9 miles

Wow, I guess this is my 300th post.. That's cool.  And, that's about all I have to say about that.

Today was a sunny & warm day here.. close to 50 degrees, but a damn lot of wind.  I went out for my long run today, though, since I'd prefer running in the wind and warmth as opposed to the cold coming in tomorrow.  My last few long runs have been through snow squalls and all of that, so I was jumping at the chance to get out there today.

My plan was for 8-9 miles.  I've got that 15K coming up at the end of the month after all, I should get close to the appropriate number of miles..  I took an out and back route that is 3.5 miles of gentle uphill, followed by some up and down for the last mile until the turnaround.  The good part of that is.. downhill on the way back.

Pretty uneventful.. some lady had a very aggressive barky dog, but went on with the "oh, don't worry, he's friendly" bit.  I had a few words for her.  I'm not a big fan of dogs not contained/restrained that can come after you while going by.

Anyways, nothing bad happened, and I continued on.  At the 4 mile marker, I tried a Gu Chocolate Outrage.. Not bad, but it kind of seemed like a melted Tootsie Roll.. A little thick for my tastes.

Turned around, and around mile 5.5, I started noticing my ass was getting tired.. I think I need to do some more glute work.

Until this point, I was feeling great.. One foot in front of the other, not a speedy pace, but that was by design.  Another mile and a half, I noticed a hot spot on the bottom of my foot at the arch.. Sigh.  A f'in blister.  Never have I had a blister from running before.. what's up with that?

I finished out the run with not much else to report.. I feel great.  Two minor irritations during the run, and no other issues.  Hours later, I feel fine, just have a small blister on my foot.

Looking at the calendar, I have 3 weeks until the 15K.  Next week, I'll shoot for 9-10 miles.. The week after, I'll go for 5 miles at race pace, and then I'm there.   This race is just a tune-up for the half marathon in May anyways.. this isn't my goal race, just something nice and interesting to do.

Not much else going on here.. I picked up a minor sinus infection, but that's under control, and it's just a nuisance anyway.

Keep on rockin'...