Wow, misery....
Today I did 6 miles in 66 minutes. HAHAHAHA - is that an indication of how miserable it was? You bet it is! I expected to have trouble with this run, since it's been literally months since I've run this far (other than the marathon, which is a totally different scenario), but I didn't expect to have THIS much trouble! I can point to 3 factors:

1. Decreased carbs in the last few days, and probably liquids.
2. Unexplained stomach issues earlier in the day, and then just before my run.
3. The heat - 86 degrees, and this is the first time this year I've run in any real heat.

Combined, those issues make for a miserable, and crappy run! I REFUSED to give up, though - I reasoned, I possess a sort of steely determination when it comes to marathons, why not the training runs? I decided NOT to give up early in a training run this year, just NOT do it. I had planned for 6 miles, 6 miles is what I was going to do, if I had to crawl home. I kept up the running for the first two miles, and then started alternating walking/running. It was *really* hard to go right past the house at the 3 mile mark and not just walk right in. :(

In the end, I went 6 miles, lost 2 pounds of sweat, and felt a bit nauseous for an hour afterward. Interesting that this sort of heat would knock me on my butt, when I remember running in 90+ all summer long, with not a problem! In fact, the worst heat I ran in was 102 degrees last July 4th, but that was not so fun, either.

I feel like such a beginner.