Cooler morning run and what's next...

I had no intention of running today.  I ran on the treadmill yesterday and was planning to do the same again tomorrow.  Today was supposed to be bike and swim (I did still swim).  However, when I woke up, it was cloudy with temperatures in the 70's -- a rare morning for Texas in August.  It was actually pleasant walking our dog this morning, and I knew this was an opportunity to run outside that I just couldn't pass up. 

I have been wanting to do a longer run for a while but the treadmill gets so boring and the heat here makes outside running unbearable.  So I was determined to get in that run today.  I made my way to the Katy Trail like normal and wasn't surprised to see lots of runners and walkers out also taking advantage of the cooler morning.

After Boston in the spring, I learned that there is a way to connect to another trail at the northern end of the Katy Trail.  So when I got to that point, I made my way into this uncharted territory.  It would have been nice to have known about this when I was doing those Boston long runs instead of just running up and down the Katy Trail over and over.

I was happy with what I accomplished today.  The last time I ran close to this distance was at 70.3 Boulder.  My pace is slower than when I was training for Boston, but 1) I'm running a lot less right now, 2) it's still hotter and more humid than when I was running in the spring and 3) it's still more than sufficient for what's next.

Not bad for an unplanned run

So what is next?  Well we were supposed to be doing the Berlin Marathon in September and then I was signed up for the NYC Marathon in November.  Now both of them are deferred to 2020.  But October will still be a busy month for me.  First, we decided to do....

Yes, we are going back to Chicago to run the marathon again.  This will be my 4th time running Chicago and Mike's 2nd.  The plan is for us to run together the entire marathon (that was also the plan last year which ended at mile 15.5 -- but I've been assured that won't happen again this year).  Mike has been dealing with injury since last November and in the last month or so finally mended enough to run comfortably again.  This will be his big return to running.  It's a great race and I'm excited to do it again -- but now you can understand my desire to get some long runs in.

And I have been wanting to do another Ironman 70.3 before the end of the year.  I didn't think that was going to happen, but with the new plan to do Chicago, I was able to work it out that I can then do this two weeks later...

I'm thrilled to be ending my triathlon season for 2019 with this race.  Waco is just 1.5 hours away making this race a no brainer to do. 

October will be a busy month but I am up for the training!