Rainbows and bunnies

I could see the storm clouds building as we drove into Konza this morning, even before the sun rose.  They were big and fluffy and white.

They seem to be far south of us, so we headed out for two loops, one the 6 point something loop, and then the four point something loop to hopefully get us the 11 we needed.  Yes, we did run around the parking lot like idiots when we didn't quite hit 11 at the end of the loops.  Yes, I totally need to charge my watch before we head out as it died.  My phone is always a little conservative on mileage, so walked extra at the end just in case.  

As we climbed hill after hill, we could see the rain and the numerous rainbows.  The wind was blowing from the east, north east, so we thought the storms would stay south of us.  We saw some amazing rainbows form, due to the sun being out to the east and the storms being south.

We saw vertical rainbows and double rainbows and single rainbows that you felt like you could reach out and touch.  

It was truly beautiful.  It rained on us, first a slight drizzle, then a steady downpour, but nothing too bad.  After the last, very hot and very painful run out there, the rain was welcomed, along with the breeze that it brought.  By the end of the 11, the rain had stopped, and we finished on a good note.  Both of us had run races the day before, so our legs were not the freshest.  We took walk breaks, took lots of pictures, marveled at the wildlife, and got in our therapy sessions that once a week keep us sane.  I felt a lot better about racing out there after this run and confident that even if we have to walk and or take short breaks, that we should be able to finish this race in under 3 hours (although we still don't have a time goal really).  Tomorrow is a holiday and we are going to take a nice long walk in the morning to stretch out our very tired legs.  So far I have been able to keep the tiny tot busy with either puzzles, toys, videos and or food, so that i can just keep rest and my legs up.  

I did get to wear my hydration vest today, and other than a couple of odd places of chaffing, which I attribute to my tank top, not the vest, I LOVED wearing it.  Still getting use to the sloshing of the water bottles, but if it is going to be hot, I am going to need them.  I did tighten the vest down some and that helped but it doesn't eliminate it all together.  I did empty one of the 10 oz bottles on my run, but still had the other one full, so i should be fine and not need to fill up at all the whole race.  I didn't listen to music at all today while running, but did get my phone to fit as well as my gels in the various pockets.  I am wondering though, after several very sweaty runs, if it will start stinking at all.  I was drenched from the rain and the sweat after this run for sure.  I try and make sure to hang it up when I get home so it gets plenty of air dry time.  I really think it was a wise purchase for this race and will enjoy having it as I do more trail races.

Okay, off to go play with the red heads.  Have a great rest of your sunday!

Purple Paws Trails for Tails 5 K

Today was the first trail race of the year with stella.  We now have two trail races that benefit dogs, one here locally and one in Topeka that we will be running in November.  This was the first year for this particular race, and unfortunately, the numbers were pretty low.  It is also labor day weekend and the first football game of the year at KSU, so lots of reasons why numbers were down.  It was a very fun race and I will do it again next year for sure!  I hope it grows by leaps and bounds and gets more sponsors and more participants and dogs.  Let's start at the beginning shall we?

I asked when I picked up my packet how technical the trail was.  I am not a trail runner, although I enjoy a good trail run now and then.  I was told that the trail was mainly a six foot wide grass mowed trail with a couple of hills, one which was a little rocky.  Well, they didn't lie, I think it was just a matter of perspective.  The trail was very technical to a road runner like me, with several monster hills and two tiny bridges that sent my fear of heights and tiny bridges that look they are going to fall apart into over drive.  Good thing stella was pulling like a sled dog with her ass on fire, because I probably would have walked them.  I wish i could take pictures during trail runs because they looked like sticks held together with twine.  Anyway, it was very beautiful when I wasn't looked at my feet,  with the sunflowers in full bloom and the grass was well mowed, although wet with dew.   My shoes and socks were soaked within five minutes of starting and I am very glad I brought my flips as andrew calls them for afterwards.  My strategy was to push as hard as i could during the easier parts to make up for my slowness in climbing hills and going down hills (and bridges that i didn't know were there).  I did pass a few people and was passed several times as well.  Stella pulled the entire time, which is not like her, but I guess we don't run many runs with that many hyped up dogs.

