Sloooowwwww

This weekend's runs did not go well.  Between the rising mercury and this seemingly endless cold, I was dragging ass all weekend.

Saturday started out well enough.  The husband and I made a trip to Home Depot and set about the task of re-seeding a 1/4 of our front lawn.  After that, we barbecued and laid around (I may or may not have taken a 3+ hour nap) and finally decided to get the day's 3 miles out of the way.  The conditions were good.  In fact, it was cool-ish and breezy and I pretty much had the roads to myself.   Unfortunately, I kept coughing and couldn't catch my breath which resulted in a slow run.  I could have lived with that, but at one red light, I stopped my Garmin and forgot to restart it.  Ugh.  By the time I realized that I was still running and that time wasn't, I'd already gone a 1/4 mile.  That meant tacking on more distance and I still didn't quite manage 3 miles.

Distance: 2.98 miles
Time: 31:33
Avg. Pace: 10:36 (eew!)

Today, I woke up, ate something and headed out for my long run of the week.  I intended on doing 7 miles, head cold be damned.  I learned a couple of valuable lessons today. 

1. If I'm going to run in summer, I need to get up earlier and out the door earlier.  Heat is not my friend.
2. When it's hot out, I need to wear my fuel belt.  There were only two drinking fountains on my route and that wasn't nearly enough.
3. Running while sick means painfully slow runs.

I felt pretty good for the first 1/2 mile and then it all went to crap.  I was coughing up a storm to the point that I had to constantly stop and catch my breath.  My calves hated me for doing 3 miles late last night and then demanding any more effort in less than 12 hours.  Somewhere in there, I lost my drive to do well...and the Garmin stats showed.

Distance: 6.86 miles (I didn't care enough to keep going to make the full 7)
Time: 1:19:23
Avg. Pace: 11:34 (gag me)

Simply put, next week has to be better.  I need to get better.  I need to run better.  I need to be better about strength training.  So, I'm hereby declaring next week "Try Harder" week. Let's see how it goes!