Arkansas 20k

ow, ow, ow..........This one ranks 3rd for me behind the Hogeye 1/2 Marathon and Sara Low 5k for tough courses. Hilly and lots of places where the road had a wicked tilt. I'm achy right now and hobbling around when I do pry my butt up off the couch. As a result I just placed an order for some compression socks to help with recovering after these tough races and runs. I went with the CEP Socks because a twitter friend works for them. Not exactly the most attractive things but hey if they work, I'll be ecstatic!


Race report--Eugene told me beforehand that it was going to be tough and I'd already read some other reviews along the same lines. Since I had an 18 mile long run to get done, I just decided to start out much slower than usual and use this as a supported training run. Great news was that it was overcast with just an occasional light drizzle, no overheating from the sun and no downpours. Almost perfect, yay!


I was sooooo happy to see that Brenda, Cindy, and Lisa decided to race! Missed them last weekend. Now I knew there wouldn't be any keeping up with Lisa but on good days I can keep up with Brenda and Cindy. Those two decided to take off a tad faster than what I wanted so I ran with Tala on the first half (plus a bit). She's great company too and a darn good runner :).


After the first half, Tala was taking a walk break to get some water and I noticed that B & C had slowed down just a bit from their blistering initial pace along with Karen so I sped up just a bit to catch up with them. Ran with K. for quite a bit then took a walk break so I could ingest a gel and that's when C. caught back up to me with a group of guys. Had another great mile or two then it seemed like survival mode kicked in, that's when we started back with the bigger hills :(. It was just try and keep moving at that point.


Oh to back up just a bit, K. and I ran with a guy for a while that had 35 marathons and several Ironman Tris under his belt. Amazing! I'm just hoping to survive my first, lol.


Garmin splits
Mile 1 8:56
Mile 2 8:38
Mile 3 8:41
Mile 4 8:50
Mile 5 9:01
Mile 6 8:58
Mile 7 8:36
Mile 8 8:21
Mile 9 8:50
Mile 10 9:25
Mile 11 9:10
Mile 12 8:56
Mile 12-12.49 3:59



So no negative splits but not too inconsistent either. I'm happy with it and since this is my first 20k race it was going to be a personal record regardless of my time.


Chip time 1:50:18 (garmin time 1:50:28)
75/179 overall (Male and Female)
16/77 Female overall


And I came home with this--thought I might place today because it's a smaller race but knew it wouldn't be master's and thought it would be further down so I'm very pleased :). Especially since I didn't set out to race race today.






















Tala by the way needed some extra mileage too so we kept each other company for another 4.5-4.75 miles AFTER the race. Did I mention it was hilly? Big day, my first 20k and almost 18 miler (17.99!).

Week 9

Wow, can't believe that I just finished up on week 9 of marathon training!?!



Monday--raining plus slept in so didn't get to the track before school started therefore it was the gym for intervals on treadmill. 8.02 miles 1:14:13. 3 x 1600s at 8:19 pace, 400 m. recovery jogs. ehh workout and had stomach issues but more on that later



Tuesday--3.02 miles in 30:47. Had a rare moment of sunshine just after sunrise at Hurricane Mills, TN so went out for my easy 3 with Elsie. Good thing too that was the last of the good weather for a bit and my trailer wasn't ready at Mt. Juliet (had an extra 2 hour + wait). Stopped at a pond for Elsie to get a drink and she decided to dive in instead, LOL.



Wednesday--Rest day. Full day of driving though with more than enough rain at least until just south of San Antonio, then had some sunshine again for a bit.



Thursday--9.05 miles in 1:27:46. Supposed to have 5 of the miles at marathon pace but it was just a fight to get it done pace. Legs were tired from driving the previous day and it was VERY windy. Most places that I run at while I'm on the road I won't start out until sunrise due to safety issues so that means I have to run when it's warmer out than I'd like. Oh, this was at Pearsall, TX (100 miles north of Laredo). Warm, humid, and windy + tummy issues



Friday-National Run @ Work Day. Seriously thought about waiting until I got home to run the 3 scheduled but was kind of guilted into going ahead and doing it at Mt. Vernon, TX because of the run at work thing, LOL. Pouring rain and I decided to run the frontage road back west instead of my usual into town route. The frontage road was the closest I could get to running at my work. Felt great and rocked a runner's high that lasted almost until lunch time. 3.17 miles in 29:16.



















