Yesterday I was supposed to do this run, but I slept wrong and couldn't get my hip stretched out so I postponed it until today.
I wanted to be out by 6:30, but my 4-legged alarm didn't go off. River is on a schedule; up at 5:30 for breakfast, back to be for 45 minutes and then up and ready for her run or walk. She didn't get up at 5:30 or 6:30 or even 7:00. She was still in bed when I woke up and started getting ready for my run. At 7:15 she half-heartedly at her breakfast because she thought she was going with me on my run. Unfortunately 8 miles is too long for her to run with me.
I really had to talk myself out the door for this run. I just wasn't feeling it, but I knew I had to do it and once I got going it wouldn't be that bad. Off I went. It took 3 miles to really get a good feel for this run. It didn't hurt, it just didn't feel that good. It was like I was going through the motions. I think part of the problem is I didn't have my normal cranberry orange breakfast pita before running. I had a quarter of a protein bar instead. The store has been out of my pitas so I had to eat something else. I'm stocking up next time I see them.
At 43 minutes, I did a bit of walking to drink and eat 5 of my Honey Stingers. This took me to the start of the really hilly part of the run. Honestly, the hills today didn't bother me. In fact, the last steep hill I was halfway up it before it registered that I was running up the hill and feeling really good. The worst hill was the last one. It is a longer very low grade hill, but it just seemed to never end and I thought I my legs were just going to quit on me. It's funny how that works. The steep ones I had no problem with, but this very low grade one nearly killed my legs. I got up it though and then is was downhill and flat the last mile and a half.
At the 1:20 I walked a few more minutes to drink and eat the rest of my Honey Stingers. That gave me the fuel I needed to get through the rest of the run.
After I got home, my legs didn't hurt near as bad as they did last week. I thought that was a good sign. I have a love/hate relationship with this route so if my legs are feeling stronger that's what I want. I don't want to switch up my long route too much because I need to train the hills, but I HATE hills and would love a nice flat route. I'll stick to this route and just keep adding on to the back end as increase my mileage. I just keep reminding myself that I need the hill work.
I feel pretty good about this run. My schedule is a bit off for this week, but that's okay. Tomorrow I'm out for a 5 mile run with River. We'll see how my legs feel after that run. Wednesday is speed work. Thursday is cross training. Friday I'm up to a 6 mile run. Sunday I increase my long run to 9 miles. I'm usually feeling pretty good at the back half of my runs so hopefully 9 miles will feel okay. That will be the furthest I've ever run in one stretch.
Off to take a relaxing bath and to read for a bit. Then I have to tackle a Cyberman costume. Have a great day!
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