We ended up 15th of 49 overall, 3rd in my age division of 9, and 8th female out of 32.  We had fun and got a really cute medal.

We even met some other aussie lovers, although they were moving to Mississippi:(

This was Blaze and she was a super cool aussie girlie.  We talked to her mom about running gear and cooling coats.  I should have gotten some money for all the referrals i got to the running company for running leashes.  Maybe I see a sponsorship in my future LOL!  Overall, great race.  Tough trail, good views and nice medals.  I don't medal very often so it was fun to get one.  Can't wait till next year.  Not sure how my legs are going to feel out at konza tomorrow for 11 miles but if I have to have walk breaks and run like a turtle in peanut butter, so be it!

Another race weekend?

Yep, lost my mind.  After suffering through the heat at last weekend's race, I will be doing it again this weekend.  At least this is only a 5 K, and it will be over quickly, as I am gunning for a PR.  I am really hoping it won't be too hot, since this is a dog/human race that supports the local animal shelter.  I will have to take it easy for miss stella if it does get hot.  She really isn't a fan of the heat (who really is anyway?), and I have been leaving her home some this week due to the temps.    Right now, they are predicting cooler temps with a high in the upper 80s, which should be perfect at race time, if the humidity stays at  bay.  I wish the race was starting at 7, but it seems 8 is the common starting time, even in the throes of summer.  I would gladly be up early to avoid heat.  I also have an 11 miler on tap for sunday.  I try to not ever have speed and long runs bumped together, but that is how the cookie is going to crumble this week.

This was my hill for hill work this week.  It doesn't look it by the picture, but it was a tough one.  My quads and even my groin was screaming after I was done.  It was hot, but the clouds came out and at least blocked the sun while i was on this newly paved hill.  I will definitely be visiting this hill more often.  I feel like I pick tough hills for hill work, but I am going to be visiting some that seem even tougher.  I am still not happy with my hill performances in shorter races so that is my goal for this fall, kill the hills!

My red crew, minus two for National Dog day pictures.  Funny story.  Old man miller is pretty a stand offish kind of guy.  He has been really snugly and in your face this last week and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why.  Then the other day, I caught him, em, well, humping my brother in law's female dog.  Yep, she is in heat and i guess in the standing portion of her heat cycle.  For whatever reason, even though deuce probably had his hormones the longest, she has picked miller as her suitor.  Thank God all of our boys are neutered now, as it would be a huge mess if they weren't.  Anyway, nothing has happened, he hasn't tied up with her (thank god because that would be fun to explain to a 2 year old), but they are inseparable now and he just sits there with a big goofy grin 24/7.  Whatever makes you happy old man, you deserve a little excitement in your golden years.  

And, last but not least, I signed up for this.  This is the same group that put on the Running With the Cows Half marathon (recap here), which was the third in the Heartland Series.  This was my most favorite half marathon that i have ever run.  I will admit, I am a big chicken when it comes to obstacle course races, but this one sounds like fun, and I love their races and of course their super cute merch.  We are doing this as a team, code name Udder Mothers.  I am looking forward to having a fun, hopefully not to cold group run, that involves some obstacles and mud.   

Have a great weekend!  I will have a recap of my race (hopefully some pictures this time) and probably my 11 miler this weekend, along with our disc dog playdate cook out.  

Sunday funday

Going to try and fit a quick blog in while Andrew is down for his nap.  Such a hard choice always, deciding whether or not to go down with him.  He slept late today, while I was out running, and he is taking a late nap so I may regret not sleeping with him when he is up later tonight.  Bleh.  I still need to run at least three to make up for the intervals I skipped thursday night.  With the heat index at 101 and no sight of it coming down, that may not happen.  Plus, tonight is the final episode of True Blood, one my most favorite TV shows of all time.  I am a sucker for HBO shows and cried like a baby when The Sopranos and Six Feet Under ended, as well as Sex in the City, so tonight may be a sad night in our house.  I may just have to drink a pumpkin flavored beer to drown my sorrows.

