Miles and Miles

How insane is this? In just 7 days, I have run more than half of what I ran the entire month of July. That just blows me away since I thought I was putting in some serious milage then.

Yesterday, I so did not want to go out and run. I knew I would have to run solo so I brought along my mp3 player. Before anyone lectures about safety, I not only keep the volume down at 6 (normally I listen at about 20) I also offset one of the earpieces so I can not only hear the music but I also have at least one ear totally unblocked by anything. I can hear grass rustling so I can certainly hear cars, bikers, dogs and the ice cream truck.

After my last 5 mile run in the neighborhood, I decided to change routes. I originally was out on a major road, which is paved. The only thing I did not factor in was road work had the shoulder down to a narrow little strip. It *looks* fine but after running it and then looking at it from a drivers point of view, I decided it was not nearly wide enough. I redid my route to avoid that road and it worked out fine.

My legs were still pretty sore from the hill workout so I knew I would be slower. I also know my body is adjusting to the increased milage so I am going to be slower. Doesn't mean I have to like it but I do realize I will adjust and my speed (ha!) will return. I finished my 5 miles at a 13:28 pace....not too awful.

This morning, the thought of doing it again had me vowing to never run again. Not a good sign so I just didn't even think about it and waited. Actually, it turned out better that I waited until the evening to run since it was significantly cooler.

This evening, I managed to convince two kids to ride along with me on bikes. (Again, I am safety girl. We all wear reflective belts and have blinking lights on..in addition to the reflectors on the bikes) The 13 year old peeled off just shy of 4 miles to head home while the 9 year old stayed with me.

This run felt so much better than yesterday and I am not just talking the difference in temperature. My legs still hurt but the run just seemed to go faster and seemed to flow better. My time was just under 3 minutes faster so really, I would not count it as a *better* workout as far as time goes but for overall feel...a much better workout. My pace this evening was 13:05

I normally eat Clif bars before longer runs or early morning runs, I am partial to the chocolate chip kind. I have to hide them from my 12 year old, he swipes them. I went to get them and saw Luna bars right near them. They had some interesting flavors, including a lemon. I am such a sucker for lemon that I decided to try it. I also got a chocolate peppermint to try.

Since I have always heard horror stories of energy bars wrecking havoc on people, I test these out before I try them on runs. I don't want a bad reaction while out on a run. No, thanks!

I decided to try the Lemon Zest one first. They are awful!! Even the yummy lemon flavor can't hide the fact that they are foul. I am so disappointed in them because they have some really nifty flavors. I can't believe that they are made by the same company as my beloved Clif Bars. After looking at the Clif bar website, I see I need to find a place that sells the Lemon Poppyseed and the Cool Mint Chocolate kind. Ooohhh...they have seasonal flavors too!

Tomorrow I have up an 8-9 mile run, we will see how I feel at 8 miles. I will be shunning the Luna bar though and sticking with Clif in the morning.