A clydesdale no more!

Much colder outside than I thought it would be.  Legs felt like they had a little extra pep in them this morning for some reason.  Right hip is a little tender but other than that everything felt good.  Did the usual loop. Considered extending it and getting a couple of extra miles in so that I can hit my yearly mileage goal but decided it is an arbitrary number and coming up a few miles short really doesn't mean anything.

Really struggled to get out the door.  My heart just wasn't in the run this morning.

And I thought it was tough to get out the door yesterday.  I felt so tired this morning that I really, really did not want get out of bed let alone run.  I'm pretty sure this is a mental cycle that I go through because I remember feeling like this a couple of months ago.  Had a few inches of new snow and it was still snowing which gave me another excuse not to run. Knowing that a run would make me feel better, I laced up the shoes and headed out the door.  The pace was slow but my legs got a great workout from the slipping and sliding.  It was very pretty outside because of the new snow so I tried to focus on that.

It's all Rhett's fault.  I really had no intention of ending the year with a nice round mileage total until he mentioned that I only needed 14.15 miles to hit 2,500.  Since that is doable in one run that was the plan for this morning.  It was still snowy and the roads were slick so my pace was slow.  My legs are also a little fatigued from having a few long runs squished too close together (this was my 3rd in 11 days).  Ran out 7.15 miles then turned around and headed back.  Thought that a 7 mile run would have been perfect this morning but had no choice but to finish the run.  I just trudged along while cursing Rhett and his and Kathie's peer pressure.  Actually glad I did it because it would have bothered me to look at my training log and always regretting the 6 missed miles.  The past couple of weeks have been more than running stunts.  I am trying to get my body used to longer runs again since marathon training is just around the corner.

My kids wanted to have a New Year's eve party with their friends so I had 5 teen age boys and 5 kids between 6 and 9 at my house last night.  It was a mad house but I think they had a good time.  Had to get in a few miles to burn off all of the sugar I had yesterday.  When I got home Gracie was dressed and ready to go running.  She wanted to run to the store to get eggs but it was too far so we decided to ride bikes instead.  We had a good time.  Sometimes I forget how important it is to spend one on one time with each kid.

Drove to Bountiful Blvd to get in a few miles before meeting the club.  Got a little later start that I would have liked so I could only get in 6 miles instead of the planned 8.  Bountiful Blvd is rolling hills but a couple of the hills are pretty steep.  It is a good route with the varied terrain.  Ran the same out and back route plus a little bit again with Jim and a slightly faster pace.  Added a little more at the end to get the mileage over 13.  Legs good other than a weird twinge I got in my knee during the last half of the run.