It's been a day of recovery, a day of a nice short easy run to help my BRF finish her long run and a to try out my new hydration vest for Konza.  A day of ice cream and nakedness (my son, not me).  BTW, any moms out there that read my blog, can you tell me how you keep clothes on a child?  He would rather be naked than anything.  I don't know how they keep his clothes on him at preschool.  As soon as he gets home many days, they are off in a flash. Maybe I just have an exhibitionist?

While andrew and I tried to stay cool at the house, the hubby and brother went to the movies.  They deserved it after standing in the heat cheering me on yesterday and then chasing andrew around all morning.  Hope they are having fun!  Brother in law had his first interview on friday, but not good news, so hoping this coming week is better for him.  We have given him a month to find a job, and we really hope he can find something soon so he can get out on his own. I am sure living in a house with four very active dogs and a two year old is oh so much fun for him.  Hoping it is the motivation he needs to pick up the search and find something good.

On another topic, I just don't know what to do about my baby D (that is what we call Deuce if you are new to my blog).  He is five this year and is having a hell of a time with allergies.  We have tried just about every antihistamine out there, including some pretty expensive prescription ones, and nothing is working.  We are on our fourth round of steroids now to try and calm the symptoms, so we can decide what to do.  We have also tried many different food options including different protein sources and grain free, but my vet doesn't think that it is food related.  I just feel so bad for him, and I guess we are going to have to allergy testing and shots.  My biggest fear is that it is something in our home that is causing this, and nothing we do externally is going to help it.  He is my baby, and I hate seeing him suffer while we try and figure this mess out.  Most of the antihistamines have helped with the symptoms somewhat, but nothing other than high dose steroids keep the symptoms at bay.  I will keep you posted on our progress.  

Lastly I leave you a picture of my old man miller.  He is 15 and just doing great.  Still a weird dog, but still eating, sleeping and carrying on like a young dog.  He has been really snugly this past week, which if you know him is a little odd.  We were just hanging out on the deck this morning together while andrew played.  

Have a great week and I will catch up with you soon!  School starts at KSU so town and campus will be crazy!

Speedy PD 2014 race recap

To say I am a little disappointed with the results today is truthful.  While I did shave almost three minutes off of my time (1:01:49 this year versus 1:04:24), I still had to walk for about 30 seconds and i really wanted to run the WHOLE thing.  I also didn't get any pictures.  It was SO hot that we just wanted to cool out and be gone.  I also missed the door prizes, so I hope I didn't win anything:)
I was in good company though because the top three women overall were in my age group.  I did see many people walk at least once on that course, and I know I walked at least three times last year.  I was able to run down hill relatively fast and not trash my quads or get a side stitch.  I also totally chicked a guy at the end (he was an older guy but very obvious a runner).  I finished in 12th in my age group, 40th out of 67 women and 83rd overall out of I don't know how many total.

My cheering crew bright eyed and bushy tailed

Start and mile 1 (9:00).  My whole crew was up and ready to go at 6:30 am.  They all get gold stars for not stressing out mommy.  Even andrew woke up around 6 am and didn't cry at all when we headed out.  I felt good at the start all though the sun was out in full force at 8 am.  I asked why we didn't start at 7, which is common and desired in races at this time of year, but I was told the Parkison's disease (Speedy PD benefits those with the disease) patients that come out and display art work and run the race or are pushed can't get up that early to be out there.  I would think the heat would be worse for them, but I guess I see their point.  Most of the first three miles are in the shade.  We all sang the National Anthem before the race and that always makes me cry.  I am such a sap.

