Redemption Run

Last week didn't turn out quite the way I had planned. I failed at many of my workouts and didn't replace them with anything. Not sure what my problem was, but I was definitely low energy and high eating. In the end the damage wasn't too terribly bad, but I needed something to kick me back in gear. 

This weekend was incredibly busy schedule wise, so I was struggling with when I was going to find 2 hours to get a run in. In the end I decided that Saturday afternoon made the most sense. We got through TKD and swim practice, I had lunch and then set off. I had in my head I wanted to do 8 miles. I had done 7 last weekend and have the 17.75 (km) race coming up in two weeks. I can't slack off on my mileage now! 

Lonely left over snow rock. 

Due to our non-snow/but still precipitation event I wasn't sure how muddy the trails would be. Being as I was game to run with as few hills as possible, I decided to set out that way. It has been quite awhile since I have run outside, but the weather was treating us to a springlike day and I didn't want to miss out! 

I started the path and felt good. I haven't been having such great runs since the Princess, so I was a little nervous. I felt strong, maybe missing those workouts was a good rest! 

I had purchased new earphones at Target this morning as my old ones had gone through the wash. I had tried them out and they seemed to be shorting. My original pair, that I love go over my ears and I picked them up in the checkout line at TJ Maxx. You know where they stuff all the candy/food from who knows when and other odd assortments. Yup. Just sitting there. Any rate, due to this, I know I will never find them again. The new ones from Target seem way to big. I didn't have time to fiddle with them, so I plugged in the old ones hoping they would at least be on for most of the run. Of course, they worked perfectly the whole time! Why didn't I try them before I ripped open the other package?? 

Anyways, I set off on the trail. I was pretty sure I had a 7 mile loop I had run in preparation for Woodrow Wilson, but wasn't exactly sure. I decided to wing it. My extended neighborhood has enough loops that you can pretty much do as little or long as you want. I followed the trail from our park to another park, which is about 2.5 miles. Felt good and I had hit upon the 5k to 10k podcast from kissmyblackass.org. She was running me 12 minutes with 1 minute walks. Feeling strong I headed onto the sidewalk, which is where the hills begin to come into play. I walked up the first big one and then started another 12 minute cycle, still going well. Jogged into a few cul de sacs to add to my distance and then finally headed towards the school my kids go to. Got up a big hill by the school (running!) and then took streets to get from the front of the school to the back. Headed down the street a little further and I found an entry to the trail I hadn't taken before. 

So headed back and then I was at about 7 miles. I had taken a few walk breaks, but the sun and the perfect air temp were pushing me on. I ran past the playground my kids and I have spent many an hour at and grinned at how many people were there. Love when folks take advantage of good weather. Looped through my neighborhood proper and headed home. 

In the end I finished my 8 miles about 1 hour 40 mins. SO much better! That is a pace of about 12:45, which is where I have been for the most part. Redemption for the 16:10 pace at Disney! 

The day was beautiful and I am so glad I was able to clear the decks of responsibility for my run. I am also happy because I used to allow myself 15 minutes per mile when scheduling my runs. While it isn't a big difference finishing 8 miles under 1:45 seems like a big win to me! 

Friday night we celebrated my son bridging over to Boy Scouts, I am so proud of him!