Wednesday I went on run using my new gear.  I filled up one water bottle and wore my belt.  I also decided to run using my calf sleeves per a recommendation from my friend Shannon.  I was just going to use them after my cold bath and shower, but thought I’d give it a shot and see how they felt.  During the first mile I felt like my shins were getting a little irritated and almost wanted to take them off but I kept going.  Sometimes I felt them pinch a little behind my knee but I got over it.

It was a much warmer day so I did take a few sips of water.  I was doing a 4/1 walk/run ratio and kicked it back to the 3/1 after about 2 miles.  The water belt took a little while to get used to wearing.  I ran 5.2  miles and could not go any further because my stomach was gurgling and I had to get home to the bathroom. Any minute later and I think I would have had to knock on a stranger’s door.

What used to be an easy run of 3 miles for me is now a 5 mile distance.  I never thought I would consider 5 miles to be my easy run so I am glad for that.  My endurance is building.

Thursday my legs felt good.  I stretched on the grid Wednesday night real good and have no soreness.  I also stretched on the grid Thursday night and on Friday my thighs felt heavy, so Ithink they were a little sore from rolling so much on the roller.

My sister is asking me questions about running and I’m excited to share the knowledge I have of it and get her to start trying.  I recommend the ipod walk to run coaching tool so she can start using walk/run.  I also told her I’d love to run a 5k with her so she’d have a goal to work towards.  So we’ll see. 

Today (Saturday) I am having my tea and breakfast and waking up and preparing myself for my 8 mile run.  I keep thinking I have to do 9, but the goal is 8.  I will be using Gu and am packing up 2 water bottles.  Maybe if the urge strikes I will go for 9, but I have to stick to the plan to avoid overdoing it and getting injured.  I will post my recap and let you know how I make out.