I tried and failed

As mentioned in my profile, I consider myself a "runner".  In recent years more so than former (although I did run track and cross country in high school, in college I was more of an occasional runner).  Last year I ran Chicago's Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon and loved it. Originally I wanted to run a marathon the year of our engagement, but after looking at some possible races and schedule; I realized how much of a time commitment training for a marathon is and also how much time I wanted to put into wedding planning (especially a wedding not in the area we live) and decided the two didn't mesh. 

Instead, I opted for the half.  After I signed up, H followed suite. Following the race, while I enjoyed it, I said "I'll never run a full-marathon" and yet....H signed up for Bank of America's Chicago Full Marathon and this time I followed suite. So, we're both currently training for the full, which is on 10-9-11.  Thus, yesterday when I got home from work, I geared up for a run in the 100 degree heat index at about 5pm.  Man, was it hot!  So hot that I actually debated going topless and just trying to rock the whole sports-bra only thing...but then I walked by the mirror on the way and my conscience caught a hold of me.  I put on a tank top.  I was surprisingly happy that I did because it gave me a way to wipe all of my sweat off of my face.

I planned on doing 4 miles, but was seriously hot and even had to walk a block, so I cut it down to 3.  My pace was 20 seconds slower per mile. Yuck.  So, last night as I was cooling off, I decided that this week I was going to run before work.

Something you know should know is that while I am usually a decent morning person, I have my limits.  My current schedule is that I wake up between 4:45am and 5am (depending on my hair plans for the day).  So to workout in the morning would require me to wake up at 4am.  I was hardcore sure I could do this.  I set out my clothes, socks, and shoes for the run, was in bed by 8:20 and attempting to sleep by 8:45 (although looking back, I really wonder if this was due to slight heat exhaustion).  My alarm went off at 4:04am (I hate waking up at 0's or 5's) and I thought to myself "hell no" and reset my alarm for 5:02am.

I'm thinking it was a good choice, but we'll see if I agree later tonight.

H and I after the our first half-marathon: