Week At A Glance

So, I've been lazy lately, getting a little behind on my posts! I guess it's difficult to find interesting things to write about after a while...there's only so much you can say about putting one foot in front of the other!

Overall, this week has been a good week. I've made great progress, along with the same old hiccups that happen all the time. On Saturday, I ran 6 miles! It kind of sucked, but I finished it without stopping. I was low on energy, dehydrated, and really hot! Nevertheless, it was a great accomplishment.

Sunday I went for a shorter run (3 miles), and did all right. Monday I took the day off.

Tuesday is my largest accomplishment of the week. I had to bump up my long run to Tuesday (usually done on Saturdays), because I am on call (again) this weekend, and can't go out for a long run. So after work, in the sunshine, I attempted 7 miles. And I made it! AND I FELT GREAT! I didn't stop once. The route around work is very flat, with only a couple slight grades, which I'm sure attributed to my success. I was surprised I actually made it that far after a tiring day of work. I think that was the first time I actually believed that I could run 13.1 miles. Up until now, it's been a very distant goal. But I think I can call myself a runner now!

After my great run on Tuesday came the inevitable: Side Stitch Wednesday. And it didn't disappoint. My goal of 3 miles turned into 1.5 miles before I had to stop and walk out the pain. I hate Wednesdays.

Today (Thursday) was a little better My goal was 4 miles, and I made it 3.5 miles before getting a side stitch. Better than yesterday!

Running longer distances has raised a few issues I will have to address soon. First off, since I'm running longer than 1 hour, I will need to refuel and drink water on my run. But I don't want to just carry stuff in my hands while I run. One person suggested a fuel belt, which is essentially a glorified fannie pack. I won't be doing that. No matter how practical. Another friend suggested a sort of glove-water-bottle thing, which is basically a water bottle with a fitted glove your hand goes in, so you don't really have to hold the water bottle, it will just be attached to your hand. I don't really like the idea of this either, but it's better than a fannie pack! I could also leave some water and Gu behind a bush somewhere, and circle back around halfway through my run and hope that it's still there...

Whatever I decide, I will have to do it quickly, hopefully before my next big run (8 miles on Tuesday). So far both runs that have lasted longer than an hour have made me feel pretty sick about an hour afterwards. I think I am just draining my nutrients too quickly without replacing them.

Now that the hump is over (6.55 miles is half of a half), I really do feel like I'm on the downhill slope! My fitness is improving, and I don't think it will take so much of my energy anymore to add on an extra mile. What a good feeling! Can't wait to see if I can run 8 miles next week!

I think I've gone sick in the head...