I'm not crazy...I'm just bored!!

I really need to go to bed earlier...no baby to blame the tiredness on today, just my drama filled life and staying up too late. 12:30 bed time makes a 4:45 wake up call come waaay too quickly!

Because of my lack of resolve to get up, I only had time for 5 miles before spin class. Thankfully, my favorite TM next to Kelli was open and I had someone to chat at - she was climbing Kilimanjaro on her run today, so I tried to do most of the talking. Not that she couldn't - that lady is a machine I tell you! I was breathing harder on a 1%!

2 miles, 1% @ 8:34 - jumped off to grab a spin pass.

3 miles 1% with a progressive run 8:34, 8:27, 8:20 then last 1/4 of 8:20 increasing until 7:30mm finish.

Spin Class - I don't know if I was just tired or what, but my normal 'slacker' class seemed really tough today! Sweaty and tired.

1 mile to finish up on the track - no idea on time, but tried to run progressive. I'd say effort wise (take this with a grain of salt, I'd just finished spin) it was faster than the TM miles, so I'd say closer to an 8mm. Who knows - just want 6/day this week for a total of 36 - maybe 37 to round up the .2 from Spectrum Saturday.

Still got to bed too late, but meh - I guess that is just me :)

I got a new pair of shoes Saturday at Wastach Running's anniversary sale. I *heart* them! I rarely get 'cute' shoes, because I'm a big pampered princess with my shoes and my big clunky ones aren't always that cute, but yeah...I like these ones! It will take some time to work into them since they are more heel drop and less supportive, but little by little I hope to move into Elixers permanently and say "Adios" to my Inspires.

Cute, huh? :)

So, I did my 6 today in the new shoes - things went great and I could hardly tell a difference. I'm hoping this is a good thing!

2 miles at 1% on the TM - 8:27, 8:20

2 miles on the track (actually timed them, I was tired of not knowing how hard my effort was!) 7:28, 7:08 - 14:36 TT

2 miles back on the TM @ 1% - started at 8:20 and went progressive every 5 min, then did my last .1 on 6:00mm. I felt awesome! TT: 16:22 - AP: 8:11

Today is my anniversary so my hubby was home so I dashed back to the rec center at 8:30 to get a spin pass, but then due to children had to run in a couple minutes late to class and someone had decided there was an open bike and took it! Luckily, when I said I had a pass the guilt overcame her and she got off. I felt bad and I knew I was late, but I LOVE Allison's class and I didn't want to miss it again this week. Class was worth it! Holy Heavens that lady is a killer on the bike!

Then hubby and I took Adam to his swim class. He was tired and just about fell asleep and didn't want to play afterward. Poor kid :( In class she had us do resistance band leg lifts (all directions) so, I feel like it was worth it for me.

Good times! 13 years on the 13th today - man, I'm old!!!

I have found the devil...and it's name is Cheesecake Factory!

We went there for dinner last night and it was so yummy!! Lots to choose from and even more to glutton myself with. Little did I know this would come back to haunt me. I'm usually pretty good about consuming mass quantities of food and not having it effect me. Not this time.

Actually went to bed at 10, so I got almost 7 hours of sleep which seems dreamy compared to what I have been getting. Went to the gym and snuck on the TM next to Kelli. I'm so glad I can always count on her to be there to keep my mind off the dumb TM!

2 miles - 8:34 @ 1% then I jumped off to get a spin pass. The whole time I felt like I was going to puke. Dinner is just sitting in my gut like a big greasy mass of yuck! I thought the break would make it better...nope.

2.5 miles @ 8:34 with a pick up at the end and after 1 mile I took it down to flat, had to find a way to make it easier. I was struggling with the food bouncing in my gut.

Spin class - we had a sub, but it was a pretty good class. Still wanted to puke.

1.5 miles on the track. I did 1/4 mile warm-up, timed my mile (7:55) then did 1/4 mile cool down. I got the miles in...now I'm done. Still no puking, but I don't think I'm going to feel like eating today. Stomach is still on overdrive from too much food - or too rich, one or the other.

I can't wait to go back to Cheesecake Factory :)

Now, I know this wasn't the plan, but...well, things happen :)

I'll give you the breakdown - then the story. You know there is always a story with all my entries!

