u/Interesting_Fly1696

We've lived here, in the same house, for three years now, and I've never seen a single tick. This year, we've found six dog ticks in the past month -- four on the dog (not attached because he's on preventative) and two on me.

Because of the rain this spring, we haven't even been out in the woods, so this is all just from our back yard. Yesterday, I mowed the lawn. I was in jeans, knee-high socks, boots, and a long-sleeved shirt. Didn't spray Off on myself like I have been because I was fully covered in clothes.

A few hours later, I found a tick attached on my lower back.

We've got preventative on the dog and both cats, but there's definitely a big nest of these suckers in our yard somewhere.

If you have pets or spend time outside, make sure you're using sprays, collars or drops on animals, etc this year, even if you're not going out in Michaux and such, and check yourself in the mirror when you come back in.

I'm seven weeks out from the race where I'd like to PR my 10k time, and five months away from the race where I'm hoping to run my first sub-30 5k, so I still have a lot of time to prepare.

When I started running last year, age 38, I came from a background of never in my life having been able to run a mile without stopping to walk. So, my focus was always on making sure I conserved my energy to make it to my goal distance.

My long runs and races usually end up pretty steadily negative split. I start out basically at a warm-up pace and then gradually up my speed while keeping my effort pretty much the same. I like this strategy because it feels natural, and it generally means that after the first bit, I'm always passing people rather than being passed.

When I see the finish line, I always have enough gas in the tank for a sprint, so I floor it for the last 100-200m. There are a few seconds where I gasp or stumble from sprinting, but I catch my breath pretty quickly, and then I'm able to go about my day, walk around, still be active the rest of the day because I didn't really go that hard over all.

My most recent 5k time was a new PB of 33:10, but in speed runs I'm usually doing "5k pace" intervals at around a 9:50-9:30/mile pace, and in a 5 mile race last week my fastest mile - the last mile of the race - was a 10:04. So I feel like I'm very much in the right spot, pace and effort-wise, that I could be going harder, and that 29-something is very much in reach, but I can't quite seem to get the right mindset to really give it my all in a way that doesn't just blow the race on mile three.