Stupid-thirty, take 2

Wednesday, July 27 – Run & Strength Training

I woke up at stupid thirty again to run 5 miles. However, I pushed the snooze button 2x more than I should have, so my run had to be cut to 4 miles. Well, 4.23 miles. Do you think I’m stressing about the pesky .77 that I didn’t run. Well, yes I am actually, because I am type A….but not enough to go out and run that .77 later! And, I am happy to report that I did not run into any potheads, cows or other strange things. I did see a large raccoon crossing the street, but that’s it. And, my “friend” was out there this morning, along with another runner…whoohoo, it’s great to know that I am not alone in this stupid-thirty endeavor.

My pace? We’ll it was slightly under 11 minute/mile. As I was running, I came to the conclusion that as long as it’s stupid-hot at stupid-thirty, I would be okay seeing miles in the 11-minute range. I am not going to freak out about it. In previous summers, I often saw miles in the 12-minute range, so anything 11:30 or faster will do. So there, I said it and I am not going to stress over it.

Thursday, July 28 – Spin and Swim

No stupid-thirty this morning! I prepped 2 bags on Wednesday night – one for the pool after work and one to take to work for lunchtime spin class. Naturally, it wasn’t until after I dragged the huge workout bag on the bus that I checked my Outlook calendar and noticed that I had back to back meetings pretty much all day…including during lunch. I forgot about that one, doh! So, no spin class for the 2nd week in a row. I’ve got to start planning better and going to one earlier in the week…it’s just that the Thursday class tends to be a little more challenging and that’s exactly what I need.

After work, I did manage to fit in a swim. It was only 1,200 meters and I really needed to do more, but it’s important to me that I make it home in time to help the Hubby put the kids to bed. So 1,200 it was. I had planned to also swim on Wednesday, but the schedule just didn’t allow for it. I am going to have to figure out how to get more swims in, especially if I want to meet one of the goals I’ve set for next year!

So that’s it…Friday is my scheduled rest day, but my weekend workouts are all messed up and I might end up working out on Friday afterall. The hubs and I have an open water swim clinic on Saturday morning, so that means I’ll have to do my long run on Sunday and skip my longer bike ride. Oh, and we do get to have a “date night” on Friday, because the kiddos are staying with my parents..woohoo! Probably dinner and movie…should we see Captain America or Cowboys and Aliens???

So, what’s on your agenda for the weekend? Workouts? Fun stuff?

Pot smokers and Stupid-Thirty

In my circle of running peeps we often use the term “dark-thirty” when referring to our pre-dawn group runs. Usually, those runs begin at 5:30 or 6:00 am. With my training/work/commute schedule, I am forced to get out the door anytime between 4:00 am and 4:45 am in order to be back home by 5:15 am to get myself and the kids ready for the day. From this point forward, I will now refer to this time as “stupid-thirty”.

Why?

Because it’s just effing stupid to workout at this time. Really.

And yes, that really is my alarm clock!

But yet I continue to do it. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, and all that malarkey....it's either stupid-thirty, do mind-numbing loops around the indoor track during lunch or treadmill during lunch or after work. (And let me tell you, I got a lot of crap about attempting speedwork on the dreadmill a few years ago.) All of the options can work, but for me it's just easier to get out there 1st thing in the morning, because crap happens throughout the day that sometimes makes it hard to get in a quality workout later.

Tuesday, July 26 – Run (speedwork) and Ab Ripper X
As always with me, the word “speed” is relative. It really means, “still slow, but not as friggin slow as usual”. I don’t have access to a lighted track in the early morning and typically can’t make it to the track until after dark in the evenings, so I usually do my speed work around the neighborhood with my Garmin set to beep at whatever intervals I want to do. This time around I decided on 400s, mainly because it’s been forever since I’ve done any type of speedwork. 400s seemed obtainable. I also decided that rather than venture throughout the entire neighborhood, I would stay in our little block. This would allow me to stop and grab water as I passed our house and to not have to carry my hand held bottle.

Overall, I think the workout went well. I hit my goal pace during my speed intervals, but the only problem is that I was so freaking winded that I felt inclined to walk a bit after each one, instead of just slowing down the pace to a slow jog. The result was pretty much the same overall pace that I’ve had for my regular runs.