Mile 2: (9:22).  Boy, it's hot and I am feeling it.  I wanted to stay under 9:30 for the first three miles and as close to 9:00 as I could, but l was already feeling the affects of the heat and dripping wet.  We run past the finish chute to go out to get the first three, and I am sad that i won't be seeing it for forty or so minutes.  I couldn't really find a pace partner, but I did have a few women I had picked to at least keep in sight.  They did have a mist thingy that you could run under at this point, and while it really didn't get you very wet at all, I attempted it.  I also poured a whole cup of water on my head at this point.  I carried water and I am VERY glad I did.  At every mile from 2 on, I took a small sip of water.

Mile 3: (9:38)  I poured an entire cup on my head and chest every mile from 2 on.  There is a hill close to mile 3 as well as the turn around for the 5 K people.  I so wanted to turn around with them, because i knew what was coming.  As we headed out to the monster hill that last from about mile 3.5 till almost mile 5, I kept thinking good mantras to myself like strong and powerful and you got this.  I do lots of hill work, so I kept thinking to myself that this shouldn't be a big deal.  The biggest problem with this hill is that there is 0 shade and you feel the heat running on pavement.  I tried to keep off of the pavement and in the shoulder of the road, but I immediately started feeling the strain of the hill and heat.

Mile 4: (10:24) At one point I was having trouble breathing. I got this snotty feeling in my chest and throat that I always get when I am pushing the pace.  I tried to clear my throat and almost choked on whatever it is that causes this.  I had to walk immediately as I got super nauseous. I decided I would walk from one road sign to the other and that was all I allowing myself, even though many runners had been walking on and off the whole hill.  I was also NOT looking at my watch and just going by feel.  I feel like I couldn't have pushed any harder at this point.

Mile 5 (10:53)  There is a small hill at the beginning that lasts for probably a quarter of a mile and is not nice after you think you are done with the stupid hills period.  Last year, it caused me to walk again but not this year.  I just laughed at that silly hill and kept going.  I really did laugh out loud so hope the lady behind me didn't think I was crazy.  I am shocked that this mile time was so bad.  I saw 9s as I headed down the hill so not sure why Mile 4 on the monster hill was so good and mile 5 was so bad.  I have been working a lot this last year on running down hill, as this is always my trouble spot, more so than going up.  I felt great running down this year and felt like I was recovering nicely.  Just not sure what happened here.  I felt fully recovered from all of the hills.  Did see another runner be attended to by the EMS going down.  He is a speed demon and I think the heat got the best of him.   I really wasn't looking at my watch much as I knew the entire hill spanned mile 5 so maybe my effort was hard but the time reflects how tired I was or something?

Mile 6. When I hit the mile 6 marker, I SPRINTED.   My watch had clicked over to mile 6 a while back (probably 2 tenths of a mile before the sign) but it had been ahead of every sign every time (yes, I probably run the pattern of a bee telling the hive where the honey is).  I passed an older gentlemen whom I had been stalking for a while.  While he was older, he was obvious he was a serious runner and it makes me feel good that I passed him in the end.  He cheered me on as I passed and sprinted down the finish chute.  I was out of breath but feeling good BUT I made sure to drink two bottles of water and some chocolate milk.  We didn't stick around too long.  They were doing a fun run and some other things and I knew I was NOT in the medals at all so we headed to our new favorite hang out in manhattan, chick fil a.

They have a play place and balloons and stuffed cows.  Andrew thought it was the COOLEST place ever.  We took turns eating and sitting in the play room watching him.  It was so sweet because the first time he went up in the climbing things, he got confused and another little boy went up and showed him how to get down the slide.  Surprisingly, in all of my life of living near a chick fil a, I had never had breakfast there.  It was yummy and filling, as I can't eat much after a race.  We got coupons for a free breakfast and I will be using them for sure!  Andrew got a stuffed cow and a balloon that we accidentally let go when we got home, shush, don't tell he doesn't know yet.

