**I’ve taken some PTO lately in an attempt to eat it up before the end of the year. No real agenda for the week but over the next few days I’m going to share little bits of what I’ve gotten into. Dig it.

Hey, that’s me! This is when you say “Cool pic, dude!” Thanks! Moving on, now…

A couple of weeks ago I talked about how I only ran once during the week and didn’t even care that I didn’t run more because the one run I did do was pretty darn nice. And that was cool. You probably didn’t notice but I didn’t post anything last week – that’s because I didn’t run.

Not even a single mile.

Nope, not even one.

I have no excuse though I’m sure at the time I certainly felt like I had one. Honestly I think I was just hitting that spot again where my body was in pretty desperate need for some rest and so my running workouts were cut from the week. Boo hoo and bite me.

Back in action this week, though, with a fun little 2.68 mile “Welcome Back” run in a park off of Turkey Creek Rd. that I’d never been to. It was nice and cool, even started raining. Thought I was running slow (and I guess for a lot of people I was) but I actually averaged about a 11:30 pace which is nearly 30s faster than I used to be. I’m kind of over being “fast” but it’s definitely cool to see an improvement, especially since I hadn’t even put my running shoes on in over a week.

Saturday was a long run of 7 miles that I didn’t start on until around noon. It wasn’t as pleasurable of a run as my previous long run but it still wasn’t bad – minimal walk breaks (or what I just call “intervals”) and I somehow still maintained that 11:30-ish pace (actually an even better pace than my shorter run earlier in the week). It was nice to get back out there and getting some miles in because I was beginning to feel if I skipped running anymore I was going to lose my status as a runner and would have to earn my honor back among my peers!

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Short break from running to talk about boxing:

I also mentioned last week that I went in for my first mock class at Title Boxing Club and that it went surprisingly well. The next step was to get me in front of a class so I pulled a double on Monday and hit the noon class after attending my own 5:45am class. I led the class in a 15 minute warmup and despite being an absolute nervous wreck I knocked it out with, again, minimal criticism. I got the worst dry mouth on the planet 2 minutes into my warm-up and forgot that as a trainer my job is to lead people through the workout, not go full-speed through the workouts like I’m a member taking the class so I got pretty winded halfway through. Overall, I was happy with how it went, though, and it felt good to be in that position, one that I’d never really been in before.

The next step was to maybe get me in to lead a session of 8 rounds during a class but we’ve decided to get me in for a full class – warm up, rounds, and core – and we’re making it happen at noon on Monday (that’s tomorrow!). I’m officially on the board as a trainer but I believe it’s considered my official “try out”. I’m confident, very excited, and a playhouse for the butterflies that haven’t shut up in my stomach ever since we decided to do this a few days ago. You’ll certainly hear how this goes…

https://instagram.com/p/9jjrPWL2RZ

And now back to running…

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Alright so half-marathon training is 37% complete and I have another long run scheduled for next Saturday morning (back to back weekend long runs to accommodate my Dollywood 5k at 11pm on Friday, November 13. It’s still happening and the first week of April is fast approaching! Let’s hope I stay on track despite the weather dipping down to close to full-on COLD and extra training at the gym!

This Week:

This Week’s Mileage:	9.69 Miles (15.59km)
This Week’s Avg. Pace:	11:31/mile (7:09/km)

And the YTD, as usual:

2015 Running
Time Period	Total Distance
Runtastic Runs (1/1-4/15)	56.51 Miles
5k-to-10k (4/15-6/21)	87.52 Miles
Runtastic Runs (6/23-Present)	138.12 Miles
Total Yearly Miles:	282.15
Miles Left Until 2015 Goal (350 Miles): 67.85

I figure it’s worth noting that I have officially surpassed the 400 mile mark this week with my total being 405.27 miles since the day I started running in mid-August, 2014! That’s so weird to even consider!

I’ll end with a fun pic inspired by Kelly Roberts at Run, Selfie, Repeat – I go under three overpasses when I run on the greenway and while the graffiti in them is often painted over it doesn’t take long before someone else comes along to deface the public’s property and I love it. This week they were in the Halloween spirit, apparently: