Monday, 73 minutes, 8.12 miles, (2.15 miles walking)
I had a morning ART appointment which got my hips back aligned. They shift normally which is why I go for regular maintenance but all these extra miles lately made a difference. I could definitely feel the difference as I ran. The mechanics felt great. Leg turnover felt fantastic. Even with the ridiculous temperature and humidity and the walks we structured in, we still maintained a faster pace than the week before last. I enjoy the strong feeling and hope it continues.
Tuesday, 73 minutes 8.23 miles, (2.05 miles walking)
I felt so strong on this run. When I forgot my hydration I figured that I might not have the most pleasant of runs. However, I felt so awesome on this run. My legs felt incredibly strong. It feels like this work for the past few weeks has made me stronger than I could imagine. I want to lean into that and become as strong as I can with this amount of time on my feet.
Wednesday, 25 minutes, 3.24 miles (2.01 miles walking)
Tuesday finished heavier with notice that Mom has potential COVID exposure through a coworker whose daughter had confirmed exposure and is now sick. So today I have just the run since we will not go to the gym as we both isolate. (She ran with me yesterday before she found out.) This morning I needed the run to do that processing I described in a post that I have not yet published. I really loved it. These runs increase my gratefulness for running.
Thursday, 73 minutes, 8.39 miles (1.76 miles walking)
Mental and emotional exhaustion definitely played a part in how I felt during this run. There’s a lot going on in my head and heart. I needed this run for the processing. It felt hard at the start and for the first couple miles but I expected that. I knew that what weighed me down was not physical. My mind went various places in those first miles and all that work helped loosen the knot in my mind which helped the thoughts flow and helped me turn them more positive which definitely helped my pace and experience on the run. (I got a longer cool down because I arranged my route to go past Starbucks to get some coffee. I’m out at home and I needed some coffee! I didn’t suddenly get faster.)
Friday, 73 minutes, 8.75 miles (2.60 miles walking)
Mom came over in the morning so we could run together in the slightly cooler weather. We had a slightly slower pace than my run yesterday but that usually happens when I talk as much as I did today. I still felt strong in my final mile. On this run and Thursday’s I did not bring hydration since the temps started in the 70s but I do not think that would hurt if I brought it along on these runs as well.
Saturday, long run, 13.66 miles (3.57 miles walking)
I took advantage of all the time on the run with Mom to talk through a lot of things with Mom. I felt really strong on the run throughout the whole time. We maintained a comfortable pace. (Obviously…since I talked the whole time.) I noticed that even though I sweat plenty, my heart rate never really got as high as it did when this summer running first started. Yay for acclimation! Also, I feel myself getting stronger too. I wanted to keep running even when I finished which I absolutely love.
Sunday, 25 minutes, 3.03 miles ( miles walking)
Since I felt so good yesterday, not really drained at all, I decided to go ahead and do my short route (a little longer than just a mile) and keep myself running as easy as possible; I had to hold myself back a little. I felt good throughout.