8 Miles on Wear a Dress Tuesday

Did you read that?!  EIGHT MILES BABY!

Ooh-rah!

But we'll get to that in a minute.

First of all - lunch!

I love working so close to home that I can scoot home for lunch!  Today I made a salad with some romaine that was about to go bad, leftover kidney beans, hard boiled eggs and a fresh batch of rice that is buried under there somewhere!

Drizzled with ranch dressing.  Ahhhh, delicious.  It feels so good to eat vegetables again after all the processed stuff I ingested while I was feeling under the weather.

Okay - on to Wear a Dress Tuesday!

A summer dress (it actually has a gray top that you can't see), leggings, a pullover sweater and another pink pashmina for breast cancer awareness.  I wore black flats but apparently kicked them off as soon as I got home.

Go check out Sara's post from today.  She took her picture with PUMPKINS!  How perfectly fall.  I love it.

Okay, so on to my run.  I woke up thinking that I wanted to make up for Saturday's half of a half marathon training run.  I didn't say anything on facebook, twitter or my blog because I didn't want to jinx myself.  I just wanted to run.

So I did.  I came home, at a Clif bar for some quick fuel and took off.

It wasn't easy, but it wasn't horrible either.  And I did it!  The first three miles were actually the worst.  I really haven't been stretching enough and I could feel it in my stiff legs!  I contemplated calling it quits after 4 miles, but around 2.60 I got a surge of energy and took off.  I knew at that point that I was going to make it.  I rerouted myself for eight miles and took off!

I ran out to Emory's campus and turned around.  Around 4.50 I decided to turn into Wesley Woods (an Emory Healthcare geriatric facility) to take a quick stretch break.

And to text Bruce and take a picture of course!

I actually didn't run with my iPod today because I was concerned about rain (good call - it started raining during my last mile) and it actually didn't really bother me the way I thought it would.  I spent a lot of time thinking, dreaming and talking to myself.  I didn't even notice the lack of music.  In the end I ran 8.00 miles in 1:29:31 (I finished in under 1:30!), averaging an 11:11 pace.  Hmm ... 11:11 ... make a wish?

Here are some things I learned on today's run ...

1.  Don't count out a run in the first few miles if they are sluggish.  Listen to your body and see if you can push through.  Sometimes you just need to get over the hump!

2. Carry fuel!  I cannot stress enough how important it has been for me to carry gatorade on these longer runs.  I actually mixed it a little strong today and the combination of electrolytes, calories and hydration were exactly what I needed to push me through.  Oh - and I mix it with half ice so it stays cool for at least the first half of my run.

3. Walking breaks help!  They really don't kill my time and it helps to bring my heart rate down for a little bit.

4. Readjust your schedule as needed throughout the course of your training.  I think I've reached a point in my training where I need to cut back on my shorter runs throughout the week to give my legs a break. I'd love to get rid of a three-miler and add a walking day!

5. STRETCH STRETCH STRETCH!  Ugh, I haven't been doing this enough.  I can feel it in my legs.  They are heavy.  I need to be kinder to my muscles.  Hold me accountable, okay?

I came home on a TOTAL runner's high and just in time for NCIS!  I looked at Bruce and our empty kitchen and said, "I'm ordering pizza and having it delivered."  HA!  I piled my half with ham, pineapple and onion and it was delicious!  I have a feeling I will probably be starving in an hour though.  Did you know that you burn approximately 100 calories per mile you run?  So that means that I need to eat 800 extra calories today.  Um, wow - probably won't happen tonight, but I'll continue my refueling into tomorrow.

Alright, I'm off to stretch and hydrate!  Thanks for a wonderful WADT and for continuing to support me in this crazy quest to run my first half!

xoxo

Goodnight!