   

It was a good day and I ended with a smile but I am already ready for a third try to get that time under an hour.  I need to go do some hill work on that hill I think.  First recovery though.  Like a 2 hour nap with you mouth open recovery. 

Friday Musings

It has just been one of those weeks.  The heat has returned with a vengeance, so my night runs have been tough.  Some nights i have had to wait till 9 or later it is still miserable.  Because of this icky weather, I did my fartlek session on my repeat road, so I could have water bottles placed all along the straight away and at the ends.  My hubby decided to go with me too, since it was so late and all.  He got a good solid 3 miles in, while I ran back and forth, pushing it for a minute as hard as i could and recovering for two.  Used my watch again to tell me when to run and when to recover and I LOVED it.  I have all the basic speed work work outs programmed in now, which makes doing them fun and easy, especially since I do most speed work on the road.  I hate using the track because it gets so boring and I miss having stella with me.  It was super hot even at 9 pm and we both had to dump water on our heads to cool out as well as on miss stella.  I am so READY for fall running!

Since I had to take a rest day on monday (after running on the Konza sunday) due to some super sore ankles (Why my ankles, I have no clue), I had to get creative with my speed work and recovery runs, so that it wouldn't interfere with my 10 K race this weekend.  This weekend is the Speedy PD, another 10 K that i really love.  Here is my recap from last  year's race.  It's a tough race as it lures you in with the flatness for the first 3 miles and then BAM, here is a huge killer hill that never ends that is pretty much the whole mile 4.  Then mile five is straight back down a windy steep hill that to me is harder than the up hill.  I am a much stronger runner this year, so I am hoping to get a PB on this course and maybe even a top 10 finish in my age group.  This race groups by  every 10 years, so I am in with those speedy youngins in their early 30s so I feel like being in the top 10 is a worthy goal.  After my fartlek work on tuesday and my recovery run on wednesday in 96 dergree heat, I decided to take two rest days prior to my race on saturday and do a double on sunday to make up the miles.  I think this will be a good decision, because the heat index has soared above 100 the last few days, and will so again today.  I would rather be well rested and hydrated versus tired and slightly dehydrated.

I did get this in the mail yesterday.  My new hydration vest is here and I LOVE it!  I can't wait to do a long run in it next weekend out at Konza.  I was pretty unsure of what size to get, as I fell at the top of the small size but at the small end of the medium/large. I went ahead and ordered the medium/large, and I am so glad I did!  It fits snugly, but perfect for anti bouncing, and I don't think I will have any issues with it chaffing my back or shoulders.  

Andrew had to test it out too.  He really likes the bottles in the front.  I have never run with a bladder before and that is an option, so will have to try that out as well.  I love all the pockets and zippers and places to stash stuff.  I wish I was doing a long run this weekend to try it out!

Lastly this.  Just this.  I am a huge fan of all things pumpkin.  I know a lot of people scoff at fall and  its pumpkin flavored everything, but I am not one of those people.  I already have my keurig cup holder stocked with pumpkin flavored coffee.  I ventured out yesterday to check and see if pumpkin flavored beer had hit the shelves as well.  My favorite brand wasn't in yet, but they had two new brands along with the others i have already tried in the past.  This one was probably my most favorite of the two I grabbed (can't remember the name of the other one I bought right now).  Shipyard makes a nice full bodied pumpkin beer with a hint of tasty spice at the end.  This one may be my new favorite of all time (sorry blue moon).  The guys in the house (minus little red of course) both liked the other one but it was like drinking a light beer to me.  Give me full body and flavor please!

I guess that is all for now.  Keep on the look out for an update tomorrow or sunday about my race and have a great weekend!

Sunday long run at Konza

All action shots are of my BRF!  We went out to the Konza this weekend for our long run to start training for Conquering the Konza (which is a 25 K, YIKES).  My BRF did this last year and I cheered her on.  Here is my recap of the race.  It was a hard trail race, not really technical, more steep up and down hills than anything.  I had only hiked up the part with the stairs, and just hiking had me out of breath, so I could only imagine what it would be like running up.  It was just as tough as I had imagined it to be.

