It's been a nightmare of a week...

Anyone with access to broadcast or print media is aware of what happened in Connecticut. It's a horrible, horrible thing and brings a whole slew of horrible, horrible memories back. I'm not going to discuss it further here, beyond sending thoughts up north to those families, and the hope that they find comfort and solace this holiday season.

My personal trials and tribulations pale in comparison and aren't worth mentioning here. This will be a very brief post and recap:

I felt great on Sunday at the ride, even with a 5 mile run in my legs from the day before. That was awesome, so I did a loop around Stone Mountain park and STILL felt great.

I felt great on Tuesday, despite a nagging tightness in my right Achilles tendon, and had a good run.

On Wednesday I was not feeling amazing, and opted to run in the neighborhood at home instead of driving up to Brookhaven with the team. This turned out to be a good decision, as my tights wouldn't stay up and my jersey wouldn't stay down. I ended up doing 1.5 mi with Sikari in the dark, never having been so grateful for a run to be over. I did strength exercises on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I did not run on Thursday: I walked the pups with Boy for 2 miles and otherwise took the day off (beside walking to/from MARTA). I felt my Achilles really needed a rest. I did stretch.

This morning I woke up and felt good. My Achilles wasn't sore or tight, so I knew I had been smart to take Thursday and Friday off. We were scheduled for 6 miles, so after an hour of stretching clinics and other meetings, I set off with P on the 6 mile course (with new friend J, who was the only other full-distance runner there today, never too far behind). I eased myself into the run, keeping a light conversation with P the whole time. I didn't have any pain, and made myself stop at the water stops (except the last one, because it was so close to the end and I didn't need it).

Stats:

Average pace: 10.47 (10.54)
Distance: 5.91 mi
Time: 1.03.48 (1.04.27)
Average heart rate: 153 (187 max)

I forgot to get a picture immediately after the run. Whoops.

All told, a good run. I didn't realize that my pace was as fast as it was, as I felt pretty slow the whole time. We walked for may 100 yards at around mile 4.5, but otherwise were pretty consistent. Afterward, I helped some friends move. Around then is when the pain started, and my Achilles was really sore. I need to be better about icing after runs.