| This past weekend was pretty quiet. Just a great chance to relax and catch up on some things around the apartment.
I had a fantastic run on Thursday. Went out with the intention of just doing a regular four mile run. I tried a new route, so the scenery was different and my mind was kept busy with deciding on which turns to make. That's why I love the Forerunner. I can just keep running until I hit the distance I want to do - no need to measure it out beforehand. Once or twice I've ended up farther from home at the end than I intended. But it does keep it interesting. I felt really good, so I just kept running at a comfortable speed. I finished the four miles in 37:40 for a 9:25/mile pace. Wow - I'm back!! Finally getting close to the level I was at pre-op. I will be so happy if I can do the four mile race on Saturday at that pace.
Friday was an intentional rest day. The office closed early for the holiday so I was able to run some errands and be ready for the weekend. Unfortunately, Saturday started as an unintentional rest day. When I took Shannon for a walk at 6:30am it wasn't raining but threatening and the wind gusts were at about 40mph with the arrival of what was left of Ernesto. So I decided to pass on the morning run with the Striders and go back to bed. The weather was somewhat better later that morning, but I had already taken my mind out of a run.
Sunday morning dawned gorgeous after the torrential downpours that passed through Saturday afternoon and evening. I got to the park as the long run group was leaving for a 13-miler. Some of the other women wanted to do a course outside of the park that was about 8 miles. I decided 'what the heck!' and joined them. It was a lovely run through an area that has some pretty and expensive houses and we ran alongside Little Neck Bay. My pace wasn't impressive but I slowed to enjoy the scenery. I had never even driven up through this area that is so close to where I live. There were also a few killer hills. I felt fine at the end - calves were kind of tight and I was tired, but I wasn't totally spent.
I amazed myself by managing to get to the park for another run yesterday morning. Three and half miles at an easy pace to recover - it was a real slog. My energy was low and my quads were sore but I was proud of myself for running at all.
I'm pretty busy for the rest of this week - might get one more run in before my race on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it.
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One of my favorite parts of running is going long and "discovering" new areas.
Good work.