Chug-along-chica!

2.25 on the treadmill. 

1 mile at 5-5.5 mph

1 mile at 6 mph

.25 at 7 mph

I was happy to see that I could still run at 6 mph with my mouth closed.  It feels about the same as 5.3 used to feel.  And REALLy interesting to me was that 7mph (about 8:30 pace) feels as 6 mph felt 2 months ago.  So there must be progress going on here. Yea!

I must confess that I was up really late last night.  I read a rather spooky book about Vampires and I think it kept me up.  "Twilight."  Very engrossing, but extremely mushy.  Anyone here read it?  I'm still trying to decide if I would recommend it.  Delicious reading, but made me blush for fully a third of the time I was reading it.    Much like a twinky kind of a read.  May taste good when you're reading it, but probably not good to consume too much!  I'm a little bit of a book snob.  My favorite books are ones that are meaningful, like "The Hiding Place"  or "To Kill a Mockingbird."  Favorite recent book is "The Secret Life of Bees".  Ooooh  I really like books that illuminate a foreign culture, too.  "Wild Swans" is probably my favorite in this genre.  Anyway, Happy Monday.

Happy Independence Day! 2 miles on the treadmill in the morning. 2 quarters at 5 mph, 5 quarters at 6 mph, 1quarter at 7 mph.

Very shortly after running I was on my way to New Mexico to hang out with my family! 7 Hour drive. So glad got my run in 1st thing! I missed yesterday's run because I kept putting it off until later--then soon it was too late. I'm looking forward to running in the cooler temps here (60s in the morning--Sweet!)

Nice little run outside this evening.  My brother-in-law and nephew accompanied me so that I wouldn't get attacked by a dog or anything.  That was nice.  I think I've discovered that I can go significantly faster for a lot longer if I increase my turn-over than if I increase my stride length.  Illuminating.

I'm struggling just a little with enthusiasm for running because I decided to stop racing for a while and be more gradual.  We'll have to see how that goes.  Maybe I can go with James to a 5K and do the 1 mile fun run or something next time.  From my one 5K so far, I think racing is really not fun at all.  HOWEVER, it is really to cool/fun to be training for something. 

Lovely little run outside in the morning with Kristina and Mr. TRYinginCO.  So nice!  Beautiful weather out here.  Plus we are out in the country, so we are running on trails shaded by trees instead of sidewalks...aaaaaaahhh.  So nice.  I want to move here!

James and I had a wonderful time running together (without 3 kids) for the first time in . . .geez, I couldn't say. I know I ran with him exactly once when we first got married, but he was really frustrated with running at a speed which I could survive (which injured my delicate running pride!) This second attempt 10 years later was much more enjoyable. I thank Sasha for teaching him the value of running slowly to avoid injury. He was bouncing at least twice as high as I was for the whole run, though, and stepping half as frequently. It was nice to talk to him. He had just finished 8 miles on his own, then we did 3 together.

I want to move here! The weather at 7:15 was PERFECT!--cool, slight breeze, neutral humidity, and scenic mountains close by.

You know what else?  I really liked the advice about continuing to race, but not that often.  I really think having a race to train for is such a great motivational tool.  I think I'll look for a nice scenic 5K in the fall, after it's cooled down a little more--like October or something.  HEY!  maybe I could run something in St. George.  We'll be there for James' marathon, maybe there is a 10K or 5Kalso?  Some marathons do have shorter races the same day, I think.  I'll have to check it out.