A Tough Week to Run

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If you get into the habit of using weather as an excuse not to run, you'll only find 10 days a year where you're happy to lace up your sneakers in Nebraska. You need to be willing to improvise, compromise, and just plain suck it up and bear the elements.

That being said, last week was a challenge. Storms involving lightening and high winds meant runs got cut short, moved to the gym, and skipped altogether. I was pretty hard on myself about it at first, but I think I've finally come to peace with my low-mileage week. Looking back on it, I see that I actually got in some  pretty speedy (for me) runs!

First up was "Long Run Sunday". It was thundering when I woke to my alarm at 5:30am, so I was happy to hit the snooze button. However, there was a very important soccer match to watch that afternoon, as well as 2 gatherings to attend, so the longer I slept, the shorter my run got. I ended up booking it out the door just in time to squeeze in a fast 5 mile tempo run. I was aiming for 9:00 miles. I bounced around a bit but was happy with my 8:55 average.

• Mile 1 - 8:46
• Mile 2 - 9:02
• Mile 3 - 9:04
• Mile 4 - 8:48
• Mile 5 - 8:57

It was a hot one!

Popsicle!

The next group run of the week was cancelled due to a storm involving 60 MPH winds. I immediately started worrying about our brand new fence...

It got pretty scary there for a while, but luckily the fence went unharmed.  The sky looked pretty cool afterwards, too!

After the storm passed, I went on a quick 1 mile run around the block. Since it was dark, I couldn't read my Garmin so I decided to try to guess what my pace was. I was pretty excited when my 9:30 guess lined up to a 9:28 actual!

My last run of the week had to be done at the gym because I wasn't free until 10:00pm on Friday. I was shocked at how good it felt! I'm not sure if it was the fact that I hadn't had a long run to tire out my legs or if I was just releasing all of my stress from the week, but I had an amazing run. I clocked a solid 8 miles at a steady 9:05 pace. I don't think I've ever run that far on a treadmill before.

Some people get wound up by exercise, but I left the gym ready to climb into bed and call it a week. I love how running makes both sleeping and eating even better!