Not according to plan

The intention for the day was to do whatever during the earlier part of the day and start C25K week seven around seven o clock. What actually happened was that I started feeling odd in the early afternoon, realized my stomach was totally grumpy for no apparent reason, and then fell asleep with one of my cats for about three hours. 

I woke up with a very slight temperature but figured I'd go ahead with my usual time table and see how I felt by the time I was ready to run. Unfortunately the nap threw off my day so badly that by the time I had hydrated, eaten, digested, dressed, stretched, and stepped outside... I realized it was way too dark due to the overcast conditions for me to feel safe being out and about. 

I did get a couple of running *related* things done though, so I can't look at today as a complete waste.

First, I made a really useful 80s-tastic eyesore!  

Don't let the flash wash-out fool you, this colour is about two steps away from being stabbed in the eye.

I don't have much in the way of reflective safety wear but I DID have this one XL tee shirt which was a volunteer freebee for I-CON,  a Sci-Fi convention I was heavily involved with through and after college. I based my tee shirt surgery on this video tutorial, but opted to do a braided back because I actually remember the 80s. 

Now the next time I start out running way too late I can wear this and be assured that I will be blinding all of the people in my path. I do want to look into getting some reflective material as I am good at sewing and bad at wanting to spend money on things I know I can make or alter myself.

 

I also did some mapping detective work based on a few things about my recent runs:

• the 2.2 mile route I have mapped out is too short for the distance I'm now covering
• I don't like repeating the same ground on a single run
• I don't like running on roads I haven't mapped out
• I have a couple of hinky 5 way intersections in my current route
• I'm still feeling like I could go further by the time I finish with the 5 minute cool-down walk

I have decided therefore to map out a shiny new 3.1 m (i.e. 5km) long route and do that route or a variation with every workout from here on in. I'm not covering quite that far during the timed C25K workouts at this point so I'll walk the rest until I am. My average speed on the Nike+ will be weird for a while with the extra walking, but I can live with that for a bit I think.

This fixes my route problems, eliminates guesswork about how far from home I am at any given time, gives me a better idea of what a 5K actually looks like, and gives me an easy way to gauge my week to week progress as I'm actually running.

What run-related things have you found yourself doing in your non-running free time?

September Blog Challenge Day 3 

Do you take any vitamins or supplements? If so, which ones and why? 

I am sooo bad about this. Seriously, I'm still working on drinking water daily, never-mind regular supplements.