Week 7, Sunday

• Ran 7 miles (just over 11 km)
• Total time to complete: 1 hr. 7 min. 56 sec

I couldn't believe the time I ran today. I know that on the treadmill, I ran 6 miles in 1 hr. 15 min. so this is a BIG difference in time; an extra mile in even less time! I find when I'm running outside now that I can go a little faster. The route I took was two laps around the perimeter of my neighborhood. The second time around, I took to running faster and it felt good. My hands and arms were freezing though. Before I went out, I looked at the thermometer just outside my kitchen window and it read just under 10 degrees. I thought I would be fine in my t-shirt and long pants. Boy was I wrong. There was a cold wind and it even started blowing a few snowflakes during my run at one point. When I got inside, my hands and arms started killing me because they were starting to thaw out. I think I need to invest in a long-sleeved shirt to run in.

Anyways, I'm ecstatic at my run today. I've now run over half of a half marathon now and after today's run, I really believe I can do it and somewhat comfortably as well...as long as my arms and hands aren't freezing.

I took my time stretching after my run today but found the my calf muscles on the inner side of my legs were aching. How the heck do you stretch the calf muscles there? If anybody knows, please enlighten me. I soaked my legs in a hot Epsom salt bath because I didn't want them to get worse. Seriously though, if you know how to stretch out that part of the calf muscle, let me know. And maybe if you know what I'm doing wrong that it's making it sore in the first place, let me know.

Half marathon is just over a month away and I'm going to be totally ready for it. Maybe I'll see some of you running too ;)