Running in Circles.

I'm happy to report that I had the fortitude to run eight miles by myself on my first day of school, with students. It was a humid, boring run; but, it felt so good to work off all of that nervous energy. I got started pretty early (like, 5:15); but next time I think I need to get out by five. My pace wa very comfortable, it was a solid nine minutes per mile. Not bad at all!

I ran a negative spilt, which is a very good thing to practice when marathon training. A negative spilt is when the second half of the run is faster than the first half. I figured out during the last marathon that I HAVE to run the first half slower than the second. And, I do mean I HAVE to. Not only is better for me physically, but more importantly, it helps me psychologically. When you're on the sixteenth mile, it's uplifting to know that you're only getting faster and stronger than you were on the tenth mile. That's huge.

While I was running yesterday morning, I ran into a woman I know and we've made plans to meet one another tomorrow morning. It will be so nice to have some company and to have a reason to get out of the house on time. Tomorrow's run is four, which seems so do-able.

During the run yesterday, I thought a lot about the marathon, which was a good thing...But, I have to admit, when you're finishing up an eight mile run in this hot, humid weather; you begin to wonder if you've really got it in yourself to run a marathon...

I try not to let these thoughts cross my mind because OF COURSE I can do it. It might not FEEL good and it's certainly going to be painful, but I know I can do it...