ugh, i've been slacking with my blog... i guess i'll try to pick up where i left off. so, i ran last weekend, and my training was supposed to be 2 1/4 miles or 25 minutes. my pace is almost a dead-set 10 min. mile, so technically, 2 1/2 miles for me would have been 22 1/2 minutes. i made a deal with myself... if i reached 2 1/2 miles before 25 minutes, and i wasn't just DYING, i would run till 25. phew. i did it! i wasn't exactly dying, but i was probably pretty close. i kept looking at the stopwatch and was really ready to stop at about 23 minutes, but i forced the last 2 minutes out somehow. it felt great.

keith had to be in tennessee last week, and week 7 of the couch to 5K was "run 2.5 miles, or 25 minutes" EVERYDAY. (or technically every other day which is how often i'm running). so, i knew in order for this to happen, i would need to be strong and get out there early. it's really heating up during the day. if i don't get out early, i have to wait until late in the evening. that's exactly what happened on monday (6/1); lizzie had her 4 mo. checkup appt. at 11 so i drank my coffee and we got ready for that instead of doing an early morning run. :) we went about 7:45 that evening and i did 2.5 miles in 25:30, stroller and all! i was pretty proud of myself. i felt good that day though.... no aches and pains, no side stitch, etc. i got into my pace pretty good that day and didn't feel that compulsive urge to check the stopwatch every minute. wednesday was a different story though... we went early in the morning, which was nice. it was really tough running with the stroller and the kids 2 times in a row for that distance. i did get a slight side-stitch that day, but was able to keep it together. i finished my 2.5 miles in 26 minutes. i ate a salad later that day from Target and wound up getting an upset stomach on Thursday. it wasn't full blown food poisoning, thank goodness, but it sure made me feel terrible. i skipped running on friday, because i could tell i was weak from not eating and/or drinking much on thursday when i was sick. i did my last run of the week yesterday and UUGGGGGGGGHHHHHH. IT WAS HARD. i didn't have to take the kids because keith was home, and i sort of in my head thought it was be a good time and day to speed run, trying to improve my overall pace. i finished my 2.5 miles in 23 minutes. decent time, but i sure paid for it! i got the worst side stitch i've had since starting running again. the kind you get and it's so deep and painful it stays that way AFTER the run is over. the kind where when you take a deep breath it feels like a knife slicing your side. it feels a little better today, but like it could come back tomorrow when i run. i'm going to try to get up early and go before keith leaves for work so i don't have to take the kids and stroller. i enjoy going with them, and i'm sure pushing that stroller is making me stronger, but it's alot of work! this last week of training has been the hardest week of the whole c25K program. only 2 more weeks to go. i need to find a good training schedule for when this is over. i'm not entirely sure what i'm going to do after this.