March 26th, 2013 – A Day Off Run – 10.30 Miles

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

This was a great run. I think 10 miles is an ideal distance. It’s quite a challenge for me. I really have to push myself just to get through it. But it’s not so great that it wipes me out for the rest of the day.

That is well, as it was quite a busy day!

I took the day off work. That is very unusual for me. If I or my kids aren’t sick, you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be at the office.

Today, the kids had doctor’s appointments, so I took the whole day off! It was great. One of the many things I was determined to do was to get a good long run in.

After I got Chris and the kids out the door, I made myself a healthy breakfast, ate it out on the back patio and geared up! Oh, yeah! I’m ready to run!



As usual, the first mile was pretty rough. I found myself just trying to get into a good groove without starting out too fast because I knew I was running long. As long I’ve been running, this still takes me about a mile and a half.

At about mile 4, I was feeling really sluggish. I dropped into a CVS to get a Gatorade and had the packet of Gu that I’d packed. This was a good call. I felt 10 times better after that.

At about Mile 6, I turned into the BGC. They have a park right next door and a nice running trail. I knew that I was going to need to add about a mile to this route if I wanted to get in the full 10, so I ran the loop twice.

Of course, it’s Spring Break, so Jordan was at the BGC so I ducked in to get a quick pic with my boy. He was cool about it until I insisted on getting a kiss. Heaven forbid that he should admit that he likes his Mom. Jeez!



At about Mile 7, I could feel blisters forming. My socks were too thick. They would be OK for a 3 to 5 mile run, but 10 miles calls for endurance socks. I’ll remember that for next time.

At about the 8.5 Mile mark, I’m hitting the wall and the only thing driving me is the thought of being done. But you can’t just focus on being done, because you’re NOT done!!! So I switched my playlist. Not to Gospel, like I normally would, but to a Speed Work playlist that I’d just put together and had been dying to try. It helped but not like the Gospel does. I'll keep using it because I really like it, but after 8 miles, I may just need Jesus.

I finally made it back home and I was all smiles. It was a good run.




I had a few hours before I had to be anywhere so I took some time to stretch and recover. I had recently read the SUAR Blog and Beth swears by compression socks after a long workout. I bought myself a pair of compression socks long ago, but I never really felt much benefit to them. But I was wearing them during my runs. So I’ve had them for quite a while and always meant to try again but I just kinda let it slip my mind. Today, I pulled ‘em on after this run and they were GREAT!!! The relief was immediate and I only wore them for an hour or so. I will definitely work them into my recovery regimen going forward. Highly recommended.



Check this out!



It may not look as terrible in this shot, but my face and neck is completely encrusted with salt deposits!! I sweat and lose a LOT of sodium when I run long. It’s a little disgusting. But I’m calling it a win.

My day was far from finished. The kids needed to get to the dentist. Not a great day for the Hayes Kids!!! Jordan had 3 cavities and apparently, both Jayda and Jordan grind their teeth at night. Jayda seemed very distraught by the news.




And Oh, yes!!! Today is Jordan’s 10th Birthday!!!




I can’t believe my BIG Boy is 10 years old!!! We took him out to dinner with his grandparents. I love my handsome boy!!


I just really love this shot. HaHaHa! So cute.




One more thing! I heard from Coach Dion today. He said I need to get another race (or 2) on my calendar, so I'm considering a 10-miler in Santa Monica next month. I'll letch know how it goes.


See ya on the next run!!