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

Easy run today in the am.  BUT it felt better than my easy run last Monday after my 18 mile trail run.  So I see a little improvement. 

The weather was better today than Saturday.  Just around 60 degrees this morning.  Humidity 87%.  No sun...LOL!

May try and run again this afternoon for a couple more easy miles.

Great run this morning.  Nice, cool weather.  57^o with 89% humidity.

First mile was slow for a warm up.  My watch wasn't keeping mileage, so I had to stop after I got to the point where I knew 1 mile was, and then I started my watch over again.  It worked fine the rest of the time.  My pace was around 9:30 for miles 2-5.  It was a 9:17 for mile 6.  I didn't see the average for the last .44, but it was probably around the same speed.

Tomorrow is a tempo run, so I just ran comfortable today.  The top of my foot is still sore when my shoe ties down on it.  I've loosened it up as much as I can.  I even tried tying the shoes in a different way.  Maybe it's just sore and needs to heal.  It'll have to wait till taper week I guess.

I went to bed at 7 last night because I was frustrated at nearly everyone in the world.  Sleep seemed like the best way to not go around offending people.  It was nice to get some extra rest, but I still needed a 15 min nap this morning after my run. 

On a happier note, I found an old Lindor truffle this morning as I was rummaging around for garlic.  I don't know how old it is, or where it came from, but I'm enjoying it :-)

Had to get up at 4 again to log the miles before doing the seminary drive.  If I can say anything about the army's schedule, it's this: unreliable.  I would like to go into a ranting tirade right now, but I'll stop.  I've got other things to rant about.

Tempo run.  Warm up mile was a 10:10, then the goal was 5 miles at a 8:50 pace with a cool down mile.  Instead, I ran the last 6 miles at a 8:25-8:39 pace.  It felt like a great tempo pace.  I tried to imagine myself keeping the pace for the Halloween 10K.  I think I might be able to pull it off, as long as there aren't too many hills.

At mile 1, there was a big dog out in someone's front yard.  He barked at me, and followed me along the yard, but never came out in the street at me.  I took the safety off the pepper spray just in case.  I changed my route a little to avoid going back there, because I didn't want to ask for trouble.

Then, at mile 5.5, a small Chiuhahua type dog came out in the road after me.  I was running on the shoulder of the road across the street from his house.  He was out in the road barking after me, and chasing me.  His owner was out in the yard yelling at the dog, but the dog was not responding to his owner.  So I sprayed the pepper spray in the direction of the dog.  I could see the mist particles in my headlight floating over toward the dog as he was running after me.  As soon as they got near him, he turned around and ran home.  I thought I heard him whimpering, but there were so many other dogs barking in the neighborhood (I guess they were cheering him on), and I couldn't tell one bark from another.  I just kept on running...I thought that was better than going back and having a confrontation with the owner.

I do feel bad for the poor dog.  But I feel like I did what was in my best interest.  I was under a tight time schedule to get my miles in before I had to drive to seminary.  I knew I didn't have time to deal with a dog bite.  Hope the dog is okay now.  I also hope the owner doesn't take his dog out at 5 am without a leash anymore either.

After I got home from the seminary drive, I rubbed the side of my nose with my wrist (it was itching) and there must have been some residual spray on my arm, because my nose was on fire!  I had to wash my face off with the closest soap the was around. The soap helped relieve some of the burn, and it was totally gone in 5 minutes, but I learned my lesson.  Wash my entire arm after using the spray...not just my hands!

Hopefully I'll get in a couple more miles tonight, but it's started raining, and I'm not sure what it's going to be like at 4 pm.

5am- 61^o , 70% humidity, wind at 12mph.   Not bad weather.

What a morning :-)  These are the days of my life......

After school run in the rain.  Had to cut it short because middle school track didn't stay late.  But I managed to get in a couple of good miles before I had to quit.  My legs felt nice and tired, so I considered it a good training run.  9:10 for mile 1, and 8:30 for mile 2.  About the same for the last half mile.

I slept all night with the window open listening to the rain.  It was so nice that I didn't want to get up.  I managed to get out of bed at 5:30 and run a little before I had to get ready for the day.  I did get my stretching and physical therapy strengthening done, so it wasn't a total wash.

It was 50^o, 89% humidity, winds 8 mph, and the rain had just slowed to a drizzle.  It was really nice to run in...except for the glasses.  I ended up just taking them off because I could see better with them off than on.  But best of all....no dogs today :-)

I don't think I'll get in my 5 extra miles this week.   I think it'll be okay anyway.

 I did manage a 1.25 quick loop around the hood with my daughter after school.  I asked her if she wanted to run, and she said yes, yes, yes.  I told her we didn't have to, and I could just start dinner early.  She insisted that we run.  So I changed, and we started out on the road.  Not 1/4 of a mile into it, she quit!  I told her it was HER fault I was out there, and she'd better get running.  (tough love)  She ran off & on the rest of the way with me.  Silly teenagers.

Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  I'll need to do my strength training later.  Soup for dinner again tonight.  Just regular chicken and rice.  It'll be nice now that the weather's cooled down. 

High of 59 expected tomorrow.  That's going to beat the 87 on last Saturday's run.  No rain expected till Saturday night.

I did not want to run today.  I felt tired and just wanted to stay in bed.  I finally made myself get up and get ready, because I knew I had to "get 'er done."

As I was eating my breakfast, I realized I hadn't had my bananas, and that I didn't even have any bananas.  I worried that my leg cramps would be back.  But the chicken soup pulled me through, and I didn't have any problems.

I had to stay close to home, so I ran a 4.1 mile long loop through the hood, then back tracked 1.2 miles on the short loop.  I did this over and over till I logged in my miles.  I stopped at the house for a quick potty break after mile 4, then for water & gu at 5, 11, 16, 20.  I had gatorade too.  At some point, I ran in a grabbed a new battery for my mp3 player.  Can't remember when it was. 

My goal was to finish 20 miles.  After the first 5 knocked out the cob-webs, I fell into a nice rythm and around mile 17, I felt like I was doing so well that I would try and go a little further than just 20.  I hadn't put in my 5 extra miles for the week, and I felt like I had the energy to do a few more than 20.  It was just an amazingly great run.  Great weather, nice breeze, some sun.  No dogs in the road coming after me.  Just a great run. 

Once a year or so, there's a run when things go well, and you just feel like you can keep going.  That's how I felt at mile 20.  So I went for another 4 mile loop.  Funny thing was, as soon as I took off on the last 4, I started getting a side ache, then weird hip pains, and I almost threw in the towel.  But I worked through them, and kept on going.  My pace was a little slower for the last four, but it was still a pace I was happy with.  Such a difference from last week.

At mile 20, my overall average pace was 9:31.  I kept it about that pace the whole time.  10 seconds +/-, but pretty consistent.  At mile 24.09, it was 9:33.  I can't say what made it so great, but I'm happy with how well it went.  And since I went 24, I do feel confident now that I can do 26.2.   I'm glad that the long training runs are over, though.  I need my Saturdays back. 

I had a nice ice bath after I got back, then a warm shower, and off for errands.  We went to see a dollar theater movie.  I thought I'd fall asleep, but I was surprised I stayed awake.  I guess 2 huge diet pepsi drinks will do that for me :-)

Thanks to Terri, RAD & Carolyn for the good positive thoughts & helping me feel like I could do it.  You're the best.