154.0 - 7 miles, books & TV, back to normal

I got in my 7 mile run Saturday, as planned. That's only the 2nd time I've run that distance, which is also my longest distance to date. I started with a .25 mile warmup walk, and then set the pace at 11:19 min/mile. I plugged into my Dave Matthews Band concert in Central Park CD's, and Dave kept me going steady for a solid 2.5 miles. I walked briefly to drink some water, then sped back up to my running pace. I hit a mini wall at 4 miles and decided to take a .25 walk break. That helped energize me a bit, and just after 5 miles I felt much better and pretty strong the entire last 2 miles.

I was really pleased that I ran consistently without many walk breaks. The slower pace makes a big difference for me. I can run faster, but I have to walk more often. From a calorie burning standpoint, I think I do better with the run fast/walk a bit pattern. But for a long-distance run, I like the idea of running for miles at a time without a break.

It wasn't an easy run. I'd eaten like crap the night before and didn't have a great breakfast (3 microwave pancakes). I was smart enough to eat some protein and carbs (2 eggs and a piece of toast) for lunch, and I started my run at 2:30 p.m. If the food choices before the run had been better, I'm sure I'd have felt stronger.

But after I was finished I felt like I'd accomplished something significant. I wanted to raise my arms up in the air like I'd just won an Olympic medal, that's how great I felt. A year ago I could never have dreamed of running 7 miles (okay, 6.5 miles, but let's not get picky here). And that reminds me that a year from now who knows what I'll be able to do.

Obviously 7 miles doesn't erase a weekend of carb fest indulgences. The scale is up this morning almost 4 pounds from what it was a couple weeks ago. And I swear I can feel it in my clothes. Whether it's my imagination or not, they feel a bit tighter. So it's back to writing down what I'm eating and trying to keep calories around 1800 per day for a while.
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I finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns last night. I haven't read a book like that for a long, long time. So moving and beautifully written. There are a lot of difficult passages and situations. It's set in Afghanistan over a 30 year period, so you can imagine the issues with war and women and the Taliban. But it's a universal story of love and family and friendship that translates to any culture. It will stick with me a long time. I haven't read The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini's first book. Have any of you read both these books and would you recommend The Kite Runner as just as good as ATSS?

In other random entertainment news, I am watching American Idol for the first time ever. I know, I'm SO late to this bandwagon. But there's just not much TV that I like (the only series I watch now is The Terminator, and I'm anxiously waiting for Dirt next week). I can see why it's such a hit. And I cannot believe they make the losers sing their songs again. That is just brutal. I am hooked on the guy who sang "Light My Fire" last week (I think his name is Michael something). There are about 3 guys and 3 girls that I really like. The rest are pretty mediocre, IMO. Thank goodness for DVR, because that's the only way I get to watch these shows. At least I can fast forward through the bad performances and the commercials.

No snow, no ice, no illness, and hopefully it will be a back-to-normal day all around. Swim lessons for Sophie tonight, and I'm planning on at least a 3 miler after she's done. Hope you all have a good week.