TGI - HD

Thank goodness it's hump day. Friday's almost here. :-)

In breaking news, I signed up for a 10k this weekend here in G'ville. I'm not at all trained for it, and am thus doing it "for fun". I've been working on my swimming and biking a little lately and plan to be doing more of it, and I haven't done ANY speed work in a LONG time. So, I know everyone will blow by me at their leisurely fast pace, but I don't really care. That said, I do have a goal time, but it's a bit on the aggressive side for me right now. We'll see. It is closed for further registration, but I got in. :-) (wink)

We also are signing up for the Cooper River Bridge 10K in April this week and have (in quick passing at Church) made plans to stay with friends at their vacation home down there. They graciously volunteered to watch Grace during the 10K so no rock, paper, scissors on which one of us runs it. The both of us have wanted to run it for several years. We really didn't want to go to Charleston without taking the little munchkin with us. We will have to train for it though, because the bridge is sloped with a 4% incline for about 1 mile. The entire bridge is 2.5 miles long. They're capping it at 45K entries this year, so needless to say - it's a HUGE 10K.

Yesterday I got in the pool for a boring pool swim to find out what my average 100/yd is for the upcoming (in 17 days) Parris Island sprint tri. And, yes - you real swimmers out there, it is S-L-O-W, (for now - that is).

800 yds - 20:27

We've decided to go to the gym after work to get our workouts in. It's looking VERY breezy (18-19 mph) out there and pretty cold. I am a wimp for the combination of the two. I'm gonna get on the dreadmill for 3/4 miles.

Beautiful Saturday

Yesterday was just a blast! We had the pleasure of meeting Neese and if you all think she's super sweet and encouraging in blog world (which I do too), she is one of the friendliest person I've ever met. Like David mentioned, Grace loved her and even talked about her after we left. We had a GREAT time meeting up with Neese and spending some time with her, and despite what her and David say - they both did a fantastic job on their races!!!

After they received their pies, I went for my 4 mile run around Furman University lake which is just beautiful and peaceful. It reminded me of when I was young (I used to live about 2 miles from campus), and my Grandmother, Mom, Aunt and myself used to take long walks around the lake. That place is just full of fond memories from my younger days. Despite how nice it is to run around FU, I am still having shin pain.

Sat - Run 4 miles

Today (Sun) was supposed to be 5 miles, but I just blew it off to spend time with my family. No excuses about it. I'll do it tomorrow then move each run 1 day out.

I took some pictures of Grace this weekend (of course, as I always do) and uploaded them here. But here's one of my favorite ones of her waiting on David to get to the finish line. Her feet were cold so I told her to put her feet in David's shoes.



Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Time to catch up on all your blogs. 3 Day workweek ahead! Woo Hooooo!!!!!

Newness

New shoes (Mizuno wave elixir)


New playlist
Very cool to have different songs on my ipod. I haven't changed it in probably a year. Yikes...

oh, new running socks (thank you, Tar-get)

New fresh feeling

Tonight, I had my run and I gotta tell you, there's something about running in the cool temps and in the dark. When I stepped out, it was still a little light outside, but that changed quickly. I should have been wearing my reflective vests. I even had to wear my gloves as it was chilly. No spectacular pace, I enjoyed the rhythm I set and got comfortable in it. So much so, that the scheduled 5 miles was just too little to do tonight considering how I was feeling.

6.45 miles

Nice! I had some leg pain, but wasn't nearly as bad and I really focused on running form. I felt I could have kept going, but needed to get back, plus just wasn't really setup for a longer run. I had very little water this afternoon and no calories in me to make it past 7 miles.

Sunday, I will do a 7 mile run. I'll keep on climbing in mileage on my way up to my 2nd Half-Marathon! :-)

Have a wonderful weekend! Lisa has a 10K this weekend Wes has a 10 miler. Good luck, Ya'll and have fun! I know you'll both do great!!

Running schedule

Yesterday on my lunch break, I went to the Y for a few laps in the pool. I went there just to get in 30 minutes of aerobic swimming. Goals now, are just consistent exercising, since I took so much time off. Goal for the swim was slow, steady for the full 30min - no stopping. I felt off in the pool. My technique just isn't there yet, but about 750yds into it, I felt like I was actually being more efficient. Don't know if it was that, or that I had gotten used to swimming wrong for the first 750. Who knows? I think I could have kept going but the clock prevented me from not. Needed to get back to work.

Monday:
Swim
1100 yds
30:15

I'm trying to decide on my races next year. David, Jason, Chris (G-Man), a friend, Erik and I had lunch today at our favorite Thai restaurant. Through all the conversation of running, cycling, swimming, triathlons, races (Chris just got 6th overall at World Duathlon Championship), Chris asked me what I was looking at doing next year, so the wheels in my head started turning and I realized I need to narrow it down, and do it smartly. No crazy ideas of completing a Marathon again to throw me off. I'm not ready for that and I know it. I would like to do a 5K soon, but just haven't been training for the short/fast races at all, and I know if I did one like this Saturday's race, I'd be extremely disappointed in myself. But, again - I would deserve a slower 5K time. So, there's a local 5K in Dec and one in Jan, and I'll decide soon which one I want to do. David is probably going to be doing the 20K in Dec (same venue as the 5K). That's for the short races.

In Jan/Feb there's a few Half Marathons I'm looking at. Feb's Myrtle Beach Half is a definite, as I'd like to PR that course from this year. March starts triathlon season with the Paris Island Triathlon, and I'm really interested in it.

So, the brain is in overdrive right now when it comes to plans and I realize I need to get on one soon.