This is where I was parked Thursday night/Friday morning. Small truckstop but refills of coffee are under a buck if you have your own mug :-).


Saturday--Arkansas 20k race and I had 18 miles scheduled, eeep! Well, got it done, sorta.....totals from everything was 17.99 miles, close enough :-). I'll give a race report in a separate post. .76 mile warmup (had planned for 2 but was late), 12.48 mile race, then 4.75 miles afterwards with Tala.


Total for the week 41.25 miles. No cycling because it's been raining and only one core workout.

nature walk through the truck stop(s)

Ok so nobody can accuse me of being a decent photographer much less good but I was trying

to find neat stuff to look at this week instead of the constant rain and gray skies. And don't be hatin' on my rubber boots, that was ankle deep water in spots, LOL.

ommmm

eFor those new to my blog or whatever, I drive a dedicated route from Middle Tennessee to Laredo, TX. Fortunately I've found a very nifty shortcut on back roads that eliminates the need to drive through Dallas, it's 15 miles shorter, takes the exact same amount of time as the interstate and is a helluva lot less stressful. However, despite my countless hours on various mapping sites I can't find a good way to bypass Austin without taking the new toll roads. And Austin is shall we say, a little on the difficult side to get through without your blood pressure going off the charts, LOL.

I was finding myself getting very, very, very angry on the round trip through there. So angry that it was starting to affect my mood the rest of the work week and I was constantly snapping at James. As a result approx. a year and a half ago I decided to start applying some of the strategies that I use while running. Deep, even breaths, a conscious dropping and relaxing of my shoulders, and keeping at least half a tractor trailer length (usually a full truck length though) away from the vehicle in front of me no matter how slow or fast the traffic was, or more likely, not going. Well the last part I don't use when running but you get the point, LOL! Little bit of an edit here--I usually keep a much greater following distance when driving, this is referring to traffic jams/stop and go city driving.

And it worked! It's so automatic now that between Georgetown and Buda that I'm almost in a meditative state. I'm fully aware of all the traffic around me but I'm no longer flying off the handle at the slightest hint of a car or truck cutting me off and I'm just a nicer person to be around for a bit. Now, once I get north or south of the aforementioned points, all bets are off.........

It's worked so well that late last month I started applying these tactics to anytime I'm driving. I've even found a couple of curse words that can be used in polite company and they're so ridiculous that I can't help but smile after I've used them and instead of flipping someone the bird (or wanting to) I give them a thumbs down--makes me grin and gets the point across just as effectively. The latter by the way was an idea floating around on Twitter.

Now don't go thinking I'm going Pollyanna, I still have a ferocious potty-mouth (although I'm TRYING to work on it) and I'm having to think about relaxing more than what I thought I would when I started this. But, instead of NEEDING a vacation, right now, it'd just be nice to be able to take a week off. I told James about this experiment yesterday and he replied that he'd noticed a change, just wasn't sure what had changed.

Week 8

Ok, first off, I apologize for the previous post--blogger and pictures is not mixing well for me for some reason anymore, grrrr.

This week was a fallback week and for some reason I just couldn't get into the groove of things. I only had 2 runs that were enjoyable, blech.

Some of this I've posted about already.

Monday--supposed to be hill repeats, only .87 miles done

Tuesday--hill repeats. Miserable, only did 5.68 miles of the 8 scheduled

Wednesday--Run/walk with James in Middle Tenn. 5.24 miles in 55:46. Good day

Thursday--rest day, but should've run because I was delayed by traffic anyway so didn't get in and out of Laredo as planned

Friday--run/walk with James at Von Ormy, TX. Light mist but very humid so hard to breath. 5.45 miles in 58:34. James ended up walking all but .75 miles because it was so difficult to catch your breath.

Saturday--14.05 hard miserable miles in the evening (2:27:49). First 6.5 miles stomach kept cramping so it was a run/walk routine. mile 7-10.5 felt okay. 10.5 on I was tired and becoming more and more cranky. James had pedaled along with me to keep me company since I would be running after dark for 1/2 of the run and he quit talking at around mile 11.5-12. Argghhhh!!!!!!!!!! I didn't even have any podcasts to listen to-hadn't loaded up my mp3 player-and probably wouldn't have used it anyway since it was so dark. I'd also driven in from the Waco area that morning so my legs weren't exactly fresh.

