I'm a couple of days behind - so here goes:

Sunday's run:
3.13 miles, 30:14
Perfect weather - 61 degrees, moderate humidity

I'm not going to lie to you. I love fall. I love the decorations, scented candles, crock pot stews, foliage, pumpkin spice lattes - you know, ALL OF IT! It's also the start of my "racing season" - so I get a bit extra pumped up. I say racing season, but we all know I'm not really racing anyone. I'm slow; I couldn't win a race to save my life. But I have fun and that's what counts (that's what I tell myself).

Anyway, we have gotten a little fall teaser here in the ATL and I am loving it. I was so excited about this cold front that I got up at 5am before my Sunday shift to run.

I usually do not run on my work days because I work long shifts and am on my feet all day. I think of it like conserving energy. Let me tell you though, this was a great decision. I had a busy day at work, but I was no where near as stressed or irritated as I could have been because I had some endorphins on hand. I might need to make this a regular event - I think my co-workers would approve!

I did not have a lot of time so I was only able to squeeze in a 5k. My hamstrings were a bit tight from Thursday's long run - but I warmed out of that pretty quickly. It felt great to get my legs moving.

It was well before sunrise, but usually that doesn't matter because I run in my neighborhood and one directly across from it. I did get myself pretty wigged out at one point when I encountered someone out on the road in semi-casual clothes walking slowly at 5:45a. Thankfully, no one was harmed (and by no one, I mean me) and it just made me run faster for a brief period of time! I will now be running with my australian shepherd, Arwen, on mornings such as this. She loves running with me but has not been able to because of the HOT weather. Now that it's cooling off, she's back in the game. I feel safer when she is with me. I also need to look into some kind of mace. Here's a possible situation: "Sure, you can approach me, weird man. Have you met my guard dog? How about my chemical irritant?"

Anyway, the hubs was quite surprised when I got up to run on Sunday morning. I told him that I really wanted to run in the weather but also felt I needed to run because I am working another 4 day work week this week and wouldn't have time otherwise. He told me he felt I was officially a runner. Apparently runners run despite their schedule instead of making excuses for their schedule. He gives very interesting compliments sometimes..

Monday's run:
3.55 miles, 34:37
7pm run, 72 degrees, low humidity

I was really tired when my alarm went off this morning. I sleepily told Ryan that we should do a family run when he got home from work. I was really hoping he'd forget and I was happy to get some extra snooze time. When he got home, we got changed and went running. I'm glad he didn't forget!

My legs were pretty tired from my two 12 hour shifts this weekend. Ryan pushed the stroller and I just wore a cute skirt (and Body Glide - I'm not letting that mistake happen again). It was a pretty good run. It was brief, as I had to go into work, but it felt great. I did have a wee bit of right calf discomfort again, so I stretched a bit more when we got home and foam rolled for awhile. I wore my compression sleeves to work, too. I had to take them off after about 6 hours (they start hurting, does that happen to anyone else?) and it's feeling pretty good right now.

Monster was so excited to go on a run tonight. She did not want to get into the jogging stroller until she had a "bed band" just like Mommy. She went through my stash to find a "blue one" and wore it for almost the entire run. She spent a great deal of time giggling and shouting "RUNNING" while we were out. I love it.

Here's a cute iphone picture for you - I know what your'e thinking - it's too cute for words! I don't think I ever looked that cute in this "bed band"

For the record, this band is only worn when running the Peachtree Road Race. Yes, it matches my obnoxious patriotic running skirt.

I'm still mad at myself about my run last Thursday. However, every person I've talked to about it was shocked that I even left my house that day because it was so notably hot and humid outside. It makes me feel a little bit better. The leg chafing is almost gone, too. Now that walking alone is a bit more tolerable and I don't feel like my thighs are on fire, I have decided that I will continue this running gig and press on for the 26.2.

I am at work now and work again tomorrow night. I will either today when I get off shift or get a quick run in on Wednesday morning when I get home.

It's fall, y'all, it makes a woman crazy (and happy).