a good running day

Well, I think I'm bouncing back. I'm definitely less stressed.

This morning was a great time to run. After my job, I grabbed the dog and we just coasted along. We did have to deal with a recently-cropped up seasonal issue--turns out that the same dog who will happily roll around/plunge his head in/dig up piles of leaves will not step on them when they are on the sidewalk. So he's been running into me an awful lot recently, from the side...he used to do it now and then, maybe once or twice a week, so it took me a while to realize that I was getting POed because it's jumped up to 4-5 times a run, at least. And then I had to figure out why he was doing it. I think it's the leaves. I've been watching.

So I dealt out some harsh words--well, a harsh tone, at any rate--and he got better at dropping behind me when there isn't room, rather than crashing into me. He's a solid boy and doesn't realize his own mass and strength. He's not a big dog, really, but I've seen some 50-pounders that looked to be all leg and hair....not this one. There was one time that we were playing fetch in a grassy dewy field, and he was running towards me and couldn't stop. I saw true panic in his eyes as he tried to veer off to the side, but it wasn't enough and he slammed into me sideways. How I managed to stay on my feet, I don't know, but my shins hurt for a few days afterwards.

This bumping me in the side thing isn't half as bad, but still annoying.

Anyway, we still had a good run, apart from the above and, oh, the Phantom Feces. This is another issue we've been dealing with, and he's been really good these past few days, and then the Phantom visited us again after about 5 or so miles. What happens is that the dog stops, and apparently has to go poo, but nothing comes out. Meanwhile, he's surrepticiously sniffing. So, for a while, I wouldn't let him decide when to stop, and then I'd stop about a minute later someplace which looked to be boring, so that he could drop the kids off without getting distracted. Today, though, there was no poop at all. It's a big mystery.

He's also been pretty smelly all of a sudden....I'm not sure if this all is connected....

Anyway, apart from that, it was a great run. We jogged for about 9.29 miles. Perfect weather, sunny, not too windy or hot or anything.

I went home, ate, studied, napped...love not working as much! anyway, this evening was speedwork.

Thank goodness my fellow Philly hopefuls were there too, because I don't think I would have gotten through that without a couple of other runners at the same pace. I guess I'm still tired, and then it got dark and drizzly, which was nice, but also made it harder to keep the pace.

3X 3000M

13:27
13:27
13:31 (it was getting kind of slick at that point).

A good workout. It felt tougher than that pace should feel like, but I still have to catch up on sleep, and I wouldn't be surprised if the toll of marathon training will make the last few tough weeks even tougher. Just got to get through it.

Anyway, I ran 10.43 miles in the evening, so 19.72 miles in total today. Wednesdays are sometimes tougher than my long run days, but it's been working out well training-wise.