Sunday--4.22 miles in 53:40 with James and Elsie. Legs were very tired from the previous evening but overall it was a nice run. Misting rain and cooler so was able to just sleep in and get up whenever to run.

Even though I felt miserable Saturday I must have looked kinda fast. I had to make a pitstop at the bathroom in Berryhill Park and while running through the park I passed a couple of 10-12 year old boys. One told the other "I dare you to race her!" and the other was like "uh-uh, I think she can beat me." Nice little ego boost :).

Total for the week was 35.51 miles (35 scheduled). No cycling due to the rain, being tired, and I just couldn't bear the thought of the trainer.

After breakfast digests I'm going to head to the gym to do my speed workout on the treadmill, not looking at the schedule right now but think I'm supposed to do 8 miles total with 3 x 1600s at 10k pace.

Salado Creek

Fall is arriving and while the cooler mornings are making for some very pleasant runs in that I'm not sweating the moment I step out the door and I'm not having to get up at 5 am, I must say that I don't like the shorter daylight hours available. Another down side--heavy rains are back, esp. in Texas. While Texas really, really, really needs the rain it makes for white knuckle driving at times because I think everybody there has forgotten how to drive in the stuff. It certainly doesn't help that the rain was coming all at once in certain areas instead of slow and steady.

Last Thursday and Friday the I35 corridor from Waco to San Antonio was bordering on nightmarish. Wrecks everywhere, flash flooding (although that wasn't quite as bad as a few years ago when every low spot on the interstate was underwater), and just general stupidity on more than a few motorists' parts (truck and 4-wheeler).

Friday in particular was adventurous, it ended up taking me 3 hours to drive the 64 miles from the south side of Austin to Salado. Austin, well it's just Austin. It's going to be stop and go through there no matter the time of day but it was well before rush hour started so it shouldn't have been quite as bad as what it was, esp. with no accidents.

From the 272 mile marker to the 285 (Jarrell to Salado) though I was only able to average around 7.43 mph. The cause of the delay was the Salado Creek overflowing its banks onto the interstate........Normally this is a very pretty little creek that you can walk across, maybe knee deep at most. Friday it was a raging monster! Now by the time I reached it, the water had subsided to where it was no longer covering the interstate but still very scary looking.

Approaching the creek

Very blurry pic

Note the stop ahead warning sign

One of the 4 news crews filming the traffic backup and flooding.

I ended up shutting down at Robinson even though I had the hours available to drive because my nerves were shot from the traffic. Had entirely too many motorists pulling directly in front of me and slamming on their brakes and since I didn't have a race to get in for on Saturday there was no need to rush home.

Traffic tip of the day--if it's rainy, misty, overcast, etc.....please use your headlights. Certain colors of cars (white and dark colors) just get lost in the spray and are practically invisible during these conditions.

Monday that's actually a Tuesday

Just like everybody else in the states, my schedule is completely out of whack from the long Labor Day weekend. Twas nice having an extra day off but this means that James and I will be picking up on Wednesday instead of Tuesday so our schedules will really be off from the norm. Speaking of our work, it's looking like we are back to normal with both of us picking up on the same day and even at the same plant for now, yay!

Oh, and yet another work related tidbit--I received a call last night/this morning at 1:49 am from a night dispatcher wanting me to get up and cover a "hot" load to Dallas. Quite fortuitously, I'd left my phone in the computer room so didn't get wakened, LOL! Don't know why James didn't get a call too, hmmm.

Workout wise this week has been crappy--almost literally..........having stomach issues again. Tried to get out twice yesterday for my hill repeats and both times had to make a mad dash for the bathroom, ugh. Same thing this morning but finally got whatever was in my system out so managed to get some semblance of a workout done. Think it was set off by the peanut butter I'd had for a pre-workout snack yesterday. I'd sworn off of it just over a month ago thinking it was the culprit in some of my issues but was in a hurry so reached for the jar again yest. morning. So that pretty much confirms my suspicions about peanut butter not agreeing with me.

I was supposed to run 8 miles today with hill repeats in the middle. Got the hill repeats done but only have 5.68 miles showing on my garmin.
Why the mileage shortfall?
1)Didn't get in the full warmup and cooldown portions
2)couldn't get the garmin to sync with satellites again so just took off with the timer counting down
3)hit pause 3 times instead of lap on my hill repeats-once was for the entire repeat up and down before I'd caught my mistake

The repeats went ok--4 X .25 mile, 8 x 1/8 mile then all the way up the hill to finish up (1/2 mile). My legs are tired...........

