TexasLindsey

8 miles at 5:20 am. I took it slow today because I felt achey and low energy. I haven't been getting good sleep these last few nights. My 3 year old has been fighting his 8pm bedtime and keeping me up later than I want. My 5 month old has a cold and is waking up more frequently. My theory about muscles aching more when I get less than 8 hours sleep is holding true.

Splits

11:21

10:23

10:35

10:19

10:25

10:36

10:25

9:31

I got a new ipod yesterday because my old one broke.  I stayed up later than I wanted putting together a playlist.  I forgot to set my alarm.  So I didn't get out the door until 6am this morning so I had less than an hour to run.  After the first warmup mile, I did 3.6 miles at a little faster pace than normal... comfortably "hardish" but not as hard as I would have done a 5K.

Splits

10:32 warmup mile

9:17

9:08

8:59

8:22 last .6 mile

6 miles at 5:30 am. Got good sleep two days in a row. Theory about sleep and muscle aches is still holding true... whenever I get good sleep, my legs feel great. Just decided to run by how I felt today. I'm finding when I do that I start out slow as a warmup and just get faster with each mile.

Splits

11:22

10:18

9:52

9:47

9:36

8:42

First of all, FYI, in case anyone is interested... the high today here in Fort Worth, TX is 107 degrees.  It's been over 104 all week.  It's awful, awful hot!!!   I run at 5 am when it's only a cool 85 degrees, thank goodness.  Today was a GREAT RUN!  Legs felt strong.  I felt great the whole run.  Just kept the pace comfortable.  I'm thinking that my goal of running a 4 hour marathon may be realistic.

Some interesting things that happened this run:

- Every morning I pass an old man whose out walking.  This morning he asked me how much I run when I passed (I was just finishing my 5th mile).  I told him usually between 6-8 miles each morning.  He told me I had great form.  Made me feel good and I sped up after that.   

- Yesterday it was still dark and I was running along the sidewalk dodging some low hanging tree branches when I heard a booming man's voice yell... it startled me especially when I felt a dog attack my leg... I looked down and saw a puppy boxer dog.  My scream scared the dog away and the man apologized.  Well, today... those tree branches were all cut so I didn't have to dodge them at all.  I guess the man with the dog lived at that house and fixed them. 

- While it was still dark outside, I saw 3 women exercise-walking along in the middle of a lane on a 4 lane road.  I couldn't believe they'd do that.  Seemed very dangerous.  They weren't even walking against traffic so they could see cars coming... and when a car came driving down the lane they were on, they didn't even look behind them ...or move.  They were spread out over the whole lane and they just seemed to assume cars would go around them.  People are still half asleep at that time, it's dark, and who would expect to see 3 women in the middle of the road.  I almost said something to them as I passed on the sidewalk but I didn't think they'd appreciate my input.

Splits

10:37

10:07

9:52

9:39

9:21

9:05

9:04

8:22

AWESOME RUN!   I'm just getting faster and faster each week.  I can't believe how much I'm improving!  It's fun.  I ran with a group of guys today.  We averaged less than 8:30 a mile the whole way... but I didn't stop my watch at water stops so it messed up the time.  The schedule had us running 12 miles but we cut the run short because it was 90 degrees and over 80% humidity.  I think I coulda done the whole 12 but I was just following the group.  The last mile I felt like I had way more energy left so I left the group and caught a guy in front of me and we sprinted the last part which was also uphill.  Woo Hoo!

Splits

8:12

8:40

9:35 (time includes water stop)

8:26

9:21 (time includes water stop)

8:28

8:24

10:07 (time includes water stop)

9:08 (time includes water stop)

7:48