Time: 40 minutes
Length: A little more than 3...I'll say 3.2.

I didn't get my run in yesterday morning because I had a breakfast with the College Board of Directors for the Journalism School. (Basically it was a chance for a bunch of journalism students to spend an hour chatting with someone important in the industry and make networking connections, etc.)

I had plans to run when I got home from my internship yesterday, but instead I laid down to watch TV for a little bit and accidentially fell asleep and woke up 2 hours later. I guess I really needed the sleep. I had been up late the night before working on a group paper. The end of the semester is killing me. All the work is leading to major lack of sleep.

So instead of cross-training today I bumped my run back. It was really chilly this morning; I had to pull out a long-sleeve running shirt. But other than the weather, the run was excellent. I went longer than usual, seemed to be able to keep my pace and felt really good the whole time. And even though it was chilly, the sun was shining the entire time and it was gorgeous outside.

Reminded me of this little country tune: "It's a great day to be alive. I know the sun's still shining when I close my eyes."

Time: 60:28
Length: 5 miles (approx.)

It's been a long time since I've done a long run. With softball on Saturdays I just really haven't been going. Plus since I'm only training for a 1/2 this time, I don't really need to be training too hardcore yet. But because today was a bye week in softball I decided it was time to go out for a nice easy long run.

Overall, the run went well. I had to stop aobut 1/2 way through though because my calves were getting really tight and I was developing a shin splint in my left leg. So walked to the nearest telephone pole and stretched it out for a few minutes. I started off slowly after that and I could still sense the tenderness, but after about 10 minutes it seemed to go away completely, and as a result I was able to pick up the pace a little bit. I definitely finished stronger than I started which is great!

I have to write a paper and start a take home final this weekend, but other than that there isn't too much going on. Summer is sooooo close!

And a huge shout out to Joe who is running his first half marathon tomorrow!

More details later, just quick stat post:
Time: 33:47
Length: Not sure rounding down to 2.5 miles just to safe. (Must really consider getting a Garmin because it's so annoying to drive all the routes to get mileage counts).

ADDITION: Ok, now that I have a few minutes to sit down and write an actual entry, I'll get started. First, I've had to change up my cross training yet again because the indoor pool at school is close for re-finishing for the entire month of May. They're re-tiling the bottom and in order to do that they had to drain both pools (We have an Olympic size and a regular size) and will have to refill them and balance chemicals after all the work is done. It was slightly frustrating, but I've been able to replace it with a workout DVD. Now it may sound kind of corny, but I reviewed this set of DVD's for my internship last summer and they're actually pretty intense and give a really good workout. Each DVD has two different strength training portions to alternate between and then they include a 1/2 hour cardio segment too.

I figure this is good, because my strength training has been virtually nonexistent this entire semester. I know it's a good thing to do, but I really have a hard time motivating myself to do it because I feel I get so much more out of cardio and when I only have a small amount of time to workout...yea I'd just rather spend it on cardio.

So that will be my plan until the pool is up and running again. After, I'll see.

I was really pleased with today's run. I started off slower than I usually do, but was able to really pick up my speed after about the first 7 minutes or so. And it felt good to be running faster. I noticed a slight dull pain in my shin towards the end of the run, but other than that I have no pain to report.

It was really humid out this morning though which made it hard to run. I felt like I was inhaling water instead of oxygen because the air was just that heavy. Unfortunately I'm sure that's what I'm going to have to look forward to on most of my summer runs. It was humid at home in PA, but I hear the humidity is a bear in Maryland. I'm trying to look at it positively though. My 1/2 marathon is at beach...there is definitely going to be moisture in the air there, so I figure it will be good training in similar conditions.

I'm so excited this weeks almost over. (I only have class/work Mon-Thurs.) Just need to get through next week and then classes will be over. My finals schedule isn't too bad. I have a final on Monday (but I'm taking the class pass/fail so I don't need to study :O) and then I have a final on Thursday (which will be horrible and will require many hours of studying) and then a take home final which will be due Thursday.

I'm so looking forward to it all being over and being able to relax and really log some quality miles in the summer when I have more free time!