Spring in My Step?

Here's a (long-winded) synopsis of my last three runs:


Last Saturday
The whole family went to the Rec Center: all 5 of us, plus my mom and dad, plus my sister and niece (visiting from Vermont).  Alan went earlier than the rest of us to get a start on his planned 12 mile run.  He wound up doing 11 and it was a long time before he finally made it to the hot tub.

I sent the kids off to the pool with the rest of the gang and joined Alan on the track to do my 5 miles.  I know he was pacing himself for a much longer run, but it still felt good to run past him a few times.  I felt good about my pace, had a nice kick on the last lap, bought a bottled water at the front desk, and changed into my swimsuit.

I swam and visited with the kids and mum and dad and then sat in the hot tub where I visited with Helen and Sam.  And Brenda who used to sing in our choir and her little boy.  And then I swam some more.  And hot tubbed and visited more.  And had complicated logistical discussions with mum.  And sent Jeremy home with dad.  Then got James and Madeline out of the pool but got side-tracked by the sauna.  Then we spotted Emilie, so we went back in the pool and visited with her and her kids, and her brother.  And then visited with Robin, who I've known forever, and her two girls. And then Alan finally arrived so I hot tubbed some more....!

By this time I was starving and dehydrated (despite the 20oz bottle which I drained).

When we finally got out of there, we went straight to Subway and then home to wolf it down.  I had a 6" chicken and bacon ranch sub, sun chips, a caffeine-free orange soda, 2 chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk. 

For dinner that night, the whole gang came over and we had a pork loin that mum brought, baked potatoes, carrots, etc, and then two desserts: pumpkin pie and sticky rice with fresh mango slices.  And I think I had a bottle of Sangria. 

For some reason, my stomach was a total mess on Sunday.  hmmmm...wonder why?

Monday evening
Madeline and I went to the Rec Center in an attempt to combine my Monday run (3.5 miles on the schedule) and our weekly Tuesday night cross-training session.  I had no oomph and only managed 2 miles at a rather slow pace.  Madeline did 1.1 after initially hoping for 1.5 or more.  Later, we tried to play ping-pong but they could find no balls, and they also had not basketballs available--small wonder: the place was mobbed with students just back from spring break who apparently were suffering from some sort of hang-out-and-shoot-hoops withdrawal.  She was bummed and we had to leave to pick up James at scouts so we didn't even have time for the pool.

In the car on the way home, I managed to 1.) get mad at Madeline for being overly cranky about it, B.) get mad at James for being rude when I picked him up, and 3.) back into an adult scout's pick-up truck in the parking lot.  Fortunately, there was only a small ginch on our bumper and a corresponding clean spot where I rubbed some dirt off the other vehicle.  I stopped at Thriftway for some snacks for my still not entirely settled stomach.  Oy!

By Wednesday, however, things were looking up.  I emailed Emilie with a daring proposition: to join her and her sole sisters for the last 6 miles of their 17 mile run this coming Saturday.  I determined that--while welcome to join them--I'd have to go to Hampden (foreign running territory to me, and "frickin' hilly" as Emilie put it) and they'd be running around a 10:45 pace.  I hit the Rec Center after work, before Rotary rehearsal.  I did the full 4 miles on my schedule and--aiming to see if I could keep up with the gang--my splits were as follows:  10:37, 10:38, 11:12 (including a 20 second water stop), 10:45 (nailed it!).  While I was really happy with this, I realistically emailed Emilie the next day to postpone my attempt to (literally) run with her crowd.  Yes, I managed to hit the pace for 4 miles on a nice cushy indoor track.  6 miles outdoors on hilly terrain is a whole different thing, baby.

So my plan for tomorrow...(oh, yikes, I mean, today! How did it get to be midnight?!?)... is to 1. go to bed! 2. have a power-boosting delicious breakfast with the kids 3. run on the track for 3 miles and then attempt a 5k loop outdoors.  Maybe.  That's sounding rawther ambitious all of a sudden.  And I know it's going to get cold again tomorrow.  But the main point is to GET OUTSIDE! because before I know it, I'm going to be standing in the middle of a road waiting for someone to say "go!" and I really need to get used to running on actual terrain again before then.

Plus, it's (technically almost) spring!!!