The start of another week

Somehow the last few days have managed to slip away, and I've gotten slow on keeping up on my blog...
The good news is that I have gotten some fun and good training in since last wednesday.
Friday night was a fun adventure run in the dark. We had to find these points on a map using a compass and headlamps to get around. My teammate and I came in dead last... but we had fun, and probably ran close to 3-4 miles. It's totally different running trails in the dark, especially when you don't know your way around!
Saturday morning it was off to Nerstrand/Big Woods for a half marathon on trails. Having not gotten in a long run over 10 miles in three weeks, and not having ran a half marathon distance since Square Lake, I wasn't feeling overly prepared. Plus I was slightly sleep deprived (my own fault... but we'll leave those stories for another blog!!) My goal was to simply run the distance, maybe keep a 10 min/mile pace, and enjoy the woods in the autumn.
I started out at about 9:30 miles, and felt good, after about 3 miles, and leapfrogging through the crowd (and nearly getting hit by a deer - no joke!) my pace slowly started to increase, and I found myself running 8:30's when I could and 9 min/miles as the terrain got more challenging. I was a little nervous as I clicked off the miles, and found myself ahead of some of the other people I knew. I wasn't sure how much I had in my "tank" and didn't want to totally crash the last few miles. I felt myself starting to run out of steam at about 10 miles, and decided that I would hold onto what ever pace I could to take it in the last 5k. I ended up running it in with another triathlete who'd been running near me all race, and we struck up a conversation, and soon enough we were on our way up the road to the finish line outside a church. I finished in 2:01. I was so happy with that. It's not a PR, but for trail conditions and not being prepared, I felt I ran a strong race. It was a gorgeous day with blue skys and sunshine - cool temps before the race started, warming to the 60's probably. It was a fun morning. Then it was off to work for the remainder of the day... no post-race savoring of your acomplishment...
Sunday was a busy day, with being at work at 6:30 am, getting off later than expected, and plans that afternoon, my training went out the window.
Monday I went for a "therapy" run - and it was great. Another beautiful day, but very windy. I plugged into my MP3 player, grabbed Henry's leash, and ran until I decided to turn around. I didn't have much time, so it was only just over a half an hour, but I came back with a much better lease on life. It was great. It was one of those days that reminds you why you love to run, and why you keep getting out there day after day.
Well, another beautiful afternoon is beckoning -- maybe it'll be a bike ride and swim... so I'm off to seek inspiration.