Running Free

Yesterday I had on the books an easy 5 miler to recover from my crazy 12 on Wednesday.  I was actually not feeling it when I got home and was about to head out the door.  Our four legged baby girl, Lilly, had been a pain in the butt the night before and neither of us got a good night's sleep despite going to bed early.  She got us up a few times to go potty which is unlike her.  So needless to say, we didn't do so hot on Thursday.
And, to make matters worse, the humidity is still sticking around!  The temps had climbed back into the low 80's and the humidity was hovering around 70% in my neck of the woods!  Very unsual crazy weather for us here in NorCal.  I had all these odds stacked against me before I even got out the door!  But I sucked it up and headed out.  When my Garmin finally found a satelite it told me the battery was low, which was odd because I had just taken it off the charger.  But I figured it was lying, and that I had at least 40 mins of battery left, more than enough time to get my run done.  Well, it wasn't, and that damn thing crapped out about 3/4 a mile into my run!  OH.MY.GOD!  How do I run without my Garmin? Should I go back and get my old one, I thought?  How will I know my pace, my time?  Ugh, the thought of going back another 3/4 mile to get my old one was daunting, so I decided to run to a spot equaled a mile and then hit up the high school track.
I got to the track with about 1.25 miles under my belt already and decided to just punch out 12 laps and get home.  Bad mistake.  Running around a track 12 times sucks!  Speed workouts are different, you switch it up!  Running around with the same effor each time was hard!  Plus, I was dodging footballs from the football team's kicker.  For some reason, that poor kid couldn't kick the ball straight to save his life!
I got the miserable miles done and headed home.  I was a wet mess!  And I was tired.  Not knowing how fast I was going, or how far I had really gone, killed me.  But, when I got home, I did the math and i did about 5 miles in 48 mins...not bad considering I almost went insane on that damn track.  I love going out for a run without my Garmin when I don't have any scheduled miles to hit.  Mentally that is the best workout.  This time though, I was a mess.  I should have gone back for my old one.  Lesson learned.
I have a busy weekend ahead of me!  I mentioned that I had an opportunity to buy a bib from someone and run the Nike Women's Half Marathon on Sunday.  Well, I am pleased to say I bought it and I'm in!  The thing is though, I also have a 5K tomorrow that I had sighned up for months ago.  So, as much as I wanted to try and PR tomorrow seeing how it is my first ever 5K, I might take it slow.  Maybe.  I am definetly going to be taking it easy on Sunday, but we'll see how I feel on Saturday morning.
After my 5K I have to race to get my hair cut, and I have some toilets at home that need scrubbing.  After all that, I need to head to bed early.  The race starts at 7am on Sunday and I am a good 50 mins away from the city.  With parking and this being a big race (20K runners) I am going to have to leave the house no later than 4:30, which means I will be up at 3am!  Man!  That is early.  But I am excited to race, I am excited for my neclace and I am excited to hang with my parents.  They are going with me because the hubbs has to work.  It will be fun - race report on Sunday!
Have a great weekend!  Good luck to all the racers this weekend, especially Aron & Tara!
Happy Running! :)