Most of the trail is a limestone or loose stone mix with bigger rocks in some areas.  The stairs are actually large limestone stones of consistent size but not consistent spacing as they are for erosion control.

This is how you feel after you do them once.

When you do them twice, as we did today and as we will do in the race, you just want to try and recover, and not puke before you go up that hill behind my BRF.  It's kind of nice that this portion has large rocks and causes you to stare at your feet for a while.  Recovery, head down, focusing on breathing is a good thing.  

What I learned today is  you need water on the trail no matter how hot it is or isn't.  I will be buying this vest I have heard so much good things about as an early birthday present. These hills take it out of you and you need it for recovery.  I was kind of missing my water that i had left at the end of mile 4.5, especially when I kind of got lost.  We were going to do loops of the bigger trail, but it was closed so we did loops of the 4.5 mile trail.  Except my BRF peeled off and I took a wrong turn trying to figure out how to get back.  I ended up getting my 9 and she got 8 instead of the 6 she wanted to do, but we both got it done.  Thank goodness I volunteered last year and could figure out where I was and how to get back to where we were parked.  

I also learned that some hills are best just power walked up.  You spend so much energy trying to run up them and go so slow, so use less energy and power up them.  I also learned how to go down hills with loose rock.  Take your time and turn your foot sideways (thanks BRF:).  

The last thing i learned is to enjoy the scenery when you can.  Most of the time, you need to be observant of your feet, but when it is smooth or at least you think it is, look around and enjoy the scenery.  I have NO time goals for this race.  It took me almost 2 hours to get 9 miles in with a few unplanned walking breaks, walking up the full set of stairs the second time, and power walking up some hills and down some steep down hills.  I haven't gotten to run a race with my BRF like this, so we have a plan on pace and we plan to stick together.  I honestly thought I had lost my mind when we got done this morning but with her by my side, I think we can conquer this race, no problem.  

Still kind of giggling about this. I didn't know this stuff existed.  I did have a mean stink going on afterwards since I was soaked with sweat. 

We plan on doing several more long runs out at Konza to get our bodies and our feet ready.  My feet hurt from the rocks, which shocked me because I run on gravel a lot.  I think I have a blister forming where I got one after the Fancy Creek Trail race last year so trails must make me run more on my whole foot.  Probably need to talk to the running company and get their take.  Maybe just different socks than what I usually use?  Anyway, I am really glad that i went out today, even if it was hot and stella couldn't go. I missed her a ton but rules are important and I was not going to break the no dog rule.  What is funny is most of the other runners we saw were doing the trail backwards and going down the stairs instead of up.  We were the only crazy ones at that time:)  

Have a great rest of your sunday!  I hope I am recovered enough to tackle all the speed work this week.  YIKES!  Two speedwork session and the 10 K, plus some recovery miles.  May have to do a recovery run tomorrow or take a rest day dependent on how my legs feel tomorrow night.  

Saturday has gone to the dogs

It's been a good week and shaping up to be a good weekend.  We had a date night thanks to Uncle Cayce.  The last one we had was on vacation in Tennessee,  so its been a while.  We hit the local steakhouse for steak night.  While the service was horrible, as it always is, we did have good perfectly cooked steaks and some tasty beers.

Too bad it wasn't in a Royal's glass.  As of right now, they are in first place in their division!  I got hooked on royal's baseball when I was preggers, and enjoy watching them every night when they are in tv.  Had some boulevard wheat beer with a big ole lemon in it.  I haven't had BW in so long, probably two or more years.  It was very smooth and fun to drink.  I had my normal two and stopped:)  The more I run, the less alcohol tolerant I am.  I was suppose to do 800 meter repeats that night but I felt like having a nice relaxing evening with the hubby was more important.

