Sunday Run

Wouldn't it be great to enjoy a sunrise run on the beach like this?!?

It was HARD to get up this morning. It was hard, but we did it. 5:30 we were on the road to Arbor Hills. I was just hoping that it wouldn't be so hard to run today. We stopped for a small cup of coffee - so I could wake up, lol- then off we went.
We got there and parked, we were only the second car in the lot this morning, and got ready to head out. It was really dark, and I was a little concerned we wouldn't be able to really see where we were going good enough to run...that turned out to be an unfounded concern as we headed out in the gray light before dawn. We decided on the more uphill version for the first lap this morning. We started out slow and steady and I made it a decent ways along the trail before my legs gave out. I walked - for a VERY short amount of time and took off running again. One more stop and then off again. During the second stop I was going to look at the Garmin to see how we were doing and the silly thing shut completely off! Then when it came back on the timer didn't start back again. This really upset me because I knew this run was going better than the last two! After the first lap we stopped by the car so I could have some light and see what was going on. I got it all set up again and found that it had stopped at .87 miles (our first stop!) We drank some water and took in a little GU and headed out again.

For reasons still unknown to me this second lap felt GOOD! This is the first time I've felt good running since the first 10 miles of Cowtown! I ran the first mile at 10:42 and the second mile at 10:43, so my pace was nice and steady and Rick said I looked more relaxed than I have the last few runs as well. My legs didn't hurt (well, maybe just a little - but it was certainly manageable!) and I felt strong! We got back to the car without stopping once!!! After this part of the run Rick and I discussed how much better this was and came up with a couple of ideas. Our first theory is that I simply don't warm my muscles up and stretch out enough before we start - thus my leg muscles "locking up". Our second theory is that I simply run better in the cold...our last two runs have been in the afternoon when the temperature was in the mid 70's...I know that I run better in temperatures below 70. I also know that if I am going to participate in runs in Texas anytime after March I have to prepare my body to run in the higher temps. I'm hoping that we can better prepare ourselves this year, now that we have done one summer running season, and perhaps become better runners for it! We discussed changing our run next time and trying out the shorter inner loop before we add in the middle section of higher hills to see if I can get warmed up better, or if this just poops me out quicker, LOL...Time will tell!

After our talk we decided we had enough time for the shorter, inside loop so we took off running again. We hit the first downhill slope and my legs let me know I was doing more than I should! I kept going but about 1/2 way up the next uphill my left thigh just locked up! I walked a little and then ran as far as I could. I had to walk about 1/2 way up the last hill, but I finished pretty strong.

All in all we ran a little over 5.5 miles and I feel a little better about the run next Sunday in Austin. I was really getting worried that I wouldn't even get a good start on that one. I guess my goals are:

1. To finish

2. To finish without walking

3. To finish in about my normal time (1:07:45)

4. To beat my best time (1:06:03)....

Remember, this run really has no goals for me, LOL!!!