Day 46.

Today is a long run day. I woke up early to fit in a 30 minute Pilates DVD before taking the kids to school. Then, for my run, I decided to change things up a bit and do a different route that doesn't involve going to the park with the running path. I typically like using the park because I know how long the track is, and I can gauge my distance and time that way. But I recently received a gift from my mentor, a Garmin Forerunner 305, a brilliant invention you wear like a watch that uses GPS to allow you to track your miles, route, pace, heart rate and even tells you how many calories you burn. Then you can hook it up to your computer, and using the CD it comes with, you can download all the info stored from your workout onto a training program so you can track your progress. Awesome! This thing is really going to come in handy when we're on family camping trips and I still need to get in a run. With GPS, I can figure out a route with the necessary mileage, anywhere. I started out by walking about a mile, then I started my run. I did 3.75 miles of running, then returned to walking for the last 1/4 mile back home.

Now, with a new route comes new challenges, like cars zooming by at 50mph, narrow sloped shoulders to escape said cars, crossing guards of wild turkeys (yes, giant turkeys in the road!), and hills, lots of hills. Oh, did I mention hills? There's nothing like getting to the top of a hill, then flailing down the other side feeling completely out of control of your legs. Good thing the snow and wind were blowing perpendicular to me to help me keep my balance! ;) I guess this is what training is for, and I'd better get used to doing hills, since the ones I'm doing now are minuscule in comparison with the one I'll have to climb during the marathon! The first half of RimRock has about a 2500 foot elevation climb - Yikes! I'll just keep the positive self-talk going: "I am fit, I am strong, I can do this!"

Anyway, when I got back home from my run, I also did a 30 minute Yoga DVD. Even though the Yoga is great for strength training, it also helps me relax, and I felt like I was going to need it after today's run. :)