Back Pounding the Pavement

So I know I need to run more. That is a given ... especially because I haven't been logging many miles a week like I should. Oops.

Anyway, due to the above fact, I ran tonight. Was going to run this morning ... slept. Then this afternoon ... hot. Therefore, this evening. I took the time to warm up (40 jumping jacks) and STRETCH beforehand - something I hadn't really been doing recently.

Yeah, that helped. Plus it made me realize that I lost some flexibility again. Boo. I know how important it is to stretch ... but unless I'm working out at the gym (haven't done in a while) or doing a race, I forget to warm up and stretch out really well.

In any case, I decided I wanted a longer run - at least a half-hour - and took off. Just randomly ran around the neighborhood, so to speak, taking it relatively easy knowing I was going to be out there for a while.

But then ... every runner's personal demon ... the bowels started kicking in. No accidents (thankfully), but the "IneedtopoopIneedtopoopIneedtopoop" feeling that I got about a mile or so in wasn't pleasant.

As a result, I ended up running 2.51 miles in 25:40 for about a 10:13 mile. Not great, but given that if I tried to push it my butt started saying, "Girl, you might not want to DO that ...", I'll take it. Plus it was a longer run so THAT'S good as well.