Oh, and on my second loop around the block, I noticed that there was now a car parked along the curb in front of a house. Hmmmm, that wasn't there the 1st time I ran by....and, there were two teenage guys sitting in the car, Judging by the looks on their faces, I definitely startled them. And I smelled a little sumfin’ funny as I ran by…seriously dooooods, it’s 4:30 am for pete’s sake! I guess anytime is a good time to get your party on, lol! It kinda reminded me of these dudes:

After the kiddos went to bed, I did the ol’ Ab Ripper X. All part of my master plan to get a ripped core.

Do you do speedwork? Do you do it on a track, on the dreadmill? What's your favorite interval?

The long lost brick...

It's been awhile since my last brick workout. As in before the CB&I tri. What I've decided to do between now and Bridgeland is to cut way back on my weekend bike mileage and add a run after my ride. I figure I really don't need to do 50+ miles every weekend between now and my next tri. After all, the bike at Bridgeland is less than 14 miles. What I need to do is to get my legs used to the bike to run transition.

With this in mind, I set out for a brick on Sunday morning. I decided on 1 hour on the bike, followed by a 2-mile run. My legs were feeling that 9-miler from the day before, but after a few miles on the bike, everything loosened up. My average bike pace was 16.4 mph...not great, but not bad. I ended up doing a little more than a hour, because I misjudged the distance and did a little more than 18 miles. Once I made it back home, I ran my bike up the driveway and transitioned to run gear. Here's where I messed up - I usually wear my Garmin on the bike and turn it on about 10 minutes before starting my run. Yep, I forgot to turn on the Garmin and it took FOREVER to find the satellites! In fact, I got tired of waiting and just started running. It logged 1.92 of my 2 miles at a 9:45 pace. I am trying really, really hard not to compare this run pace with my pre-CB&I run pace...I am starting over after a long running hiatus and my times are going to reflect that for awhile. Ugh!

I've also decided that I can't bike on Saturday with my biking peeps anymore. Saturdays need to be my long run days. Why? Because if I bike for 2 - 3 hours on Saturdays, it's kinda hard to get in a good quality long run on Sundays. Let's face it, I've missed a lot of time running over the past couple of months. NYC is only 14 weeks away. I need to focus on running. Yes, I love to ride my bike...so I will ride 20-30 miles each Sunday as time permits. And yes, I will increase my ride distance after NYC. But for now at least, it's gonna be all about the run.

Bridgeland is more than likely going to be my last tri of the season. It's kind of sad, but again, it's time to focus on the run. And, I have some exciting goals for after NYC which I reveal later. :-)

"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right."

- Henry Ford

Love the quote.

Yesterday, I left the house at my usual time (6:30 am), and I didn't make it back home until after 10 pm. Lots of craziness going on in all aspects of my life at the moment. It makes me tired and it makes me grumpy. Last night when I made it home, I was ready to tell the Hubby that I'd decided I didn't want to run NYC. I was going to check our rental contract for the apartment we'd rented and see how much of our deposit we could get back. I was done.

Why? Well, after missing 7 weeks of running, then missing another week due to strep, I was concerned that I had missed too much training. Before the stupid toe incident, I was ready to go into the training season a stronger runner than I'd ever been. Instead, I was finishing 6 miles at an 11-something pace and it was HARD! Seriously people, my training plan says that I should be at 14 miles this week. 14!

But, it's funny what a good night's sleep can do. I woke up and thought of that quote...okay, so I'll run 9 this week, instead of 14. Okay, so I might not have the super-duper PR in NYC that I had hoped for. But, I will race. I will train hard over the next 15 weeks. I will do my best.

This morning, I headed out for 5 miles before Woodlands Fit was scheduled to meet up. Yes, it was slow, but much to my surprise, it wasn't that bad. Then, I did 4 more miles with my peeps from Woodlands Fit. Again, it was freaking slow (slower than the 1st 5 miles), but again...not too terrible. I finished my goal mileage for the week and I survived. Yes, I had some negative thoughts along the way, but I tried to push them out of my head. And, the best part? My legs felt like I could have gone a little bit farther. (emphasis on the little)

So, it's going to be a long, stupid hot, sweaty road to the start line, but I think I'll make it.

Workouts this week...

This Week's theme is "flexibility"...sometimes things don't quite go as planned with the workout schedule, so you've got to be flexible. That can be hard when you're a type A.

Monday – 7/18, Run- 6 miles
I had the day off, so I despite the tired legs from the previous day’s ride, I decided to head out for a run. I had two choices – 1) wake up before 5 am, so I could be back home before the hubby left for work or 2) sleep in and go for a run after taking the kids to school.

