Wednesday, February 10, 2010

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!

12 comments:

Tina @GottaRunNow said...

Glad you had a great tempo run and that life is good. I hope to do 16 on Monday!

Julie said...

It sounds like your tempo run went awesome:) Oh, and I so know what you mean about the whole runner's high thing!! There is nothing like it or the memory of it:) I can't wait until the day I can say, "I am really excited about that great sixteen miler that I have to run!!" I am thinking that may take some time!! Good for you:)

Marathonman101108 said...

Hey "happy chic." "Taxes done for another year, we get a refund, tempo run done, and it was great. Life is good!" Yup, I copied and pasted that from your post. I couldn't think of anything better to say, since you said it all! Plus the wind was at your back..whose got it better than you? :-)

Pining for Pinterest said...

I love tax refunds :-)

Jennifer said...

Your training is going awesome Ginny! Kudos for you for really sticking with it when times were tough last month! Good for you with your taxes, as for me I have not even looked at mine!

Jill said...

I am HAPPY you're a happy chic!!!
Can't wait to read how your 16 miler goes!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your training. My husband told me one day I was to hyper after one of my runs and I needed to calm down that must have been a runners high. Have never experienced a high from anything so I didn't know what it was. LOL.

Congratulations on successfully completing the dreaded taxes. I'm glad I don't have to look at anyones but my own this year. No stress!!!

Felice Devine said...

Great job! GOod luck on the 16 miler!

Adam Culp (Crazy Floridian) said...

Nice job on the tempo and getting taxes done.

HappyTrails said...

Yay for a refund and yay for the wind at your back! Isn't it awesome to be a happy chic???!!! I am with you!
Kathleen

Lindsay said...

woo hoo a tax refund! whatcha gonna do with it? :)

nice job on the tempo!

Unknown said...

Nice post! I loved the trigger song comment. I don't wear an ipod when I race but I do have trigger songs from long training runs. As soon as I read your blog, I had about four or five of those specific memories come to mind. I love that about running because I can even remember the weather, my pace, my feelings...so fun!