Muuuuch better!

Ok, so I am apparently now using my blog to keep track of my runs-- mostly for my own purposes. If it seems obnoxious or braggy, I apologize... just gotta keep myself motivated any way I can.
So with that said, I ran another 5 1/2 this morning and it felt great! The temperature was a cool 40ish degrees at the beginning of the run and probably 46 or so by the end with little wind. Perfect!! I was much stronger this week and was even referred to as one of the young, fast ones of the group. How's that for a little encouragement?? We finished the task in 51 minutes, running an average of 9:31 miles (I love technology that can tell us all of these things as we run!). That's a bit slower than what I would like to do, but it was a group run so we just stayed together. Plus, my body is still getting used to running outside versus the treadmill, which is a different beast altogether. I am battling a minor foot injury. I think I've developed a bit of tendonitis in my left foot after Tuesday's run (another ridiculously cold, dark run with some friends) so I've stuck to cardio machines for the rest of the week, iced it, and took some ibuprofen this morning and I was ok. Hopefully it won't cause me further problems.
The race is at the end of February so I've got some work to do. Next week, we'll bump our mileage up to 7 and work our way up to 10 miles in the following weeks leading up to the 13.1 mile feat. I will be doing a couple of morning 5 mile runs during the week as well. Hopefully all of this will get me really ready. Thank goodness I found this group!!! I really don't know if I could have done it otherwise. Plus, it's really fun to be making friends with people who share this interest.
Oh, and I got some really cool new running shoes this week for my birthday!!! That was actually very exciting, which may seem odd to most but good shoes are a big must.
Yay for another successful morning!