Can you guess which option I chose?

Even though it meant I’d be running in warmer temps, I opted for #2 – sleep in. Although, with my kiddos that means I get to sleep until 6 am. It was warm and muggy, but overall it was better than my last 6-miler!

Afterwards, I spent the day with my mom to celebrate her upcoming birthday. We had lunch and cupcakes and just hung out. Fun times!

Tuesday, 7/19 – Rest Insanity
Okay, so I was going to rest, but it was a stressful day and I needed to blow off some steam. I decided to do Insanity’s Cardio Circuit and it did the trick. It’s hard, but you definitely get out the days stress and frustrations!

Wednesday, 7/20 – Run and Swim Run again
I had one of those mornings where I just couldn’t drag myself out of bed. I had 5 miles on the schedule, but after hitting the snooze button too many times before work, I only had time for 3 miles. Then, I was limited on time after work, so opted to finish up my mileage in the afternoon heat rather than swim.

Thursday, 7/21 - Spin and Swim
Thursday’s workouts did not go as planned. I had plans to go to spin class during lunch, but I ended up meeting with someone that I needed to talk to at work…hey, work comes first…afterall, it pays for these races, right? So, I decided rather than swim after work, I’d ride my bike. Then, I’d swim on Friday, which was supposed to be my rest day. Well, as I travelled home it started raining. With thunder. And lightening. So much for a ride. Instead, I headed to the pool for a 50-minute swim workout. Better than nothing, right?

Friday, 7/22 – Rest
Ahhh, a rest day at last! Gotta get ready for 9 miles tomorrow in the heat and humidity. Ick!

So, how flexible are you with your workouts? Do you go with the flow, or freakout when your workouts get derailed?

KatyFLATland Ride (55 miles of happy fun)

Katy FLATland. Also known as:

• Tour de Flat



• Flat-o-Rama



• Flatsville



• Flatinator

you get the idea. Let's just say that this ride was educational.

Lesson #1 – Don’t trust Mapquest.
The nice thing about going to these organized bike rides is that once you start getting closer to the venue, there are always people around with bikes attached to their vehicles. At least some of them know where they’re going. I tried following the directions Mapquest gave me and it was a FAIL. However, a quick turnaround and was able to spot the bikes and follow.

I arrived in plenty of time to pick up my packet and swag (i.e. water bottle and t-shirt). I checked my tires, changed into my bike shoes, hit the bathroom, etc. Tri buddy, Jen, arrived and headed out on her 76-mile ride. One thing we noticed is that these events aren’t like running races.…afterall, they aren’t races. There are no timing chips and there’s not a lot of fanfare at the start. In fact, there weren’t any people lining up at the start at all. People were just casually starting whenever they felt like it.

Lesson #2 – Yes, you really need that spare tube and CO2 cartridge.
Never leave home without either.

Before the ride, I met up with Houston Fit peep, Kay and we headed out. We had a pretty good pace going when I noticed that something just didn’t feel right on my bike. I had a freaking flat tire. That’s right folks, 5.62 miles into a 55-mile ride and I had a flat. No worries, though. I’ve watched the Hubby change a flat tire and I knew what needed to be done….I also knew what would take an experienced tire changer 5 minutes would more than likely take me about an hour. True dat. I turned my bike upside down and had the rear wheel off in no time. A guy slowed down and asked if he could help. He looked like an experienced tire changer (I can tell these things by just looking at a person...impressive, huh?), so I took him up on the offer. He had the tube off in just a minute or two, checked to make sure the wheel was clear and put the new tube on...all in about 5 minutes. The SAG wagon stopped and aired up the tire, which was lucky because it turns out that I’d need my CO2 later.

We thanked our friendly helpers and were off again! About 5 miles later, I started noticing that the bike didn’t feel right again. Kay confirmed that my right tire looked low. We tried riding for another mile or so, and then had to stop. I used my CO2 cartridge to fill the tube and we kept going….the goal was to just make it to the next rest stop. We made it there (around 14 miles into the ride), but the tire was already low again. The line for the bike mechanic was pretty long, so we opted to air up the tire with the pumps that were available and try to make it to the next stop which was 17 miles away.

