5/29/06: 8 Miles at the Park with HRB's Edwin!

Since today was a holiday and there wasn't a whole lot going on, I decided to get in 8 miles at the Park...I convinced Edwin to come out and run with me since misery loves company and honestly, sometimes running 8 miles alone can really get tedious, especially at the Park and those dumb loops...

The cool thing about the run is that Edwin brought Pedro along, which meant we got all these cool stats. The run itself was cool, as I showed Edwin how to get to the Polo Grounds since he has never been there...We both kinda felt bad the last 2 miles or so though. Edwin was tired from the speedwork he had done the today before and since I hadn't run in a few days, I knew I was going to err on the slower side of things...

Sure enough, I held us back a little, but we finished the run off at a nice 8:36/mile pace. I must add that Edwin passed me up in the last 200 meter sprint to the finish (Side note-I let him, to be honest with you...I ended up pushing too soon in the last 400 meters and it killed me!) But, now we are even, and even had a beer to celebrate a tough but fun run. :)

The best thing about the run is that I definetely felt stronger then the last time we ran together in March. Even if I am making slow improvements in my running, being able to run strongly with a better runner is NEVER a bad thing!

The STATS:
8.47 miles!!!

average 8:36/mile
1:12.56 total running

Heart-rate: 177 ave, 195 max
Weather: 80 degrees. Nice breeze.

5/26/06: 3 Mile Run near the House!

I haven't dropped off the face the earth...but I have been teaching out in Sugar Land this past week so I haven't been online much at all. It's been a great week of teaching, and then some running on the side. The running tonight was good...humid but I managed fine.

The STATS:

about 3 miles
30 minutes total running

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: humid. 80's.

5/24/06: SMART Polo Grounds Run!

There is something about running my favorite run that always puts me in a good mood, no matter what else is going on in my life. Although I ran the second half a little faster then the first half, it was a good time as I had the company of Strider’s Amalia and Max to run back with. I don’t remember what we talked about, but it always makes me feel good when I can stay caught up with them and not slow them down (too much!)

I ended up completing this run (overall) 32 seconds faster then two weeks ago, lol. It felt good to run today…to push myself a little. Most importantly, I thought about it and realized that I can’t stay unhappy about past runs…everyone at some point has a bad run or race and it’s up to me to be better then that, and realize there are always more good runs then bad ones!

The STATS:

about 5.6 miles
50:12 total running

first half: 26:45
Second half: 23:26

Heart-rate: 175 ave, 185 max
Weather: Warm! Lol.

5/23/06: One Mile Trial at the Track!

I needed a workout, specifically SPEEDWORK, to jump-start this week of running. And what better way then a challenging mile run to get my spirits up? Knowing that I needed to beat 7:29 (my mile time from last October), I felt motivated and focused. Of course, I KNEW I could do it, even at 5pm on a hot May day, I just wanted to smash my time.

I won’t lie…it was HOT. Maybe not AFRICA hot, but pretty blazing…the mile went quick but not quick enough it seemed. I felt myself struggle as I ran into the wind on the final 200m stretch of each lap…but I pushed through it…and busted 7:06!!! Okay, so It’s not in the 6’s yet, but I am pretty pleased…it shows that I have worked hard this spring, and it can only get faster from here!


The STATS:
3 miles total

Mile: 7:06 (23 second improvement from 6 months ago)
10 minute warm up
10 minute cool down

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: HOT…Hot.

5/21/06: 7 Miles back in Town at the Park!

Since I couldn’t quite get moving earlier this morning and run at the Beach…I ran 7 at the Park tonight. It was quite lonely, and I was pretty sunburned, and did I mention still feeling the effects of yesterday’s Beach to Bay effort?! My times were slow and depressing. I ran a 10:00/mile which I haven’t done in forever…my legs must have been dragging…and my right leg was sore. That is all. At least I got out and did it.

On the bright side, we did have a HRB meeting tonight…it was good to see Keith, Joe, Erica, Cassie and finally meet Erin!


The STATS:
7 miles
1:07.02 total running

Mile1: 9:56
Mile2: 10:08
Mile3: 9:04
Mile4: 9:14
Mile5: 9:14
Mile6: 9:40
Mile7: 9:42

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool mid 80’s.

5/20/06: Beach to Bay Relay!!!

