Day 23: Um, ugh

Post-run, not feelin it

I had my first bad run of the training season today.  Like, real bad.  It started when my new GPS watch, which I was sooooooo looking forward to breaking out, ran out of battery.  It got worse with a debilitating stitch in my side.  The rest was all downhill (or uphill depending on how you look at it).  And that badness was exacerbated by the fact that it was 1) just five miles! and 2) only my second official Saturday run with Houston FIT.  I was embarrassed to be both slow and subsequently grouchy.

But the nice thing about bad runs is that they are inevitable, and because they are inevitable, there's a certain peace of mind that I'll get over them.  Everyone has them, everyone gets over them.  I remember having the most awful time last year during an 11-miler: I was sweating and out of breath and had to walk the last mile, and during the run I remember thinking I wouldn't be able to make it to the following week's half-marathon.  But I bet you can guess what happened the next week: The half-marathon was one of the best runs I had during the season.  So yes.  I had a bad run.  It really sucked and I wanted it to be over the whole time.  But maybe next week will be better.

In other news, I have done only morning workouts for the past two weeks, and it's actually been surprisingly great.  The fact that all my workouts are in the morning has helped my body get used to the wake-up time, and this past week I've started to push myself during the workouts, rather than groggily getting through them.  But they say it takes 21 days to form a habit, so I have to commit to keeping this up for at least the next week before I'll consider myself a morning-exerciser.

Day 23, by the numbers:

37.72 - miles run to date
5 - miles we ran today (longest run to date)
48 - minutes it took

Week 3 schedule:
Sunday - Tuesday: Memorial Day vacation: lots of hiking (pictures to come!) but no running
Wednesday: 4 mile run
Thursday: 4 mile run, strength training (arms and legs)
Friday: hot yoga
Saturday: 5 mile run, strength training (core)

To reward myself for making it through today's workout, and to enjoy my favorite part of Saturday runs (the being done with a workout by 8 a.m.), I headed to the farmer's market to treat myself to a breakfast of poached eggs over kale salad and toast.  And of course, I couldn't help but buy a few groceries, too...

Reward breakfast.  Don't know if I would call those "poached," but they were delicious nonetheless.

And some espresso to put a little more pep in my step

Couldn't resist doing a little grocery shopping.  These tomatoes are so beautiful I had to buy!

These beautiful, colorful radishes also found their way into my bag.