Quick update

I had a busy weekend so don't have much time to post this morning because I still need to finish laundry and pack for the week but wanted to give a quick recap.

Friday night we played disc golf with Jason, Melissa, and Bill and the great news is that I was able to use my right arm with no twinges for the most part. YAY, YAY, YAY!!!!!! I also made a 60 ft putt before the game while James and I were practicing and waiting for the others, I will never, ever, be able to do that again but it was awesome anyway!! Trying a new way to throw with my left arm, when it works I can get more distance but still got to work the bugs out. Oh yeah, I skipped my run that day--slacking off.

Saturday morning we went to Scott, AR for Ms. Vic's 100 mile ride. My plan was to ride easy for 30-50 miles and I managed to get in 40. Just hung out with Annette, Bailey, Joan, and James. This was going to be James' longest ride so I wanted to stay with him most of the time. My top speed was 22.5 mph on flat ground, fastest I've been up to under my own power--gone faster on downhills but still working on building up my strength on uphills and flats. James can usually sprint and get out ahead of me but yesterday I stayed right with him when he tried, yeah, baby, LOL. Average speed was 12.5 mph but wasn't trying to go fast most of the time. Had a great time, but did learn that if you buy any new gadgets for your bicycle, learn how to use 'em before you go out and ride (my CO2 two-timer pump). Had a great time but had to leave early to walk Elsie so didn't get to hang around afterwards.

Drove back to Searcy, took a nap, and then stopped at Bike City to give them a recap of the morning. Got an amazing compliment from Duane. I've been after him to come up with a logo so I can get a jersey made up for events and told him I'd been asked who I rode for. He told me that I was going to get that more and more often because I was getting to be such a strong rider in such a short period of time. Made my day!

Saturday night I ran in the Big Dam Bridge 5k. It was hot, humid, and we were running late. I even forgot to brush my teeth after eating dinner before rushing out the door. So I apologize now to anybody that got within breathing distance of me last night :-(. Sorry! We left Searcy at 6 pm and registration was supposed to end at 7 pm but there were so many people in line that they postponed the 7:30 start time to let everybody finish signing up. There were over 500 finishers including the walkers. Started way in the back and had a hard time working my way thru the crowd after it started. I used to be neutral on mp3 players during races but I'm against them now. Going across the bridge it was hard to get by those that are oblivious to the other racers because they can't hear them. My legs were tired from the 40 miles bicycling and I just kept telling myself "Don't stop, slow if you have to but don't stop" My only walk break was at the water station on the other side of the bridge to drink 3 quick sips of water. Thought I was going to puke the last 1.1 miles and I was beginning to believe that there was no finish line. Finished in 28:28, not bad considering the heat, where I started from, the bridge, and the tired legs. 46th out of 210 female runners, 7th in my age group. It helped me immensely getting to run across the bridge with Heather and Kelly from Cabot. I'm glad y'all spotted me 'cause I needed the company to get through that. They had run a 5k race that morning and both placed in their age groups (YAY!) so they had tired legs too. James said there were several women that finished just in front of me that looked really rough, like they were going to pass out.

This morning was a 4.1 mile easy recovery run in 40:04, the first 2 miles were super slow, then sped up to my normal pace after that. It was warm, humid, and a light misting rain that was doing absolutely nothing to cool me down. Kept wishing that it would rain harder. Followed that with a 1.95 mile walk with Elsie.

Totals for the week
Running: 13 miles in 2:05:04
Bicycling: 66 miles in 5:04:56