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I don't keep a training log, persay but this advice caused me to think about my first 8 miler and what was terrible. I think that it was the weather for me. I waited a little too late in the morning to start and the heat and humidity was brutal. My shorts were chafing and I drank too much water on my run (again with the heat and humidity!) and cramped up multiple times.
The heat finally broke here and yesterday's 8 miler repeat was a success! I actually ran at about the same overall pace as the first but my splits were more consistent throughout and didn't feel like crying!

The heat and humidity were the perfect combination (although there was no cloud cover and the sun got a little intense), I made sure I wore my longer length shorts that don't chafe, and I watched my water intake.
Now on to 9.5 miles two weeks from now! I will never be fast (I am content with being at the front of the back of the pack), but whether I run a mile in 8 minutes or 13 minutes, it's still a mile and I did it!
It is crazy how good run days and bad run days DEFINE us!
Glad that your good run made you feel better!
YAY for getting 8 miles in. That is on my deck for this week or so. It is a BUSY time in our world. My kidlet turns 5 next week. Her big birthday party is NEXT weekend. We're party planning for the biggest Tinkerbell - Pixie Hollow - Periwinkle party the world has ever seen. Or at least the yard has ever seen.

Praying for no rain.
This past Saturday, I ran my first timed race since the 800 in high school. I ran a local 10k race. It is a pretty hilly course. I ran it with my older sister, who is an INSPIRATION and has completed a few marathons. She coached me through it. My first mile was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too fast. (she yelled at me) 7:37. I calmed down and took the next one at 8:30. That is when the hills started. And it was ROUGH. I had a few moments that the heat/humidity made it rough to catch my breath. Mile 3 was about 9:02. Mile 4 was the slowest, right around 10.

Mile 5 started getting flatter and I went about 9:30 and Mile 6 saw me back at what I consider my training 'normal' which was 8:40. Then it was smooth sailing into the gate at 9:16. Official time was 55:36. 8:58min/mile. My sister said that I really need to work on a few things. Breathing (I don't nose breath well enough), PACE - I'm all over the board....can you tell????, using my arms more when I run - which will help with my breathing...and opening up when I run, especially when I go downhill. Also, I should take advantage of cutting my corners when I run races. She said that I take everything WIDE, which I do in training b/c I cover more ground. I knew going in that this was a TOUGH course. She said that this was NOT a good course for a first-timer. One of the tougher courses that she, a seasoned runner, runs on. But, I'm cheap, and for $9, I wanted to run it. "You get what you pay for" - one HECK of a tough course. I was thankful for the kindness of the people along the way misting us with their hoses b/c it was HOLY COW HOT! And most thankful for my sister.

She's a running goddess. Without her, I may have taken the right-turn at my grandma's house and given-up. (Gram's house is along the raceway)
All in all. My goal for this 10k was between 56-58 minutes. Getting 55:36 was just plain awesome for me.
Hope you all have a good running week. Lots of civic races for the 4th of July! Don't get too hot and don't forget to HYDRATE!!!!!
ETA --- I did email RUNDISNEY and got my official 10k time added for Corral placement. It converted to a 2:05:00 1/2 marathon time. I've got no clue what the might be for 1/2 placement, but it'll probably not be LAST, anymore. So, GOAL achieved!