I had a church commitment for most the day and then had to take my two younger girls shopping for school supplies - probably in my top 5 worst things to do as a parent. It was horrible, traffic was horrible and my girls are going to school without Manila paper. This will be a bigger deal than it should be. Most the day was on my feet, despite my best effort to sit as much as possible. After spending a few hours resting and trying take it easy, I headed out at 8:30. It was hot - mid 80's humid and windy. I broke the run into 3 sections, each passing back by my house for water and gu. The first was 6 miles (aiming for 7, but my need for the bathroom prevented that from happening) and mostly flat. I felt pretty good that this point and my pace was picking up earlier than I wanted. The second was 7 miles and hilly. I was either running up or down and I felt pretty good until 11.75 when I had to turn around and run in the headwind. This section had a good up hill, some down hill and then the steep uphill to my house. This last mile was tough, very tough. Got home and the legs were fatigued, gu'd and headed back out for the last 4. These were flat and I was tired and mentally done. I was hanging on by a thread and barely holding it together. I decided when I hit 16 I was going to walk the mile home. I took 10-15 steps and then made myself walk back to where the 1 mile mark was and run home. Avg Pace 8:41
I got home and laid on the floor for a while trying not to throw up and cool off. Lesson learned....hopefully! I was going to do my long run in Omaha on Thursday, but I have developed this fear - sometimes when I travel, sometimes at home about running outside alone. It comes and goes, but I have got to get over it. Home should never be an issue, I live in a very safe area that is well lit and traveled. On the road it is somewhat understandable, but I usually enjoy running in Omaha and the hotel had a gym. I am starting to panic about my training and running a marathon. Every time I get into a pretty decent training cycle, all heck breaks loose. This time they have added quite a bit to my plate at work and I found out Friday I am heading back to India in the next couple of weeks - horrible timing. I have traveled to India in marathon cycles before but never this close to the date. The kids are heading back to school and we have volleyball and baseball every weekend and I feel so selfish taking chunks out of Saturdays to run and miss there activities. I am starting to wondering if maybe this isn't my season for marathon's and to change my goals.
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