Missing my lunch and dinner posts from yesterday? Lunch was leftovers, dinner was pizza. You didn’t miss much.

This morning, I had a 12-mile run on my schedule. Ashley asked me if I wanted to run together, but I told her that I wanted to see what pace I was at running alone, so I headed up to Central Park this morning solo to knock out 12 miles. About 3 miles in, I ran into Emily’s friend, Kathleen. I was already struggling. My legs felt like lead and were really tight.

I’ve been pushing myself really hard this training cycle in order to hopefully meet my sub-2:00 goal next Sunday, and my legs definitely feel it. I’ve been slacking a bit on my yoga and strength training, and it’s crazy what a difference they make. Anyway, my plan was to run two laps of the park and call it a day, but my legs had other plans for me. I ran one full loop, and then I planned on running down Seventh Ave, across 42nd and over to the West Side Highway, to simulate the race. My legs were still tight, and I decided that with three races coming up, I shouldn’t push it, and I stopped at 8 miles. I’ve run three half-marathons before, so I’m not too worried about the distance, since I’ve conquered it before. If I don’t meet my time, I will be a little disappointed that I didn’t give it my all, but it’s still better than getting hurt.

I’m not going to lie–not running all the miles I was “supposed” to is definitely less satisfying than completing the mileage on my schedule, but taking care of my body is worth it.

Anyway, it means I got to my bagel sooner.

Speaking of yoga, I’m off to join Dori at a Beatles yoga class!