A Little Sore....

This morning I woke up to find I am a little sore.  This is nothing uncommon for me, but the weird thing, or funny thing, is - I LIKE IT.  It reminds me that I did something the day before.  It also reminds me that today, I get to take it easy - a win win.  I love the feeling of knowing that I worked hard, and I also enjoy taking it easy and letting my body absorb and adjust to the work.   Yesterday I went out to meet some friends for a 16 mile run. 

Pic @ Clyde Depot on the Longleaf Rails to Trails.

Yes, you see it correctly, snow again - 2nd time in 2 months - unbelieveable!

It's pretty, but I've had enough.  I live in the South and endure the summer humidity for a reason.

It did make for a great Sat run though.

This week was a "step back" week for me.  So I had only 2 days of running and I finished the week with 20 miles of running.  I ran the tempo on Wed. and the long run on Sat.  Yep that was it.  The other days were walking days.  The 16 mile run was @ 9:41 pace avg.  We had a good time on the run.  After we finished we went to Mello Mushroom for pizza and calzones.  That was YUMMY!

After the run it was a crazy day.  Still working on the shop project so the rest of the day was filled with trips to Lowe's for supplies and working.  It was 10:00 pm before I had any time for my ice bath.  It was worth the wait.  When I get out of the ice bath, I feel so much better.  This time of year, no ice is required, in fact, I had to add hot water to get the water up to 50 degrees.  I use an aquarium thermometer to get the water between 50 and 52 degrees.  The water was around 43 out of the tap.  

This week I will try to get 29-30 miles and hope to have time to sneak in much more of my cross training stuff - yoga, weights, lunges,squats, core work, push-ups, etc.  whatever I can fit it, will be good.  

"It's all Good!"

Tempo and Taxes

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good - tempo run and the taxes are DONE, and we get a REFUND
The Bad - tax day
The Ugly - strong North wind - not to worry, I took the easy road.

So Tues. we bailed on work early to head down to South LA.  Our accountant is in LA.  So Tues. morning we made our last sprint to finish the taxes and headed south.  Wed. - the plan for the day - relax early (or Chad slept late), tempo run, lunch and then to our accountant and back to MS.
The relaxing part - boy - that went by FAST - like a blur. 
So mid morning I decide to head out for my tempo run.  The weather report - chilly and a STRONG north wind.  How do you get out the door?  Promise yourself  you can run the hard part, the tempo part, with the wind at your back.  I always recommend "whatever it takes to get out the door."  So today, for me to get out the door, I promised myself  my tempo run could be "wind aided."  Worked like a charm!
 
So I headed out for my warm up mile.  This part was into the North wind, yep, it was chilly, but I was layered up so it was ok.  After warming up, I turned around to head South, sailing along with the wind at my back.  Just as I start my 2 mile tempo Snoop Dog comes on the FM.  "Drop it like it's hot" - Woo Hoo perfect tempo pace.  So I am off and running and Snoop helps me through my first half mile.  This song in particular has a special meaning for me.  In one of my early marathons (First Light Jan. 2005), this song came on and I had my first marathon HIGH.  Seriously, I have had a "runner's high" several times, but for me, the marathon high, is higher.  For me, it is usually associated with a song and it lasts about 3-4 min., and it is AWESOME.  It may be why I am addicted to running marathons.  Oh how sweet it is!   (it's better than drugs, right?)  One of the really neat things about this high, is each time the "trigger" song comes on, even years later, it takes my back to that particular marathon, back to the place along the marathon course.  It's like it's a foot print of the marathon is stamped in my mind.  Yes, I know it's weird, but I really like the way I am taken back in time to those memories of the marathon.   This does not happen every time, but I have had it several times, and each time I hear one of these songs it's a great reminder of my marathoning history.

Back to my tempo - with the wind at my back, today, I averaged 8:02 for my short 2 mile tempo run.  The previous weeks, for shorter distances, I have averaged around 8:10 and 8:15.  So the wind did help me today.  It was a great run.  It's one of my best tempo runs ever.  I have mentioned many times that tempo runs are always hard for me, well today it was a different story.  The cold weather, wind at my back, and good tunes on the Ipod = fantastic tempo today. 

So as we made the drive back to MS tonight, I am a happy chic.  Taxes done for another year, we get a refund, tempo run done, and it was great.  Life is good! 
Up next - 16 mile run on Sat. or Sun. -  Excited!