week in review; april 7–13

Monday, April 7
rest day
After work, I spent the evening catching up on "Dancing With the Stars". I really like the "stars" this year, and I'm not sure who I want to get kicked off next... usually there's someone who isn't good/annoying, and each week I have someone in mind that should go home. Not this year - they're all hard workers and for the most part really good!

Tuesday, April 8
rest day
Another evening of trivia.

Wednesday, April 9
2.67 miles
It was a gorgeous day, so I obviously had to run outside. Unfortunately, my legs weren't feeling it, so it was a bit slow paced and I cut the run a little short.

Thursday, April 10
rest day
We had to run some errands when I got home from work, and then stopped for dinner at Red Robin. Yum. I was a little disappointed that they no longer use the baskets and don't have the burger wrapped in the paper anymore :( — it prevented me from making a mess and kept my burger bun from getting too soggy. Why you trying to get fancy, Red Robin? Oh well, it was still delicious.

Friday, April 11
3.49 miles
Another beautiful day! I got in 3.49 miles after work. The first two miles were painful – I was having some pain in my right foot arch and ankle. After stopping at mile 2 to take off my shoe and massage the arch, my foot and ankle felt better the last 1.5 miles.

Saturday, April 12
rest day
I spent the morning/afternoon at a White Sox tailgate and game with some friends. It was a lot of fun, but by the time I got home, I was exhausted and laid around for the rest of the night with an early bed time. I was disappointed in myself because I knew I wouldn't reach my goal of 4 runs this week, but I wanted to have energy for my long run on Sunday. That's why I need to get that run in on Tuesdays! I really need to drag my butt out of bed in the morning.

Sunday, April 13
8.32 miles
It was supposed to storm all day (when I went to bed, the forecast said storms beginning at 3am and going all day), so I went to bed thinking I'd try for a run outside, and if it was storming, go on the treadmill. Well, I woke up, it was sunny and warm, though it said storms were on the way. Instead of heading to the trail, like I had wanted earlier in the week (I was afraid it would storm while I was in the middle of the forest... not the best thing), I just ran around the neighborhood so I could make a quick dash home if I saw lightning. Luckily, it stayed nice for a while... though it made me mad that I could have made it to the trail without getting caught in the storm. Oh well. The miles went by fairly quickly. The first two miles were a bit sluggish, but once I warmed up and found my groove, I got faster. My fastest mile was actually mile 6, and miles 3–8 were all faster than miles 1 and 2. Whenever I started to feel tired, I would say out loud "You are strong. You can do this," which may sound silly, but I find that actually saying it (rather than only thinking it) helps me push myself harder. I was quite pleased with the run overall. Upper 60s is a bit too warm for my liking (when running), and I could feel my arms and face heating up early on, but there was a nice breeze that helped keep me cool (though at times it was quite windy, and of course I was going at it head on, rather than it being at my back). Always good to practice in all weather conditions, though, as it can help on race day – you never know what the weather will be like. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, cleaning, and catching up on TV.

I really need to start taking some fun pictures to add to these weekly reviews/recaps... it would make it more interesting, no? Hope everyone has a great week!

How was your week? Any great runs/races?