Training week #3 started off pretty good for me. But a little too much fun at the casino on Friday night left me with a gnarly day-long hangover on Saturday, which meant that there was no way I was getting in my weekly long run. I fared only a little better by Sunday – able to get in 6.4 miles at Center Trails before calling it a day (I still had maybe only 200 calories in my system at that time).

It’s not the end of the world — though at times during my hangover I thought it might be. Running after puking for 24 hours is a skill good for Ultras, no? In any event, Sunday’s run was SLOW for me, and I fell behind my pack for most of the run, working on a lot of power hiking. Though I sometimes need the reminder Run Your Own Race — even on training days. And that came by way of an oncoming mountain biker. I apologized for being slow to move out of the way, and he — ever a gracious human being on this early Sunday morning — remarked: The trails are for everybody!

I let out some kind of awkward, shrill-yelling “YEASSSS!” as we passed one another. And I stopped feeling sorry for myself (and instead started profusely apologizing to my liver).

WHAT’S FUN?
This upcoming week I’ve got my first meet-up with a work-organized running group and a HOKA demo & pub run with Fleet Feet.

SOMETHING-SOMETHING:
You can’t pay people to be motivated to go to the gym.

AUGUST MILEAGE UPDATE: 36.9 miles
WEEKLY MILEAGE: 14.4 miles
MILEAGE FOR THE YEAR: 577.31 miles
UP NEXT: Rockin’ Chocolate Half Marathon in Madison, WI and NewBo Half in Cedar Rapids, IA — both part of my Labor Day back-to-back half challenge with Pittsburgh City Girl