St. Jude, Here I Come

Happy September, Friends!!!

I hope everyone tries to get involved with some local efforts to raise awareness for childhood cancer. September is the month to do this. If you want ways to get involved, feel free to ask me. I know plenty of ways to get plugged in.

I went for a run last night. Three easy miles. But it was different than a normal three mile run because it was the first run of my half marathon training plan. Can you believe it's already time to start training? Y'all I have to get my mind right and wrapped around this.

Here are my stats:

Distance: 3 miles

Time: 38:48

Best pace: 11:04

Average pace: 12:56

Calories: 283

Now let me explain these stats. This three mile easy run was suppose to be my long run for the weekend. So long runs can be at whatever pace you feel comfortable so can get through the miles. Don't worry there will be plenty of speedwork and hill work in this training plan.

But last night it was 97 degrees when I got out of my car to stretch at 7 p.m. I guess I haven't been taking advantage of these cooler warm days the last few weeks. 97 degrees when the sun is setting. Wow. But I had to run.

A half mile into my run my legs felt like lead. Heavy. Not fun to pick up and put back down. Then I started to loosen up. I felt good. Nearing mile 1 I thought maybe I should keep going and run to 1.5 before taking a one-minute walk break. Something said don't over do it. So I took the break at mile one.

At the turn around point (mile 1.5), I felt good. Hot, but good. I turned around and headed back toward my car.

I need to mention I start all runs running away from the sun as it's setting so I can run in the cooler, less hot sun on the way back when I'm more tired. It's a very good theory. Really.

So I turned around at 1.5 miles to face the sun. My usual tactic. There was no breeze. The sun was relentless. At mile 2, I took my last one-minute walk break. I felt too hot. But I was determined to not quite on this silly 3 miler I'd run so many times before. How pitiful would it have been to quit a run on the first day of half marathon training? So pathetic.

The last mile was terrible, mentally terrible. My body felt good. Stride was good. Breathing felt normal. Not gasping for breath. But my brain was messing with me something fierce. And did I mention the heat. My head literally got so hot. At one point I thought it may explode from the unbelievable hotness that was put off from the shining ball of lava in the sky.

Lesson from the run: Stop being a pansy. I need to become mentally tougher. And the only way to do that is more running. Which I see a lot of in my future.

All in all, I'd call it a victory in the running books. I didn't stop, aside from my two one-minute walk breaks at each mile. And I worked through the lead legs and mental meltdown.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, September 4) I will run a two mile fartlek. Fartlek is just a fancy word for speedwork. Not at all to be misconstrued with passing gas or bowel problems of any kind. My plan is one minute fast jog, one minute slow jog, one minute fast jog, one minute walk over the course of two miles.

I have a feeling it's going to be another hot one. And I don't think running in the morning or evening will really matter. Hot is hot.

Tell me about your weekend?