Victories!

Post-10k, I took an entire day off. That may not have been a great idea, but I sooo felt like running again. Actually, part of that was possibly my neuroses - namely, the "I don't want to get fat" neurosis and the "I don't want to lose fitness" neurosis. The first is pretty obvious - the post-thanksgiving syndrome at its finest. The second comes from reading an article about how absolutely important it is to maintain baseline fitness by not slacking on running during the holiday season. Well, that's how my brain read it. My logical side knows that it really just said that if you take a month-long break from running, you'll lose fitness.

Anyway....Saturday I ran 51-ish minutes. Minutes, not miles. I didn't even count miles. I ran around a park and parts of town that I never see, just running for the sheer heck of it, like I used to ride my bike when I was a kid. That was awesome. I was depending on my phone app to track distance....and for whatever reason, it never did. I'm guessing 5-ish miles. Then, huz was in the apartment complex clubhouse on the elliptical. Because I was keeping him company, I decided to see how fast I could do a mile on a treadmill. The result: 8:38. That is after a 51 minute run, and while wearing tights, a fleece headband, and a turtleneck indoors.

Next day, I wanted to tackle 10 miles. I made it slightly over 9. It was a dumb idea after my workout Saturday. Plus, I got screwed up mentally. I was trying to do two rounds of a 5 mile loop, but a few minutes after I started round 2 of the loop, I dropped my powerbar gummy snacks. Noooooo! I realized it sometime after I passed the 1/2 mile marker and went back and found them. Then I started running the loop the opposite direction. I made it another mile and a half, decided I was dying and I needed to go back. I was so tired and miserable it was ridiculous. But now that I look back on that....I ran 9 miles! My farthest run since September! I'll take it.

Monday - skipped the run, considering Sunday nearly killed me. Really. I swear. I did do yoga class.

Tuesday - 3 mile run. And another victory - I mastered THE HILL! The Hill is near where I live. Two years ago, when we moved in (and I was in ok shape, although 30-ish lbs heavier), I could not walk up the hill without stopping to catch my breath. Earlier this year, I could run up half of it before pretty much falling over.This road is a .23 mile, steep monster. And for whatever reason, at almost the end of my run, in the rain, I decided that I wanted to run up the hill. And I DID. It took me 3 minutes and I was about at walking speed by the top, but I RAN THE HILL! Then I walked down because I seriously can't begin to run down this hill without feeling like I'm going to fall on my face.

Yesterday - circuit training. And the beginnings of a cold. Yay.

Today - easy 3.1 that I MADE myself do even though I was considering calling in sick to work and it was 30 degrees. I decided to see if running somehow might make me feel better. It did. Holy crap. Even though my gloves are pretty much crusted with the mucus that was spilling out of my head, I busted two very good excuses this morning and ran anyway.

Tomorrow I may very well take a break. I'm still feeling like the queen of mucus, but for a short while, the run did me good!

And finally, one more victory I discovered after today's run:

Hello, high school weight! Haven't seen you for a while!!