And I had a nice time. I only worked half a day on Friday, so Bill and I got out on the road early…the hotel, although in a good location, SUCKED! (Don’t ever stay at Super 8 Motel!!!!!!!!) Dinner was good, although I ate too much, too late. It was decided after the Expo (which also wasn’t too cool, other then all the free snacks they were handing out!) I was going to run the last leg…I was warned over and over about the heat…but I had NO idea what was in store for the next day…

After sleeping in (til 7am!) Saturday morning, I got a ride from Strider Jennie Minken with Strider Manny, a guy I had never met before but is super cool and we ended up hanging out at the 6th leg handoff point for over an hour. We enjoyed observing the first few teams come in and then cheering for our fellow Striders as well (who ended up winning first overall and third overall!) The temp. was creeping up. I was to meet Strider Bryon, although I wasn’t really sure what he was wearing. I knew he was running slightly injured, but the entire team was rooting for a safe run for him.

It was after 10am when Strider’s Peter, Caroline and I spotted him coming down the chute. I knew this was going to be scary as the heat was just getting much worse. I had to think back to the 2.5 mile Bayou Relay we ran in September last year…but this expierence wouldn’t even come close. The first mile was..a little hot. I ran it right at 8:13, which was perfectly fine for me. The next mile…a little slower, 8:24. Hmmm, but I knew it was slower because I was starting to get hot.

Right at about 2.5 miles into my 4.4 mile leg, I felt the heat overwhelming me. I knew this was about to be bad, so I started splashing any water I could on me at the water stations and standing in the hoses people had while I ran by. What amazes me is that I was passing tons of people at this time, that were in worst shape then me. There was nooooo shade. I felt like the Ironman guy in the Gatorade commercial. I was focusing so hard to keep one foot in front of the other…it was scary, I hoped my legs were still running at this point. I couldn’t tell.

At about 3.5 miles in, my body temp. must have come back down (as I was thourghly soaked now) and I started feeling okay again. I remember Manny cheering for me at about the mile 4 marker, and seeing the finish. Coach Steeeve was cheering for me with a bunch of other Striders…I know I finished strong, or at least I felt like I was trying really hard to. Right under 4:00 hours like I had hoped for the team! Edwin took a picture that I need to put up so you can see how bad I looked…I immediately went to the Med tent and drank Gatorade and got a icy towel over my head. I was pretty disoriented but I looked around and saw people in worst shape then me…

The post party was cool in that I saw Sam get his first place (overall!) plaque and there were SOOO many runners from across the state. I still felt bad though, and I wasn’t very social as I tried to eat as much as I could to try to feel better. Pizza and a beer don’t really work though when you are that hot and feel heat sick. After a long cool shower, I finally felt better…ended up relaxing the rest of day and hung out with Edwin…went to the beach, got really sunburned, drank a lot of beer, acted dumb, etc…I ended up not running with the club the next morning, but I was so sick of the sun that all I want to do was lay on my stomach with a blanket over my head and try to sleep.

Overall, it was nice to be gone but good to be back. Not sure if I will do this one again next year, but I know FOR SURE that I am not going to run one of the last legs. I hope to never feel that bad again…back to training for my 10k’s. Next one is coming up in less then a month. Also, thinking about caving in to peer pressure and doing the Astros 5k that is next weekend. We’ll see how I feel…all I know right now is that I am not happy with my training and I really want to run and feel strong and not let the dumb heat get to me.

The STATS:

about 4.4 miles
38.12 total running

Mile1: 8:13
Mile2: 8:26
Mile3: 8:50
Mile4: 8:47
Mile.4: 3:56
(I don’t think this is right…I don’t remember stopping my watch when I crossed the finish)

Heart-rate: n/a (wish I would have worn my moniter!)
Weather: probably 90 degrees. At least.

5/18/06: 5 HOT and Slow Miles at Bear Creek!

So the hot weather decide to roll back into town today…I’m not happy with it but it is going to be great prep for Saturday’s race. I was out on the west-side of town, in fact, only a mile from Bear Creek, so I figured why not run there. I knew it wasn’t shaded, so it was perfect for what I needed today. I ended up running for time, 50 minutes, around the picnic loops, which looked a lot more scenic then the golf course loop. There were even some trees to provide a little bit of shade. This was a welcome change from Memorial…I only saw one other runner and about 10 bikers the entire time!

