Keep On Keeping On

What a month October has been.  New changes have been decided on, some have been acted on, and in the meantime, we kept on running.

On the 22nd, we ran in the Oakland Cemetery's Run Like Hell 5k.  As part of the Halloween spirit, we all dressed up.

Thanks Joshua!

The looks on everyone's faces when they saw our Jackie Moon look-a-likes, priceless.

Lessons Learned from Injury #3:  Do not attempt to turn around to talk to your friend amid a crowded street, just after missing a tree in the face, and not seeing the approaching curb.  You will stumble, fall, and scrape your hand.

Injury #2 is slowly but surely healing.  It finally just looks like a long scratch on my arm.  Injury #1 is barely visible.  Yay!

The following day was the long 10-mile run.  Remembering our previous 10-miler made this one feel a bit daunting.  I just felt so tired the entire run, and was nervous for this one.

In trying something new, we sipped on Gatorade during the run instead of water.  I personally don't enjoy drinking Gatorade while working out, but I was willing to try anything to keep up my energy, and had a 1/2 water and 1/2 Gatorade mixture.  I also tried little energy bites that I would eat every 15 minutes or so.  Phillip wasn't as much of a fan of the little bites, and stuck to his Gatorade.  I was surprised by how much they really did help, and will definitely continue this new tactic on the long runs.

Now what I need to figure out is a good recipe for sports drinks and energy bites that I can make myself so I know exactly what I'm putting in my body.  Until then, Gatorade will have to suffice.

A few more runs throughout the week, and here we are, back at Sunday.  We decided on going on long runs every other weekend until we're more comfortable with those distances, meaning we have this weekend "off".  And we almost really did take the weekend off.

Until today when I guilt tripped myself into going for one. 

You know when you know you need to do something, and you just don't want to do it, but realize that's the time when you really need to?  Yep.  It happens.

And for the best.  My run today was the best paced run I've had in quite some time.  Maybe it had to do with running mid-afternoon.  Maybe it's because it was surprisingly nice outside.  Whatever it was, it worked.  It worked great.

Great for Phillip, too.  He was totally going to skip out as well, but luckily for him, when I got home and told him how I did, it seemed to guilt trip inspire him, leading to his own great run.  Awesome!

Tomorrow is the last day of October!  It's doubtful that I'll get another run in.  I have to dress up in my costume for work, and it's likely to take all morning to get ready.

Which leads me to my end of the month stats!

Total miles run in October:  74.1 (up 23.3% since September!)
Farthest distance in October:  10 miles
Total miles since August:  209
Total calories burned since August: 20,344 (yeah, baby)

Happy Halloween!