Yesterday I slept in a little, sat around the house, played on my computer, did a little house work - and I felt guilty because I didn't run.  Yesterday was a scheduled rest day!  I wasn't supposed to run!  Why was I feeling guilty?  Upon reflection (today, while I WAS running), I started thinking that maybe it wasn't exactly guilt but was something different.  Yes!  What I was feeling was something new.  I wished that it HAD been a run day.  I missed it!  My husband told me that I was weird - like it was something I didn't already know. Ha!

So, after feeling like I was missing out on running yesterday, I got up bright and early today and headed out.  My run was solid.  No improvement.  I'm not quite where I want to be for my Chicago run in 12 days, so I need to work hard for the next couple of weeks.  But I was happy with my performance.  It was a great start to the day, which was followed by a very promising meeting about a new job, then lunch back at home with hubby.  Hoping to hear about the job later today or tomorrow.  It will be good, since my previous position simply disappeared during a reorganization as of July 1.  I can't complain about the time off, but have to admit that it has messed with my schedule and I do a lot better with running when I'm getting up at the same time every other day to  run before work.  Consistency is very helpful in keeping me on track - with everything.  We won't even talk about how I'm doing with Weight Watchers right now, but it is proof positive that a consistent schedule is the way for me to go!

It doesn't look like the Chicago Perimeter Ride is going to happen this year.  It's usually in August and there hasn't been even a murmur about it yet.  We were looking forward to it, and I was confident that I could do the 100-mile ride, since it's a leisurely, all-day, event.  Bummer!  But, we found a different cycling event that we're going to do, instead.  It starts in Mackinaw City, MI and has 4 different routes, taking you as far as Harbor Springs (just NW of Petoskey) before heading back to Mackinaw.  You can choose to ride 25, 50, 75 or 100 miles, and it's a non-competitive ride.  Since it's a little more hilly than Chicago, I think I'll aim for the 50 mile ride, then the next day all of the participants ride across the Mackinaw Bridge at dawn.  That's just over 2 months away and I think it will be loads of fun.

There was a small group of runners out this morning, and they kindly let me join them for a while.  I liked them!  They made me feel pretty speedy!  Here are the 5 members that I saw first, but when they joined the others, they unanimously decided to go swimming instead, while I continued on my run, alone.  I'll be back again on Thursday, running the same amount of time, so I'm looking for a little more distance in that run.

Downhill doesn't really feel any easier than up hill!

Woo hoo!  Went to the MetroPark today to start my next level of C25K and it nearly doubled the "running" time in my routine.  As you can tell, I didn't die!  I thought I might a couple of times - and wished I would at one point, just to get it over with, but I actually came away unscathed and feeling pretty good.  Plus I earned DOUBLE the Weight Watcher's Points that I usually do!


The extra"running" trimmed 1:05 off my pace, giving me a new PR.  At this rate, I'll have Paula Radcliffe chatting at me weekly!  I'm hoping to hear from her again later this week.  There were lots of people out running, riding, walking and blading this morning.  When we headed out of the house it was 68 degrees, but the sun was up and knew it would be warming up quickly - and it did!  I was heading down a small hill, during one of my faster moments, and there were 3 runners coming toward me up the hill.  They were running faster up than I was down and still head the breath to say "good morning" to me.  Show offs!  By the time I got back to the car, they had run to the end of the park and were on their way back, but I saw that they lost one of their team-mates.  With friends like that...


I find that the most difficult thing for me is breathing.  Sometimes I forget to and then try to take deep breaths but it can be really hard to do.  I need to work on some deep breathing exercises a couple if times a day, I think.  My understanding is that when they call cadence, while running in the military, it helps keep them breathing properly.  It occurs to me that I could just sing out loud, along with my iPod, while I'm out, but that may disturb the neighbors at 5:30 in the morning.  


All in all, I felt good about this morning's routine!  I'll be out again before work on Monday to see how I do in my own neighborhood, where it's just me and the road.  I wonder what the next week holds.