Bring on the challenge!

Ah, it was so tempting to sleep in this morning.  No school, I could have run later.  But, I was a good girl and got up at 4:45 a.m. to go running at the track.  

On the up side, it was shorts weather this morning.  Sure beat the cold of Saturday!  We started our splits and they started good, but the second half was a bit slow for me:

1600  - 7:31

1200 - 5:48

800 - 3:48

1600 - 7:52

1200 - 5:57

800 - 3:48

Glad to see at least my 800's were consistent!  We watched the marathon Olympic trials on Saturday, and to see the times those winners posted - incredible!  I'm finishing an 800 when they are almost done with a mile!  It is just mind boggling to me to think of how fast they are going.  

Anyway, came home, showered, and climbed back in bed :)  Got to sleep for another couple of hours.  The nice thing was, by the time I really got up this morning, the exercise and showering were already done for the day :)  Made for a nice morning. 

Tired this morning (why does that always seem to be my opening line here???)  5:30 a.m. comes fast.  It was a misty rain outside, but 70 degrees, so the weather felt great :)  My legs felt heavy this morning and I was overall tired.  Hubby was feeling it, too, though, so it wasn't just me.  Ran our 4 miles, then I did Jillian after the kids went to school.  Maybe not the best idea when you are already tired, but, hey, I'm an over achiever :)

Tempo run this morning.  Yesterday it was in the 30's to run, today it is in the 60's.  So bipolar down here.  It was nice to not be freezing this morning!

So glad it is Thursday.  Tomorrow is my day off of running and I'm so looking forward to it. My foot is still bothering me and I'm getting a shin splint on the other leg.  Shin splints only happen to me when it's time to get new shoes, so, I guess it's about that time again.  Went ahead and ordered me some online.  Hopefully, these injuries will clear up when I start wearing new shoes!  I never keep track of the mileage on my shoes (guess I should), but I thought they were still doing okay.  Looking back, I guess I have had them for about 10 months now. . .pretty sure they've lived their life!

14  miles planned for Saturday. . . 

14 miles this morning.  Started out wondering how the legs were going to do (shin splint on the one, and sore foot on the other) but after mile 2, couldn't feel the shin splint and the foot was killing me!  I think I've got some kind of tight muscle that runs through the foot and into the calf.  By mile 2, I could feel my foot starting to go numb.  Stopped at mile 2 to stretch it out, and it felt better.  Had to stop every 2 miles to stretch it out, but after the first 2, it was much better.  By mile 3, hubby made me mad so the music came on.  I try to keep a fairly consistent pace, but I know that I do go faster at sometimes than others.  I think he was frustrated because I had picked up the pace at this point.  SORRY!!!!  He should have just run without me at that point.  Anyways. . . .the rest of the miles were uneventful until about mile 12.  Then, the foot started hurting again.  Thankfully, I was able to stretch it out again, and was able to finish the last 2 miles.  I don't know what it is, the last 2 miles, no matter how far I go, is always the hardest.  I think it's a subconscious thing.   Made it home and did a 2:08 for 14 miles.  Not great, but it's okay.  Still wondering how I'm going to add 12 more to that in about 6 weeks. . .

On a side note, weather was great this morning.  68 to start, and VERY muggy, but by the end, the temp had dropped a few degrees and a nice breeze was blowing.