my run yesterday because I was a total bum. But I got up this morning and ran a slow and easy 4 miles. Tomorrow is the long run and I didn't want to overdo it before the long run. I'm still babying that knee a little. So, I'm a little hesitant to try a tempo run until maybe next week.

OK, that's it for the update now. Off to enjoy the holiday and sip my coffee.

Today I LOVE: My new Champion running shorts from Target. They are AWESOME. They're made with a low rise and a built in bloomer. I'm very short wasted and most running shorts hit me right under the boobs. It's frustrating. Not these puppies! They fit like a dream, don't bind and don't rub. I'm going back this weekend to get a few more pair!

It gets worse before it gets better

This is so weird. OK, so I told you guys about my knee hurting on Monday. I did the usual - rest, ice, compress, elevate (Yeah for R.I.C.E.!). On Monday night it was HURTING. Ugh. It was worse Monday night than it was on Sunday. So, no run. But I tried some new cream called SportsCreme that's supposed to help alleviate pain in sore muscles and joints. I just figured it would be like Icy Hot or something. I slathered that on, took some ibuprofen and propped my knee up when I went to bed. I woke up and NO KNEE PAIN! I don't know if the cream really helped or the inflammation just needed to run it's course. But there were some other factors. A huge front moved in on Sunday and Monday with a lot of rain. That tends to make my joints act up sometimes too. I don't care, I'm just glad it stopped hurting. It's not 100% better, but I'll take 90%.

I went out last night to test out an easy 3 miler. It felt great. I waited until about 7:00 when things finally cooled down to 85 degrees. There was a great breeze and the air just smelled fresh from all the recent rain. I took the first two miles slow and easy. I wasn't watching my pace watch because I just wanted to run for the milage, not the time last night. I hit mile three and things were feeling great. I look down at my watch and I'm trucking at a 9:27 pace without even realizing it! I finished out another mile for 4.2 and it felt really good. I'm glad to be running again. It is so frustrating being sidelined because your body says so.

I'm trying to decide whether to take off tomorrow or Monday for an extra long weekend. Hmmmm....

Today I LOVE: the Women's Health magazine this month. Wow - SO many great articles. I just read it cover to cover.