Lesson #3 – Bring more than one CO2 cartridge and money!
For some reason, the next 17 miles seemed to take forever! We stopped once to put air in the tire. At that point, Kay suggested that we take the tube out, make sure the wheel was clear of anything that could have punctured the tube, and check the tube. Together we managed to take off the tube. The wheel seemed to be all clear and we could not figure out where the leak was. So, Kay donated her CO2 to the cause and aired up the tire again and we kept going. Finally, we rounded a corner and one of the volunteers told us the next stop was 1 mile away. She lied…it was more like 2 miles, but whatever. We made it. It was there that I finally decided that we needed a new tube. This stopping and going was slowing us way down and it was getting freaking old fast. The problem? I only had $5 on me. Fortunately, Kay also brought cash, so I had to borrow some from her to buy the new tube and have the bike mechanic dude put it on. Yeah, we could have done it, but at this point we didn’t want to. Also, the bike mechanic dude noticed that the seam on my tube was leaking. What are the odds – a flat and a defective tube all in one ride?

Lesson #4 – There is really no good reason to ride 55 miles (or more) at one time
But yet we do it anyway.

Kay and I were on our way again. We tried to pretend that we were biking in the beautiful Tuscan countryside. In fact, right after Kay suggested this, we turned a corner and saw fields of grapes! Overall, this isn’t a bad ride…it’s flat, there were crosswinds and a few miles with headwinds, but overall not too bad. The problem is that riding for 55 miles, even with the best company, can get boring. Let’s face it, there’s not much to look at in Katy – cows, roadkill, and miles of prairie.

Lesson #5 – No matter how painful the last few miles are, it does feel good to know you kept going and got’er done!
We took our time at the last rest stop. They had PB&J, oranges watermelon and best of all, OREOS! Yes, I took one and enjoyed every last crumb. Once we got going again, I was definitely feeling the heat and my “get up and go” was all gone. Kay and I took turns leading, so that we could draft off of each other. Note to self – drafting only works if you can keep up with the lead person! Kay still had the "get up and go". I didn't.

The good news – even though it took us about 45 minutes longer than expected (thank you tires), we finished. This was the longest distance I've ever done and it felt good to do it, but I’m not sure I want to do it again anytime soon.

Lesson #6 - Take pictures..that way you can laugh at yourself later!
So, in 55 miles and 3 tire changes (sort of) , I don't have one picture to memorialize the event. Just one of those "doh!" moments, I guess. I blame it on the heat - it fried my brain and I never thought to take any pictures. Oh well, there are always the memories!

Strep - take 2

Remember how I mentioned a sore throat on Sunday?

Yep.

Strep throat. again. That would be 2x in 2 months. This coming from someone who never had strep before last month. Ever.

Another small setback. This is getting really old. The sore throat, the aches, and well, just feeling like crap in general is no fun.

So, I'll be a good girl and take a couple of days off. Okay, maybe three. I think I didn't give myself enough rest (as in none) last time I had strep, so this time I will be a little more cautious. I will take it easy and maybe try to run on Friday, then rest on Saturday...afterall, I have that 55-mile ride at Katy Flatland on Sunday! It's paid for and I've been looking forward to it, so I better be rid of all the sickies by then.

Yeah, yesterday's bike/strength training and today's run/swim ain't happening. Bummer!

Little bit of this and that...

Well, another weekend come and gone. I love my weekends! So here’s what was up:

Thursday, July 7 – Spin class & Swimming
I’ve discovered that Thursday spin classes are actually a little tougher than the Tuesday class…I like that and think I’ll keep going! It was grueling, but fun. After work, I headed to the gym to swim. This swim was much better than my Wednesday swim! Much smoother, much less effort...I did some drills and then a ladder. Overall, I swam 1,200 yds.

Friday, July 8 - Rest

Saturday, July 9 – Bike ride and parties
I joined my biking homies for a nice, new route. This route was along some pretty country roads about 30 minutes from my house. It was definitely more challenging than our usual, flat route – this ride included some nice, rolling hills and less protection from the wind. We had some views of the countryside, some views of a lake and even some flowers…naturally, we had to stop and enjoy! We did a little over 40 miles. It’s nice that 40 miles doesn’t seem too bad, even on the more challenging route. Although, I have to admit that the last few miles were tough mentally - by that point, I was sick of the rolling hills and felt like I could barely make it up the last couple.

Taking a little break...

Yes, we took time to stop and smell the flowers...these were growing on the side of the road! So pretty!

