So, we finally had some fall weather this weekend - yahoo! Supposed to get close to 90 again this week, but at least it was nice and cool this morning -- over 20 degrees cooler than last weekend.

If you read yesterday's post from last week's thread, you'll see I was having leg pain. It was highly recommended that I ice, but I HATE ICE!!! So, I went against the recommendation and took a hot bath. AAAAHHHH . . . That along with the Advil I took yesterday afternoon and I was pain free this morning, so I went ahead and drove over to the start of today's 16.25 mile run. When I got there 5 minutes before start, nobody else was there. I waited 20 minutes and then decided to set out on my own. I didn't see another runner the whole morning! Turns out today was the Sacramento Cowtown Marathon and the group was either racing or volunteering. Oh well!

I felt MUCH stronger on this route than I did the first time a month ago. My time was about the same, but I had to take two potty stops this time. I really need to figure something out about that. I pooped 3 times in the hour before I left this morning (even had to run back in the house after I partially backed the car out of the driveway). I got to the starting point and tried the two open places -- gas station and donut shop -- and both did not have public restrooms. So, I ended up running about a mile down the road to the Starbucks and using theirs. After that, no facilities for about 8 miles (rural backroads). Thankfully, when I reached the firestation at my designated turnaround point, the firefighters were kind enough to let me use their restroom -- diarrhea -- UGH!!! Made it back to the parking lot and home without incident, thank goodness.

The exciting thing is that I felt much stronger on this run and it didn't seem as far. I still had to walk portions of two very steep inclines at the end, but that is less than I walked last time. Also, I DID NOT FALL!!!

The cool weather (50's and foggy heading out and clear 60's when I got back), made it so much more pleasant as well.

My plan called for an 18 miler today, but with all the hills I think the 16.25 was enough. I felt strong at the finish, like I could have gone farther, but why push my luck? My leg still feels good this afternoon.

Hope everyone else gets off to a great start of the week as well! I look forward to hearing your reports/stories.