3 days running

19 miles in those 3 days! WOW!

Saturday was probably one of the best runs I have ever been on in my life!!!

I got up at 5 am. Seems to be my favorite time of day anymore. I almost didn't need the alarm to get me out of bed. I checked the temps and got my outfit picked. I added my windbreaker, just because it is SUPER BRIGHT yellow. I took it off before we started because I knew I'd only have to shed it later. I was worried at first that I would not know anyone but Trista when I got there. I knew her and a couple of the guys. A couple ladies introduced themselves also. It was a great morning.

We all gathered for a pic before we started. That is something Doug likes to do. He then went over the various routes people would be running. Ours was easy! We met up at Washington Park and headed down to 8th along Maine. We went down 8th to RJ Peters and took Harrison all the way out to 48th. We stayed on 48th to Maine, with a water stop at State. While on this stretch I heard the strangest noise. It is really hard to describe. Very eery. It was close to 7 by then I think, and and I could see, but I could not figure out where the noise was coming from for a long time! Then I finally looked up. I'm guessing it was how the wind was pushing through and past the wires that made that unique noise. I really wish I would have thought to record it. I was freaked for a bit, especially with that road being so skinny and the cars traveling past us at 45+ mph. Anyway... We got to Maine and headed back "home" to finish the 10.

I had to keep telling Trista to slow down, or she wasn't going to be with me. I had a set pace in mind of 9min/mile. I was determined to run it. With me reigning in Trista we did exactly that! 1:31:01 for a 9:01 pace. I have never felt so proud of myself. I set a goal and HIT IT ON THE HEAD!!! I mean WOW!

Since I missed my normal group run, I decided to at least go visit them before they started and I had to head home. So glad I did!

Sunday couldn't have been better either!

Which is odd, considering I woke up feeling like crud.We had gone out the night before to see a live band. They play great 80's music. I only had 2 drinks as I don't drink much anymore. However, before the night even started I felt my throat get sore. We got home before midnight and I got up at 8:30 Sunday. That is the latest I have slept in for quite some time. It really felt odd. My mom had stayed over after watching the kids for us and had coffee and shortbread girl scout cookies ready. She is awesome! I really felt miserable though.

OK, back to Sunday... I had a cup of coffee and half a sleeve of GS cookies. I was playing on FB and Twitter when I saw a pic posted by "Coach Nicole" of SparkPeople.com. All it said was RUN. It was a scenic shot. That was all I needed. I got up, got dressed, and got outside. My plan was to go 4 miles and get home. Things ended up different. I started "RunKeeper" on my phone. I had programmed a 4 mile easy run with coaching. I guess I forgot that I added a 5 min warm up and cool down. I went a half mile in each of those chunks. It made my run a total of 5 miles. However, my pace was just right for the day. Slow and easy. Slower, in fact, than my long run. Which is how I think it was supposed to be. I was happy with it anyway.

This morning... Monday... 5am again!

Now I am sure people think that I am crazy! I got up at 5 again today to run. I figured if I got up and got it done I would be able to save my vaca time for when I really need to take time off. So far, it has been a good idea. Except that right now I feel like I should go home on sick time. The YUCK of the past few days had not gone away. I struggled to start this morning, but could not NOT run. I was up and it was great outside. Not perfect because it was very humid, but still great. I got all of my safety equipment on headed to the door. This time I just used "RunKeeper" to log my run instead of having it coach me. I went my planned route. Oh, here's where it gets funny... I went to the website and looked at my run. I could see that by the map and my memory, I ran faster when I was somewhat scared of where I was. There were a couple places the app tracked me at a sub-7 min mile. That pace didn't last long for sure, but it was there! One of those times was along Bredeweg. There are no lights along that street. The Vet's home has light, and the intersection of 5th and Bredeweg has a light. No lights in between. I went out there and back super fast! I slowed again when I felt better in the light of the Vet's home an had to catch my breath.

Goodness! I never knew I could run that fast!

Now, more than ever I want to run just one mile and have someone else time me, so I don't have to worry about that part of it, and see just how fast I an lay one down. :)

~Happy Running!!