Okay, so my excuse is when the alarm goes off at 5AM and I know I have to drive 10 miles across town to run alone (no one in group runs as slow as me) I have a hard time motivating myself to get up in the dark and not sleep for another hour. So, I went back to bed. I did get up at 6 and got my miles in this morning - alone. However, it was good. Sunrise, other runners and now I'm still done for the day and didn't have to drive anywhere. I started out feeling okay, better than I have with a run for a while. I decided about 1.5 miles to do my full 7 mile loop and not cut it short; however, this meant I'd have to tackle the hill of death. It's not a HUGE hill, but it's about 1.5 miles long of a decent uphill climb. It's always been my nemesis and even in good running days my goal was to keep the pace under a 9mm! So, I knew today's pace would be slow - at least those miles! I did have a fun time on the stretch in front of Butterfield Park, it's like runner's avenue - I always see/pass about 6-8 runners along that stretch. One lady was turning the corner as I was crossing the street so she ended up about 5-10 feet behind me. Yup, she saw I was pregnant, and NOPE she wasn't going to pass me. I do have my pride :) I knew the pace was a bit faster, but when I looked at my splits I didn't realize it was that much faster! I was feeling good - and a little healthy competition never hurt anyone :) AP: 9:16 splits: 9:25, 8:50, 8:12 (my little 'race'), 9:12, 10:01 (start of uphill stretch), 10:23 (I wanted to stop SO bad, but kept pushing through!), 8:54, 8:18 (last .10). Now I get to head off to a full yoga class, then mop floors and clean bathrooms *sigh* at least the day started off well! :)
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