The uphill is always followed by a downhill, right?

Well, here I am again.... I just couldn't stay away!  You know, I used to be an avid journal-writer in middle school and high school, and I think I just really like having somewhere to chronicle my thoughts.  Whether public or private, it gives me a chance to organize my mind.

I'm back in the full swing of training for my next race on the 24th... there have been ups and downs, as usual.  My run on Sunday was really quite a crying shame, because I was so geared up and ready to go, I drove all the way down to Santa Monica, and then.... it sucked.  And I mean SUCKED.  My legs felt heavy, my hip was aching, and I only made it about 4.75 miles before scrapping the whole thing.

However, as I was slogging along, I was trying to find something to distract me, and it suddenly occurred to me what a beautiful day it was and how lucky I am to have somewhere so picturesque to run.  I took a few pictures to commemorate my epiphany, though I'll admit they don't at all do the scenery justice:

Looking south along the coast towards Venice Beach.

The big beautiful Pacific Ocean...

The giant.... lightsaber?

Looking north towards the Santa Monica Mountains.

The Santa Monica Pier and its ever famous Ferris Wheel.

Unfortunately, all the beautiful views in the world couldn't really salvage my run (my biggest problem was my hip- I have no idea why it was hurting so badly), so I called it quits and headed back to my car.  And then I opened my car door and hit myself in the face with it.  A fitting end, no?

And then I went for a run yesterday and breezed through a 5-miler like it was nothing.... it really is luck of the draw, isn't it?  Here's to hoping I'll be dealt a good hand tomorrow morning!

Also, I realized I never mentioned my latest mileage triumph: I graduated to green level on Nike+!  It was actually rather fitting, because it was my Tinkerbell race (during which I ran amongst almost 13,000 other women wearing green) that put me over the edge.  I'll be here for a while, though... 445 miles to go to blue level!