Jan 25

FIT:
So last week's hunger, weight gain, emotions, haha... just natural fluctuations. No worries. Too bad that it's something you just have to deal with, but at least you can expect it and know just to wait it out and blame it on the hormones. Very strangely, when it seems like you'd least expect to want to run, I always seem to want to run the most, and I feel the strongest doing it. I tried to wiki the hormones involved to figure out why, but there's just way too much going on for me to understand. The body is crazy - that's all I have to say.

So the run... I was feeling sick and it was a long day at work, and I was tired... and did I mention sick feeling? So I rushed home, rushed to change, and drove to the HS XC course. Usually, I'm anti-driving places just to run, because the beauty of running is that you can do it anywhere, making it convenient and eco-friendly. However, I don't get the chance to run in daylight often, and if I rushed, I'd probably get in a few miles as the sun set. I got started at 6pm, just as the sun was setting, and I worked off of the fading light.

It was windy today - 22mph!!! (bringing the "feels like" to 41 degrees) I don't think it was that bad when I was running - I would've been blown over, but it was chilly during some of the gusts. I started in a tech tee with a long sleeve super light and porous jacket, and soccer sox, with 4's and arches on the bottom. I broke out the retired 4's because my 3's are still soaked from yesterday. Lucky for me, the puddles were far less deep, and only a little water seeped into my shoes. The first two loops were lit well enough to go through the forest trail, although the second loop was so dark that I had to walk down the slippery downhills. Treacherous. My last and third loop, I just went around the fields an extra time - based on the time, it seems to be a minute short cut. Oh well.

Felt great, though, like a real run, even though it was short. I was craving for a run, and I got a nice, satisfying shot of it. Saw the goats again, too! They're so funny. And I didn't even notice any of the symptoms that had made me miserable earlier today - all gone!

Splits> 9:03 (about as fast as my fastest split yesterday... wonder why... the course was drier? I was looser? warmer?), 8:57, 8:01. Based on an 8:50 pace and 55s of missed running time, I figure I was about 0.1 mi under. So that's 2.9 mi in 26:02, a 8:59 pace.