Days 177 - 183

Ok, weekly recap:

Monday went to yoga. Last one at Active Sol for awhile again. I have a Groupon for another studio that's mostly hot yoga classes; I'll probably start using that this week. But Active Sol has definitely been my favorite studio so far, so I think once I'm done with my Groupons I'll go back. They're starting to offer some pretty good membership deals, so hopefully it will be affordable.

Tuesday, due to inclement weather, I ran in the evening on the treadmill. Did all 8 miles, but used it as a chance to do some speed work--tempo runs starting at 10 min/mile and increasing my speed a little at a time. I didn't time like you're supposed to... I just used the songs on my iPod as the indication for when I should increase or decrease the speed. Finished the whole thing in 1:22, so even with my walking recoveries, I came out just over a 10 min/mile average. Definitely a tough run though.

Wednesday I did two belly dancing classes again. The theme for the walk in and workout class was "Bollywood"... so fun! In the choreography class we started working on some of the moves we'll need for the dance. My abs were so sore by the end of the night! I guess that means it's working, right? I'm completely addicted. Belly dancing is such a fun and different workout, and my abs are getting awesome again, and it makes me feel pretty. :-p I'm definitely going to keep it up.

Thursday I was sick. As in stuffy, sore throat, headache, ear ache, jaw ache, face ache, eyes so swollen I had to ice my face sick (yes, ice my face). So there was no work and no working out. I got my second 8 miler in Friday afternoon; however, I learned that lunch at the Indian buffet plus a head cold is not conducive to a good run. Slow and painful. But I got it done, which is what matters, I guess.

Saturday I did not technically do a workout. However, I ran errands and cleaned my apartment and didn't sit down from noon until 6, so I feel all that work must count for something. Gotta love getting ready for the holidays. I did go to Big Peach with my birthday gift certificate so generously given to me by my mom and sister, and got an ADORABLE new cold weather running outfit (baggy track pants and long sleeve t-shirts from high school just aren't cutting it for long runs and winter races anymore). It's seriously awesome. Cute little black running pants with green stitching and a matching green coat. It was really hard to decide... there were like 1,000 things I wanted. But I'm happy with my selection, and I'm going to be so stylish for the half marathon Thursday!

Speaking of the half marathon... I guess I should say IF I run the half on Thursday. Chris and I did a 21 miler today. About half-way through, I felt my right knee start to ache, but it wasn't unbearable... it just felt like I had a tight or sore muscle. So I kept going, but by about mile 17 the pain was getting sharp. We basically had to walk the last three miles because I was hurting so much. I've been stretching and icing all afternoon, but it still hurts to even walk. I'm just going to try to use it as little as possible this week, and keep stretching and icing. I really want to be able to run Thursday. But more than that, I don't want to be hurt so long that I lose all the hard work I've done, or that I can't run the marathon. When Chris hurt his knee, he was out for 3 months. I'm nervous. But I guess I'll give it a few days and see how it goes.