Breaking the chains. I am free to run!

A little discouraged.  Once again, I managed to finish one of these short races with way too much left in the tank.  It seems like once I really get cooking it's over.  I need to learn how to race and push harder in these short races.  I started out pretty good, didn't look at my watch but was in second place when the dust settled in the 2nd kilometer.  I was trailing the girl who won last year with a 19:30 so I figured if I kept contact with her that would be about right.  I stayed in range of her the whole time and then kicked about a quarter mile out and was closing the gap fast but ran out of race before I caught her--beat me by 3 seconds.  I could talk in full sentences immediately and knew this was not a good effort or true reflection of my capabilities.  I should have picked up the pace, passed her, and gone for it much sooner in the race.  I am disappointed-I know I have at least a 19:30 in me!  I am eyeballing a redemption 5k next weekend.  Bad idea or good idea?  I feel like I need the confidence boost of a 5k PR before my next marathon.  Warmed up 3.36 miles at 8:46 AP and did 5 strides off the line.  Cooled down 4.22 miles with Eddy at 8:35 AP, stopping a few times to field phone calls since I am the on-call nurse through until Monday.  I spent the awards ceremony in my car talking to a client and a doctor.  Next I ate lunch with my husband and then had to drive my sweat stinky self in running clothes to a client's house and send them to the hospital.  It has been a non-stop crazy on-call weekend and shows no sign of letting up.  

Terrible loooong day at work.  Came home and had to deal with a bunch of stuff.  No time to run, but I finally just took myself off the radar and ran 3 miles easy with surges of race pace to freshen up a little for the 5k tomorrow morning.  I hope I can sleep tonight; I will sure need it if I am going to get that PR.  I need it bad. 

Easy breezy on the treadmill while Vanessa napped.  Ran mostly at 8:34 pace except for the last .l6 at 6:00 pace to stretch my legs a little.  I am pretty eager for the 5k this weekend.  I am itching to race and itching for a PR.

7:39 AP.  Tried out the crocs!  I wore my favorite pink running socks with black crocs.  They were deliciously light and comfortable and the run felt fantastic.  I was running very comfortably but yet the pace was quicker.  My feet felt light and free and so did my legs.  Only downfall, a hot spot and small blister in the crease of each big toe.  I believe it is because there is sort of a bump there in the bed of the shoe as part of the inner pattern.  What to do?  Put in inserts?  I don't know what kind of inserts I could stick in there.  I also thought about just fileing the bump down.  Any suggestions?  They feel fantastic and I want to run in them more!  Nothing hurts, not my calves, achilles, nothing.  That silly bump just rubs my toes the wrong way.

8:11 AP. Hill workout. 1.34 mile warm up slow. Steady pace up and down the hill staying in the 7:50 neighborhood for miles 1.34 to 6.77, then cool down for a total of 8.13. Good strength workout for the legs but not a thrashing of a workout. Found some crocs finally in size XS at Sports Authority--will try them out tomorrow!

4:00 am.  10.08 at 8:57 AP.  The earlier it is the slower I am.  Calves were super tight and took 5 plodding miles to loosen up--in fact I didn't crack 9:00 until mile 7.  Altogether it was a pleasant, slow run.  There were a lot of sprinklers on and they looked like ghosts snaking in the dark--it was pretty cool!  I didn't hear a single yip from the coyotes, they have definitely moved on so I am much less tense on my early morning runs.

pm:  5 at 8:32 AP.  I got home early from work so figured why not and jumped on the treadmill.  I started at 7 mph but bumped up to 7.1 when I outran the treadmill and accidentally slammed my hand onto the console when my arm was swinging.