Saturday, April 30

Weather - Sunny, approx. 50 degrees

Clothing - Long black capris, long sleeve tech shirt, fuel belt, arm wallet with cell phone

Nutrition - Pack of running beans before starting,  (2) 8 oz water, (2) 8 oz powerade

Route - Starting on Ox Road at the intersection of Lee Chapel.  Take Ox all the way, past Lorton Road, and went approx. .25 miles down the Occoquan Regional Park trail and then turned around and did the route going back.

Distance Completed: 9 miles

Time:  Started at 7:05am, took 1 hr, 44 minutes

We tried a new route and loved it.  Big, open trail and almost all of it flat.  It was nice to check out new scenery when running.  One of J.W.'s friends joined us on this run.  She and J. had gone running on Thursday and did a faster pace than I will probably ever get to.  They had kept it between 9:00 and 9:17 minute miles.  Oh my!  At first we all started running together and I did a pretty good job of keeping up, but once we got to this one hill (when we entered the park), I lost all my momentum and slowed down drastically; back to the pace I am used to -- SLOW!  J. and T. kept their pace on the way back and did great running at the faster time.  I was hurting big-time on the way back.  It took all my mental strength to keep running and not walk back the whole way.

Anything I'd do different?   Yes!  Glad you asked.  I really enjoy my Saturday runs and want to keep enjoying them, but this run this morning was a tough one for me.  Watching J.W. and her friend getting further and further ahead of me and having to yell "WALK!!" , "RUN!!" as loud as I possibly could every 3 minutes/1 minute intervals was not fun for me.  I started really hating the run on the way back.  I am super proud of J.W. for being able to run a faster pace.  She makes it look effortless.  I, however, don't think I'll ever have a faster pace than what I have.  I am fine with that.  I don't need to be setting any records and for me, slow & steady wins the race.    But I have a feeling that my days of running with J.W. are coming to an end.  I started the run today way too fast and got burned out 1/2 way through it.  I need to more mindful of what my body is capable of doing and start off slow so that I have the energy and endurance to see the end.

As for clothing, I could've been fine wearing a short sleeve shirt.  I think I've reached the temp limits on wearing both long sleeve top and long capri running pants.

 Mid-week runs - ran 5 miles on Tuesday, ran 4 miles on Thursday; both on the treadmill at the gym.  Tried to play with the speed to help go faster.  I also did the 5 mile loop of Burke Lake Park on Wednesday.  This was walking at a brisk pace.