The Week of Catch-Up Running

So this week has been a little crazy high in mileage. As mentioned earlier this week, I had to make up my long run from last week on Wednesday so I ran two long runs this week!

2 long runs + first week back at work after vacay in NC = one really tired Morgan.

But to start back over with the beginning of the weekend. On Saturday, I decided to sign-up as a volunteer packer with Million Meals, an organization that packs one million meals in one day. 300,000 packs stay here for people in need in Omaha and the other 700,000 are sent to Africa.

It was a very early morning and 6 am came too quickly. Colby, of course, volunteered to stay in bed and keep it warm while I was gone.

There was something like 2,000 people working in my shift, which was pretty amazing. I was working with Kari and some IT people from Union Pacific, I got to be in charge of scooping out the rice.

All our group had to do was finish our stack of bags and then we were finished. It only took us about an hour and a half and the second shift of packers were already on their way in. It was a great way to see people involved in helping their own community as well as others in need.

Saturday night was full of lounging around with Colby, some laundry, a nice 2-mile walk downtown, and of course the UNC-Dook game.

Sorry, I couldn't help it. Roy and his boys just looked so good last night.

This morning was a great normal Lazy Sunday. Trying to keep the legs fresh and rested, Colby and I spent most of the morning under the covers with coffee and 4 Weddings from TLC.

By 11:30 I was a little restless and excited about tackling those 15 miles. 

It was only about 40 degrees outside, and the forecast was calling for a windy afternoon so it was a perfect day to try out the running shirt Matthew got me for my birthday. It has the insulated inside, good for keeping your body warmth trapped.

The shirt worked great and the weather outside was amazing. It warmed up with the sun, but the wind was so chilly and powerful. I love running in cooler, fall-like, weather. When its too hot my body just shuts down. I finished the 15 miler pretty strong - under my goal Fargo Marathon pace of 9 minute miles!

Laps15

View Splits

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 2:13:49.4 15.00 8:55 1 8:15.2 1.00 8:15 2 8:40.6 1.00 8:41 3 8:58.1 1.00 8:58 4 8:58.1 1.00 8:58 5 8:49.9 1.00 8:50 6 8:45.2 1.00 8:45 7 8:54.7 1.00 8:55 8 8:50.8 1.00 8:50 9 8:48.3 1.00 8:48 10 9:02.3 1.00 9:02 11 8:53.3 1.00 8:53 12 9:00.4 1.00 9:01 13 9:07.5 1.00 9:07 14 9:20.1 1.00 9:20 15 9:24.8 1.00 9:25

I started off pretty solid and it looks like I kept really close to my goal pace through most of the miles...at the end though - not so pretty. But, in my defense, I was running legit straight into the wind, so I was battling wind gusts of 30-40 mph and crap getting into my eyes and really really tired legs. Thankfully next weekend is a cut-back weekend so I only have to run a half marathon. 

The rest of this Sunday night will be me and Colby, warm tea, and more reading. I am really getting into "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese, I definitely recommend it if your looking for a good book. Hope you have a peaceful Sunday night and a great start to your week tomorrow!