AP: 9:12 splits: 9:26, 9:04, 8:59, 9:09, 9:29, 9:20, 9:05, 8:50, 9:14, 9:18

Spin class - it was a good one! She had us do a basic endurance run. 70-80% effort with your butt in the seat 90% of the time and very little variance on the resistance, but enough to do a few small hills. I loved it! Sweaty mess :)

So...this 10 miler, earlier in the week a guy on our Tri team at the rec center asked me if I wanted to run with him. I told him if he could find someone to run with us (I don't like doing just 1 on 1 with another guy) that I would be happy to join him. Well, he finally replied at 8PM last night and gave me his cell #. I gave him mine, but still wasn't sure if he'd found someone else to run with us. I tried texting and sending messages on fb all night, but by 11PM hadn't heard from him. I finally said if I didn't hear from him I was going to just sleep in and do my normal plan. I went to bed and set my clock for a sleep in morning.

5:07 the phone rings and he asks if I got his message....NO! He wanted to meet me 15 min away, so I told him I could be there in about 30 minutes, but that was the best I could do. He said they would wait for me - so up I got and rushed off. It was a BEAUTIFUL morning to be out and the miles went by quickly. George is a tri guy and just ran his first 13 miler Saturday. He is doing great on his training. Unfortunately, when we got back to my car he asked how long it took 1:32, just over 9's, nice pace. Then he turns to the other guy "didn't we do it in 1:27 last week?"

Well, if you know me I rarely set pace, I just follow whatever - especially in a new group. I didn't realize I was 'holding them back' or was I? Then I started reflecting on some other things he said and that he'd invited me to run with them on Tu and Th. So, I thought I was doing him a favor, but he must think he was doing me a favor. The only problem is, if I'm going to get up that early on Tu/Th I'll go to BBK's and challenge myself. I know that sounds stupid and maybe 'elitist' but, I'd rather go where there are good solid workouts and people to chase. I'm always the slowest runner there!

Anyway, now I'm just really confused. Was I doing him a favor or was he doing me a favor? I'm not sure I'll ever be able to figure it out. Oh well. I may join him in the future, but I guess if he wants a faster pace I'll take it up and show him a faster pace. HA! I don't know...it was all just weird.

You know what I love? Sleeping in. Running outside. Warm weather. Leaving from my front door. Quiet time alone on the road. Running in the light of day. My husband who stayed home to make this all possible! 

AP: 8:24 splits: 8:16, 9:43, 8:53, 6:45 (it has the last 27.5 feet I ran over 4 miles as a 4:11 pace, not sure I believe it, but it sure feels good! It was the Zamperini inspiration from the book). 

Can you guess which mile was uphill into the hurricane force wind? The last mile was downhill with a cross wind and I just wanted to see what I could do with opening it up on a downhill slide. Practice for tomorrow. It gives me hope!! Nice little shake out in the wind for Spectrum tomorrow. They don't cancel races for wind, so I figured I might as well grin and bear it...while the wind speed was only 30mph and not 60mph :)

What a day! I seriously didn’t think I had a PR in me. Nope. BUT, I did want to hit 7:30 AP for the race. That was the goal. I figured I’d just go for it (knowing the first mile is the fastest with the downhill) and if I burned out…well, then I burned out. As a wise friend once posted “Suicide pace is the only good race pace, and today is a good day to die!”

Got to ride up with Kim, Scott, Smooth, Wendy, Carolyn and Kathy. I love it when life all comes together! Had a good time at the start and found Teena, Annie and Nick. Gotta love a good chat with friends J

No warm-up, but we were off….

Mile 1 – 6:13; gotta love that nice downhill start! Faster than last year by 7 seconds – nice!

Mile 2 – 7:10; I knew the 6:13 pace wouldn’t last, but I wasn’t going complain! At this point I was done looking at times. I didn’t want to play that game in my head – just run. There was a group of people that had caught me (one guy had his SG running center jersey on) and I decided to latch myself to the group and go for it. Also, this is where I caught sight of the next female to catch in the tie-dye shirt…bring it on sweetie.

Mile 3, 4, 5 – 6:54, 7:15, 7:36; I caught the lady and passed her, then she passed me back, then I passed her, then I passed her back. We kept reeling in blue skirt lady about 30 sec in front of us, but neither one of us were going to give up to the other one. I actually learned to drink by pinching a cup and really getting fluid in while I ran. Never stopped!

