Life Around Here

It seems like there are two speeds around here...full throttle red lined, or school zone. Go, go...no wait I need cuddles and a blanket. Chase me, chase me...I just need a book and water. The funny thing is it's not always Sky saying those things. :)

Oh the taper, most runners hate it, but I love it. I'm usually ready for a break and rest. This training schedule though (mixed in with trying to fit normal life stuff in) is so busy. The miles may be less but it's still more running per week than I actually have time for. It's been a struggle. And, in an attempt to make it all work, I ran after fasting for blood work, and even though I had a little to eat before running let's just say the results were not good. I'm fine, but I will never run on a fasting day again, ever.

I was not happy with how much this 5 mile trail run kicked my butt. I'm glad the rest of the afternoon/evening was full of relaxed cuddles and not much else. On a side note, don't fast, eat very little, run in the sun, and then re-hydrate with more wine than water. Just don't do it.

Silas knows how to cuddle!

Those two...I adore them.

While I didn't get every single training mile in I should have this week, I got in as much as possible, and feel good about what I did manage to do. My biggest goal was to be done running by today since we are heading out of town to help plant my aunt and uncles vineyard. In blazing hot sun, and I just don't feel the need to mix in running to that situation. I will be wallowing in the sunblock...last thing I need is a sunburn before flying to SB and running in the sun there! 

Once we get home it's time to fit in a few more runs then fly to Santa Barbara! It's going to be busy the next week or so, but thankfully it's all coming together. And, most importantly the last two weeks of training transitioned from "I don't feel confident about this half at all" to "I got this, I feel good, and am finally excited"! 

Just in time for race day!

Have a great weekend!

Weekend in Pics

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Ours was busy with friends/family, projects around the house, and best of all taking Sky to her first movie in the theater!  Rio 2 for the win!  Super cute movie and I totally want the soundtrack! 

I started today with what was supposed to be a 6 mile run, but that didn't happen.  I got 4 fast miles in before things derailed and I walked/slow jogged the last 2 miles home.  No injury, so no worries there.  I had a bloody nose the entire run, and I ate either the wrong thing before running, or there was too much time between eating and running...got really dizzy and light headed/vision turning black on the edges, so I walked/slow jogged the last two miles. 

Not much to prove on a training run for a relay leg that is a distance I don't really need to train for.  Figured it was better to play it safe and get home in one piece.  I'll totally be ready to take on my 6 mile leg of the relay next Sunday!  Looking forward to it actually.  Bring on the hills 5 Mile Drive, I've done it before and I'll do it again!

A look at the rest of our weekend (the only thing I don't have pics of is dinner with Elya, Ryan and the kiddos, dinner with Gentry (Mark's Dad), and the work Mark and I did outside the house)...

 Ending my weekend with Ginger Beer! 

 I was way overdue for a haircut...feels so light and free after Eleanor works her magic!

 I think this wall/entry way into Embellish Salon is the coolest in T Town!

 Mark installed some wire rack's (up by the inset for the fan...lot's of unused space up there!) for extra storage of spices and seasonings that I don't use as often.  Sky was oh so helpful.

 Reading her plane book...getting her ready/excited to fly to Houston in a week! 

 The weather today was stupid..rain, sun, storm clouds, bright sun, hot, cold...just all over the place.  So, Mark decided it was time for Sky's first trip to the movie theater.  She did pretty great.  Got a bit restless, but Rio 2 is the follow up to the first movie she fell in love with, so she was totally into it!

 Girl loves motorcycles.  She hears them go past the house and even when she can't see the road will say "It's a motorcycle!"  She begs to ride the one that Costco has in the front of the store.  Please, please don't let her first vehicle be a two wheeled one!

 We spent a good hour laying in bed snuggling and hiding (from what I have no idea) under the covers.

    I can see once again!  Had an eye appointment Saturday morning and I needed it!  Things had gotten a tad blurry the last few months.  Basically I'm getting old, but it's ok age is just a number and as long as I can run I don't care what that number is!

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What is your go too beer?

This orange ginger beer may be my new go to beer! 

What's the weather like where you live?  