Overall, very peaceful, quiet, and hot. My legs weren’t moving fast, but I figured if I could survive 50 minutes in the heat at 5pm in the afternoon here, I could survive about 40 minutes of heat at 10am on Saturday…looking forward to it! I meant to stop by the Great Charcoal Chicken Grill on the way home to say hi to the Striders who had ran some at Terry Hershey, but I needed to get home and pack. There will plenty o’ partying this weekend though…

The STATS:

about 5 miles
50 minutes total running

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: hot! Hmm, maybe low 90’s?

5/17/06: SMART run out to Jackson Hill!

We decided upon the Jackson Hill route for tonight’s SMART run. I was pretty sore from the previous night’s efforts but I was still able to get the legs to move ‘a little.’ I spoke with Strider Karen Bowler at length, which was fun and insightful. Most of the talk was about the upcoming Beach to Bay…Karen was on a winning team last year and shared her experiences with this marathon relay. I love talking to Karen…she is a very humble runner who always is very encouraging to anyone in the club.

After the run, we all met up at Café Express to go over last minute plans for Beach to Bay. It looks like I will be riding with fellow blogger, Bill Cox and possibly Santos and Caroline Chamness, a very fast (3:15 at Boston!) runner I have yet to meet. I am really excited about the trip…it will be like a mini-vacation and great to get away for a few days…hopefully not as hot as everyone says it has been in the past!


The STATS:

about 5.5 miles or so.
46.52 total running

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: warm but not hot, lol.

5/16/06: 8x400m Speedwork!

Ahhhh, one of my favorite workouts of all time…speedwork. I don’t know why I enjoy it so much. Maybe it’s because I like pushing myself. Or maybe because time flies by so fast…or maybe it’s simply because it’s different. Well, whatever the reasoning, this workout was good times. I got to the track at around 6pm…a lot earlier then I normally workout. I wanted to take advantage of the cool weather that we are having though and I wanted to get home at a ‘reasonable’ hour. (haha)

I did a ½ mile warmup and although I didn’t have a ‘set’ time I wanted to complete my 400’s in, I knew I was going to push myself to keep them in the high 1:40’s range. The first one was too fast…1:42. I slowed down to right about where they felt ‘ok’: 1:54, 1:53, 1:53, 1:52, 1:52. I was completing a 200m recovery jog between each one. Well, I knew I had settled into what was comfortable. Hmmm, so I knew I had to push it. I finished the last two in 1:47 and the last one at 1:40! Woohoo…now I need to work to be more consistent the entire time and push through the tough 4th-7th reps…

I did average 1:49 per 400m though…which averages about a 7:16/mile pace. Not too shabby. I would think it would be neat to see high 6’s before the end of the spring, but it looks like that will have to be a goal to reach for either in the fall or next spring. I just simply didn't put in the work or time to accomplish that kind of time. Still, I am happy with the workout…I have shaved about 3 seconds off my 400’s since 2 months ago! Improvement, even if only mere seconds, is improvement!


The STATS:
4 miles

½ mile warmup
½ mile cooldown

1x400: 1:42
2x400: 1:54
3x400: 1:53
4x400: 1:53
5x400: 1:52
6x400: 1:52
7x400: 1:47
8x400: 1:40

1:49 ave/per 400m
8x200 recovery

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: low humidity, 85 degrees.

5/13/06: 18 Second PR on a Tough 10k Course! (Warning-Super LONG!)

More to come tomorrow...but I PRed by a whole 18 seconds yesterday on a tough course in Copperas Cove, Texas, my home town!!! What a great feeling to run at home again...and beautiful weather too...

___

Well, now that I think of it, ‘tough’ is subjective. However, when you have a hill that starts the race and another-different (but thankfully downhill one) that ends the race—you know that the race means business! I got to the race nice and early with my mom and dad, since my mom was walking the 10k and my dad has never seen me run before. There is something comforting about running in my hometown, on roads I have grown up by, and having my mom participate and my dad there to watch. Plus, only driving 10 minutes to the starting line was nice too:)

I immediately had to check out the course…I didn’t see the course elevation maps at the packet pickup, but I knew this area of town all too well…there was THE HILL that I use to dare my friends to ride their bikes down (and let them use their brakes if they chickened out!) One of THE FIVE big hills of Cove…yes, it is legendary in our town, and we would be running up it. No biggie, I thought, I knew I was going to get passed running up it…I haven’t ran enough hills in Houston other then cross-country runs to be adequately prepared for that hill. But, I knew I was going to pass people at the end…I think I have pretty good endurance and can handle the end-of-race heat that would get some runners.

