With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams...

got up, got out, ran a mile and stopped.  walked home.

Just not feeling good.

maybe I ate too much jam

Had lots of energy this morning due to the fact that I did nothing yesterday.

9 miles, avg pace 8:57.   First mile was a 10:14 and last was a 7:57.  I'm happy with the run; so many beautiful things to see outside this morning as the moon was up, then went down, then I saw the sunlight coming up and the eastern edge of the sky light up.   It was just beautiful.

Little update and unnecessary waste of my time.  Instead of doing productive work, I wrote a poem about my moring.  It's long, and is really more for me than anything, but I thought I'd put it here to share.  Just in case someone is bored and wants to read it...and so I don't lose it.  I can't get it to un-double space, so it takes up a lot of space.

As I came out and saw the world today

I was left speechless by the splendor, with nothing to say

The sky was dark, sparkles of stars all around,

And the nearly full moon light illuminated the ground.

It had been some time since I’d seen the moon,

I was delighted to see it had returned so soon.

Above the treetops it hung in the air

Sharing its light and beauty, I was glad to be there.

Into a light layer of clouds, the moon it did sink

And its light was clouded, which caused me to think

That is was slowly setting, and leaving me there

Alone in the dark, without my guiding light so fair

My disappointment soon turned to joy and delight

When the clouds did shift by, and returned my bright light

I knew that the moon, which was slowly falling in the west

Would eventually settle into the trees, taking its own night’s rest

But for a few minutes more, I was able to see

The moon and its light, flowing effortlessly and free

It showed me the robin that was out from her nest

Courting the males, and trying to choose the best

The moonlight revealed small flowers and plants

That were planted deliberately, and some that grew just by chance

I savored it all, taking in all the glory

And wishing I could somehow share such a wonderful story

As I turned and faced the west once again

The moon was nearly gone, the last ray of light so thin

As it sunk into the trees and housetops below

I was grateful that I’d been given such a beautiful show

I reflected on how I would miss the moon-light

When an awesome vision came to my sight

The first crack of dawn, just a faint glow in the sky

Was coming from the east as the time had passed by

A new light had come, to replace the one gone

I was given a gift, and saw the first light of dawn

And as the light grew, and the world came into view

I was disappointed that my time had run out, and my run was through

I am grateful for this gift I was given- a personal sign

That for those ninety minutes, the world was all mine.

I'd say it was a recovery run, but there's not much to recover from....so I'll just call it an easy effort run.  I tried to keep my paces slower, which seemed to be almost as much work as trying to keep them faster.

I did pretty good staying above a 9:45, except for a couple of miles when my mind wandered off and I got thinking about things that were irritating me...and then I unintentionally ran faster.

Wow, the moon was beautiful and bright today...and it stuck around a little longer.  That and the sun coming up a little sooner really "brightened" my day.

avg pace 9:49

Great run today.  It was cooler- 40 degrees. Officially 39 at the end of my run, so there's the 30's they prediced.  I was so grateful it wasn't colder.  I dressed warm and didn't regret it at all.  I don't usually pay much attention to to forecast, but was grateful for it this morning.  All my thanks to KP for bringing the cold front to my attention :-)

avg pace 8:35.  first mile was 9:45, then I picked up the speed.  I wanted to try and sustain the faster speed the whole distance, and still pull off something under 8mm for the last mile.  I was pleased with how it worked out.  Miles 4-6 were all at 8:31...I thought maybe my Garmin was broken because it never changed.  In the end, I was really happy with my last mile being a 7:45.  My legs were certainly tired by then, and I was wondering if my effort was actually speeding me up or just taking all I had to maintain.

Hope to get some bleachers in later today.

pm:

1.5 miles of bleacher work.  It was tough..legs were pooped.  Then finished with .5 mile around the track. 

Recovery run.  Legs were still tired, so was my head.  Avg pace was 10:22.  I kept all miles above 10 today.  I want them to recover for a longer run tomorrow.  I think we'll be running the tri-county run...should be around 17 miles.   Looking forward to a few hours out in the country. 

Our forecast here for Sunday is a high of 90.  Yikes...that kind of heat is too much too soon.

started out early to try and beat the heat of the day, but 7:30 wasn't early enough.  By mile 3, it was already feeling hot and humid.  We had an occasional cool breeze, but wow...the 80's came quickly and made running tough. 92-55% humidity.

But we pushed on through...Mr ran 8 with us, then rode the bike while we finished the rest of the run.  The break we take while he transitions from run to bike seems nice, but it's hard to get back on track afterward.  We stayed under 10mm before the break, and couldn't get under it after the break. 

after mile 15, my friend said she was ready to put her ipod music on to help her focus on running the last 2 miles.  Our pace was starting to slow down a little, and she told me I could go on ahead at my own pace to finish if I wanted.  So I went ahead & Mr shuttled back & forth between us on the bike. 

I decided to push hard the last two miles, which actually ended up being 2.64 because my math when I'm running is fuzzy.  those paces were 8:38, 8:25, 8.11(last .64).  Overall pace for the whole run was 9:50.  Considering the heat, I think we did great.