The combo of my buzz kill post Sunday, lack of time, and spotty internet made posting the last couple days not happen. Hopefully this will be a quick recap.
Monday I ran. Standard run. Honestly, I dont' really remember much of it. 8:16 pace maybe? Felt ok.
Yesterday was a good day though! Did 6 miles in the morning at 8ish pace. Then, busted my butt through traffic after work to meet up with a running group that meets at the running shop that is literally 1 mile from my house at 6pm. It was really fun! The pace started out reallly slow, so I worried at first because it was downhill at the beginning and I just wanted to *go*. But, it was good self restraint for me! I ended up just listening to other people's conversations for the first few miles. Our leader led us down to these cool trails and this dam that I didn't even know existed, even though it ajoins to a park that I run in all the time! So, that was cool. Each mile we kept picking it up a bit. Finally, I was pushing the pace with another guy who had recently done a 50 mile race. Since this is on my horizon for sometime in the future, I grilled him about it! We stopped at a water fountain about 5 miles in and from there, ran back to the shop. It was ALL uphill including the mock "heartbreak" hill that I did repeats on last spring pre-Boston. And have avoided ever since. Me and the guy were still pushing at a 7:30 pace at this point up the 3/4 mile hill and I was trying desperately to keep up with the conversation while having it seem effortless because I am vain and like to look bad ass! We finally crested the hill with less than a mile to the running shop and me and two guys really opened it up. My legs were shot, but it felt great. All in all, a great 8 mile evening run to round out 14 miles for the day.
Today I kept it short and sweet as I'm trying to hold my miles to the 70s this week. I was at the bakery SUPER early ie: 4am, because there was a butt load of special orders and additional things on tap for the day. I was out by 9am though and conviently I am off from teaching for awhile so I could head home and run. I don't know if it is the combo of adrenaline from getting up early or the infinity of caffeine I ingest in the form of coffee at work, but these post-bakery morning runs seem to be pretty decent. I headed out into the 80 degree/humid morning as summer seems to have returned to Michigan. I headed downhill of course from my apartment, making up a loop as I went. My shins are really killing me lately so I tried to hit up some dirt roads. I actually felt *smooth* for a change. Like my body and my mind weren't fighting me the whole time like usual. Which was nice. So I went with it. I did 6 miles at 7:42 pace with splits between 7:27 and 7:50 the whole time. Even on the uphills! :) Then, I did two easy miles at 8:25 pace to shake everything out. All in all, a pleasing 8 miles and I was done for the day.
I'm still feeling the mental funk a bit, but trying to pull through. I'm not sure if my running is making me feel bad mentally, or if my mental state/life stuff is making me think about/run bad. Oh well. I will give it time and see how it goes.
Good news is, I am off from teaching for over a week! We start in the middle of August because of a break that happens now. I need to prep for the next three months though (literally) so I am making myself work a set amount each day so I stay on task. It is times like this though, when I am happy/fortunate to be a salaried worker. Today I made the same amount as I do everyday! :)
Tomorrow I have a coffee date with an old/good friend. And my dad will be in town so he is bringing a bookself I bought last week. And run club at night. Coupled with a morning run, should be a good day!
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