Back on Track

Thank you all for your kind words on the last couple posts. I forgot that even when the school year starts smoothly, it takes some major readjusting. This week my legs felt better and I was able to get all my runs done!

I mentioned in my last post that I ran Monday evening with Kristin. After having such a successful night run, I chose to do Thursday's at night, too. I just decided that some extra sleep might help me get over the long run hurdle I've been facing.

It started raining as I paused to take this selfie. It was the perfect way to finish my run.

I did five miles, repeating the bridge twice. It had stormed earlier so I got out a bit later than I planned. I forgot my visor so I was pretty glad the rain had stopped, but it started again just in the last mile, which was perfect. I hit some of my fastest paces in awhile, and was able to maintain them. Color me pleased!

She sent me this picture like three times. Talk about good motivation! (Steph has Celiac, too, so it's always important to figure out which brand of bread is best to use for this kind of delicacy.)

Coming off that run, I was feeling confident about my long run Saturday. I knew I wanted to get back into the double digits but still didn't want to ramp up from the lapsed mileage to the full 16 that's still waiting to be run. 

At this point, I've decided to get back to where I was when I had that week off and build again. (I can do that, because my training plan is like 26 weeks long haha.) Technically this week was a cutback week but I used it as a normal building week, so I'm finally back on track.

So this morning I was smart about my long run. I did my first three miles without my fuelbelt, then stopped by the car to put it on and did my next six miles with it. I paused at the car again to drop it off and finished my last two without it.

Finally! A weekend run that left me smiling and confident!

Starting without the weight of the belt, and therefore being more comfortable, went a long way in helping me get through those first few warmup miles. And losing it at the end was amazing! As a result, my paces were more even and were about a minute faster than they've been this summer. I didn't have to walk at all, although I did pause to stretch my calves a couple times when I took fuel.

I ended up doing 11 miles total and felt really good the entire time. I think the slightly lower humidity helped with that. (It was only 76 with 96% humidity when I finished haha.)

Pretty much how I feel after my training this week.

All things said and done, this was a great way to start the long weekend!

Are you running long this weekend?

 Are you a French toast fan?

Running in the rain: yay or nay?

ABK