It helped that it was cool outside. There was a relatively small group of runners…maybe 300 or so? And I was about 10 feet back from the start which was kind of cool. I ended up lining up next to another lady that would end up coming in second for females in the 5k, she wished me luck and told me she bet I would win the 10k for women since most of the women there were racing the 5k due to the Cen-Tex race series (which only used 5k times for points). I thought that was mighty nice of her and thought nothing more of it...

I already had my game plan…run the first mile on pace at 8:15, run the second mile strong until the hill and then walk if I needed to, make up time in the 3rd mile, push through 4 and 5, and then the downhill in mile 6 into the finish line. I think it would work, at least to get me through the race with a respectable time. The first mile was great, 8:02 pace, a little hilly, so I tried to hold back going into the 2nd mile, until I saw THE HILL. It was 133 foot climb that had a pretty steep grade. I gritted my teeth, stayed relaxed and tackled the first half strongly. The second half, I walked. I immediately was past by at least 5 other runners. Oh well…

I felt aweful by the time I got to the top, and flashbacks of the Toughest 10k from last year went into my head again. I was panting and my breathing was all off. It took me the better half of that mile to feel okay…and I was a minute slower at 9:02 by the time I past the mile 2 marker and got some water. Hmm…time to play catch up. I began to pick up pace and slightly draft (not on purpose!) off an older guy in front of me…I figured he was going at a pretty good clip and he would help me get back on pace. I did get back on, but a 7:54 mile was a little too fast for me! I still had 3 more miles to go!

I slowed down a lot in mile 4 to 8:24, and still managed to past him. I figured he knew he had gone out too fast, as well. NO biggie, now it was time for the homestretch in the 10k, as I like to call it. Mile 5 can usually be a ‘make it or break it’ for a lot of runners as I see it…although I wasn’t passing anyone anymore at this point and was mostly alone (again! Arghh!) I noticed a MUCH faster younger guy in front of me…speeding up and then slowing down. I felt bad for him, I knew the heat was bothering him. I luckily was handling the heat great, not even stopping to drink, but grabbing two cups and going…one to drink a few sips out of, and another to splash over my head. It was nice that I have finally gotten the ‘art form’ of drinking water during a race down, I passed several people at the water stations too…

I finished the mile in 8:15, once again on pace but feeling slow (could I have ran it faster?), and calculated in my head what I needed to PR…I didn’t know if I was going to do it, that is until a guy running towards me that HAD to have already completed the 5k told me I was the second 10k female! I got so excited and gave him a thumbs up, knowing if I wasted too much energy before the downhill and end of the race, I was toast. AND here it came…200 feet downhill. I thought carefully about how I wanted to handle this, having never ran down a hill this steep…I thought of what Strider Barry had told me and carefully placed one foot in front of another and picked up speed and put power behind each step. In other words, I didn’t just let gravity pull me down. It paid off…I never felt like I was about to lose control and I was able to push into the mile 6 marker…7:46! Woohoo for DOWNhills!

So the moment of truth…the last .2 mile. I have to admit I was feeling bad at this point. I put in a lot of work into that last mile, and it was all into the sun. It didn’t help that the finish line looked SOOOO far away! I pushed through to it though, and then heard feet closely behind me. The same guy that I had passed and paced off of in mile 3 and 4 was back and got in front of me! No way! I thought, since I was about to pass my dad and I didn’t want to get passed by another runner in the last 300 yards! I threw my legs into overdrive, increased my leg turnover and got him literally a second before the finish! 51:00 according to my watch! A new PR!!! It must have been pretty dramatic of a close finish, as the crowd erupted into cheers! Hahah, and then I was about to pass out…I sat down for a few minutes to avoid hypervenaliting. When I finally got up, I was shaky in the knees and needed to eat-quickly.

The post-race party food was typical, except I finished early enough to get some sugary cookies (yum) and won a computer briefcase as a door prize. I wasn’t sure of my placing, but we stuck around for the awards and I befriended the runners of the Southwind Running Club, THE local running club, who made me feel very welcome and congratulated me on a good race and finish! They were so friendly and fun to hang out with, with almost all members winning hardware and we even chatted about hanging out after Beach to Bay next weekend.

