Day 108-111: 1.7 weeks until race

Yesterday (Day 111) was a rest/fishing day.  Fishing can require quite a bit of energy, but mostly if you are actually catching fish and reeling them in.  My rest/fishing day was more like this: I was in a boat on a river and the fish weren't biting, so I decided to rest and relax on the gently rocking boat.  Worked for me!

Day 110: Ran the Alaska Run for Women Five Miler in under 45 minutes (44:30-something).  That's a few seconds faster than a nine minute mile!  I couldn't believe my time when I ran around that corner and saw the finish line!!
Mile 1 was pretty tough, especially when my mind starting telling me things like, Well, you walked it last year, so who cares if you walk it again, as long as you beat last year's time.  However, I was determined to keep a good pace for the entire run, which I did!  I passed mile 2 at about 18 minutes and some odd seconds and wondered if I could run the last three miles at the same speed.  I hit mile 3 at roughly 27 minutes and then mile 4 at 36.  I kept doing the math in my head, which was a great distraction, because I didn't really think I was capable of what I was doing.  Just that morning, I had been thinking about sleeping in instead of waking up early to go to the run--mostly because I was afraid that I would do badly.  It sounds like my body knows what it's doing; it's my mind that I need to get into better shape!
During the first half of my run, lots of people were passing me, but as I neared the end, I realized that I was now the one passing people.  I always tell myself that I will speed up when I can see the finish, which is exactly what I did.  I had saved just enough energy to push through at the very end.  What another great victory!  Now if I can just keep up this pattern for the real run!!

Day 109: Rest day; was feeling sluggish today due to laying around.  I'm realizing how much getting outside and running really makes me feel better in every way.

Day 108: Rest day and suprisingly wasn't too sore from my nine mile run on the previous day.  That is a good sign!

Quote of the day: "All runners are not created equal.  We do not start with the same genes or have the same time or resources for training.  For better or worse, we are all unique.  Put things in perspective: Have you ever noticed that faster runners rarely seem satisfied with their performances, while many slower runners wear a perpetual grin on their faces?" -John Bingham, famous running author