Good Afternoon

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Several times on my Saturday run I ran through showers of white fluff. Summer's version of snow, I guess, is slowly drifting dandelion seeds (actually, I've just been informed they are cottonwood seeds). One of the things I love about running is that it gets me outside way more than I ever did before I began running. I get to experience the seasons and all the different things that they bring in ways I never have before.

One of the things that running cannot do, however, is turn me into a morning person. Operation Do Long Runs At The Same Time As Race Time is pretty much a 50% failure. It seems that I can only get my butt out the door and on the path by 8 AM every other week. This Saturday I ended up doing my 9 miles starting at 12:15 PM.

The most aggravating thing about running the afternoon versus the morning? My runs are SO MUCH BETTER in the afternoon. Seriously. Compare this week's 9 miles done in the afternoon to last week's 8 miles done in the morning:

Morning:



Afternoon:



I could tell during the first mile that this was going to be an awesome run. I felt strong. Running felt easy. I had to try and slow myself down as opposed to talking myself into continuing to run. I had time to appreciate the beauty in the scenery. Like these gorgeous wild purple flowers:



And the humorous graffiti that wasn't there last week. Nice to know I have a friendly (if slightly stoned looking) owl keeping an eye on me:



I admit that I did stop and walk while eating my Sport Beans just after the halfway point and that I slowed to a quick walk around mile 8.3 to drink some water. The second half of my run was harder than the first half. I think I ate too many Beans and drank too much water too fast and my stomach felt cramp-y and gassy. And then I got a rock in my shoe I had to stop and deal with. But, after about a mile I felt much better.

However, I'm still worried about the early morning that my next half-marathon necessitates. I'm also worried about the hills, but, to be honest, I'm more concerned about running the morning. Anyone have any suggestions?

Maybe looking at the stats will give you a better idea of how much more I love afternoon running.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 622 ft Location: Brookfield, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 05/30/09 Up/Downhill: [+226/-226] Time: 12:11 PM Difficulty: 2.8 / 5.0   Weather: Mostly Cloudy   65 F temp; 50% humidity   65 F heat index; winds S 7 Performance Distance: 9.00 miles Time: 1:29:11 Speed: 6.1 mph Pace: 9' 55 /mi Calories: 841 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 51 -0' 04 6.1 +0.0 -6 ft 2 9' 38 -0' 17 6.2 +0.2 +9 ft 3 9' 44 -0' 11 6.2 +0.1 +7 ft 4 9' 32 -0' 23 6.3 +0.2 -3 ft 5 11' 01 +1' 06 5.4 -0.6 +4 ft 6 9' 34 -0' 21 6.3 +0.2 +3 ft 7 9' 27 -0' 28 6.3 +0.3 -10 ft 8 10' 52 +0' 57 5.5 -0.5 -10 ft 9 9' 52 -0' 03 6.1 +0.0 +7 ft end 10' 33 +0' 38 5.7 -0.4 0 ft Versus average of 9' 55 min/mile

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