Catching up.....

Week 2 Day 4-three miles at an easy pace..did it and it felt okay. I hate the heat.

Week 2 Days 5-7 Rest days and Long Run...didn't get to do it. We went to dinner with friends on Friday and I got very sick late Friday night and stayed that way through Saturday and part of Sunday. I have not been eating red meat for the last few weeks and decided to eat some, I do not know if that contributed to my illness or not. The garage sale went well (considering the circumstances-thank goodness for my wonderful husband!), didn't make enough money for a Garmin, but got the guest room cleaned out. I fully intended to do my 5 miles when I started feeling better, that didn't happen until late Sunday night and I knew I would need a rest day before starting a new week. So, I decided to just skip the first five miler and hope for the best! Plus, I had done 5.4 miles last Monday and I know I am capable of running that far.

Week 3 Day 1-I decided that this heat is going to be the death of me and my motivation. It sucks the life right out of me and just the thought of going to run makes me not want too. I decided to straighten up the study and get the treadmill where it could be used again, until this ridiculous heat passes. I got on the treadmill and cranked it up to the desired pace and made it for about .7 miles and decided that I would rather deal with the heat and I headed out the door to run in the dark. I ended up going my usual route, so I did a total of 3.7 miles.

Week 3 Day 2-I am the queen of procrastination...I can put off running until the last moment. In this case, that was at 9:15 at night, just a smidgen of daylight left. I borrowed my husband's Garmin so I could make sure I was pacing myself correctly.

I have been afraid that I have been running too slowly. The only way I have been timing myself is using my iPod's playlist and then driving the route and subtracting a half mile from whatever shows up on the odometer-not the most scientific way to go about this. When I run, I feel very slow, especially when I get home and add up the minutes using my playlists. I have been feeling really discouraged because I think I am running slower than my projected times.

Last night the Garmin proved me otherwise. I am suppose to running at a 12:00 minute easy pace. I am doing more like a 10:40-11:00 minute pace, which made me feel much better. I haven't been going "all out" in this heat and I think as long as I stay around this range it will only get faster. I ended up doing 4 miles in 42:57 with 4 strides (1 each mile). It was hot and sticky because the wind had died completely down. I choked on a couple of bugs and I didn't take a drink before I left. I got really thirsty while running. I loved running with the Garmin and now I know I have to get one!

Today I have to do 5 miles total and 3 of those have to be ran at my half-marathon pace (10:15). I dread it, but I know I can do it. It's just a matter of making myself, but it's already 90 degrees outside! I will wait until the sun goes down again. Once again, there is no sense in me getting up to run early when I won't be able to do that when school starts. I am establishing a routine I can actually stick to!