All I know is today was crazy.  It felt like weather whiplash.  Even more crazy 80 by Thursday?!  I just hope it cools off again for the Tacoma City Marathon Sunday! 

Anyone else love the Rio soundtracks?

I loved the first one, but Rio 2 has it beat big time!

Yucky Training Runs = Awesome Race Day!

That's what I keep telling myself anyway.  The worse the training conditions are the easier race day will be.  The upside of a winter training cycle is that race day can't hit us with any weather that we haven't already run in.  Unless it's sunny and 80, which it won't be in early April around here.

Wind and rain don't make a great combo for running.  I would rather be freezing cold, running in the snow than deal with wind and rain, together or on their own.  But, it's making us stronger, and even though we were not loving the conditions, last nights long run was our strongest run yet.  So, I guess I shouldn't complain too much.  Plus it's nice to end a weekend with a run, even if it was wet, cold, and a bit windy. 

Just a quick tip...don't eat a power bar as fast as possible minutes before running.  It becomes very unpleasant half way through a long run.  Rookie mistake, I totally know better.  That's what I get for forgetting my snack while out running errands and cutting the timing close.   

When I got home this was the view that welcomed me...

The only way to watch movies!

I wanted to pile on the couch with them so badly, but I was starving, and soaking wet.  Turns out my non-running rain jacket (for hiking etc) isn't any more water proof than my running jacket is.  

Mark and Sky actually spent a lot of time cuddling on the couch this weekend.  She was all about "I just need cuddles" and Daddy was happy to take cuddle breaks as needed!  

 They are listening to elk bugle...it's one of her favorite things!

    Pre bedtime movie.

A few more random pics from the weekend...

Love that jacket...she has worn it non-stop all weekend!

 Wagon ride to Starbucks for scones and hot chocolate!

So many races this weekend, I kept seeing all the updates and posts and it made me wish for a race.  Only a few weeks until St. P Day...hanging in until then.  

P.S. Elya is back and it was so nice to get into our running groove again last night.  I missed my training partner while she was off playing in the sun for a week!

Tell me one fun thing you did this weekend!

 

Last Trainig Run DONE!

Now it's time to rest, stretch, foam roll etc. and run a race Sunday!  So close to my running goal for the year being accomplished! 

Last night I got 3.56 miles in with the run group.  The .56 was extra due to a wrong turn.  While it wasn't negative splits it was a fast pace (for me) from start to finish. 

Mile - Pace
1 - 9:25
2 - 9:40
3 - 9:50
4 - 5:20

It's a new route for the group, and feels like it's uphill both ways.  I know that isn't possible...maybe my legs are tired, or the weather change makes every run seem hard, or I ran without music.  I don't know why, but it felt harder, even with the faster pace, than I feel like it should have.

Ran 2.7 miles with the stroller group this morning at a pace that felt great.  We changed up the route a little too.  We wanted smoother roads and found a pretty route through UPS campus instead of on the street.  It was so pretty, and because we were distracted by the beautiful campus that stretch of the run flew by!  The perfect last run before race day!

Now to re-map it for the 3rd time.  Usually I pre-run the routes, pretty clear to me that slacking this time around was not a good idea!  This will be the 3rd change...although the 2nd change was due to construction not my slacking.  I have run all these streets before, just not all put together in a route, lesson learned.

I sort of feel like I get to coast the rest of the week.  Time to dial things down and rest the legs, body, and mind before race day.  Also time to hydrate and pay attention to what I'm eating leading up to Sunday. 

I decided these are the perfect pre-race carb load food!!! 

Seriously if you haven't tried them yet go get some right now.  Run, don't walk to the store!  Totally see a bag of these and my book happening this afternoon! 

Speaking of books Sky's new thing is reading her books to me.  She grabs a book and says "I read to you" and goes through page by page telling you all about it.  So cute! 

 

I got kicked off the couch yesterday so she could read to Mickey and Pooh Bear.  Reading books is apparently a very serious thing...

...until she gets to her favorite page and just can't contain herself.  Mickey and Pooh look pretty excited too! 

Anyone else running/racing this weekend?