4:30am

Some of the information here may be a little gross to some. So if you get grossed out easily then don't read this post.

Time to get up and get ready for the run @ 6am.

There's a morning ritual that runners, and probably any endurance athlete has.

Mine is to get up at least 1.5 hours before run time.

Drink 16 oz of water, drink 1 cup of coffee and have 1 cup oatmeal with 1 tbsp of brown sugar. Then I get dressed and the entire time I'm hoping I'm able to hit the bathroom before I leave. Finally, that moment comes and I feel relief- the BM. I'm ready to run!

I met a group at the Pointe @ South Mountain this morning. There are various runners there. From someone whose training for the marathon Olympic trial to Tammy and I. We head up the rear. As I said I'm training with my heart monitor now. Today, we ran 7.5 miles and I kept my HR @ 146. That's just the top of my zone 1. Unfortunately, I again didn't set my watch correctly so I don't have all the cool stats I so look forward too. Very frustrating. So this is now my mission. To make sure my watch is set correctly!! What's the point of having one if it's not set.

My run was great. Tammy has done several triathlons and is a wealth of information.

My bladder has still not adjusted since having a baby. I guess I need to be more vigilant doing kegels. Once I stop running- I just might as well as pee right there. I practically did that today. I had to walk because my HR was getting high, then I stopped for a moment. Then ugh oh. I quickly found the nearest bush I could find and squatted right there. My shorts, got wet, my leg and the arm of my long sleeved shirt. YUCK. Thankfully, I had my water bottle and rinsed off where I could. This happened midway through the run, so I was dry by the time we got back.

My morning of exercise was done by 7:15am. YEAH!!!! I grabbed Caroline and Cate and we went to Einstein's for breakfast.

Here's a picture of Cate enjoying her bagel.