Another hot day forecast, another early alarm for me. Even earlier than yesterday. Even earlier than most mornings that I worked. Again, I prefer to run with a heat index below 85, but the forecast called for above 85 about the time the sun came up, so I just did the best I could.
I ate some olives before I went to bed last night, so I knew I would be thirsty this morning, and I was. I had about a cup of water before heading out. I was hungry, too, but I held off on that.
I did laundry yesterday, so I'm sporting my Under Armour pants again. I want them to do the magic that will make me a super runner. I again tried to focus on my calf stretches, but for once they didn't really feel tight. While stretching, I decided I didn't want to run the same route as yesterday. It's challenging, and I like it, but I think doing it two days in a row is excessive. So I quickly mapped out a two mile route (today is another Run 25), and set out, basically on my main loop, with a 2-block block to run around to make the distance.
My Achilles actually didn't hurt when I took off, although my left knee did a little. I didn't notice it for long. I took off pretty fast, and despite constant efforts to slow down, I felt like I was going too fast most of the run.
As I was running down the main road, I saw a guy coming with an unleashed dog. I wasn't too concerned, but I needed to cross the street anyway, and there happened to be no traffic. As I ran past them, on the opposite side of the street, the dog came over and ran with me for about half a block. That was cute, especially since he didn't maul me, but he didn't seem interested in going back to the guy. I feared I was going to have to backtrack to get the dog back to his owner! But, when I crossed the next street, the dog made a turn like he was going to go back, and I was turning to run around this block. He didn't follow me. So I run down this block, turn, down the next block, turn, and I have half a block to meet up with my pretty side street that runs parallel to the main street. And there was the dog at the intersection. He had run down a block and over half a block to meet me. Alright. He saw me coming and ran over to scoot me along. We ran a couple blocks down the side street, and then he fell back. Hopefully he finds his way home, because he was super cute, and, after all, he didn't maul me.
The rest of the run was uneventful, a lot of telling myself "You got this," counting blocks, telling myself it was all downhill (once it was), and after my two-block 'detour,' reminding myself I was headed for home now. Unfortunately, I got to home too quickly, and had to run on to the corner, which meant when I turned around I had a brief uphill...and when I got to my back door, the timer still hadn't gone off, so I took a little more significant uphill up the alley, but only went a few steps before the alarm did go off.
I felt pretty good...I mean, I was still hot and panting like crazy, and my left ankle hurts, but I recovered quicker than normal, and it wasn't the most agonizing run I've ever had. Some parts were worse than others, but I kept control for the most part. I still had a hard time picking up my feet sometimes, but I liked the pants more today, even with the sun out.
At one point I told myself I had to finish the time because I have to finish this week, then I can relax. I have felt very obligated to stick tight with the Couch to 5K program and now I'm worried that I won't be as obligated to stick with my 5K to 10K plan. As I told myself, I can just run until I'm tired, I won't have to keep going. But, if I quit as soon as I get tired, I'm not going anywhere. I didn't want to run at all today. It took every ounce of energy to go through the steps to get ready to run this morning. I'm going to need more motivation.
Tomorrow is a rest (hallelujah) and the next day is a Run 27 (gasp).
Weather: 77, Sunny, No Breeze, 88% Humidity, Feels Like 82
Time: 7am; Run 25 Minutes
Distance: 3.3K (2.05m) (My longest "just run" yet!)
Elevation: +73.7/-75.2/net -1.5 ft
5K/10K: 39:10/1:22:48 (OK, but glad it's under 40/1:30)
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