Long Runs on a Friday

I thoroughly enjoy days off from work. In fact, it felt like Saturday all day - starting off with a long run, not working, and eating a sugar cookie with frosting! WELL worth the calories.

Today's run was pretty fabulous. My splits were slow, but out of the 13-minute-per-mile pace they were set in as I tried to slow down my runs to extend my ability to maintain a running pace and avoid walking. I finished 7 miles at 12:56 a mile. I was happy - but can't wait to say I can do it in 11 minutes or less! :)

The run today, though, had plenty of hills. I wasn't expecting many of the hills, and you can tell when the hills hit during my splits. Check out the topography of the run:

You can see where the biggest hills were between 0.75 miles and 2.75 miles, and again from about 3.5 miles to 4.5 miles. After that were a couple baby hills, but nothing that made me cringe for the most part. My splits show those hills in my time:
Mile 1 - 12:06
(almost all downhill; I had to fight to stay slow!)
Mile 2 - 12:52
(entire mile was uphill!)
Mile 3 - 12:50
(tried to maintain the Mile 2 pace so I didn't get tired later)
Mile 4 - 12:48
(first half of mile was steep uphill, but rest was great downhill!)
Mile 5 - 12:50
(way steep downhill, and I was trying to maintain a pace so I didn't punish my knees going downhill!)
Mile 6 - 12:59
(still trying to maintain the pace)
Mile 7 - 13:05
(was worn out by this point and the little baby hill did me in!)

So yes, my splits might seem lame to a lot of people, but I'm pretty excited that I ran the whole way and that I was able to maintain a pace even during downhills (even though I think that hurt my overall time!)

Afterwards, I went to the hospital to visit my father. He'd had surgery on his carotid artery and is spending a couple days in the hospital. I stopped at Chik-Fil-A on my way to the hospital for the breakfast of champions:

Chick'N Minis and the largest coffee they could give me.

I spent most of the morning watching TV on the world's teeniest TV in the world's largest hospital room. The hospital was packed on the day my father went into surgery, so he got placed into the only room they had available -- an isolation room. Yep, you read that right. A room with its own airflow, a room where they might put an Ebola patient. Massive room with great windows - and a teeny tiny TV. I feel like an Ebola patient deserves a rather massive flat-screen mounted on the wall!

Yes, that would be the Weather Channel on the TV. I have a weather obsession.

Once I'd had enough of the Weather Channel, I turned my attention to other, far more important methods of entertainment:

It's a good day when you get a Self magazine AND a Runner's World magazine to read!

Speaking of Runner's World, they had a great article that seemed written just for me in this month's edition:

The 15-Second Cool Down Trick.

I've found that when I get stressed, I get snippy. I needed a reminder of a way to stop being irritable, and to stop taking out my stress on the rest of the world.

I also went shopping afterwards and bought some PB2 and some Chia seeds. I'm pretty excited, because SlimKatie at www.runsforcookies.com (GREAT blog if you haven't read it!) uses chia seeds a lot in her oatmeal and I've always wanted to try them. Needless to say, tomorrow's oatmeal will involve chia seeds and PB2. I'll let you know how it works out!

I also found this picture on my phone. I had forgotten I had taken it, but it was pretty exciting. We had Girls Night Out a few weeks ago, and I wore a shirt that I bought two years ago but had never been able to wear. Well, I tried it on and it FIT!!!! I took a picture, and you can tell that I am squeeeeeeeeeing with delight in the mirror!

Today's food was definitely not great, but that is par for the course on my long run days. I KNOW I shouldn't eat the calories back, but sometimes, I just do. And today, I do not regret it. I'm realizing that there are going to be days in life when you just don't eat as well as you should. And sometimes, it's okay to enjoy it, revel in it while you can, and then jump right back on the wagon.

Although, to be honest, tomorrow might not be "right back on the wagon." I am going to Atlanta with one of my best friends for the night. A little staycation, if you will. I have a feeling there will be beer involved. But you know what? I'll up my workouts this week and I will focus on eating right again once we come back on Sunday.

I cannot let my fear of eating badly overshadow my life. I won't do it.

Today's Food:
Pre-Run Snack - 1 slice cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread, 100 calorie Clif Bar in peanut butter crunch
Post-Run Breakfast - chick'n minis and coffee
Lunch - chicken nuggets, water, Cheezits
Snack - frozen yogurt at Peachwave (but the good news is - I didn't add ANY of the candy or chocolatey toppings, like Snickers or Reese's peanut butter cups. I used only fruit - bananas, strawberries, kiwi, and blueberries!)
Dinner - 2 pieces cheese pizza from Mellow Mushroom (SO delicious and not something I get all the time, so well worth the calories), sugar cookie with frosting.

Now, planning out a workout for tomorrow. Going to be brutal, I can tell already!

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Did you stay on track today?
Have you ever tried chia seeds or PB2?