staying flexible

I am not talking about stretching, though I really should spend more time stretching after my runs...but I am talking about training schedule flexibility. I took Friday off, mainly to use my vacation time before I lose it, but to also get a few things done that I couldn't otherwise do during the week. I thought I had the great idea to go ahead and get a jump on my long run, but surprisingly my day went by quicker than if I had been at work...besides it rained on and off all day, making for some rather soupy air...so then I looked at my normal long run day of Saturday and I wasn't feeling up for the run and knew that Sunday was going to be a stellar day for a run anyway... This allowed me to catch up on a few household chores that I have been neglecting over the past few weeks. I didn't get them all done, but I'll have time to get the remainder of them done today... As for my run, it was a step-back week and therefore a 10 miler. I decided that it would be nice to try it at my proposed marathon pace of 9:00/mile...pretty easy...but it was starting to feel a little like work towards the end...I am hoping it was a number of factors...lack of sleep, running on hills, running into the wind at the end (though my pace didn't really reflect this). So I immediately started to wonder if my goal was too aggressive and then wondered if I wasn't training hard enough...and then I stopped...I remembered how strong I felt after last weeks 17 miles...I felt better and then moved on. I'll revisit this later in the training, I am sure, but for now it is full steam ahead... On another note, I made a new friend this weekend...his name is Eldon and he is a German Shorthaired Pointer. I watched him this weekend for Brooke and her husband. He is a great dog - very energetic and very friendly. He was fun to take care of...