Wednesday Workout Update

First things first: Thank you all for the encouragement after my slight freak out post on Monday...I'm surprisingly relaxed about the upcoming race, even though I will be wearing a boring old white visor. (While I liked Lori's idea to dye it with a box of Rit, I could just imagine my sweat mingling with the color and having that stream down my face during the run - it would be just my luck. Although, it would make for a memorable finish-line picture, that's for sure!) Anyway, I've gotten my three training runs in for the week and will be resting my legs in anticipation of Saturday. That's all I can do, right?

So....on Saturday, my running club had a six-mile long run planned. It was an out-and-back, which I like, because I recognize landmarks and can tell how close I am to being done. Oh sure, I could look at Ricky Bobby and see that I've gone, say, four miles and know that I only have two left, but I like the visual. There was a much smaller group this time, and I think there were only five of us in the full group. I followed one man for about 2.5 miles before I ended up passing him. I actually prefer seeing someone ahead of me - even though we aren't running together, it still feels like I'm with someone. Once I passed him, I was on my own - the other fulls were way ahead of us.

I love these!

I practiced drinking every mile (water or Powerade), and at miles three and five, I ate a few Sharkies, which are kid's sports chews. Now, I know that this is probably mostly psychosomatic, but I swear they gave me a burst of energy and I felt great for about the next half mile...then I just felt normal. I also liked that they were really soft and very easy to chew - kind of like the softest gum drop candy you've ever eaten. And we all know that I love sanctioned candy - sure, I could have had a GU, but ick...I just can't make myself eat those things.

Anyway, it was hot and humid but I surprised myself with a good steady pace and finished my six mile run in 1:12 - my average pace was 12 minutes per mile on the nose!

Six miles! In a row! Without stopping!

Ricky Bobby says "Good job!"

On Monday I ran for 35 minutes - it was a beautiful 57 degrees! Ahhh, so nice! On Tuesday, Jenny and I got together for a 30 minute run - I hadn't run with her for a couple of weeks, so we had a lot to catch up on. And today I ran with Matt for 30 minutes - another beautiful, cool morning! Now it's rest time for my legs (especially the left one - why oh why does it hurt when the right one doesn't?) until Saturday's race.

Oh! I forgot to tell you - I finally bought a pair of 10-lb. dumb bells and have been working my arms, chest and shoulders. Let me just say that there is a big difference between using the exercise tube and dumb bells - my arms are actually a little sore! But in a good way. And I did 50 push ups and 100 crunches last night while watching the Biggest Loser, in solidarity to the torture the new contestants were being subjected to by Bob and Jillian.

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