In fact, all the runners there were nice and fun to talk to. I congratulated the guy that I had duked it out at the finish line, on a good run and he and I laughed about the finish line. I told him my intent was not to pass him, but to PR! I was also congratulated by the girl that came in shortly after me, who was a strong runner, but told me she got winded pretty badly by the mile 2 hill. Awards came and I ended up being the 2nd female to finish the 10k and first in my age group…very cool-and my first placement medal! :) I got to chat quite a bit afterwards with the gal that won the 10k for females…Nelissa Ramsey. She is actually from Houston and lives in the area now and I told her I had the opposite problem! What a nice and humble person. I hope we race against each other again soon, she thinks she will run the Houston Half next year.

Overall, this is a race I would recommend to anyone…maybe not a PR course, but a chance to hardware, small town feel and what is a cooler feeling then being able to thank the race officials personally for a job well done? Plus, it was another cool feeling when I saw girls I went to high school with (that were big-time athletes) and I passed them all during the race. :) Looking forward to the next race in the challenge in Dublin…looks like there are 8 of us ‘alive’ in the Texas 10k Challenge. Looks like if I can continue to train through til the then, (June 10) maybe I can PR again?!

The STATS:
6.2miles

official time: 50:58.5
Ave. 8:13/mile!

Mile1: 8:02
Mile2: 9:02 (dumb hill!)
Mile3: 7:54 (too fast…)
Mile4: 8:24 (too slow…)
Mile5: 8:15
Mile6: 7:46 (yeah for downhill)
Mile.2: 1:33

Heart-rate: 189 ave/199 max.
Weather: low humidity, mid 60’s at start.

5/11/06: Recovery Run in the Neigborhood!

Ran a nice 30 minutes by my house tonight. My legs felt springy and are ready to race on Saturday. There was a slight soreness in my left ankle (again?!) that I was able to shake it off after 10 minutes of running or so. It was a good run though, so I am not in the least concerned. Going to take it easy until Saturday and be ready for another PR!!! (hopefully anyhow!)

The STATS:

about 3 miles
30 mins total running

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool, but himid. Mid 70’s.

5/10/06: Polo Grounds Run!

Tonight was the weekly SMART run, where we opted to run to the Polo Grounds-my favorite Houston run. It was a great run and everything I hoped it would be: good conversations with Striders Loren and Bill , mostly empty running trails and even a glimpse of the Polo players on their horses! I could seriously run this run every day…but running it only one time a week makes it more enjoyable and scenic. After the fact, we enjoyed salty snacks and I got some advice on increasing my leg turnover from our faster Striders....thank you!

In other running related news, the Strider’s meeting was last night at Champ’s restaurant in the Uptown Park. This was a welcome change for me from our usual Chinese buffet venue…except it was overly crowded and loud…I don’t do very good with large crowd (I get claustrophobic) which is funny, considering that aren’t all races crowded at the start?! and it never affects me, lol. Oh well, it was a good meeting and it was nice to see the members of the club I don’t normally see.

The STATS:

about 6 miles
50:44 mins total running

27:25 there
23:19 back

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: humid and warm…lower 80s?

5/6/06: 7 mile Long Distance Run!

Tonight I got in 7 nice (slow) miles around Memorial Park. My mind and body were into it…but my fresh-feeling legs didn’t want to cooperate and go like I wanted them too. Oh well. I partially wonder if my diet played into this? I had a fairly large carb-rich dinner right before I ran. Ouch-that is one thing I really haven’t figured out yet: diet for me as a runner. It’s such a fine but unwritten science…eat too much and feel weighed down. Eat too little and feel light-headed. Eat just right and have the best training run ever it seems.

I think another possible variable into my running lately (and adversely-affecting my mileage!) is the heat…no, I am not trying to complain about it…but I am!! I think I am 99% acclimated to it (is there such a thing?!) but I just don’t feel like I am running as well as I could if it was cooler. Oh well, another ‘have to deal with’ factor in being a runner, here in TX, during the summer. Hence, the importance of cross-training with the bike and swimming. I’m eager to get going...I may even get a swimsuit while at home this weekend! (Ah, the dreaded swimsuit hunt!)

