: Dear Bulgarian Split Squat: You hurt me deeply... and yet I love you. Call me again Thursday, you bastard."

Spartan Shape-Up, Day 60:

It was Run Day today... and a beautiful early fall evening to do it in. I will say that it is the LAST time I take new route suggestions from a non-runner friend... Nothing like running on a long, slow, uphill for a mile. LOL. It definitely doesn't look quite that evil in the car. haha.
That said, it was an okay run today. Nothing spectacular, but not awful. I did my longest distance yet, albeit a bit on the slow side. I'm trying to deny that I'm coming down with a little cold... but after today's run, I'm thinking that it's not just the allergies I was thinking it was. BLEH. However, I got it done, got the miles on my sneakers.
Apparently the GT checked in my live-run, somewhere around a mile and a half (after two really evil hills), and text me some words of encouragement: "Run like a bear is chasing you!" to which I replied  , "allergies... can't... breathe...." and in his all knowing GT-ness wisdom, he simply replies, "Bears don't care."  After thinking about this for a second, he does have a point there. LOL. So, I picked up the pace a little bit, tried to embrace my heaving lungs and screaming calves (eff you, hill runs.), and looked forward at the next 2 miles.

Stats for today's run:
Time: 43.36 min
Distance: 3.73mi
Pace: 11.62 min/mi. (although, iMapMyRun says 11.40? hmm.)


Again, a slow day it would seem, but a baby-step forward in mileage. I think these hills are really killing me. Perhaps I shall try to find a slightly flatter run, to test out my legs on a more even playing field? I really feel like I could get it under an 11min mile, if I didn't have to run up so many damn hills. GRR.

In other news, I'm working on seeking out/registering for my first 5K race. It is on my list of goals, and there's no reason that I should wait. SO. Working out the details... slightly terrified, but pushing that down and charging forward...

Alright. I'm tired tonight, starting a new job tomorrow (Yikes!) and probably should rest, to prevent this cold from getting me....

Oh, and just because it's hurting and I'm feeling whiny... this is my injured tiny toe, who is REAL angry after going for a run:

Apparently, we're *not* broken... just REAL unhappy...