I did a 9-mile long run on Saturday (18 miles total last week) - my first long run in probably 3 weeks and while the last 3 miles were tough (and mile 9 was slightly painful) I felt sooooo great when I was done. I feel like I am finally out of vacation mode (and have lost the pounds I gained on vacation

) and am back into a training mindset...great timing since I'm going on a cruise in a couple of weeks.

I am super terrified to come back from that cruise, like, 10 pounds heavier. I mean, it's free food all the time!

I have half marathons scheduled for 9/28 and 10/6 so hopefully I'll keep that in mind and be able to avoid Eye Scream on the Dream for the most part. I am definitely planning on running the
Castaway Cay 5K so at least I know I'll get one run in.
ALSO...I made up a little training plan for my husband to start training for the Jingle Jungle 5K! He's a teacher and also coaches tennis so he's back to school this week and will start pulling 12-14 hour days, so for now we're shooting for 2 days of running per week. I'd really like him to do 3 but this is more realistic for him until tennis season is over. I feel like it's better to have 2 days per week right now rather than 3 just so if he doesn't get the 3rd run in he doesn't feel guilty or whatever. Tennis is over the first week of October so he'll start 3 days per week then. He's super nervous but I know he'll be fine...he's one of *those* people that's in naturally good shape so he'll pick it up quickly.

I just hope he enjoys the 5K. This will be his first race, at Disney or otherwise.
Isn't it crazy how much a weight gain can affect you? I definitely gained a few pounds on vacation over the last week of July.

I think it's gone for the most part, but I hated how sluggish I felt over the last couple of weeks.
Figment1990 - do you do any strength training? If you do some air squats that may really help your knees out. It does for me! And yes, pacing on long runs is definitely something I struggle with - I find I don't feel too hot for the first 0.5-1 miles of my run but then once I'm warmed up I feel GREAT and it's hard to stay at the long, slow pace. And then I pay for it over the last couple of miles, of course. You are definitely not alone!
AHHH SQUEEEEEE!
Ugh, chafing is the worst.

I hope you figure something out for that.