I'll start. (The thread title is just the first thing that popped into my head, not a commentary on anyone's running! I don't think we've used that one before.)

Today was supposed to be my day off, and I really needed it after a hard 54 mile ride yesterday and a 5K race on Saturday. I hadn't had a day off since before last week's long run.

But. (There's always a but.) I'd promised a friend I'd teach her aerobics class tomorrow, and right after that we're going to visit the in-laws. So if I didn't run today my schedule was going to be all scr*wed up. I whined and moaned and took way too long to get dressed and warmed up, but I finally headed out the door.

I'd waited until awfully close to high tide, so the beach was pretty soft. The wind was fierce, straight up and down the beach - 17 mph steady and gusting to 26. My out lap was @ 13:02, the return trip was @ 9:57, just thanks to the wind - a 14 minute difference over the same distance. Plus it filled my shoes up with sand - not so comfortable.

On last week's long run I'd just brought 16 oz of water, and it really felt like I was out of fuel by the end of it. Plus, we had one packet of powdered Gatorade left from when we had the stomach flu two weeks ago. So I figured it was time to "graduate" to all three 8-oz bottles that came with my hydration belt, and fill two of them with Gatorade for some carbs on the go. It felt pretty heavy starting out, but it must've been the right decision, because I didn't get the same feeling of depletion I had last week.

Nine miles and no problems. Ah, it seems so easy to keep adding mileage... I'm really working on body mechanics with yoga and massage and self-massage and Chi Running, but I'm still half sure I'm going to run into a problem sooner or later. Keeping my fingers crossed and doing whatever I know how to do to prevent that!

So tomorrow I get the easy day... low impact aerobics and the motorcycle ride and that'll be it.