It's Hot hot HOT

It's only April right? Okay. It's April and it has been 80+ degrees outside most days this week. 80? In the Midwest? In April? Hmmmmm. Since I am now a working woman (more on that later), I have chosen to do my runs in the evening when I get home from work. I am now doubting that plan. Tuesday was a 5 mile day. Training from the new job let out around 4, so I was home by 5. I checked e-mail and all my fave blogs and sites then changed into my gear. By the time I got to the trail, it was shortly after 6pm. It didn't feel that hot. Not when standing in one place anyway. I made it through mile one okay, but I started to drag on mile two. Mile two???? When I hit my turnaround point at the 2.5 marker, I had to do a short 45 second walk just to prep myself for the return journey. Although I drank a heck of a lot of water throughout the day, I felt parched. I should have filled a couple of the bottles on my Fuel Belt and brought them along. Lesson learned for next time.

I finally finished the run (5.33 miles) in barely under an hour. That was nearly 12 minutes a mile. I know I'm slow, but geeeeeezzzzzz. I'm normally under 11:30 per mile even on my slow days. The only thing I could attribute the performance to was the heat. I did have 4 beers the night before between darts and the Duke game. (2010 NCAA CHAMPS, BABY!) That could have a bit to do with it. But honestly, I've been drinking 4 beers every Monday night during my training and never struggled through a Tuesday run. (before you think, "WOW, that's a lot of beers," I rarely drink through the week or on the weekend, so there. Well, except Saturdays. And sometimes Sundays.) Okay, so I don't drink any other times during the week :p

The other issue that has reared its ugly head is a nagging pain in my right hip. Oddly enough, I don't feel it when I am running, but as soon as I get home and sit for a while, when I get up the pain fully sets in. I can still walk around, but it is definitely sore. And it will be sore at random periods the day after - like today for instance. After sitting during job training for a while, when I got up at breaks the hip pain was back. I'm trying some hip stretches my sports med buddy taught me, so here's hoping they help alleviate this issue in the next few days.

In non-running news, the new job is going great. I love my cool new workspace. I even got a name plate! A NAME PLATE! With my FULL name! I've never had a name plate! And my HR cohorts got me flowers, candy and a card. How awesome is that? Turns out I am actually based out of HR, which is a new department for me. Since I will be working with all departments in the organization, they felt this would be the best place to put me. Plus, I will be doing trainings, etc, so HR makes the most sense. It also turns out I am really in the "executive" or at least "middle management" ranking in the new gig. Also a big deal for me. I'm normally one of the peons, but now it appears I'm one of the ones who helps influence change. This job stuff seems to have all worked out for the best. SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET.

One last random thought before I go. I finally had Nutella for the first time. HOLY CRAP. Why am I just discovering this now??? It is amazing!!! So far I have only put it on toast. What do you do with it? I need ideas!!!!!!