Finally I broke the 3-mile rut ...

I headed out to the YMCA this morning with good intentions and determination to do 3 miles of fartleks. I ended up running 6 miles - with a 5-minute break at the 4th mile to enjoy some vanilla bean GU and refilled my bottle at the water fountain.

Here's the lowdown: 4 miles - 40:08 minutes, 2 miles - 23:29 min

It wasn't too shabby, I thought to myself. It is always fun and a morale booster when you do more than what you had initially planned on doing. I actually had a blast. Of course, the first mile or so wasn't all butterflies and roses. But I read a post somewhere last night, or maybe I dreamed about a post somewhere last night, that all one has got to do when the going gets tough, is to take another step, one at a time. Finish that step and take another one. It wasn't too long before I started to feel pretty good and found myself smiling as I run. I love smiling when I run. It is definitely happiness radiating from inside out. 

Today's prep was easy - I had a cup of coffee (no sugar, no creamer) - that's the way I like my hot coffee and half a Granny Smith apple with some peanut butter. I chatted with Keith's cousin who was here for a short visit this morning while I let my food digest a little. I had froze my handheld bottle the night before and grabbed that as I headed out to the Y. 

If you have July's issue of Runner's World, do check out the article about hydration. Basically it said something about drinking cold fluids before a run helps you during your run in the heat/humidity, and drinking iced fluids helps even more. That's the gist of it. If anyone of you would like me quote the exact sentence, let me know and I will be glad to do so. 

So, maybe I did break the 3-mile curse  rut. Maybe it was the iced cold water that helped me make it over 3 miles on the treadmill. Maybe it was a longer segment with David Spade on The View (I dislike 2-minute snippets followed by 5-minute ad break  because I get so distracted.)  Whatever the reason, it is 6 miles that I haven't ran in a while.

Total Miles in June: 36 miles. 

Total Miles Left for June: 14 miles

Maybe magic will strike again tomorrow? We'll see. I really want to hit 50 miles before the end of this week.