you know...

...maybe I really do keep having crazy weeks...or maybe I'm just a lousy blogger?

Blech. This week was kind of weird. Tuesday and Thursday evenings, I had events after work. Tuesday's event (judging moot court at my old law school!) went until about 10pm -- that is seriously my bedtime. By the time I got home, walked Sophie and ate a yogurt (starving, but wtf do you eat at 10:45??) it was after 11. I was draaaaaaggin' the next day.

Friday was a little rough -- had to deal with some work-related issues in the afternoon that left me pretty drained. It wasn't anything particularly bad, just drama I didn't really need, especially on a Friday afternoon. So, I came home, got Indian takeout (palak paneer and chicken makhni), and ate a whole bunch of chocolate chunk cookies for dessert while watching Arrested Development. Not exactly blogworthy (though, um, I'm blogging about it now...so, who knows).

This morning, I woke up pretty early for a Saturday -- I was out of bed and outside with Sophie by 6:45. I knew right away I wanted to go for a run, but it was still pretty chilly (25!) and windy, so I crawled back in bed until about 8 to give it a chance to warm up a little.

And I'm so glad I did. By the time I left, it was 33 and sunny -- pretty much what I consider ideal running weather. It's not too cold, but it's cold enough that I never feel overheated or even notice myself sweating. I wanted to be conservative given my injury issues, but still wanted a little alone time to recharge and leave this week behind.

I took it slow and just ran without any specific goal or route in mind. I ended up doing a total of 4.65 miles in about 46 minutes, including two stretching breaks and a few strides at the end in a (futile) effort to shake out my cramping glutes and tight hips. My route took me down 24th Street, up Sansom and then down Market to Logan Square, up the Parkway, looping around the Art Museum and then taking the Schuylhill train back to my 'hood. My splits:

Mile 1: 9:26
Mile 2: 9:38
"Lap" 3 (.16mi): 1:39 (?? must have accidentally hit the lap button when pulling my sleeve back over my Garmin)
Lap 4 (miles 2.16-3.16): 9:57 (includes a stop to stretch my hips)
Lap 5: (miles 3.16-4.16): 10:23 (includes a stop to stretch)
Lap 6 (.48mi): 5:31 (mostly strides)

I felt so much better when I got back. The run was very easy aerobically, with minimal physical issues -- my hips were tight after the first two miles, but stopping to stretch really helped. My knees never hurt during the run. Afterwards, PhillyGuy and I went to breakfast and then walked into Center City, where he camped out to do work and I wandered around doing some shopping (Anthro, your Plaza cardigan is finally mine!). After standing/walking for about 4 hours, I was really starting to feel the impact of my run, with my hips starting to tighten and my knees feeling stiff and achy.

I soaked in the tub for a while tonight, and the heat seems to have helped. I keep stretching periodically (I'm actually typing this while sitting in a butterfly stretch on my bed!) and I'm hoping things are OK in the morning -- we'll see.

Tuesday morning I see the sports medicine guy. I can make it, I swear!

Any fun weekend plans? PhillyGuy and I are going car shopping tomorrow (I know, I'm sure you can all barely contain your excitement).