Against The Wind

Goodness, life is just crazy! We are always against the wind. One minute you're facing raging winds, debris in your face, and your soaking wet. Then next minute the wind is at your back, helping along the road of life, lifting you up on cloud 9! Eh, not quite 9... how about cloud 4 or 5? ;) Then you blink and the gusts of wind pick back up and once again you begin a slow army crawl to reach a safe place, out of the storm. What do you do to handle the windy times of our lives? You keep on, keepin' on! Keep your chin up (as Mandy, Christopher, and Eric always tell me) ... and RUN!

The last week has been great as far as training goes! The weekly mileage increased this week. I had two- 3 mile runs, a 5 mile run, and my long run was 8 :) Shorter runs were smooth and fast. I enjoyed increasing one of my weekly runs to 5 miles this week. Added a few more miles to my total- which I like! I had mentioned adding more cross-training/ cycling to my training schedule. I did just that but the distance and how often was not by choice, lol! I started another job down here and my only means of transportation are my legs... and the bike I borrowed. I calculated the distance to be 8.5 miles one way and obviously an additional 8.5 miles to return home.. gah!!!  I grunt and groan through the whole 17 miles each day, but on a very positive note: I will seriously have legs AND buns of steel in no time :) Who can complain about that, right?!!

My long run this week went well. I had to switch up days and run it on Friday rather than Saturday, but it worked out well! Each week I see more and more of Tucson because of this run. The 8 miles took me a little closer to the mountains this week :) It started off a little slow but I finally settled in at about the 3 mile mark and had a smooth run until mile 6 or so. I hit a small wall at mile 6.5. I think part of that had to do with the clouds of smoke I was having to inhale due to a near by house fire! Even with it being monsoon season, everything is SO dry here... I managed to kick down the wall and finish strong with the last 2 mile loop around downtown, again. 8 miles was great, but I'm looking forward to the TEN miles next week!! I might try a whole different route next week to keep things interesting and exciting. Should be fun!

My mom comes to visit this week for my birthday... YAY, a familiar and loving face! What a great week to come :) Of course, I will stay on top of my training like a good little runner! Hope you all have a had a great week. Hopefully it won't be another week before I get to write again! Until then, I'll keep, keepin on- against the wind...

NOTES of THE DAY:
*Temperature: 74
*Song of the Day: "Against the Wind" by Bob Segar
*Tip of the Day: Try the G.U. gel packs! They are great during a run. Vanilla bean is my favorite :)
*Quote of the Day: "Attitude is the way you mentally look at the world around you. It is how you view your environment and your future. It is the focus you develop toward life itself."