Juicy!

Ran 4.6 miles outside in almost 60 minutes.

A running gal came back from running after several months of hiatus.  A series of injuries, nursing sick kiddos, and doing too much in too little time kept her from running. But she is back and it was great!
Ms. T has the sweetest, gentlest voice and it was just nice listening to her talk today.  She talked about her husband and her two boys (who are recovering from a flu) and her injuries.  She stayed active during her non-running days - biking and teaching classes at the Y.  We took it slow today because Ms. M is recovering from her flu.  And I was coughing. Still a lot of drainage. 

Gonna do a couple of miles Tuesday and Thursday and head up to NOLA for my 2nd half marathon!  Oh my!!

*****

I came home and got the juicer going. 

A delicious concoction of apples, oranges, a lemon and 2 tomatoes.

Yum! 

Gonna go take a shower and a quick nap.

Then get ready for the day!!

Drenched in Perspiration

Some Like It Hot.  Holy bejeezamollie! It is only spring time and I am literally drenched and soaked in perspiration.  I shudder to think what running in the good ol' Arkansas summer heat would be like and I know it ain't gonna be fun.

Five Miles.  I ran a pretty good 5-miler.  I don't know how my knee would react so I was a tad worried before I started.  Strapped that Garmin on my wrist and lifted my arm up in the air like an antenna to try to get a good satellite reception - yes, I live out in the country.  And I love my country living.  Here's the stats:
Mile 1: 11:03/mile
Mile 2: 10:58/mile
Mile 3: 11:49/mile
Mile 4: 11:45/mile
Mile 5: 12:04/mile
Total:  5 miles in 57:40 minutes, average pace = 11:33/mile.

Food For Thought.  I had quite an amazing start. My legs didn't have that lead-weighing down feeling and I actually felt kinda chirpy and had a certain bounce as I ran.  Can I attribute it to that 1/3 of the Snicker marathon bar (Honey and Roasted Almonds) I chowed down just a minute before my run?  The entire bar packs about 150 calories, so, 1/3 of it would be some 50 calories or so.  Did that quick bite kinda help fuel my body for that first 2 miles or so? I felt a little tired and sluggish about 2.5 miles into the run and I was trying hard to channel my thoughts to other stuff and to keep going.   I should have brought along the rest of that bar and kinda have a little snack to refuel along the way and see how I feel.

How Lucky.  I was envious of Buttercup.  She has no difficulty tee-teeing as we run along the main road. I forgot to use the restroom before my run and about a mile or so down the road, I realized that I am running on a full bladder.  Not fun! 

In Other Matters.  I have read about a few other bloggers having injuries and having to reevaluate their strategies/plans for their upcoming half marathons and marathons.  I thought long and quite hard about this issue since last Saturday rather disappointing run and even more so on today's 5-miler.  I am evaluating the Country Music half marathon that's happening in 3 weekends.  Maybe I should start letting that go and set my sight on something else a little later down the line.  My knee felt OK at the end of today's run, but I kinda have a feeling that it will start hurting if I ran another 2 miles.  I didn't get the chance to test it out. And I wasn't about to.  I am cross-training tomorrow and will see what Saturday will bring.

I'm Thankful For.  A pretty spring day. A cool running dog buddy. Knees that aren't hurting. Butterflies running alongside with me.  And a safe, successful 5 mile run.