Gorgeous 5 mile run

Somebody pinch me!  Is it really the middle of July?  It's hard to tell by the gorgeous weather we had today, but I'll take it.  It was one of those mornings with a stunning blue sky and a cool breeze that warranted rolling down the windows and opening the moon roof on our drive to summer camp and work.  Yesterday, it was very muggy and gross in the morning, but a few storms rolled through later in the afternoon, which drastically cooled the temperature.

I love watching storms roll in from my window at work!

Today's run on the Napa training plan was the first two-a-day on the schedule, but through a series of unfortunate events, I decided to postpone my two-a-day until Thursday.  Thursday called for a 5 mile run, so I decided to do that run today and do my two-a-day on Thursday.  It was a beautiful day for a run and so I headed out after we ate dinner.

Ah, perfect running weather!

I figured that since the weather was so cooperative that I might have a stellar run, which I could really use at the moment.  My run wasn't stellar, but it also wasn't awful.  I have noticed the past few times I've run, though, that my calves cramp up terribly during the first mile - mile and a half.  I've never experienced this before, but it is almost unbearable.  It's both calves, too, which is odd.  Tonight, they felt so tense and tight and truly heavy, which made it hard to lift them up.  I don't know if this is due to the fact that I am currently not cross-training (for shame, I know) or if it is due to the fact that I am running with extra weight that I haven't had in a while (argh), but it is rather obnoxious.  It eventually goes away and/or I just become numb to it and I can continue on with my run.  I feel significantly better around 2.5 or 3 and fall into my groove.  I'm hoping that with continued training, stretching, and cross-training that the tightness in my calves will subside.

On another note, today was the first, and last (it's already sold out!) day for registration for the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  Congratulations to all who signed up and got in, especially my friend, Stacy, who will be running it.  It will be her first half marathon!  I'm so excited for you and your family, Stacy!  You all will have a blast!  I am looking into the possibility of running the race as a St. Jude's Hero.  I love the idea of raising funds for a wonderful cause and running to show my support.  Has anyone run a race as a St. Jude's Hero before?  I'd love to hear your story and know your thoughts!

I saw the below e-card tonight and it absolutely suited my run tonight.  It was getting awfully dark on the trail when I finished my run, but I was only at 4.6 miles when I got to my car and darned if I wasn't going to get my Garmin to read 5.0, so I ran laps around the parking lot!

"You know you're a runner when you run up and down a street three or four times to get the last 1/4 of a mile in on your Garmin!"