I did do my 800 meter repeats friday night.  Wow, mind blown.  Those were tough.  I was able to hit my pace marks on all four, but I did do walking recovery.  I wasn't sure if I was suppose to walk recover on 800 meters or 400 meters, but since I was doing this on a straightaway, I wanted to start and finish where mine and stella's water was.  Next time I will bring two water bottles, so i can try 400 meter recovery, since I felt recovered by then anyway.  It was super humid out, but a nice temp in the low 70s,  and as the sun went down, the humidity got a little better.  I wouldn't be lying if I didn't say I am a little tired today, and didn't get up super early as usual to do my recovery run.  Will do it later today or tonight, when it cools off and the humidity goes down.  I also need to do a 9 mile long run tomorrow, and i will get up early for that if it kills me.

Today was our first disc dog practice. I have always been intrigued by this sport, but no clue how to get into it.  I have two dogs (Harley and Stella), who would catch frisbees all day.  We did get somewhat involved when we lived in Colorado, but then I moved back to Kansas and agility took over.  The ladies that organized this event are both taking disc dog classes and have a ton of knowledge to share.  I didn't get any cool pics because it was just stella, deuce and I for the first few hours, but tony did show up and threw for harley for a while and stella a few more runs for us to figure out what discs we need to order.

This was post disc dog fun.  I thought we could get the dogs down to the water for a swim, but we couldn't figure out how to get a good path down.  They have really changed this area of Tuttle Creek, to the point where it is near impossible to get near the water.  We turned it into a mini-hike instead.  

Someone didn't want to leave.  He was having too much fun picking up rocks and playing with bugs.  We had to convince him that petting or hugging bees was not a good idea.  I hope he doesn't have to learn this lesson the hard way, as he is very into bugs right now.  

Have a great weekend!  

TGIT

TGIT=Thank God it's thursday!  Lots of changes going on in our house lately.  Lots to talk about.  First, a cute picture.  Caught him reading about trains in the IBEW magazine while on the toliet.  Boys.

Next, we went to Petpoolza this year in manhattan.  Petpoolza is an event where they close the city pool, so just dogs can swim and  in turn, you make a donation to the animal shelter and win prizes.  Met my agility trainer in town for some swimming with her and her pups.  Really wanted to take both water dogs (harley and stella), but decided in the end to just take stella.  Lots of dogs, no fights surprisingly, and lots of swimming.  Stella had a blast.  Was hoping the professional photog got some pics of us, because she like to jump in and let me hold her, but sadly, they didn't.  She did try to drown me once I was in the deep end and couldn't touch.  She left some war wounds on my arm and back.  Overall she did great and had a good time.  Didn't wear her out at all, go figure.

The weekend turned out great with the arrival of Andrew's Uncle Cayce.  Uncle Cayce is going to live with us while he gets back on his feet.  We have faith in him that this is a clean start and he will address some underlying debt issues, and get a good job and a place to live.  So far, andrew is digging having uncle cayce around, and we are digging potentially having a baby sitter for some date nights, something we don't get very many of.  Uncle Cayce has been busy applying for jobs and doing odd jobs around the house to help us out so nights aren't quite so crazy.  

Running has been good, mainly due to good sleep, and very nice fall like weather.  I had one of the best ever tempo runs the other night.  I still get confused on exactly what to do on a tempo run.  Since I get confused and my coach hadn't signified a specific pace, I decided to break it up into 5 minute segments, with the first being warm up and half marathon paced, the second being 10 K paced, the third being 5K paced or as hard as I could push for the full five minutes, and then reverse it. I also had a 5 minute cool down and then four hill repeats, post tempo run to keep my hill running while fatigued theme going.  Hills are getting to be my favorite, and I feel so much stronger on my repeats because coach has me doing SO many.  I can't wait till next weekend's 10 K to tackle the monster almost 1 mile long hill climb.   Anyway, the tempo run just felt perfect.  I hit all the paces I wanted to and was able to push for a full five minutes down into the 8s.  This was huge to me.  I haven't seen 8s (well other than my 400 meter repeats), since my 5 K PR last year about this time.  I am kind of bummed though.  The 5 K i had my PR at(Run Back to School 5 K recap here, read for a funny snot story) is the same weekend as the Speedy PD 10 K, that I also want to try and PR/PB at.  I didn't find this out till a few weeks ago and it makes me sad to truly miss a local race.  Like walk five minutes away from my front door race.  Oh well.  

