Week 6 - Feelin' better

The respite from the hot and humid weather did not last long.  My weekday runs ended up being pretty warm, but I felt pretty good overall.  My left leg soreness slowly dissapated and was completely gone by my run on Thursday.  My Monday and Thursday runs both increased by one mile, as did my long run.  I ended up with just over 28 miles for the week.

 I was most relieved that the 15-miler on Saturday went well.  I started on my own, running about 4 miles to the running group.  There I met up with a friend who was gracious enough to slow down for me, and we did another 5 miles.  Thank goodness she was with me because the other members of the group were speedy and there were lots of turns on the route!  I would have ended up lost for sure!  At 7:00am we met up with the rest of the running group and I ran with yet another friend.  She's exactly my speed and we get along great!  I only had 6 miles to do though, and she needed to do 10.  Her race is exactly one month before mine, so we're on slightly different schedules.  On my way back to the running store, I ran with a mother who had come to the group for the first time.  She had her 2 girls (ages 2 years and 9 months) with her, in the jogging stroller.    Let me tell you, she gets the gold medal for the day!  Although the morning had started off nice and cool, when the sun came up, it got hot fast.  And as those of you that have ever pushed 2 kids in a jogging stroller know, those suckers are heavy!  About 5 minutes into our jog back to the store, the 9 month old starts screaming.  And so begins the cheerios/goldfish/puffs dance.  And then the singing.  And finally she just had to stop and nurse her baby.  On the side of the road.  I felt bad for her, but it was rather awkward, so I went ahead and finished the run by myself.  Now, I am all for nursing your babies...I mean I nursed my sweet little Caroline for 15 months!  This mother was essentially a stranger though and I thought it would likely be more awkard for her, if I had just sat there and watched.  Perhaps that was poor running-etiquitte on my part?  In any case, she was super nice about it all and had the patience of a saint!  I hope she comes back (although she was pretty slow with the jogging stroller and ended up running alone 80% of the time). 

As for my calves...well, they're marginally better.  I think using the slant board throughout the day has helped, as has The Stick massages.  Yoga-Fridays have been a good thing too.  It's still hard for me to call that a workout though (although my Jillian Michaels yoga DVD definitely makes you work up a sweat).  I like having "fresh legs" for the long runs, so this routine will stand.

As for next week.  Weekday mileage stays the same and it's a step-back week for the long run.  Yahoo!  I definitely like the step-back weeks mentally, if not physically! Until next week ~ Embrace Your Pace and Run Happy ~