154 Days Left

I needed a good run today.  Really, I needed a good run.  Tuesday's run was so frustrating and off kilter that I was ready to conquer today's run and I DID IT!!  I even had a negative split on the out and back.  (I mean, if you call 2 seconds a negative split, which I am going to because the second half of the run was FASTER than the first half.) 

Everything felt good today.  I didn't have to wait for cars to pass or a light to change until the way back.  (I cross roughly 11 streets or on ramps in each direction on this route.)  I made it all the way to the turnaround without stopping for traffic.  Even on the way back, I didn't have too much traffic.  A kind Fire Chief stopped to let me get across the last on ramp crossing on the way back.  There was no traffic after him, so I would have only waited a few seconds, but it was nice to get the wave to keep going.  

I wasn't exactly sure how far I was going to run today.  I knew which direction I was going to go, but I told my wonderful and supportive husband that I would go to end of the street if I was feeling up to it.  Otherwise, I would turn around at the usual spot.  I got to that spot and felt like I needed to keep going.  

Now that my long runs are over 5 miles, I think that I need to figure out a better plan for the week.  I know that I have to get in 2 short runs during the week.  I think that I am going to run between 2 and 3 (depending on the route I take) miles in the first run of the week and between 3 and 4 miles in the second.  That gives me a shorter distance to recover after the weekend long run and adds a little mileage to prepare for the next long.  We'll see how that works out.  There is always a possibility of a bonus run every week, so stay tuned for that.  (I feel like I need a race so I am SERIOUSLY considering going to run a 5K tomorrow night.  How amazing is that...I am just going to wake up tomorrow and decide if I want to go run 3.1 miles for fun later that evening.  Who would have ever thought.....)

Today's Stats:

3.52 miles in 44.56 (12.7 minute miles)

And just because I am so excited about the negative split:

First 1.75 miles - 22.28 minutes

Second 1.75 miles - 22.26 minutes

Yep, that's 2 seconds faster AND I went a little further coming back because I started my time at the bus stop, but ran all the way home!!