Happy Fourth of July!!

I'm a little delayed in writing this, but Happy Fourth of July!! I hope everyone had some fun celebrations yesterday...I know I did! Despite working on Friday and having to work today, I still managed to do a lot this weekend. I was supposed to go up to the Rocket Scientist's family cabin, but then I found out I had to work on Sunday and it wouldn't be worth the three hour drive to get up there, so I stayed home. He came over on Thursday night before heading up to the cabin on Friday, so we got up and went running before I had to go to work. He wasn't necessarily in the mood for running, but I dragged him along for six miles. I showed him "the other way" on the trail near my house, and once we finished running, he said he was glad I made him go with me even though he didn't feel like running. Isn't that how it always works??

Friday, July 3
6.04 miles in 47:19, avg pace of 7:50

My roommate was having a BBQ, so we were able to indulge in some buffalo cheese dip and spinach artichoke dip before I headed to work. So delicious! Work was a bit crazy on Friday night...I swear it turned into a psych ward! Lots of sundowning, and even a patient with actual psych disorders. I did not like my psych rotation at all...it was something that I simply "got through" in nursing school, so it is very hard for me to enjoy work when three out of four of my patients have some sort of dementia/psych disorder.

I woke up on Saturday and it was only about 76 degrees...perfect for a long run! I've been working up for marathon training, so I planned to do 12 miles, which would be the longest I've gone since the marathon in May. It's been awhile! I headed out for the trail, and I was on my way!

Saturday, July 4 - Happy Independence Day!
12.06 miles in 1:34:53, avg pace of 7:52

Awesome, awesome run. I found a water fountain and bathrooms 5.33 miles into the run, which was really nice! I wish I had known about them last week during the 10 miler because it was so hot that I could have used it, and it would have only been two minutes away from turnaround! Oh well, at least it will be good for future reference! I didn't feel tired at all during the run...except for the last uphill mile, but I was expecting that. I tried saying "Happy Fourth!" to people I passed, but no one really said much back to me...People on the trail here are grumpy! An old man who was walking said, "Alright go girl!" to me, which I thought was funny. :)

Since I don't know too many people around here, the Rocket Scientist's friends from high school invited me to one of their parties since I was going to be around and RS was not. It'd been awhile since I'd seen a lot of them, but they're all nice and there was lots of food so it was a good time. I'm really quiet, especially in a group of people who mostly know each other and I don't know them too well, so I was kind of nervous. I wish I was more outgoing, but I don't really see that happening anytime soon. I'm good at one-on-one conversations, but not in a group setting. Afterward a few of us left the party to go see fireworks, which were pretty but were nothing compared to the city of Chicago's fireworks! Maybe next year.

This morning was another gorgeous day...76 with a slight breeze, perfect for a run! I set out for five miles, telling myself I would take it slow and be in "recovery" mode from yesterday's long run. Like every other attempt, I failed at running slow. All my runs are around the same pace, no matter what my legs feel like. Once marathon training actually starts, I will need to actually slow down some runs, while speeding up others because I'm hoping to put in some speed work this time around.

Sunday, July 5
5.23 miles in 41:33, avg pace of 7:57

Less than half a mile shy of 40 miles for the week...not too shabby! Time to get ready for work...I hope everyone enjoys what is left of the holiday weekend!