To try and avoid traffic, James and I drove out to Riverside Park (he was on his mountain bike) but we did have to deal with a few pervs--well, James did, they weren't interested in me :). One guy was sitting in his pickup with the door open and no pants on until I entered the park--James had gotten there just ahead of me. I'm ok with whatever people's sexual preferences are among consenting adults but damn, don't be out in public wagging your weenie to people who aren't interested.

Last week's run total was 40.98 miles, this week will be a backdown so should only have 35ish miles by Sunday (and a 14 mile long run, whew!).

Clear Mountain 5k, week 7, and found

Ok, knew it was bound to happen sometime but my local bike shop mechanic has found my blog (Hi Jason!). Guess I'll have to quit trash talking about him now, huh? LOL!!! Actually as most people who read this know by now I love my LBS........Okay butt kissing over.

Today was race number 13 in the state RRCA Grand Prix series and I've got to say I'm not particularly fond of this one. There's nothing bad about it, it's relatively flat, and it's by the river so I should love it. But...........I just don't. My attitude about it was kind of soured too because the Sara Low Memorial 5k was today in Batesville and I had to miss it due to trying to iron the g.p.

Today I'm kind of frustrated with the fact that I pre-registered (was number 74) and still got stuck with a size medium shirt instead of a small. There weren't even any X-larges that I could trade the medium for so James could have a shirt. Oh well, guess I'll have to take the scissors to this one and cut the sleeves and neck out. From here on if there aren't any female cut t-shirts available I'm going to request the kids large. At least it will fit albeit slightly shorter than a regular tee.

Also, it's a non-chip timed race and I never, ever know what time is going to be shown in the official race results. For example today, my garmin showed 23:20 and I didn't shut it off right away + started it as soon as the race started even though I was about a quarter of the way back from the front. Also the time on the clock at the chute was different. I still pr'ed by 1 second according to the race results. I know I shouldn't quibble about this since it was a matter of seconds but still.........Oh well, it will give me more lee-way to try and pr on the next 5k or two.

I am pleased with my race performance, I actually felt good and steady throughout most of the 5k. There was a spot around mile 2 that I had to slow down just a bit but not a whole bunch. I did feel a tad nauseous just before mile 3 but you're supposed to feel that way aren't you? LOL..... Reeled in everybody that I focused on except for one woman and I think the race results show her only 1 second in front of me--btw that's wrong too, she was more like 3-5 seconds ahead.

Official time 23:25

16/160 female

104/377 overall

1/20 female 40-44 age group

I won 3rd place female masters!!!!!!!!!! Very happy about that but the woman that is right with me in grand prix points female masters took first place masters :(. She's VERY fast!

My time last year for this race was 25:22 so almost a 2 minute improvement.

Week in review (still have a 5 mile easy run for tomorrow)

Monday--1.59 miles with Elsie around neighborhood in 17:09

Tuesday--7.14 miles in 1:08:15--hilly run at Hurricane Mills, TN. Felt great, no walk breaks. This route had approx 4 miles on a gravel road. Beautiful cool morning, was blowing smoke for the first couple of miles. Got splattered with gravel from the school bus driver again, grrr.

Wednesday--5.52 miles in 1:10:14. Run/walk with James. He had a great day with over 3 miles running and no breaks but I was having tummy issues so had to walk a couple of times. Another beautiful day with low humidity and chilly fingers. But no more baked apples the night before a run for me, eeeep...........

Thursday--rest day, but still had to wake up early in Laredo to deliver before the morning rush. My first thought when the alarm went off was why am I getting up when I didn't have a run scheduled...........

Friday--5.28 miles in 1:05:55. Not much warmer than Wed. but much, much more humid so James didn't have as good of a run. We also started off with a huge hill so that played a factor. He still ran straight through for 3 miles though. Walk breaks were only at the beginning and end. I was feeling bad so went to bed around 8 pm last night (felt achy and slightly feverish).

