About time for some running weather

After the Ironman Timex watch incident at the Expo, I made the wise choice - I went with the Garmin Forerunner 405 the wife has.  The online interfact is intuitive, I have a good understanding of the different functions, and with the exception of locking up once or twice (due to sweat - lock the bezel to prevent this), it is a great device.  I highly recommend the 405 (can't beat the price - $235-ish on Amazon).  After getting the watch in the mail on Wednesday, I used it the next morning for an easy 3 m run, the first after the half-marathon, and today for a 4 m trail run at Sandy Bottom Nature Park  Both times it worked perfectly...the runs went well too. 

Because I had to go into work early on Thursday, it meant a 4:50 am wake up call to catch a run before heading off to work at 6.  Following the Runner's World post half-marathon recovery definetly helped - cross training twice since the half-mara (before running again) allowed me to work out all the kinks.  Running session #1 was pain free, contributing to it be extremely pleasant. (Seeing six deer was pretty cool).  After knocking out a lower body workout later in the day, I decided to swap Friday and Saturday.  This meant a Rest day Fri and cross training or running (easy 4 m) Saturday.  With having to work this weekend and feeling sore, it seemed like a good choice.  That didn't last long.

All of a sudden the weather gods are being kind - what a beautiful day (cool, not humid, and not too sunny).  You know what this means!  Go for a run...and I did.  After work, I quickly changed, did a little carbo-loading (apple and a eng muff with FF cream cheese), and made way for Noland Trail.  I didn't make it to Noalnd Trail, but I did find a gem in Hampton - Sandy Bottom Nature Park.  What a TREMENDOUS 4 m trail run (twigs, roots, uneven surfaces, etc.) - great training for North Face.  I did a much better job of manitaining my easy pace of 10:24 m (my easy training pace for working towards a 1:55 half-marathon - 9:00 min/m).  Simply put, what a great adventure full of twists and turns and some burning thighs and calves afterwards - all the ingredients for a great run!