A new week

I've been a running fool this past week. Tuesday we had a great first Buddy Run leaving from the LLC Office. We only did 2.75 but I actually ran closer to 4 miles between running back and forth between the different groups. It was fun, except the part where I tripped. My husband says I have problems because I always get banged up, at least once a week! What can I say...I'm talented that way I guess. I've always had at least one scrape on my body between nicking my hands on cupboards or tripping and skinning my knees. I think I must have weak skin... :)

Thursday we had another fun track night. I just wish they would get those lights turned on - it would be nice to be able to see everyone at track! We ran 2 x 400, 1 x 800 and repeated. Nice, quick, and easy. I love track. It's so fast!

Saturday we had our OYO run and I joined up with Chris and Stan at Rivermark. All our runners worked their tails off and had a good 4 mile run. I managed to go 5 miles, doing the running back and forth between the groups.

On Sunday I went down to Sports Basement to join in on their run. I only did 4 miles. It was raining and very windy and the trail was closed at the 2 mile mark. I met a nice woman named Amy who is starting to get back into running with her boyfriend. We chatted the whole way and the time flew by!

Tonight I took Max for a run. He's been cooped up for a while because of the stormy weather. He's finally tuckered out, thank goodness! I'm tuckered out too but need to get everything ready for tomorrow - gotta leave for the train at 5:30 am to prep for those auditors!

I heart running

I had the best run that I've had in a long time tonight. I felt like the wind. It was amazing. We had track workout, which I have always loved. 2000 meters/2 minute break/1600 meters/2 minute break/1200 meters/2 minute break/800 meters/2 lap cool down. I started the first rep with a 8.5 minute mile average then went down to a 8 minute mile average, down to 7.5 minute mile average and finished strong with a 6.5 minute mile average. Ooh-rah! That's right, baby, and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

I sincerely hope my good friend Smith doesn't read my blog. Because...I think I like it so much that I might do another season of TNT. The people are a lot of fun. We run! And then we eat! What is not to like about that? And, to be honest, the pain of the Nike Women's Half Marathon is fading away. I can barely remember the extreme pain I was in as I crossed the finish line. I mean, I think I was in extreme pain. It's kind of foggy. And the high that you get after exercising is heaven. I love it! I feel so good right now that I'm acting uber-silly. Both Aaron and Tina laughed at me numerous times tonight. But I have a huge smile on my face. Except my belly is so full from the absolutely scrumptious chicken that Aaron made tonight.

Get this... He looked up a recipe for baked barbecued chicken on the internet and then made it. It was succulent. It was divine. I wish I would have taken a photo for your viewing pleasure. Giant chicken bone-in breasts and baked potatoes and salad. Sigh. My belly is REALLY full and I only ate half of my dinner, thank goodness. I love my man.

So back to the running...What do you all think? Should I join TNT again? I'm thinking for next fall since I'll be in class this spring. But then again, maybe I should just do it. And I'm thinking of applying to be a mentor. I think it would be a lot of fun and the group really is terrific. Things to ponder in the next few weeks...

Running...

I'm going to repeat part of what I wrote in my training blog for TNT - because it says what I want to say....

I know, I know, it's been a while. I had a real tough time for the past couple of weeks, but I'm over the hump. I know I can do it and I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to finish in 2 hours. Now, if I don't make that time, I'm in for a lot of ribbing, I know. One of my friends even told me that he wanted his donation back if I didn't beat his time of 2:08. Most of you who read this probably know me pretty well. I'm pretty competitive. Okay, REALLY competitive. I know it and most of the time I'm okay with it, except when it gets me in trouble. However, assuming that my race in 2 weeks mirrors my run on Saturday, I am set. We ran 12.5 miles. I finished it in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Before this weekend, I had never run farther than just over 8 miles. And our run had several more hills than I'll have to run in our race, although we didn't run the course in its entirety. AND, I caught up to the guys that were marking the course, so I had to slow down and wait for them to finish the course in order to finish! Although I was sore after the run, I was fine. Well, I could have eaten one of the bison that we saw in Golden Gate Park, but I was mostly fine. I took off my shoes and waded into the bay so I could "ice" my legs. It was heavenly.

Now I'm into the "tapering" portion of my training. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I haven't run since Saturday. No yoga even. My foot has been killing me. I went to the Chiro yesterday and although they beat me up pretty good, my foot still hurts. And get this...it feels best in high heels. Weird. I have been a bad girl though and I haven't used the dreaded foam roller (that reminds me of the Princess Bride!) since Saturday night. Tonight, for sure. I might try running too. Stupid feet.

On a different note, Aaron had 2 wisdom teeth pulled yesterday. Poor guy. He looks like a lopsided chipmunk because one side is more swollen than the other. I'd post a photo but he'd probably be unhappy about that.

Ouch

I tell you what, it's not easy getting older. I remember the good old days...when I could play on the playground for hours and eat anything and run and skip and ride my bike. Wouldn't it be nice to have that again? Minus the having to grow up, of course.

I've been having some issues lately with my running. I want to run. But my legs don't seem to be able to comply. Granted, donating blood was a huge do-do move. I should know better. But still, I feel like I'm running in mud. My breathing is labored and I'm tired. My legs have been getting so tight, I feel like they're going to snap if I don't stop and stretch. But a mile down the road I have to do the same thing all over again. I keep waiting for the kick, the point where I feel like it's effortless, but it's been over a week since I've felt that and that, my friend, is frustrating. I get so...arrgh! about it. Only a month til the 1/2 and I feel like I'm not even a 1/4 of the way there with my training. My coaches have been very supportive and they tell me I'm doing fine, but if you know me, you know how competitive I am. Yes, Becquel, me - competitive. LOL!

I guess I just need to stretch, keep rolling on that damn foam roller and relax. I'm going to finish that race if it kills me. I just want to do it in less than 2 hours. And that's the kicker. Oh Lord, won't you teach me patience? Or maybe, is this part of the learning process?