In Which I run a 10K and a 5K (& Make Firefly References)

Hello again, dear friends!

Many of you will remember from this post that last week went swimmingly. I felt like I'd finally gotten this running thing down and understood why everyone likes it so much. This week... not so much. 

As expected, it was much harder. Without increasing any distances, I felt like death and my legs were too tired too move. (More on this in a minute).

The good news:

• I missed my running group from having too much fun on the weekends (sometimes you need to sleep past 6 am on a Saturday) and had to go on my own. I did a 10K, and folks, I really surprised myself. When I go with my team I run in the recommended "11:30 mile" group, but it has felt a teensy bit slow to me. So on Saturday I just went out the door and attempted to set a steady pace. It was hard, and I had to push myself to keep it up, but I ran a 9:38 minute mile. To use an exceedingly British phrase, I was well chuffed.
•  Today I ran my 5K "test run" to see how I'm progressing. These are my results the first time. Today, according to the website I use (which I still don't believe because it doesn't seem possible) I ran a 9.05 minute mile. Shut the front door! How, when I felt like molasses? Sore, tired molasses. 
• This means that I've moved up to the next bracket in the training chart, so I should now train with the 11 minute group. That's up 2 groups from my initial 12 minute mile! And I'm projected to finish the 'thon a half hour sooner! Shiny!!

On the bad side, my legs have been feeling really fatigued. This from a combination of the fact that I'm training for a marathon, have a pretty active job, and am having all the funs (and none of the sleeps) the weekends. I need to figure out a way to continue doing all these things, but get more rest in. It can be done! I just need to manage it better.
And on my run today:

Actually, two. And felt pretty much the same way River does about it.

All in all it was a fabulous week, but the running physically hurt. I ran through my first side cramp which started at mile one of the 10k and it stuck around til the end. I had another side crampy friend today, which I didn't appreciate. Despite these setbacks, I am so proud of myself, and I know it will continue to get better. I am in a "Go Me!" kind of mood, which seems an excellent place to end this post. (Although I hesitate to say it, I feel like a leaf on the wind.)