What’s the rest of the week look like? Short 3 mile runs (with probably a speedwork session tonight…20 minutes of 30/30’s?) The race this weekend is exciting me more and more as the days go by…still nervous though. I wish I could get paced again…can I average an 8:15/mile pace for 6.2 miles? I think so…but my training lately has made me think otherwise….maybe the coldfront that is coming through Houston on Sunday will affect Copperas Cove too!
(Sidenote-Not sooo much: http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/allergies/tenday/76522?from=36hr_fcst10DayLink_allergies)

The STATS:
7 miles

1:05.36 mins total running
ave 9:22/mile

Heart-rate: 166 ave/177 max (this is very good for me!)
Weather: mid 70’s. humid but breezy.

5/3/06: 4 Fast and Furious Smartie Miles!

Tonight was the last ‘official’ SMART workout for the spring racing season. Although I am kind of bummed that the spring racing season is pretty much done, I can look back on it with many PR’s and memorable and tough training runs. I am pretty pleased with what I have accomplished this spring and look forward to the summer and my goal to run one 10k a month in a different Texas city! And maybe getting on the bike and swim too? Hmmm...

Anyhow, tonight’s workout was a very simple but cool notion…guess what your pace would be for a 4 mile run—BUT!—you had to run without a watch!!!!!!!!!!! I went conservative and guessed 8:50/mile. And I was sooo wrong. I ended up hammering out a 8:15/mile pace. Not my fastest ever time, by any means, but I treated the run like speedwork and let me my legs carry me. I ‘felt’ my pace, and it felt really good to run that fast. Plus I was the second girl to finish-always an accomplishment. And a special shoutout to new blogger and Strider Bill http://humblerunner.blogspot.com/ who guessed his pace within one second-he should consider pacing a 10:30/mile group at some point.

Overall, I was happy with my efforts and I need to get back to my speedwork once a week. Two weeks without it left me antsy and eager. I hope that hitting the track once next week before the Jackrabbit 10khttp://www.rabbitrun4hope.com/ can help me try to land another 10k PR…we’ll see. I’m a little nervous about racing for some reason, but this IS my hometown and I am eager to be back home and race with my mom, who will be doing the 10k walk! Woohoo! It’s hard to believe that slightly over a year ago, I inspired her to get active and now she is competitively racewalking! I LOVE YOU, MOM!

The STATS:
about 4 miles

33:03 mins total running
ave 8:15/mile

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: mid 70’s. low humidity.

5/2/06: 3 Slow miles by my House.

I got in a slow 3 miles today…was ‘attacked’ by a small dog on a leash that must have thought I was a fire hydrant or something. Hello! Why do people insist on walking their dogs on those dumb ‘rope’ leashes? I can never see them when I am running, and sure enough I get caught in them and almost always have to slow down and detangle from them! Oh well. It was still a nice run and I am blessed to have an injury-free week to train!

The STATS:

about 3 miles

30:00 mins total running

Heart-rate: n/a

Weather: mid 70’s. humid but felt nice.

5/1/06: A 6 Mile Long Run and A Special Day!

Today marks my first-year anniversary of racing…woohoo. It’s so hard to believe a year ago I would never want to road race. I was so intimidated by the thoughts of everyone being faster then me, better looking, stronger, etc…that is until I realized ANYONE can and should road race. It’s such a healthy sport…the commoderie is fantastic, the challenge is one-of-a-kind and of course, the post party is devine! I guess you can say I am fully addicted to racing, and the next few months are proof-running 10k’s in 5 different cities during the hottest months of the year. It’s going to be fun and I am very excited about every part of it-the traveling, the new friends I might make and of course--visiting some new cities and attempting new PR’s!

With that excitement, I ran a nice 6 miles at a 9:01/mile pace last night. I finally feel I am acclimating to the heat well and last night is proof of that. My breathing was good, my form was ‘better’ and my legs have never felt better. I did get some evil side stitches though…not sure where they came from, but they were NOT fun. Oh well…and btw, I will not be at the x-country tomorrow. I am NOT throwing the towel in on x-country/trail running yet. I mean, I really enjoy trail running, but it’s sooo risky for me. Would proper shoes work and help? I am seriously thinking of investing in a pair of trail shoes. Anyone have suggestions on how to pick one out? Should I stick with a Brooks shoe since that’s what I like? Hope to do a 25k trail run in Huntsville in the next year…we’ll see!

The STATS:
6 miles
54:08 mins total running

26:42 first 5k
28:03 second 5k

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: high 70’s. humid and breezy.