The beauty of a day off!

If only I could run in the 7AM hour everyday! The sun was brilliant this morning and sometimes I wish my eyes were a camera lens and I could just take incredible pictures as I see them and share them all with you! I am the inspired blogger this morning after seeing Julie and Julia on Saturday night with some friends! So great, KP and I laughed the whole way through and couldn't wait for the movie to get over so we could start imitating our Julia Child accent! We thought it was quite funny!!:)

I was a tired puppy this morning and stayed in bed until 7:18AM and then decided it was time to get up and lace up the shoes and hit the pavement. Normally running around 7:45AM would be traffic central by my house but today the cars were sparse and the weather was glorious! I enjoyed having a lit path with splashes of color in the sky from the clouds/fog and rising sun. Sunflowers were catching my attention everytime I passed them! Did you know that sunflowers turn throughout the day to face the sun? I think this is a beautiful metaphor for God! I mean, the fact that he created this flower to turn and face the source of it's life as it passes through the sky--hello! if only my attention stayed on Jesus like that!! I am always amazed when I see them!

This morning's run reminded my legs that I ran 18 miles on Saturday and sometimes running hurts just a little bit! But around mile 2 I found my stride and wasn't feeling any pain the rest of the run. I did 5 miles quite comfortably and then came home and did strengthening and core work! I'm timid to lift too much with my legs because they get sore and tired and I use them A LOT, but it felt good today and if I keep my protein and water/potassium up, I'm hopeful I'll feel alright.

Saturday's Long Run:
So, I wanted to write my splits from the 18 miler: (feel free to skip over if bored!)
mile 1: 10: 18
2: 9:56
3: 9:51
4: 9:54
5: 9:57
6: 10:00
7: 10:26
8: 10:05
9: 10:09
10: 9:47
11: 9:42
12: 9:54
13: 10:05
14: 9:57
15: 9:44
16: 10:36
17: 10:36
18: 9:50
Wow, I just wanted to see that for me. Normally I could upload this information wirelessly directly from my Garmin Forerunner 405, but they don't have the software developed yet for MAC users..which is what I am;) So, that I do it manually or just scroll back through to compare splits and that's it. I could tell that around miles 16, 17 my legs just felt in a dead rhythm, like painful and slow and I couldn't make them go any faster. Well, obviously when Beth told me at mile 17 no more looking at your watch, just go strong 'till you hear it chirp at you....I did go strong and think about finishing this HUGE accomplishment!!

To Do on Labor Day!
Let's see...
-toe nail clean up (remove polish, reapply)
-possible nap
-possible Bistro excursion
-possible put laundry away
-finish my book: The Wednesday Sisters
-go to new favorite spot on the lake
-possible Eagle Eye watching before returning via netflix
-Return State of Play to Dillon's Redbox--love instant gratification of Redbox BTW:)!

Have a great Labor day!
Much Love, Shelb