I also did a nice 4 miler with my BRF last night.  She teaches so the craziness of school just started for her yesterday and I had lots of therapy to catch up on with her too.  We went slow, we sweated and talked, and got our mileage done with a smile on our faces.  I sure do love her:) 

Speed work tonight in the form of 800 meter repeats.  I have missed these so far due to being sick the last two times they were on my schedule.  No, I am not avoiding them.  Yes, I am going to do them no matter what tonight, scouts honor.  

Long run saturday and easy run sunday

Pardon the nose art on the door.  It's been a week of seeing this every time I leave.  He likes to make a big deal of me running at night.  He makes me feel really, really guilty and has included giving me lots of kisses when I leave too now.  That makes it worse for sure!  Maybe one good thing about morning running is he usually isn't up.

This happened this week.  It's a nail, not sure of length.  Long enough to puncture the bottom of my shoe and poke my toe.  It bent on its way in or it would have probably penetrated my foot.  I heard it go in but thought it was a rock till it started poking my big toe.  When i stopped to look I didn't see it because it was so skinny and had bent.  It tore a big hole in my sock but luckily didn't do much to my toe other than poke it a few times.  

That was an interesting run anyway.  We had a huge storm with hail, lightening, and thunder.  I wanted to run earlier than later and it looked like i could go between storms.  It was HUMID.  Cool but HUMID.  

It rained most of the time when I was running but it was a gentle rain and it felt good.  Other than a nail in the foot and dripping sweat, it was a good run. I had to stay close to the house so did loops just in case the other storm hit.  It never did anything else so I guess I got lucky.  

I also had hill repeats this week.  I tried the 6th street hill which is a nice steep hill and the perfect distance if you start at the church parking lot.  I was lucky in that a kitty lived at the top of the hill and stella noticed him on the second repeat and pulled me up the hill for the next 6.  Thanks stella and thank you little kitty!  I also used my watch for the first time for a work out and I LOVED it. No longer do I have to stare at it to know how far or fast I went.  It beeps to start and beeps when you hit your distance on the hill and then you tell it when to start again for the next repeat.  It also prompts you for the cool down and warm up.  GENIUS!  I can't wait to use it for the 400 and 800 meter repeats.  I always slow down looking at my watch to see if I am close to the end. Now I don't have to:)  

My BRF is out of town this weekend and I dreaded a long run without her.  I posted on one of my wamego running groups to see if anyone would be going out.  It just so happened that one of my super speedy friends needed to do 4 or 5 easy, so we decided to meet up and go out.  I was a little scared, she is SUPER fast, and I am not, and i didn't know if she could go slow enough for us to run together.  It ended up that when we got up, it was storming so she went back to bed and I stayed up and watched the storms.  We were lucky in that we got a break and the second storm never hit us, so we got our 4 in together before I headed out to do the rest.  She was very gracious to keep the speed low and we had some good conversation the whole way.  

Not sure why but the rest wasn't very good.  I was tired and it was getting hot and muggy.  I tried to run in the shade of the corn stalks but a few times we had to head away from them.  Some runs are awesome and some are not, and this one ranked in the not category.  Not sure if it was lack of someone to talk to, or the heat/humidity.  I saw that other people who were out long running yesterday also had struggle, so it must have been more the weather.  I was literally counting down the tenths of miles till i was done and I usually don't do that. Oh well, it's over and done and maybe today will be better.  It is already cooler thanks to some overnight storms but the humidity is pretty high.  May just have to be a night/afternoon run.  Have a great rest of the weekend everyone and happy running!