Busy Week, Lots of Running, and Crazy Weather!!

This past week has been a very busy one. It started off on a great foot, though. I was supposed to do a 40-miler last Saturday and pushed it until Sunday because of the potential for storms. I am so glad I did because Saturday's 16 miles was probably the worst running of my life. I was so sleepy tired that if I had toothpicks to hold my eye-lids open I would have used them. I spent the remainder of the day on Saturday mentally removing the bad run from my head and getting geared up for the long run on Sunday.

Sunday was great! I ran on my own and then met Clea for some loops at Bull Creek. We always have a great time, and since she had only been on the trail once before she really enjoyed the new sights. After that my friend, Sarah, Paul, my husband, and Daisy came to meet for a loop. I picked up the pace for them because they both train together are incredibly speedy...I didn't want to bore them too much with my long run pace. Daisy, of course, lead the way. After that loop, Paul and Daisy headed out and Sarah and I went on our way to a different trail, which is where I was to do my last two loops. She helped me keep a good pace. It was great to get to catch-up with her in person, and hear all about how well her life is going and how happy she is in her relationship. I am so glad that she has found someone special! Anyway, we were plugging along and I could tell right before we were getting to my car that I really needed some caffeine. We got to the car and I re-loaded my camelback, drank some cold soda, and got re-vamped. Of course, just as I was moving quickly through my transition I stepped in an antbed. I had to change socks and clean my shoes...10 minutes I would have rather not wasted. After the change, I ran with Sarah back to her car, and headed out on my last trail loop. It was getting warm, about 85 degrees, but it was a beautiful day. I finished my loop and was happy to throw on my road shoes for my last 5 miles. It was nice to not have to think about the rocks when I was getting very tired. I finished strong on the road, and was pretty pleased with the day...7:26, which included a bathroom stop, a camelback re-load, a sock change, and a shoe change.

I went home and prepared Vegan Lagasna and Spinach bread for friends who were coming over for dinner. A great post-run meal.

Since I had moved my run to Sunday, I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to get in a back-to-back run so I decided to do about 10 on Monday. I ended up running 11, mostly because the first mile was pitiful so I made myself do a make-up mile in the end. I was happy to have gotten the run in, but looking over my schedule I realized that this would be a very long running week...and a busy one too.

On Tuesday, I didn't run but swam and went to yoga. I had a ton of work to do, so I was happy to have gotten my swim in at 5:30am....I am looking forward to the water temps going up so that I can swim after I coach in the mornings.

On Wednesday I forced myself out the door for my tempo run. I realized on Friday why it is I have such a hard time running from the house some days. Right out my front door I have only two choices: 1)a .6 mile gradual climb to get to a downhill and something semi-flat or 2)an immediate downhill followed by a short steep uphill. I have to motivate because the warm-up doesn't actually truly start until after the climb, so if you are tired it is hard to get going. Anyway, I went on a 7 mile tempo run Wednesday morning, and was quite happy to keep under an 8-min. pace. Right after the run I went to work, and could feel the push in my legs. It was a good feeling.

Thursday was a beautiful day! It was 70 and sunny and no excuse to hold back. I headed to Ladera Norte for my hill workout, and stalled at the top for a brief moment. No reason, just not quick to get out of the car. Once, I got going I was glad I did. The weather was amazing and I got stronger and stronger as I hit the downhills...9 repeats total for a little over 10 miles. I even had the pleasure of being joined by a guy on his mountain bike who opted to climb next to me and chat as I trotted up. He told me that instead of taking the flat way home, I had guilted him into hitting another repeat to head home. I felt great when I finished.

Friday morning I had talked a big game about meeting Clea and Steph at 5:30 for part of my run and then finishing when my husband finished running with his training buddies. It was a great theory: I would get 10 miles done early and then meet my friend, David for the 5.5 mile loop around Bull Creek a bit later. Again, very big talk...I ended up waking up at 5:23 and there was just no way I would get there in time to meet them AND I didn't want to be awake yet. I finally woke up, got some work done, and then hit the roads to get my mileage in before meeting David. This was when I realized just how punishing my neighborhood runs are. Even on my easy 10, I had 5 climbs. Now these are not mountains I am talking about, and hardly even hills, but to my tired legs they might as well have been Mt. Everest. I was worried that David and I were going to be taking Daisy for a hike. I met him with Daisy and warned him that I was tired. Once we got going, the soft ground of the trails felt great. Actually, it felt better than I thought it would. We had a great run, and I enjoyed showing him the trail. He is a stronger runner than I am, but new to the trails...the great equalizer :)

After all this running, it was time to make final preparations for my in-laws, sister-in-law, and her twins. I needed to pick up a few things at the grocery so that I could make dinner for Friday night and Easter lunch. As I was running final errands, I got a call from my friend that she had been in a car accident and needed me to pick her up. So with the dog and groceries in tow, I headed to the car accident. We loaded up all of her stuff into my SUV, man could she ever stuff a Honda Civic, and I took her home. She seemed to be feeling ok. As we pulled up to her house and unloaded her things, I got the call from my husband that his family was 10 minutes from the house!! WHAT!! Where is the warning....

I arrived home to a house full of people and tons of stuff. I needed a minute to breathe, unload my car, and breathe...yikes!!

Fortunately, I had planned to run early in the morning with Clea and Steph, had to be at the local running store at 9am, and was planning to go to yoga at 12...the less home time with a houseful of family the better!! These plans were more than perfect when I woke up to 45 degrees and drizzle. I thought I lived in Texas??? Saturday's weather was CRAZY. The temp went from 45 and drizzle when we were running at 6am to 33 and sleeting by the late afternoon. I could not believe what I was seeing. I was so happy to have gotten my run in early, and loved getting to join my friends for that morning run. It is such a treat when I am willing to start early with them. I wish I would get myself together and do it more often.

I also loved going to yoga on such a nasty day. I had a hard time in yoga, which I came to realize after talking to one of the girls in the class, was due to the stress of the company plus the stress of the mileage I had been doing. It is so interesting to me how all of these things in your world can come to the surface when you push yourself under pressure (a 105 degree room). It was great for me, though, because I came home and my company had left...I had the house to myself for the afternoon. All of this really helped me to be a more flexible (just like Gumby) hostess, although some of the things that went on were ridiculous...I will spare my readers the details.

Anyway, today is a day off. I prepared Easter lunch for my husband's family and put the house back together after they departed. I really enjoyed the challenge of fitting all of the mileage in this past week with the work I had to get done. It is amazing that when you want to get it in, I was so much more productive about it all. I will enjoy backing off this week as I get ready for the long training day at Rocky Hill Ranch next week; I am doing the 50-miler as a training run. I have a ton of work that probably should have gotten done last week, but will now get done this week....oh well, I am figuring out how to best manage it all, keep everyone happy, stay healthy, and on and on...

I will reflect more, take more pictures, and have more to say this week as I rest!!