Wednesday + Half Marathon Training - 9/15/10

Happy Wednesday!

I swear, this week is flying by.  Perhaps it's because it didn't really start for me until Tuesday?  At any rate, I feel like I've been running non stop since I landed at ATL on Monday night and I still haven't even completely unpacked my suitcase!  It's currently acting as a footrest.

Today was a whole lot of e-mails, to-do lists and finalizing some stuff at work.  I came home and got myself fueled for a 5 mile run while I edited some photos that I took yesterday (oh yes - I got to take more photographs of a certain beautiful baby boy yesterday - I'll share some after I finish all of the edits and let Tim and Elisabeth have the first look).  I don't like to do tons of editing with my photographs, but you would be surprised at what a little cropping, straightening and exposure adjustment will do for the quality of the photographs themselves.

While I edited, I also tried to really focus on feeding myself with energy for today's run.  My biggest problem so far has been getting out and having zero energy.  I think I've reached a point in training where I'm running consistently enough that I'm constantly burning calories, but I haven't really consciously adjusted my eating to compensate.  This afternoon I tried to replace those calories with oats, proteins and light carbs.  Before I left I ate a Clif Bar, which seemed to give me a good energy boost.

I was just going chart a course around our neighborhood, but Bruce called and asked if he could come along, so we decided to have a late dinner and drive out to Stone Mountain to run.  I had 4-5 miles on my schedule, so a run around the five-mile rock was exactly what I needed.  It was wonderful!  The sun went down and it cooled off during our run, but there were enough lights on the path that we could still see at the end.  This run honestly felt fantastic - I don't know if it's my endurance building or the fact that I had eaten enough before I left, but I just settled into a good pace and enjoyed the run!  In the end we covered the 5 miles around the rock in 1:00:01.  It was great to have Bruce there to push my pace a little bit, but I think it was also good for him to have me there to keep us at a consistent pace.

Aww, we are each other's ying to each other's yang in running ...

It's also just nice to have someone to talk to.  Because otherwise I talk to myself.  And then people give me funny looks.

People also give me funny looks when I take pictures of myself in public.  But apparently that doesn't bother me enough to stop.

... And all of a sudden it's after 10 p.m. and we're only eating dinner!  I am fading FAST, so I am going to wrap this up, hit publish and get back to my food.

Have a good night all!