Much Better!

Today's run was a total 180 from last week.

While I had to get up an hour earlier (4:30 am), it was great because we got a treat this morning- Mark Wallis, a certified Chi Running instructor, hosted a workshop on improving our running stride and cadence, making us more efficient runners. I learned a LOT and was eager to put these new skills and tips to use.

Here's Mark's Chi Running website- it's really good stuff!! http://www.markdwallis.com/index.htm

We hit the path at about 7:15, and it was warming up quickly, but it felt good. I was wearing my new hydration belt (I'll add a picture of this later) and was eager to test it out. A few small leaks, nothing big, and we were off.

I ran with a fellow teammate, and we chatted the whole way, which was really nice- we had a good pace and cadence set, and we were done before we knew it.

At about 1 mile from the finish, we ran into Mark, and he ran with us and gave us some more pointers as we were running, which was so awesome- he complimented our form and reminded us to swing our elbows back (swinging my arms too far forward is left over from my sprinting days, now I'm supposed to bring my hands far enough back to tickle my ribs!).

My legs started to get pretty tight towards the end- my quads felt like bricks, and I could feel myself just getting plain tired. Having the water with me helped a lot, but I mean, I'm not used to running this distance quite yet, so my body is still adjusting.

We finished, high-fived, and went to slurp down some gatorade. Now, I've always thought gatorade was just ok..... But when you run 5 miles and your body is craving electrolytes, gatorade is DELICOUS. Seriously, it was the best thing I'd ever tasted. Sad, I know. It's the simple things, people.

Had an awesome piece of quiche after at Beyond Bread. It had havarti in it. You put havarti in anything, I'm totally game. Oh, and let me add that I was 13 when I found out that quiche is pronounced KEESH, and not KWI-CHEE (life was so much easier after that).

I think the best part is that I don't feel like I'm going to crash now that I'm home, so I'll probably take a shower because I smell pretty ripe.

Have a good weekend!