Well, I finally had a really crappy run today. Seems like one thing after another went wrong. A goldfinch flew into one of our windows right before I left the house. It died immediately, which made me very sad (I love birds). I walked, then ran, a few laps on our trails (.56 mile each lap), then started getting really hot since I was wearing a wicking top with a zip fleece over it, and a wool watch cap, and tights (temp was upper 40s, and I am a cold-weather weenie). I was attempting to use a stopwatch to measure my pace for each lap, and I got flustered since I needed to stop and remove layers, wasn't sure how to do the stopwatch so it wouldn't count that time.

On the next lap, I got junk in my shoe (little pieces of sticks and leaves), and finally had to take it off and dump it out, so I ditched the stopwatch since I'd now completely screwed it up, and it was stressing me out. I got to the 6th lap and my lower back started hurting on one side, and I couldn't stretch away the pain, so I just turned around and walked to my house, then dissolved on my porch steps in tears.

It had been a rough week at work, a lot of pressure and stress, and I guess everything just got to me. Running had been my "escape" from the craziness at work, so when it went badly too, I guess I just lost it and felt like a big failure. I am feeling fine now. A beer, some food, and a hug from my DH helped!

So, I only managed about 3.5 miles total today. This is the first week my mileage has been less than the week before. Oh well -- I guess I was due a sucky run after so many good ones. It really was a beautiful day out; I wish I could have enjoyed it more.

Emily