Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured

I ran a mile to meet Jenny and then stuck with her for the next 4.   I was tired and worn out and had some serious stomach issues due to an entire day filled with eating junk food.  I ate horribly yesterday.   I long day filled with church, another ward conference plus two other meetings afterwards lead me to eating Diet Coke, doritos, ice cream, ramen noodles and a cupcake.... the last two were eaten at 9:30 a night and I about puked....I wonder why.  Anyways it all lead to easy running - which was fun and Jenny was great to listen to my whining about Sunday.   

I finished up with 3 more on my own for a total of 8 and avg pace of 9:19.

I woke up this morning feeling like I had been hit by a bus.   My legs ached and I was having some other odd pains so I opted out of an early morning run.   This meant I got to either run at lunch or not run at all.  I almost missed running at lunch until I saw some guy running down the huge hill outside my office and it spurred me on.   I ran part of the 5K course for the race I am running on Saturday (not as much downhill as I had led myself to believe) and then back up the big hill to make it 4 miles.   I felt much better than I did the last time I ran this and it was much hotter today - 87 degrees, but I made it up the hill feeling good.   Avg Pace 8:43.   Plan is for more miles tonight with my daughter.

I headed out with my 11 yr old to run and she had done great last week, but struggled tonight.  We did 2.53 running with a couple of stops and then .5 walking home.   

Easy miles with Annette.   Avg Pace 8:37

Super easy miles with Annette, 5K tomorrow.

I hate 5K's, really, really hate 5K's.   That being said, one of my goals for this year was to PR in a 5K.   Here it is May and I hadn't signed up for one yet, so I started looking for one a few weeks ago and found one that looked good and very close.  I made myself sign up right away, before I changed my mind.  We had anticipated this being a very small race, but it ended up being 700+ runners.  All week, I just kept telling myself just run as hard as you can and yes it will hurt....

I met Annette and Jay drove us, along with my daughter, down to the race.   We picked up our chips, warmed up for just under 2 miles and then used the POP.   We lined up close to the front but not too close.   They started and I took off...again as in most local 5K's, people cannot line up correctly, lots and lots of weaving.   Annette passed me right away and I just kept telling myself  (that I stole from Kelli) "Comparison is the thief of Joy" and  tried to just run.   The first mile had some up, down, up and down and I passed people on the hills and felt good when mile 1 came in at 7:04.  

Mile 2 has a big down hill and I ran past several people, just told myself to use the down hill as much as I could and then hold on through the flat.    We pulled out on the the flat section and it is protected from all the wind and the temps and humidity made it stifling and thick, thick air.   6:44 - thank you, down hill

Mile 3 started off good and I was holding on okay, but with .5 left, I was hanging on for dear life.   I wasn't sure where the finish was and there were a few turns and I  couldn't see the finish, but was hanging on....barely.  7:03

I am extremely pleased with the results, I was really just using this as a run to see what I could do and where I am in my training.    Yes, this is an aided course and yes, I will still claim my PR, but I do wonder what the impact of 80 degrees and 75% humidity have on the time.   

My daughter ran her first 5K with very, very little training and finished in 36 mins.  She is inspired to run another, which is great.  Annette finished in 22:51 which is a PR for her as well. 

We ran 1.3 miles back to the start for the awards and then added on miles back the Y.   This was brutal 90 degree temps and lots and lots of sun.   Annette talked me into staying for the Body Attack class which was a lot of fun, but I was wiped out and I have no upper body strength.