Kohl's Saves the Day (Again)

My warm weather running gear problem has been solved. I picked up some awesome Nike lightweight capri-length tights and they were on CLEARANCE for $18 plus I had a coupon (because, really, when do you NOT have a coupon for Kohl's?) so I think the final price was around $16. They are perfect in every way -- lightweight, moisture-wicking, mesh inserts behind the knees, stylish, perfect length hitting right below my knee, and even a little zip pocket in the back for a car key or ipod. AND -- they had 3 pairs in my size on the clearance rack. That's unheard of! I bought all 3 pairs. I love them so much I will even handwash them and not throw them in the dryer like I do with all my other workout stuff. I haven't even tried on the pair I got from Roadrunner Sports because I can already tell I love these way more. Hallelujah. Problem solved. They're so awesome they deserve a picture.

I did my long run today instead of tomorrow because we're leaving for vacation this weekend. Since I did 10 miles 2 weeks in a row I had decided to cut back to 8 this week, go back up to 10 next week, and go for 12 the following week. Official training only had me at 6 this week so I'm good as far as that goes. It was super hot, although not as hot as it has been, and I felt every freaking inch of the incline on the trail. My GPS got all wacky on me today but I'm pretty sure it's a little over a 300 foot climb over 4 miles. But what goes up must come down and that's what I kept telling myself on the first half of the run. Even with the heat I had a really good run, my pace for 8 miles was 11:09/mile. I'll have to check but I think that's my best pace so far for a trail run and given this heat (it was 85 when I finished) I think that's pretty awesome. It just goes to show you that some times you have a real crappy run like last week and then it gets balanced out with a good one like today. My pace is trending downward, even with last week's disappointment, and that's all I can ask for. Also, staggering the length of my long runs is proving to be effective -- by doing 10 hard miles the last 2 weeks my 8 miles this week was stronger than it's ever been. That's the way the program is designed, you go up on distance for your long run for 2 weeks in a row, then cut back, then move up again. It really does make you a stronger runner in the end and just having that mental break of weeks with a shorter long run helps so much.

I'll be on vacation next week but the runs will get done. They need to, next week is already week 2 of the training!