Bad Blogger Catching Up

I have been a bad blogger.  No post since July 4th!  From the beginning, I have always said that I would only write if I had something to say. I have stayed pretty true to that but the problem with this last week is that I did have stuff to say, yet, I did not take the time to write about.

Now, just to fill you in, I have my in-laws here.  They have been staying with us for the last two weeks and they leave tomorrow.  We only see them a couple times a year and I love when they visit. I have not been on the computer as much as I usually am. Honestly, this is not a bad thing. 

The other side is it is summer.  Both kids home ALL THE TIME!  Ok, it's really not that bad, but you know what I mean.

So I guess this will be quick catch you up kind of post.  You all read how horrible my last race was.  In fact, the runs prior to that were all stinky.  Finally, on July 7th, that all changed.  I headed out for a run, no set time, just wanted to make it good.  From the moment my feet stepped outside, I was in runners heaven. I felt good, my pace was good, and I was smiling.  When I finished, I cried out of pure joy. 

I can't say for sure what changed but I can say that I am happier than ever and I have been looking forward to every run since then.

My next run after that was Thursday.  I usually run with Beth on Thursday at 6 with theNarragansett Running Association.  This week, Elaine called to say that she was meeting some friends at 6:30 and would Beth and I like to join them.  Well, of course we would!

Eight miles were on the schedule for this run.  The five of us are all running The Blessing 10 Miler in two weeks. 

We stayed together for the first 4 miles.  Some of us were meeting for the first time, and it was really nice getting to know each other.  I swear, when you run with someone, you are instantly friends.  Once we got into mile five, our paces changed a bit and we broke up into a 3 and a 2 group.  The difference in the finish times were about three minutes. 

(On a side note, my Garmin is being goofy and it beeped at me for the last two miles of this run. It locked up and no matter what button on combination of buttons that I pushed, it would not change from the screen it was on.  So frustrating!)

That run ended with a drink on the deck at the Coast Guard house which is how I like to end every run.   : )

Since I ran my long run on Thursday, my Saturday run was just three miles.  I know I shouldn't say "just".  Anyway, another awesome run! It was hot and humid, but aren't all our runs this time of year? 

We are exactly 18 weeks away from the Philadelphia Marathon and my first day of training will be tomorrow!  I can hardly believe it! 

The first run calls for three miles and I will knock that out in the morning.  Because I have The Blessing coming up, my long runs for the next couple of weeks will be longer than the plan calls for.  I don't think that should hurt me since I have been running consistently this year.  What do you think?

Ok, so my plan for blogging is to keep you as updated as best I can.  I will have at least one post a week but I guessing it will be way more than that.  I tend to write more when I am in training.  That's not a bad thing, right? 

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend.  I know a few of you are also training for a fall marathon.  Did you start your training yet?  How is it going?

Run Strong, Think Big! ~ Nicole