Saturday Mileage Report

For the first time in a while, I feel really good after this morning's long run. It wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed it! The kids could not get to sleep last night; I ended up taking them to my room with me after 11...that means one on the loveseat in our room and one in bed with me. I woke up around 5:15 and decided to go ahead and get up before 6, which means I got out the door a little earlier than normal. And it was already hot! I decided to try a run/walk interval today. I haven't done that since I first started running. I've been wanting to try it again to see if it helps me, and I figured today was as good as any to try it.

I thought I'd try a 4/1 mix, but then I thought I'd start off running a mile first then going to intervals. However, I got sidetracked by a possum! I had to stop and take pictures (which didn't turn out at all) but I didn't want to make my Garmin beep by pausing it in case it scared the thing. He ran next to a fence and around that house's sidewalk. As I passed him and looked back, he was walking along my husband's aunt's flowerbeds. He was a big thing too!

So that messed up my intervals a little. And then my math is a little fuzzy while I'm trying to run; I'm pretty sure I did a 3-minute run without even realizing it. But I kept up the 4/1 interval until about 3 miles when I went to a 3/2 mix. I could barely eat two sports beans and sip some water in 1 minute. However, at 3.5 miles or so, I decided it was easier to just run the darn thing. And it felt really good!

As I was cooling down, I saw a duck. There's often a pair of them at a house on one of my favorite parts of my run (usually my cooldown, actually), but there was just one today. I looked for my bunny at the end of that street but didn't see him. I like seeing that little bunny because it reminds me of the rabbits that used to hide under my grandmother's shed in her backyard. However, as I turned up the next street, he came running out from behind a tree and across my path :)

It just felt really good to be outside running and walking today. If I'd known everyone in my house was still asleep, I probably would have walked another half mile or so.

I did finally feel some coolness as I neared my house on my cooldown...and then I realized, of course it feels cooler...I'm covered in sweat.

I'm actually sitting out on my front porch with my hair wet from my shower drinking my coffee. It's not really cool out here at all, but the breeze feels nice.

So...here's this week's mileage:
Weekly: 16.75 miles
YTD: 379 miles

I think I'll start my next week of core challenge workout today as well.

Walkin' on Sunshine

And doesn't it feel good?! Ok, so I was actually running, but getting to break out of the treadmill routine in the hot garage this morning felt fabulous. We had a late night last night, so I hit the road a little later than normal...as in the sun was actually all the way up. However, running outside during daylight has its pros and cons:

Cons:
1. Couldn't decide whether to wear the sunglasses or not (ok, not really a con...a good decision to have. I went sans glasses to soak up the vitamin D)
2. The dogs of the neighborhood are awake.
3. They can see me.
4. They don't like me.

Granted, these are pretty poor cons, especially since all the dogs do is bark. Still...it unnerves me!

Pros:
1. Sunlight!
2. Vitamin D
3. Fresh air
4. Distance...I just can't seem to go far enough of the treadmill.
5. Neighborhood and neighbors...Lots more people out and I could watch the houses go by a lot easier with light. Ok, I can see how the people thing and traffic could be a con, but it wasn't.
6. Pure happiness

I made 5 miles in under an hour (barely) and actually ran the last mile in 9:08! I pushed it hard on that last one to make it in under an hour, but it felt so good! At my slow pace, I could have made more miles too...which feels really good!