Saturday--Woke up with a headache and stumbling around........Pre-dawn wakeups suck. But anyhoo, Lybbe sent the healing fairy from Ontario, Canada to Arkansas so felt decent by race start ;). Thanks again Lybbe! Approx. 1.57 mile warmup in 15:50--ran more but started before my Garmin had time to find the satellites and sync up so using what was actually recorded. 5k race, then finished up with an 11.05 mile run (1:58:33) with Cindy and Brenda for a total of 15.72 miles this morning.

Brenda and Cindy really saved my butt this morning, I know I wouldn't have gotten my long run done if they hadn't come along with me. Love, love, love these girls!!!!!!!!! They also took me out on a route that I didn't even know existed off the Rivertrail so not only did we race this morning and have a long run, we ran trails!!!!!!!!!!! Real, honest to goodness monster uphill, switchbacky, rocky, technical trails! So while the 11ish mile time may seem kind of slow, well it was after a race AND on trails. The 15.72 miles by the way is my longest single run to date--entering new territory here........Felt great until the last 4 then started kind of dragging, the final 2 that I did solo felt endless, blech. Sun had come out and it was heating up fast. I got it done though so happy about that even if my distance was a tad short of the 16 scheduled.

Me after today's fun! I'm still standing and yes, I was wearing my lucky running skirt :)

35.25 miles on the week so far.

Run With Jazzy

I heard about Jasmine this past week on the Land Line Now xm radio show. Very cool that she's doing this and even though I don't have a ton of blog readers I thought I would get this out to hopefully garner a little more publicity. After all, how can I resist something that combines two major things I'm involved with--running and trucking?!

Anyway, she's running across the United States (Los Angeles to New York) to raise money for the St. Christopher Fund, a not for profit that provides financial aid to truckers with medical problems and also conducts medical research that will benefit professional drivers.

I've just purchased a shirt and will be making a donation later this weekend, I just think it's wicked awesome that this 16 year old is doing.

Week 6 of marathon training

No true long run scheduled for this past week, just several medium length runs so it's felt kinda odd.

Monday--at home. Ran 6.11 miles in 58:06 solo. Forgot about school being back in session so was almost ran over a few times by frantic students, mothers, teachers, and one school bus driver. Afterwards ran/walked 3 miles in 40:53 with James and Elsie.

Tuesday--had to stop at NLR to shop to have trailer repaired. Ended up running laps around the truck yard and down the access road over and over. Hot, humid, and boring but squeezed in a nice tempo run of 4.01 miles in 34:41. It was a good prep for the XC 10k coming up in October since a quarter of each lap was done on grass and dirt. Our pickup is parked there and I originally intended to drive to the Rivertrail but it ended up being at afternoon rush hour so was going to spend more time driving than running. Besides it's good for me to practice what I preach about using what you have at hand when fitting in a workout while working. Still boring as all get out though, lol.....

Wednesday--rest day

Thursday--6 miles at Encinal, TX in 1:05:45. Part of this was run/walk with James. Same old refrain of hot and humid. Did check out part of the town but there were so many dogs running loose that we had to cut that short. We stopped to read the war memorial (WWI, WWII, Korean conflict, and Vietnam), very interesting to see the same surnames listed over and over. After the town portion we headed out on the frontage road going north which was kind of a mistake. Chip seal roads are HARD on the legs........Plus reflect the sun back hellaciously......

Friday--We lollygagged on the way home this week and ended up sleeping at Mt. Vernon, TX which is one of my favorite places to run. However my plans to workout there were very rudely interrupted by a huge thunderstorm. Lots of lightning and the roads were flooding when we pulled out. Something just behind the back of my trailer was struck by lightning right after it started so I'm extremely glad that I hadn't left out to run before the skies opened up. I love running in the rain but not when sizzling bolts that can fry you are involved..........

Anyway since the morning run was nixed it was Friday evening at home before I could get out. Did 6.17 miles in 1:02:19, had one walk break because my tummy was acting up. It wasn't very hot but it was humid......My legs were also achy from the tilted chip-seal roads the day before. Oh, one cool thing, one of our neighbors had rented a horse-drawn Cinderella carriage for a daughter's birthday party. Very surreal turning the block and meeting this on the road :)

Saturday--had planned to join the Bike City fun ride but couldn't get James pried out of bed. Around lunch we did pull out the mountain bikes to just tool around town and get some errands done at the same time. I always love this, feel just like a kid again. Put in just over 8 miles just playing.....Ran 4.13 miles in 43:49 with Elsie, the time includes walk breaks for her.

