4 Miler

It was warmer than it has been (32 degrees F), so it was slushy out. I don't much like running in the slush, but it beats the treadmill.

That last mile was the hardest. I have set up my runs so that they are a combination of a 1 mile loop and a 2 mile loop - both of which start at my house, so for example, today, I ran the one mile route, then the two mile loop, and finally, the one mile loop again.

This does a couple of things:
1. I don't get the same boring scenery over and over again. My previous 4+ mile runs were loops around the "nice" neighborhood on the other side of the development.

The road that ran around the inside of the neighborhood was 1.07 miles, so it made a pretty good route to keep track of my mile splits (and of course I knew where the mile markers were!)

With the GPS watch, I don't have to worry about knowing where the mile splits are as the watch keeps track of them.

2. I can mix and match the routes to add up to the mileage I want to do. For a three mile run, I can do either route first followed by the other route. My five mile run on Saturday was the two mile route, then the one mile route, followed by the two mile route. It really is nice to have variety.

3. Because each route ends at my house, if I need to make a pit stop, or drop off some clothing, or pick up some clothing, or take care of pretty much anything, I know that I'm never farther than a mile from my house. Few things are worse than being 2.5 miles from the house and you realize you under dressed, or have a pressing need to get rid of something...

I need to figure out how I'm going to get my mileage in this week; this Friday, we are headed down to Evansville, IN to check out University of Southern Indiana for my youngest son. So, that means I might be able to get in a short run before we leave, and possibly a run when we get back on Saturday. I might have to push it to Sunday; I'm sure I'll figure it out.