5.8 miles

As in I ran that today!

It's a gorgeous day and the sun is shining and my running clothes are clean and the pedals are still not on my bike (clearly I have some mental block about putting those back on), so I threw on the running gear and took off. I ran my usual route and it took me about an hour and five minutes. The first five minutes were all walking, and I walked for about two minutes total in there as well, but even with that I averaged just over 11 minute miles, which for me is pretty good (consider the walking too and that average will drop). It was interesting to see who is home in the middle of the day. All the gardeners were out, and I almost got run over a bunch of times (midday drivers are not as aware as morning weekend drivers or are there just more of them?) Of course, because I've been training in the cold I haven't been bringing water with me on that route. Haven't needed it.

Today, I needed it.

I got about 4 miles in and was parched. It's not hot, but warm enough to make me sweat even more, and I started getting a bit desperate. I felt great otherwise, but stopped to walk a couple of times to just rehydrate my mouth. At one point there was a gentleman across the street watering his lawn, but I decided it was too weird to jog over and ask if I could drink out of the hose. I did, however, keep my eyes peeled for hoses hidden along the sides of the houses.

I finally gave up and started fantasizing about the ice water I was going to have when I walked in the door. I gulped down a 32-ounce bottle in one fell swoop and immediately felt a little ill. Now, I'm a bit headachy and might lie down for a minute... Funny how a little change in temperature can screw my routine up so badly!