5 miles!

It's been a little while since I posted, trying not to slack off. Well I accomplished 2 new long runs since the last post. Thursday I managed 4 miles around my neighborhood and yesterday 5 miles at the local wildlife refuge.

Thursday was pretty good, a little tough, but I made it through the run with minimal stops. Mostly stops for traffic crossings, but they were definitely appreciated when they occurred. :-) Still not getting side cramps so the bananas are working.

Went for a short 2mi run on Saturday. I was a little worried about jogging a day before a long run, but our weekend schedule didn't allow for us to swap activities. It was much easier to fit in the shorter run on Saturday. I'll try doing my long run on Saturday this week and see how it goes.

So Sunday I wanted to try the local wildlife refuge for my run. They have a pretty extensive set of trails which we use to bike on occasion. My husband likes to bike so we decided to make a family outing, me jogging and my husband biking with out almost 2yr old. I really wanted a nice flat surface for my long run. I get so tired of the hills all the time. Although I'm sure they make me a better runner.

So after a few technical issues I got settled in to a nice pace. The trails was much more rocky than I remembered, which is not good when you tend to shuffle when you run slowly. Luckily the whole trail wasn't that way. I took frequent, but brief walking breaks. Except for a break to tend to a toddler meltdown. I read somewhere that I shouldn't feel the need to jog the whole thing. Taking a few breaks will help you finish better. I whole-heartily took that advise. Surprisingly I felt pretty good by the end of the 5mi. Biggest annoyance was having to go to the bathroom almost from the start. I don't know what is with my bladder these days. Even after I go before I leave I have to go again mid run. If I didn't know better I'd think I'm pregnant. 

Still feeling pretty good this morning. My calves were really affected by the run so I really tried to stretch and massage them to keep them from cramping up. My husband has a little portable back massager and that worked wonders on my legs. I also have a heated mattress pad so I turned that on and heat helped as well. Still a little sore, but no cramping yet. I ordered a pair of compression socks, we'll see if they make a difference.

Weigh in day today. Not really sure how I'll do. I felt off all week. I just wanted to constantly eat and not the healthy stuff. I just need .7lbs to reach the 30 pound mark. I lost 3 pounds 2 weeks ago so I though one and a half pounds was doable the next week, but I only lost .9 pounds. Still a loss, I know, but I was really hoping to hit the mark. Oh well, we shall see...