long run

Riley woke me up at 5 a.m. I hit his snooze button and then he woke me again at 5:22 a.m. I knew I had to do my "long run" today, and didn't want to do it in the heat later, so I dragged myself out of bed. I fed the animals, ate a bagel, prepared my "sports drink", changed clothes, started laundry and dishes, and then went to the local track. My shins were sore yesterday and still are a little this morning. I decided that it would probably be better to run on a soft surface rather than hard concrete, but I didn't want to drive too far. The closest soft surface is the high school track, a little over a mile from my house. I started my run at 6:37 a.m. I set a water bottle and sports drink bottle (Hammer Nutrition strawberry Heed) on top of a trash can on the side of the track. I planned to drink something every 1.5 miles. I drank water my first three stops (approximately 1.5 miles, 3 miles, and 4.5 miles) and then switched to the Heed. I almost instantly felt much more energetic after drinking some Heed! I picked up the pace the last few miles with the last mile being my fastest of the day. It was actually an easy 8 miles! Obviously running on a flat, soft surface makes for a much easier run than on hilly hard concrete!

I came home and showered and grabbed a Clif bar to eat on the drive to church. After church I came back home, ate lunch, and started peanuts boiling. Once I was sure the peanuts were at a temperature that they wouldn't boil over, I took Riley to Pet's Mart. We only have one more serving of dog food and I wanted him to get more exposure to people. The trainer, Mary, was standing outside as we were walking in. She said she had been wondering where we were. I told her that Kyra was at camp now and had been with her dad last week. I told her that it probably wouldn't be until late July before we got back on schedule. She said that was fine and was glad to see us today. Riley did pretty good in the store. He stayed beside me as we walked down the necessary aisles. I was struggling a bit trying to keep a tight reign on him while getting a heavy bag of dog food. Then I had the bright idea to tell him to sit while I grabbed the bag. When he's sitting he's not pulling on the leash. I had to tell him to sit again and stay at one point and he did. Yippee!!! So I repeated these commands at each location when I wanted to get something off the shelf (dog food for him, Tasha, new toys, rawhides). Wow, this was easier than I thought it would be in the beginning!

Back at home, I paid bills until 4 p.m. I took a break to watch Track & Field on NBC while munching on boiled peanuts. YUM!!! I love summer!