10.5 miler

Hello!

I hope everyone is over Monday and adjusting back to life after a gorgeous fall weekend.  Fall is my favorite season.  Is there anything better than a New England Fall?  Leaves are turning, cold crisp nights, pumpkin everything.  Fall is the best time to be in Connecticut. 

 It was a 3 day weekend for me, as I spent Wednesday - Friday at the Big E horseshowing.  For you non New Englanders, the Big E is just a huge 3 week fair filled with rides, animals, shows, shops, and fried everything.

It was a very new environment for Bradley-

 big stadium, lights, people everywhere, rides, noises, 

oh and Pauly D Djing right outside the horse show. 

 Bradley hated that....

Bradley got over all of his fears and was a very good boy and had a clear round in the 3'6 classic.  I am thinking about buying this picture, a little torn because his knees aren't straight.. and I look a little dreadful, but we are in the coliseum and hes cute....

Is it worth buying?

While the horse show went well, my running really suffered because of it. 

 It was a really long and stressful week at work,
 and then Wednesday Thursday Friday I was driving back and forth 
to and from Springfield, an hour and twenty minutes.  

Because of this (and my laziness) I missed my entire week of running. 

When the weekend came I was so exhausted from the horse show,

 and then I spent Sunday diving (diving season is coming to an end I have to take every chance I get to splash around with the fish!)
 

This meant my last run was my 9 miler over a week ago.

OOPS.....

Saturday was recovering from the horse show, and Sunday was spent diving,  so I decided to squeeze my long run in on Monday after work.  The weather was perfect- 70's and sunny with a breeze.  No humidity - finally.  

I threw on my shorts, tank top, pink PROcompression socks, Gravity Newtons, and Camel bak with two NUUN tabs and water, grabbed Olive and I hit the road for 10.5. 

I decided I wanted a mostly flat route, and a loop where I could drop Olive off around 6.5 (I don't like her running too far of a distance with me, although she is MORE than capable...).  

I did this 6.5 mile loop round Old Lyme, dropped Olive off at my parents, and did a 2 mile out and back.  It was a pretty run with scenic views, the only down fall was a lot of time spent on curvy main roads with no side walks

I was really nervous about this run because I had taken 8 days off from running entirely, and my 9 mile felt pretty awful.  I set Spotify on a good station and finally headed out the door. 

The hardest part is always ALWAYS getting out the door.  The more time I spend thinking about how awful it is going to be, the less likely I am to ever put my sneakers on.  I told Stacie not to let me back on the property until my Garmin said 10.5 and she agreed.  

The first two miles were stiff and ouchy, but things started to loosen up by mile 3.  

(supports my three mile theory but that's another post)

I was feeling good from miles 3-6.5 until I had to drop Olive off.  Something about passing your house that makes going out for another four REALLY tough.  I dropped her off, gave her water, and headed out with my gu for a 2 mile out and back for my last four miles.  Some of this felt heavy and tough, but I was really happy with my splits towards the end.  You can tell I had a harder time at miles 7 and 8, and got my grove back for 9, 10, and 10.5

Can I just stop and say how much I LOVE my Garmin Forerunner 110- and how much I LOVE the Garmin connect site?  Plug in my watch and all of this amazing data comes up, splits, maps, elevation- it is truly amazing.  And worth every penny. 

After my run I decided to keep moving - I rode Bradley, cleaned stalls, grabbed the dog, and headed back home to Chester for dinner.  I have a l o t of veggies dying in the fridge, and wanted something healthy, so I decided to make a fritatta.   A big bowl of sauteed veggies (green beans, eggplant, red pepper, tomato, onion, garlic, mushrooms) 6 eggs, grated cheese, salt and pepper, and a dash of water.  A few minute in the pan and a few minutes under the broiler and viola!  

Coupled with a hand full of tater tots and BOOM- breakfast for dinner.  

My run wasn't a piece of cake... but it wasn't as hard as I expected either.  If only getting out that door could be easier.  

Two weeks until my fourth half marathon!
 (Third this year!)

Stay Tuned and Happy Running,

Katie