Another Saturday Afternoon Run

I took another Saturday off from running with the group and went on a run alone. Once again, I went out around 1:30 in the afternoon, which may not have been the smartest time to go but it was either then or not at all. I've decided that I can't let other factors dictate my running or continue to push it off because that causes me to not run as often as I should. I was in the mood to run so I head off on the Santa Fe Trail again. I was supposed to do 8 miles this weekend and I knew that going on the trail was the only way I was going to get all those miles in. I set off south on the trail from the Air Force Academy to explore some new territory. I was feeling pretty great as I got down to the 4 1/2 mile mark. It was pretty warm and the trail doesn't have much shade but I was in a pretty good mood from the pretty views (pictures below) so I just kept running. I turned around at the 4 1/2 mile mark to head back north for the second half of my run. The second half was much more challenging. I had noticed some blisters forming on my shoulders, which definitely freaked me out because I thought it was sun poisoning. I wanted to run fast so I could get off the trail and out of the sun but my body was so exhausted. I kept running as much as I could but the last 2 miles were pretty tough and I probably walked more than I ran. It probably did not help that I ran out of water around mile 6 so I was pretty thirsty - I've learned some things about my water that I need to adjust for future runs. I made it to the end of the run 2 hours after I started and even though I was WIPED out, I was still very excited that I ran 9 miles :) I did, however, spend the rest of my night relaxing at home. Thank goodness that Sunday is a rest day!!

Today's Miles: 9.0
Total Miles: 117.5