today was made for running.

seriously, it is the most beautiful day ever here in Michigan. Right now I am sitting on our back porch with theroommate, lounging around and being lazy, talking mostly about how stupid men can be sometimes. oh, and eating cherries.

Anyways, on topic. I didn't get out to get my run in until about 11 today, despite getting up around 8. I was just being lazy I guess. It was so nice that it didn't really matter - weather wise - that I ran later in the morning. Headed over to KMP and got in a nice 7 mile pace run. Ended up at 8:55/mile which is actually faster than what I'm aiming for (9:00-9:10/mile). I felt pretty great throughout the entire run, so I wasn't worried about going a little faster than was necessary. It wasn't too hot or humid and overall I felt like I was floating. It's one of those perfect days. I was a little worried about being able to hit my desired pace because my pace runs for the Pig were done at 9:20/mile. I feel much better now, after this run, and am quite a bit more confident that I can try for a PR at Chicago. I keep thinking that I lost a lot of fitness during the months that I wasn't doing much "structured" running after my last marathon, but it looks like I'm still in pretty good shape.

Running at KMP during the middle of the day is always a little annoying because there are a lot of people crowding the path. The funny people for today? Two girls were heading down the path. both were dressed in sweatpants and skimpy tank tops, with those sunglasses that dwarf your face (like the ones you always see the olsen twins wearing). One girl was making motions like she was jogging and the other was walking at a pretty leisurely pace. For a minute I thought maybe the weren't actually together, and that the jogging girl just happened to be passing the walking girl when I first saw them. But them as I approached them I realized that they were together, going the exact same pace; the one girl was just acting like she was jogging for no apparent reason. maybe she thinks swinging your arms and lifting your knees in a running motion burns more calories or something, I don't know. For the record, they were both wearing MSU apparel. Take that for what it's worth.

This evening I will stretch excessively because I keep getting calf cramps in my right leg and it's sore from that. I've got a fabulous 15 miler on the schedule for tomorrow, along with a ton of research for a journal article i'm writing. I wonder which will be more exciting...