Thursday's Run:
6.23mi, 1:02:50
High 60's, moderate humidity
Gorgeous day!

I dropped Monster off at church on Thursday morning and I was already in my running clothes, as usual. However, I was not convinced that I was going to run. I was just not feeling it. I took an extra day off this week because my right calf was hurting a bit more than normal. Plus, I was suddenly feeling very apathetic about running despite the near perfect weather.

This happens to me usually about once a month. I'm going to assume it's hormonal - I just start feeling down about myself - especially my body - and then feel like doing absolutely nothing other than drowning my sorrows in cheese and carbs.

I drove myself to the same go cart path that I ran on last week. It was a gorgeous day, so I thought the lake would provide some uplifting scenery. It was also mentally important for me to "conquer" the location of my crappiest run to date.

I have ditched the Jeff Galloway program for the time being - the music was too repetitive and I was getting a bit irritated with all the walk breaks. I didn't think I was getting any better. Plus, I have work out ADD.

I did ok. The first two miles were easy and I went out a bit fast. I am still taking occasional walk breaks but they are not as long as the ones in the program. I felt zapped of energy at about mile 4. This is probably because I didn't even get to eat my full breakfast or have my full cup of coffee! Monster woke up late and had to have special clothes and special hair for picture day. I kind of forgot to finish eating - oops.

I didn't carry water with me and that was fine - the weather was perfect. I probably would have run a little bit better if I had brought something with me. I ordered a handheld water bottle which will hopefully work out better than that hydration belt (I was still sore 4 days later after its maiden voyage last week).

The beautiful thing is that I didn't feel drained for the rest of the day. In fact, I didn't feel like I had done anything at all. I went grocery shopping, played with Monster, etc. and felt great. I considered going on another run yesterday evening but decided to hang out at home instead. I slept like a rock last night, too, which is always appreciated.

I plan on doing a LONG long run every other week and a run that's a bit longer than my standard run on the opposite weeks. I did 10.6 last week and am thinking I'll aim for 12 miles next week. That will put me right on schedule for my 13.1 that I have scheduled on Oct 7. I hope to beat my PR (2:18:30). My ultimate goal is a 2h half - maybe that will happen before my child goes to college!

I think my chances are improving because I'm putting in the time for the longer runs before the actual race (imagine that). I have done the majority of my 13.1 races since having a baby (5 out of 6). I cut my training way back before my 1st 13.1 because I had found out that I was pregnant - so I ran it with a bit of a handicap. This is the first time that I have actually had the time or child care available so that I could put the miles in. Honestly, now that I think about it, I'm lucky that I'm not dead.