Sun:      14 miles  – This was a hot one.   A very hot one!  This was one of those hot humid New Jersey days where heat warnings were in effect.   I did listen to the warnings and made sure to have my bottles filled with Nuun my new favorite drink on hot days.   I also threw out any perspective pace and went solely for miles.    The run was not pretty, but was more a slow and steady test of endurance.   The average pace ended up being still not too bad considering that I wasn’t pushing it nor was I checking it at all during the run.  Average pace was  11.48.   Consistently in 11’s and 12’s.  Overall moving time was 2:38:10 with total time of 3:03:15 as I made stops to refill water bottles and stand in sprinklers.   I will say that I am very respectiful of peoples property and only stand at the edge of their property on the roads waiting to be cooled off.   I was doing that very thing when a man came out to get something out of his car.   I thanked him for the use of his sprinkler and he was very nice about it.   One stop was even in a 7-elleven to get some water and take a few minutes to cool down in the air.  I felt good (relatively speaking) that I was still able to get the miles in and didn’t need to shorten this run.

Monday:  REST

Tuesday:   Aerobic 7 miles in 1:12:41.   Overall I kept a good pace.  The last mile I allowed myself to push it a little bit, but not an all out sprint.   I was very happy that after six miles of a fairly steady pace in the mid 10’s that the last mile I was able to run a 9:44.

Wednesday:   My sister was visiting from California and wanted to do a quick run before we went for a pedicure.   I knew that I had the Pizza Run that night, so we only went for 2 easy miles.     Then that night I did the Pizza Run which you can read the recap if you want.   Overall, I was happy with the 5K time of 28:38:47 for a average pace of 9:13.

Thursday: Did some swimming

Friday:   This was the day that I was supposed to do my cut-down but I didn’t.   I’m sure that if I really, really wanted to that I could have found the time, but I really wasn’t in the mood.  My foot although not hurting but was bothering me and I really just didn’t want to aggravate it.   Yup, I’m a baby.

Saturday: This was supposed to be my easy 5.   When I headed out I was actually thinking that maybe I would do my 7 mile cut-down as 5 therby combining the two runs.   It didn’t work out that way because once I headed out I knew I wanted to see if I could hit my targets for this run.   I found a new route which is a little flatter, but one that I am also familiar with to not have to think about where I’m going.   It seemed to work as I hit or was very close to my targets completing the run in 1:11:24 with average run pace of 10:12.   My best pace was again the last mile where I hit a pace of 9:15!

Now you would think after such a good run that I would have been flying, but it actually had the opposite effect.   I think I was alone for too many miles as I was starting to wonder why I’m doing this to myself.   I’ve already ran a Marathon, so what am I trying to prove.   Plus I had realized before going for my run that I have only 3 months till the MCM.    Panic may be setting in.    I know I can do this or at least I think I can do this.   Part of me was wondering why I’m doing it.   I am just an average runner.   I will never be the front of the pack runner.  So many people act like I’m this crazy driven person because of my running.   Then I realized that they are right, but I have to remind myself that I am the good kind of crazy driven person.

It could be worse:)

I must remind myself that I push myself because I can.

I push myself because what is life without challenges?

I push myself to be a role model to my children that anything is possible!

I push myself so that my boys will grow up knowing that woman can be strong!

I push myself because there is nothing like crossing the finish line and knowing you are the reason you are there.