Sunday--Wanted to get back to morning workouts--ran 5.67 miles in 54:37 solo then was stretching when James ambled through and wanted me to go out with him on his run...........Wasn't thrilled about it because I was tired already from 2 workouts so close together in time but couldn't exactly say no if he was motivated to get out there. I did ask him why he didn't get up when I did and his reply was "Because you didn't tell me to." ARGH!!!!!!!!!! Men. I did another 3.72 miles with him in 49:52 (run/walk)

Later yesterday afternoon I met up with some of the Cabot crew for a 20-30 mile ride. I think it ended up being around 23.5 miles. My sensor for the computer was messing up so 3/4 of the time I had no clue what my speed or mileage was. Interestingly enough I had the cadence reading for the entire ride. Awesome ride, beautiful weather, mostly women so great conversation! I'm fast getting out of cycling shape though :-(. Had just enough mix of easy stuff, hard sprints, flat road, and hills. A couple of friends have new tri bikes and boy oh boy could they fly down the hills. Well, Arland can fly up the hills too! I could keep Cindy just within reach on the flats and uphills (except towards the end) but that aero position downhill, WOW........Even with me scrunching down as low as possible there was no way in the world I could match her downhill speeds. Each descent put her so much farther in front of me there was no catching her :).

Weekly totals
Running 38.81 miles (think this is my highest week ever)
Cycling 31.68 miles
no weights but I did pushups and chinups on a couple of days

Tour de Rock photos

Wow, am I ever late in posting these! Had to get a friend to scan them in for me since our scanner is not completely functional right now. Top pic is from the finish line (I did the metric century this year) and bottom pic is during the ride. The guy behind me is one of my Searcy training partners or was until I decided to do a marathon and iron the GP series this year instead of the BDB 100.

Blogger is driving me crazy--the past 2 posts with pics are not publishing the way I edited them, grrr. Any suggestions? I've edited this post 4 times.........

weekly workout recap

Ok, technically week isn't over until tomorrow but I plan to spend time with James instead of the computer most of Sunday. Won't be long and involved because I'm still feeling melancholy. I'm also not sure that most people are interested in this but Terry left me a comment last week saying that she liked following my progress, so there!

Monday--3.59 run/walk with Elsie and James before we left. Met some of the Kenyans that attend Harding on the trail while out. It's always such a joy to meet them while out running, always friendly and they make it look so easy. Also did a full body strength and abs workout. BTW, James' run segments are getting to be much longer in time again.

Tuesday--7.25 mile hilly run in 1:11:08 at Hurricane Mills, TN. Started out slow and had 3 walk breaks but was cooking right along by the end. Felt very good!

Wednesday--Load turned hot so rest day

Thursday--6.27 miles in S. Texas in 1:08:44. First 3.5 miles were a run/walk with James, he ran more than he walked today, woo-hoo! Remainder was solo and I included some running drills at the end (skipping, grapevine, butt kicks). Another great run.

Friday--3.15 miles at Prescott, AR in 29:11 (forgot to turn Garmin off immediately so have some extra time with no running, blech). Started out slow but ran the 2nd half much faster. Powered up the big hill on the Industrial Road with a sub 7 minute mile pace (6:22 at one point) while listening to LL Cool J's "It's Time for War". I'm sure the log truck driver got a big laugh out of me pumping up my arms after I got the to the top but hey, I was feeling pretty darn good at making it up that fast :-).

Saturday--13.23 miles in 2:02:41. Did the first 6+ miles with Brenda, Cindy, Lisa, Jackie, Mark, and Robert then met back at the school for the memorial run at 7 am (short break here approx. 10 minutes). James also ran this part (he did 3.39 miles, YAY!). After about 1.5 miles the large group started splitting up depending on the distances and times and I finished up with Brenda, Cindy, and Lisa. Felt surprisingly good considering I couldn't sleep worth anything last night and was stumbling around like a zombie this morning.

Totals so far this week
Cycling--zilch (grrr, miss my rides)
Strength--1 workout
Running--33.49 miles

Hope to get a ride in tomorrow but found out this afternoon that the friend I've been riding with on Sunday mornings had a bicycle wreck yesterday. Aly, hope you're feeling better.

