Total mileage this week = 34 miles

This was a great training week. The weather was perfect for running. I was really excited about running this week. I felt good. There was absolutely nothing standing in my way of having great runs this week.

My long run went off as planned this week. However, I get bored circling the reservoir more than two times. So I decided that I would head up to the bike trail in Hadley. I parked and ran toward Amherst College on the trail. I got off the trail and ran past Amherst College to UMass. I purposely didn’t look at my Garmin until I reached UMass because I wanted to be surprised by how far I had gone. Oh the psychological games I play!

I entered the UMass campus (my alma mater!) and I was surprised alright, but not by how far I had gone. I was stunned to look down and see that I had only run about 4.6 miles. It certainly felt like more. I ran through campus and then trekked along a back road which would eventually take me back to the bike trail. I came upon a tag sale and a lemonade stance. I couldn’t resist making a donation to the adorable kids running the stand. The sun was beaming and the humidity was increasing as I chugged along so the lemonade tasted like gold at that point. I chatted with the children’s mom for a bit and then started out again. I was nearing 9 miles and I knew that I would have no trouble making it the rest of the way.

Since I hadn’t actually planned the route I was pleasantly surprised that it was almost exactly 12 miles back to my car. I had to run about .20 past my car and then back to hit 12 miles on the button. I did it! Overall it was a good run. I started out pretty strong, not fast, but steady and at a comfortable pace. My legs got really achy around mile 6. They felt pretty tight the rest of the way. I attribute that to running 6 miles the day before and not adequately stretching. Lesson learned!

The week ahead will bring a little less running, no double digit run, and an exciting trip for two at the end of the week.

Happy Labor Day!