Later, after doing the grocery shopping and some laundry, we headed to a friend’s house to celebrate their daughter’s graduation from high school. Crazy, because I remember this daughter when she was just a baby…and now she’s graduating…kinda makes me feel old! The Hubby and I debated on whether or not we wanted to bring the kids along, and we’re glad we did. They had an awesome time playing with all the other kids and just being silly. Great food, great friends, great fun…

Sunday, July 10 – Run and swim
Sunday I had the option – get up at 4:30 to run, or wait until 7 pm in the evening. The Hubby was planning to meet up with his tri training group for their weekly run at 6:15 am, then we’d head to the lake for a swim after…this meant that I either had to run and get home before he left for his run, or I’d be running later in the evening. With the “feels like” temps in the 100s, there was no way I would be running in the middle of the day! After waking up before 5 am for 6 days in a row, I decided to sleep in. The Hubby enjoyed his group run and we still had time for breakfast together before dropping off the kids at my parent’s house and heading to the lake.

We were surprised to see such a large number of people out at the lake. Then we realized that there was an open water swim clinic being held. That group had already finished their swim…this made me happy, because I hoped they’d already scared away any snakes or other creepy crawlies out in the water. LOL! This was the hubby’s 1st open water swim and he did great! He was actually in the water before I finished putting my swim cap and goggles on. I was pretty proud of myself too…I had absolutely no anxiety whatsoever. After having a handful of really crappy open water swims in the spring, it felt good to have a good ows! I swam a little over 1,000 m, so it was a pretty decent workout!

Here's the lake where we have ows practice...looks nice and serene, huh?

Once we were home, we hung out with the kiddos and finished the laundry…exciting, huh? Then, it was finally time to head out for my run. I wasn’t really feeling it…I started to get a sore throat earlier in the day and just felt kinda crappy. Plus, my quads were sore from the bike ride the day before. Plus, it was hot! I really didn’t want to run.

Did I mention it was hot?

I had a horrible time. I walked, I whined, I cursed, I walked some more. Let’s face it, I am a morning runner. It’s about 10 degrees cooler and the sun doesn’t glare down on you at 4:30 in the morning. I know a lot of you out there run in this stupid heat and deal with it…and I don’t know how you do it. I am sure I need to get acclimated to it, but ugh, why? I’d much rather run in the morning. I don’t think I felt really good until I got to mile 5…by then the sun was low enough for me to be in the shade. At least there was a breeze. So anyway, it is what it is – a horrible, slow, walked way too much and I hate running kinda run.

I am kinda bummed that I am calling 6 miles a *long* run! Before the whole toe incident, I was easily running 8 – 10 miles, heat and all. And now, well, I’m a pansy.

It’ll get better, right?

I hope so.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!

STS-135

The final shuttle launch is this morning at 10:26 central. Gather your families, co-workers, whatever and watch it!

I *heart* short weeks!!!

I love, love, love 4 day work weeks! Hard to believe hump day is over and tomorrow is Thursday! Yippeee!

I’ve managed to get in some good workouts this week and I am back on track with my healthier eating again…I was starting to see higher numbers on the scale (especially after the holiday weekend) and my clothes were starting to fit a little, um, differently. I’ll admit, I have not been eating the right things for the past several weeks. I am such an emotional eater…stress of stuff going on in my life (I won’t go into details, but just think Jerry Springer), combined with being bummed about not running has led me to making some really unhealthy choices. I know, excuses. But, I am ready to regain control and get myself headed in the right direction!

So here’s what’s been going on in my workout world –

Tuesday, July 5 – Run, 2 miles and Ab Ripper X
Okay, so 2 miles is not much, but Tuesday is not normally my run day. The hubby had his very 1st track workout after work, so instead of my usual Tuesday swim, I decided I’d run in the AM and bike ride once he was home from track. Balancing training between the two of us is not easy, but I think if we’re both flexible it will all workout. The Hubs did great at track, so I am proud of him for that! So, I headed out in the early AM hours for a run. Overall, it went well…about the same as last week – 10:34 pace. It was warm and humid, but I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t all that bad.

Later in the afternoon, on my way home from work, the wind started blowing and I could hear thunder in the distance. By the time I made it to our neighborhood, it was pouring rain and there was a lot of thunder and lightening…looks like I would not be riding my bike! Instead, I did Ab Ripper X. I’ve committed to doing this workout at least 2x per week, so I figured I might as well get it out of the way.

