8 Miles!

Well, almost. So I was good Friday night. I went out with friends for Korean BBQ and only had 2 beers. I wanted more, but I knew I had to be good if I was going to try to put in a decent run the next morning. Hubby and I went home completely stuffed and after 2 glasses of water, I went to bed around 11. It was later than I wanted, but I figured I'd survive. I tossed and turned all night - I kept dreaming about waking up late, the storms outside, and everything else that had me all worked up. I hardly slept. The alarm went off at 5am and my mind tried to find ways to talk myself into staying in bed. What is wrong with me? I haven't run in two weeks and all I want to do is sleep in! I managed to slide out from under the covers, get dressed and have a bowl of cereal while watching the weather on TV - storms. It wasn't currently raining and the news promised that it would hold off till 8. I put my shoes on, crossed my fingers and walked out the door.

I got to Jackson Hill in plenty of time to find parking and sign up. There were runners everywhere! It was like I had morphed into a different world. The mileage posted for today's run was 7.5, but there were other routes on the board in case you wanted to do more or less. The runner's I had seen while parking had gotten up earlier than me and were running extra miles before the official club run started. I figured I'd start with the group and turn around if I felt I couldn't do all of it since it was just an out and back route. I stuck myself in the 10:30-10:45 min/mile pace group so that I wouldn't push myself too hard in the beginning. I felt great, the weather was cool, yet muggy, but no rain. I made it to mile 5.5 before the cramps came and I stopped to walk. My sides were screaming. A very nice runner came up behind me and asked if I was ok - it gave me the motivation I needed to start running again. I kept her pace and we talked the last couple of miles back to the start. The group had a yoga instructor there that was conducting 15 min stretching sessions, so I joined in.

All in all, I finished 7.75 miles in 1 hour 24 minutes. Not bad for my first day back. I really enjoyed running with Kenyan Way and will definately be joining them again this Saturday.