Today I did my run for Nancy’s 8 on the 8th virtual race.  Since my training plan called for 9 on the 9th I used that in place of the 8 on the 8th.

I headed out the door to meet my running club.  I continue to be the only Trail Snail that is even remotely snail like.  I was lapped by several people that were running longer distances than I was.  That’s okay.  I don’t mind being slow as long as I cross the finish line.

Today almost perfect for running.  The trail I run is tree lined with occassional breaks where the sun was streaming through.  When I headed out I almost felt cold and found myself sporting some goosebumps, but once the blood got pumping I was nice and comfortable. 

This is the first time I have finished a run with the exact pace that was asked for by my training plan: 13:19 min/mile.  My splits were as follows:
1 12:24.74
2 13:19.39
3 13:50.76
4 13:51.53
5 14:12:82 (water and shot blox break)
6 13:11.94
7 12:56.11
8 13:13.97
9 12:47.60

I am very pleased with the fact that the second half of my run was faster than the first.  I know that technically isn’t a negative split, but it is close enough.  I think it had something to do with telling myself I could get a Panera Bread Cinnamon Crunch bagel with Hazelnut cream cheese if I made it through the rest of my run without a walk break.  That bagel was damn good even though I am pretty sure everyone around me in line was thinking to theirselves “Damn this girl needs to shower!”

So for my 8 on the 8th finish time I am posting 1:47:01. Not half bad for someone who hasn’t run a long run in almost a month!

No, not the kind where you throw your arms up in the air and scream as you go barrelling down a hill, though I have felt like doing that many times this week. Everything has been all over the place. I had two dogs then I didn’t have two dogs…I had a crazy unreacheable deadline then I didn’t have a crazy unreachable deadline…I couldn’t run more than 2 miles and then I pulled of a great 7 mile mid-week run. I am really hoping next week is on the boring side of life.

Tomorrow I am going for my first long run in 3 weeks I think? Ugh! My lower back problems were successfully treated by stretching the hips as often as I could (thanks Nat) so I was able to start running again. With my yoga I didn’t think my hips could possibly be tight, but I guess I pushed myself a little too hard in a class or two and instead of opening them up I sent them in reverse. Lesson learned, moving on!

I had been out of the loop just long enough that I knew I didn’t lose any endurance, but my legs were going to be tight trying to get my mileage back up. My plans for tomorrow are 9 miles and since I already did a 7-miler this week it should be a piece of cake. Might be cake made with rocks and cement, but it will still be cake. My run will be part of Nancy’s 8 on the 8th, even though technically it will be 9 on the 9th. But we have been there done that already. 😉

Oh and the olympics start tonight! *commencing happy dance* However *finishes happy dance* I can’t help but have flashbacks to a documentary I saw on Gretel Bergmann when I see some of the ways that the host country is behaving.