Wednesday, July 6 – Run, 4 miles and Swim, 40 minutes
I managed to roll myself out of bed early enough to squeeze in a 4-miler before work (but just barely). Since it had been so long since I had been running in the mornings, I hoped my Monday / Wednesday running “buddy” was still following his same schedule. My “buddy” isn’t someone I really know, he’s just someone from my neighborhood who happens to run at the same crazy-ass hours and on the same days that I do. It’s just a little more comforting to have someone else out there when the rest of the world is still asleep! And luckily, he was there! We exchanged our “Good Mornings” as our paths crossed (we run in opposite directions) and I even got a “It’s good to see you back out here!” from him. My overall pace was slow (even for me) – 10:50 – but it was better than Saturday’s 11:01 pace. I am blaming some of the slowness on the heat and some on not running for 7 weeks.

I headed to the gym after work for my swim. See, this is where I swim...

I wanted to get it done early, so that the Hubby could also squeeze in a swim (he biked after leaving work, but before picking up the kiddos). Not sure what was going on with my swim, but it felt like crap. I couldn’t seem to get my breathing right and it just felt like so much more effort than normal. I went ahead and did my drills and cut some of my freestyle laps short….instead of an hour, I only swam 40 minutes. I guess a crappy swim is better than no swim at all! I’ll try it again tomorrow and see if there is any improvement.

So that’s it for today. How’s your week going? Are you enjoying the 4-day work week???

Workouts

Just catching up with the recent workouts...

Saturday, 7/2 - Bike, 20 miles

Met up with Kelly & Jen again, but this time we also had runner bud and newbie biker, Stephanie, join us. We decided we needed a change of scenery - especially if it meant we would be closer to Starbucks for post-ride trash talking - so we hit a different local neighborhood that is known for having lots of weekend cyclists. We took it kinda easy and cut the mileage a bit since we had a newbie with us...turns out that we really didn't need to, because she did fan-freaking-tastic! It was a great ride, well except for when a lady in a SUV flipped us off....actually, that just made us laugh. Afterwards at coffee, we actually had almost our entire original Woodlands Fit group together (from my 1st year wit Wfit in 2008). Great friends, great conversation!

Sunday, 7/3 - Run, 4 miles

In all honesty, I really wanted to do 6 miles this weekend. But, after my little 2-miler on Friday, I decided that baby steps might be better than just jumping in. I waited a little later than normal to start my run, which was dumb...once the sun is up, it just feels hotter. I think it's a mental thing...it's not that much warmer, but with the sun shining on me, I think it's warmer. So, I did 4 miles. My overall pace was 11 min/mile...pretty pathetic, but I did take a 1 minute walk break after miles 2 & 3. It will get better with time (I hope).

Monday, 7/4 - Bike ride 16.6 miles

Hooray for holidays! That meant I could squeeze in another bike ride. I headed for the nearby neighborhood for a quickie ride. Everyone must have been sleeping in, because I only came across one runner and no other bikers. Average pace was 16.6...I think I can do better.

Happy Independence Day!

Hope everyone out in the blogosphere is having a great July 4th weekend! Here are some pics of how we've spent the past few days.... Happy Independence Day!

The kids played in the water in an attempt to stay cool in this crazy heat!

The Munchkin decided he'd rather play with his cars...at least he was in the shade!

We also had cool cars to look at while the kids played...forget the Ferraris and Maseratis, just gimme one of these!

Feeling patriotic!

The kids getting ready for the neighborhood July 4th parade..fun times!

Happy 4th of July and thanks to all the men and women who serve our country and protect our freedom!

I RAN!

It's July 1st. The clock is ticking...I decided that it is time to try a run and see how the foot will do. I set out this morning for 2-mile jaunt around our neighborhood loop. Really, I should have not worn the Garmin and just ran whatever felt comfortable. It's been 7 weeks, so there was no way I was going for any pace records today. But, I am type A and I wanna know the numbers!

The good news - I made it without stopping! The toe did not hurt at all. The tendonitis did hurt a little, but not too bad.

The bad news - It was humbling. My 1st mile was a 10:42 pace. I know this was a "test run", but I didn't like that number very much. My second mile was a 10:20 pace. And, that 2nd mile felt freaking hard. So basically, my easy pace before now feels like my hard pace.

All in all, I am just happy to be out running again. I will attempt a longer run this weekend, but I'm sure it will be slow. Whatever. Now it's time to get in my butt in gear for the Bridgeland Tri and NYC! Fortunately, I am well rested when it comes to running, so there should be no "burnout" anytime in the near future. I am committed to sticking to my training schedule and working my arse off over the next 4 months!