Lately

I switched up my training plan a few weeks ago and have just finished my first three-week block of increased mileage (25-30 per week). Feeling good!

I noticed overall my runs were slower - not a great confidence booster - so today I took the last half of my run at slightly slower than tempo pace (but faster than goal pace for the half). Score! Feeling much more confident now.

Of course it made a BIG difference going out in 70 degree temps instead of 85. We've had a few days now that feel like fall and I have been so happy. I know it's going to get hot again and I don't care, I'm just so happy to have some cooler weather for a little while.

It's been nice as well to have cooler temps at night. Though last night was a doozy, my dreams were super wild and woke me up several times.

Another constant I noticed while reading through past race reports was that I'm always commenting on not getting enough sleep. It's actually been getting better the last week or so (last night excepted) - I've made a truce with the Princess Kitty and she has been not quite so annoying in the night. I've also reluctantly given up full-caf again and am back to decaf everything (except for my first cup of tea in the morning). I was falling asleep just fine when I first went to bed so could tell myself I wasn't affected by the caffeine, but it was keeping me from being able to fall back asleep easily if woken up in the night. By say, oh, a small child with a nosebleed. Or a cat. Or the other cat. Or the first cat again. Or a husband coming to bed late after rehearsal. Or that first small child having wet the bed. Or the baby waking up early. Or... You get the picture.

Spent the weekend with The Dude sorting through stuff to discard or better manage. And then cleaning up all the dust (and worse) discovered in the process. Walking through I don't think anyone would notice a difference, but things do feel more manageable now. More possible. Hence the dreams, I suppose... We have a lot more to do over the next few weeks before my parents come into town (they are not staying with us but still). Our annual fall cleaning/reorganizing, done a bit early.

And the fall temperatures make me think about Scary Movie Month! Oh, time to start planning.