I've returned from a week at the lake, where the cross-training was cool (kayaking, canoeing) and the running was not (only ran once!). My one run of the week was 4.5 miles with Mike, with increasingly faster splits. I went barefoot virtually all the time, so when I put the orthotics in my shoes yesterday to go grocery shopping, they felt brand new all over again. My feet felt tired and a little sore last night.

Today, I finally ran. I thought about doing my missed long run while the boys were at camp, but decided some faster running was in order, so I thought I'd do 8 at race pace. As I started, I decided I'd have a one-mile warmup and a 7-mile pace run. Once I got going, I felt so good that I just did the 7 between 9 and 9:40! I felt surprisingly good, especially for afternoon. Humidity was lower than it has been for most of the summer, which I'm sure helped. It boosted my spirits, and my evening was topped off by an e-mail from Dana asking if we could run Thursday instead of tomorrow--just what I wanted.