Friends

I found out Wed. that a friend's husband passed away suddenly Tuesday night (heart attack). I just feel so inadequate when trying to express my feelings on this........I never met Vicki's husband more than a couple of times but he had such an unique and easygoing personality that you couldn't help but be charmed by this Southern gentleman. Actually James got to spend more time speaking with him than I did and always enjoyed his company immensely. 63 is way too young for him to have left us.

Today at 7 a.m. as many of the Cabot Cruisers that could make it ran the first mile in Lay's memory and to show our love and support for Ms. Vicki. 51 of us were able to do this and I know many others that couldn't be here ran and/or thought of these two wonderful people at this time. Vicki was my first introduction to the wonderful family that is the Cruisers and I am oh so grateful for this. Much love to you.......................

Eh week

Not a bad week nor a good one, just eh..................

Did manage to get a Tuesday Mt. Juliet pickup and even though James' appt wasn't until Wednesday he went ahead and drove over with me so that we could enjoy each other's company for at least a short while. As of today we both have Tuesday pickups for the coming week so maybe things are starting to get back to normal. Fingers are crossed :-).

I finally sat down and wrote my marathon training plan into the calendar and my, oh my, has the reality of what I'm trying to accomplish hit home. Not quite sure what little sanity I have left is going to survive this........Anyway today was the end of week 4 of a 16 week training plan.

Monday--rest day, ran 2.01 easy miles with Elsie

Tuesday--4.14 mile run and 1 mile with James around outlet mall. Boring scenery but was happy to be out with James

Wednesday--6 miles at Mt. Vernon, TX. Finally made it into the downtown area to run the square. Very pretty, I love small towns that have put some effort into restoring and maintaining their downtowns. 6 chin-ups at Salado rest area

Thursday--Rest!!!!!!! Did walk around quite a bit shopping while I was waiting for a dispatch and James to get to Laredo

Friday--4.23 miles with James at Von Ormy, TX. Flat road across from the Love's fuel stop, new asphalt on a fair bit of it that felt nice and spongy. Did 8 1/4 mile intervals since it was such a flat area. Hot, sunny, humid, hot...........my interval times sucked. Did calisthenics while walking Elsie in the afternoon at a picnic area, 4 x 25 pushups, 3 x 10 straight leg dips, 4 x 15 sets of walking lunges, 50 twist crunches and 2 sets of side planks.

Saturday--3.38 miles with Elsie at River Trail after James and I dropped our trucks off at International dealer for warranty/recall work (fuel tanks had no crossover lines so if electric pump went out on one you'd only be able to draw fuel off of the other side). Elsie received lots of "awww how cute" comments :-).

Sunday--10 mile long run. I wanted to meet Alyson between 0630-0700 and that meant I had to get out and run before dawn--by myself :(. I'm okay running solo up to 7-8 miles but anything more than that is just miserable. Tummy issues resulted in 2 stops back at my house so having to stick to the neighborhood was kind of a good thing albeit very boring. When I had just under 2 miles left I made a third stop at the house to wake up James so he could load up our bicycles and gear while I finished up the run. Made it back with less than 30 minutes to spare in order to change clothes and grab a quick bite to eat. Whew! We then rode 22.93 miles (by my computer) in 2 hours. That time doesn't include water breaks and the stop to refill water bottles.

Weekly totals--29.76 miles ran (28 on schedule, fall back week)
22.93 cycled (pitiful)
strength training--not near enough.

I did skip a duathlon on Saturday that I had really, really, really wanted to do but the 3 races in a row combined with a messed up work schedule has left me mentally exhausted. Several friends did race it and at least two did the triathlon so I'm sad that I missed it--but I needed the mental break more.

Why Running Clubs Rock

I was seriously dreading today's 12 mile long run. Thought I was going to have to do it solo and just wasn't in the mood for it. Fortunately I'd posted on my running club's forum Friday night asking if anybody was planning long runs on Sunday. Gotta tell you, my club never lets me down! Made plans to meet 3-4 friends and had a wonderful time yakking and running. Not all the running was pleasant but it was bearable even though it seemed way too hilly at times :-).

So my advice to everybody out there who runs or wants to run, find a club to join. Yes, that means you Terry! All paces and abilities are welcome and if they're not, find a different club 'cause that one most definitely does not rock :(.

A good club will usually result in great friends, help motivate you, praise you when you're doing great, and sympathize when things suck. It will also improve your abilities (improve your form, time, etc) and slow you down when you need to be doing easy long distance runs.

Oh, did I mention great friends? That's the most important part!