Mile 6 – 7:35; last uphill and flat push. Tie-dye girl edged ahead and I just kept thinking “you’ll catch her on the downhill” – then Teena came running by – CRAP! She told me not to let her beat me, but I just kept holding out for that downhill. Well, I caught the tie-dye girl on the downhill  and mile 6 ticked just as we rounded the corner to the finish…she was just off my shoulder, Teena 7 ish seconds ahead.

.2 finish – 5:56; Well, tye-dye girl decided to start her push to the finish. I didn’t want to burn out still .2 to go, but I pushed too…she just pushed harder and pulled a stride ahead. I just thought “well, let’s hope your chip time is faster!” she was after all, always ahead of me. Then I snapped out of it! NOT letting this go. I pulled in and pushed those legs, I was booking it, pumping the arms breathing hard and I started to pull ahead just yards from the finish. I’d done it! I’d finally lost sight of her over my shoulder when I crossed the finish!! Mental power baby…mental power! I’d made up enough time to finish just 1.5 seconds behind Teena. Awesome.

Looked at my watch – YEEE HAAAW! New PR at 43:43 (official time 43:42, but I didn’t know it at the time), I really didn’t think my fitness was there to hit a new PR by almost 30 seconds, but I did it! I was stoked. I knew last year at 44:XX I was like 7^th in my AG, so I figured I was still out of podium reach, but I was happy with my new PR on a course harder than DesNews – and not almost 3 years old! I screamed a gasp when I saw I was 3^rd in my AG!! I was just so stoked. A big, competitive race and I’d done it – I’d placed! I was just excited. Everyone seemed to have good races, despite all of our drawbacks at the start. Wonderful group of ladies to hang with!!

Got my award and a prize for having green underwear :) that was courtesy of my 7 year old who had the idea for himself! Afterward I ran 2.3 with Teena and Annie, rounded the mileage out to 8.5 for the day.

Just as I was driving away I got the call I’d been waiting for! Brent (BSRools) and I set a time to meet at Turtle Wall trail head for a good 4 mile trail run. Yeee-haaaw! Could the day get any better?

Went back to the hotel and kids had just finished swimming. They got showered we ate roll sandwich and chips lunch in the hotel then went to meet Brent. I ran while they hiked and went treasure hunting (geo-caching). I ran to the wall and back with Sylvie and Brent, except the last big hill to the parking lot (about .3 short of the full 4 miles). I LOVED it! The uphill was hard, but on trails I don’t feel so much like I need to keep a certain pace, so I’m okay with the slower times. It was GREAT fun! Good chatting with them and beautiful scenery. Then, the downhill….ahhh, yeah, I like it! Brent may have just made a convert of me! Now I can’t wait for the Buffalo run next week!

It was one mile (on the Garmin) from the point I left them back to where the family was, so I’m going to call this a 4.5 mile trail run. I forgot to start my watch for one of the portions of the trail, so  the garmin has only 4.0, but between not measuring correctly and user error – I think I’m in  the right! :) I was proud of the fact, that although slow I didn’t stop on the way back to the family until I got there.  Recorded the last full mile at a 10:30 pace…about the same as with the BSRools clan. Then I hiked to the end with the family  and back to the car. As soon as I got there hubby handed the carrier and 24 lb Fartlek over to me. Awesome. So, I trucked him the rest of the way there and all the windy way back. Geo-caching along trails is a GREAT motivator for little hikers! We didn’t hear one complaint until about ¼ mile from the parking lot (and last cache) from the youngest. I’ve got some good little hikers!

Overall I had a wonderful day! The wind didn’t really pick up until the afternoon, but there were places along the trail is wasn’t too bad, others were yuck, but overall it was nice. During the race there was a bit of noticeable wind, but nothing like I’d expected. Overcast and cool, but warm enough for shorts and t-shirt. The gluttony at DD’s Pizza afterward was totally worth all the miles and outside fun!!!

Thanks for reading my novel about my wonderful day. Trail running rocks…I want to do more of it! I’m looking forward to a good year, I’ve been through too many injures to now not be smart about them. Tackling the beast….I’ll chase down that BQ and chew it up and spit it out, just watch.