Sweet Saturday

I really DID plan on writing this blog post yesterday, but it just never happened. Every time I sat down at my laptop, something else caught my attention and off I went. ADD at it's finest. lol.

I've completely blown my 100-day writing streak, so I'm going to have to start again. But, at least I have a better idea of what I need to do this time around to actually COMPLETE the challenge. Since I sit down every Saturday and make out my HUGE week-long to-do list for the next week (and it takes me a little while), I think I'm going to start allowing that to be one of my "journalings" for the challenge. And devote one notebook to this challenge, solely. I WAS trying to track it all with a word document, but it wasn't always convenient, which allowed me to slack off. No more of that.

I'm not sure what it was, but I just woke up in an excellent mood yesterday. Maybe it was because I slept in a bit and the sun was shining perfectly into my bedroom when I finally opened my eyes. I don't know. Anyway, I knew it was going to be a good day for my 6-miler. I didn't want to get on the W-C Trail and be bored for 6 miles and I didn't want to spend all that time on the road, either, so I looked for a mix. Going back to some of my bike rides from last summer for inspiration, I remembered that it was 6.75 miles round trip from my house to the Mallard Lake parking lot (the major trailhead for Oak Openings Metropark). Perfect. I didn't have to drive anywhere, I was in a familiar area, and I got to visit my favorite part. Again, perfect.

The run itself went pretty well. I woke up with a little pain in the normal place behind my right knee, but it quickly faded as soon as I started running. The only goals I had for the run were to finish and enjoy it. I didn't care how slow I ran it, but I wanted my final average pace to be in the high 11s. Well, I did it. It was a GORGEOUS sunny day in the low 40s and I enjoyed my 6 miles more than I thought I ever would. My music was rocking and I had to give myself a couple mini pep talks to keep my legs moving, but I did it. I even got a "visit" from my deer buddies while I was in the park. I had seen them on the side of the road ahead of me and, typical, they waited until I was RIGHT THERE to spook and take off across the road ALL AROUND ME. Sheesh. At least they didn't try to take me out like they did last summer when I was on the bike. lol. I definitely think I'm going to use this loop as a base when I start running longer distances. I can easily add a variety of loops with the park trails for more distance. :)