Feeling the burn

The weather was a bit warmer than I expected..of course being sucked in by Walker Texas Ranger and wasting about 45 minutes, could have affected my weather expectations. When I checked the weather before heading out it said it was 67, which would be great, however after watching Walker, apparently the temperature rose about 11 degrees! I check the weather after coming in and it's 78. I don't usually run when it's about 75, I like the cooler weather. So anyway, it was hot- but a beautiful day. My first running segment is always roughest. I feel so out of sorts, not comfortable. My 2 minutes segment was great, after running these 4 min segments, the 2 minute is a breeze. I think I'm also more in a groove. The last 4 minute is tough, but today I could feel my calves a lot and while I was breathing hard, I think I pushed myself pretty good. I also had a great breakthrough the Saturday that I forgot to mention: You know those quad stretches (like the one in the picture)? Well until very recently, the only way I could do this stretch was to use the opposite arm. In other words, when stretching the right quad, I'd have to use my left hand because I couldn't reach with the right. I'm sure exactly WHY, I mean it could be because my leg wouldn't come up high enough (due to the size of my legs) or it could be that I was too wide and my arm couldn't reach down far enough (around me). But whatever the reason I couldn't do it before... I CAN DO IT NOW! and without holding on to anything too!!

So here is today's run. I've also included the elevation of my runs (in general). This route goes from my house down the entire length of the park walking trail. It's an out and back route. Right now I don't go all the way to the end but the middle of the route is generally flat- it's the hill that I go up and down at the beginning and end I wanted you to see :)
Week 2: Day 2-