THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

This was the hardest, yet the funnest race I have ever been in!  I was the 6th person overall to finish and I believe the 2nd female.  The race starts on asphalt, then after a mile you fall off the road(literally, it's almost vertical going down for a minute) and hit a sandbar. Sand is the hugest speedkiller ever!  You plod through this sandbar which kills your legs, then you hit the trails.  The trails alternate between soft, deep sand, and firmer footing.  I quickly realized that rather than try to keep a pace(impossible), I would just try to keep the same effort.  The trail twisted and turned, and shot up and down so fast it almost gave me a headache.  On the sandy areas I would just try to keep the same effort, and then would charge when I had better traction.  There where a few thick grassy areas which would kill speed, but nothing like the sand did!  Anyways I actually had a lot of fun.  I passed a lot of people in the third mile and then after that was on my own.  There was a girl way ahead of me that I would catch glimpses of now and then but I had no hope of catching her.  Anyways, for the last mile you get dumped back out on blessed asphalt, but, unfortunately, have to run uphill for the entire last mile.  I tried to charge the hill as best I could although my legs were beat up from the sand.  Anyways at the end there were 3 guys milling around that had finished and I didn't see the girl I was chasing so I was either 2nd or 3rd female--cool!  I got a dreadfully unattractive picture of myself running(I swear the camera added 30 pounds) and a fudge brownie for my efforts.  I will definitely be back for this run next year!

Day off today--my hamstrings are a little sore!  If only I could always eat Valentine candy and baked goods and lose a pound....

Nice and easy today.  It is really windy--not unusual, but irritated me today.  I like to run and be able to hear something besides the wind roaring in my ears.  No encounters with dogs today--thank goodness!  I have a bit of lingering soreness today in my legs and decided to wait another day before getting back into the strength drills--I think I will do some abs though in a little bit.  

I wanted to run today--had some frustrations to work out.  I took it nice and slow and felt great.  My muscles aren't sore today anymore.  I finished my 7 and wasn't done yet so I ran some more--raced the school bus a little bit in the next door housing addition as it picked up kids--kinda fun!  Did 2 circuits of strength drills today instead of just one.  They are a bit harder the second time around but I think they make a difference so I will keep doing them!

I needed to go to town and run a few errands anyway, so I drove to the track and ran 28 boring laps and then ran errands.  I don't particularly care for going round and round but my joints seem to like the surface okay and there is little camber to deal with so oh well!  The only bad part is it is so monotonous that it is easy to lose track of what lap you are on...so I think I ran 28 laps, give or take a few!

Got home from work at 1230 and got up to run at 5, which was just as well since I wasn't sleeping well anyway.  It was just a slow, pleasant, dark run today.  I ran with my penlight.  I was surprised at how many cars I saw on the road this early in the morning.  Anyways, I am glad the weekend is here--today is Nick's 9th birthday celebration so I have presents to wrap and pizzas to make.

7.25 in town today while Grandma watched the kids.  No more lingering soreness from the strength drills today, but I decided against doing them today.  I like to do them 2x week but since I had a race this week I will count that as one day of strength drills.  The run felt good--I think it was a bit faster than usual but it was cold and I forgot to wear gloves so my hands were frozen and I wanted to get done!   The 40-45 mpw training range seems to be a good one for me--I think I will hang out at this mileage for a while and not build up any more until I am sure my body has adapted and two circuits of strength drills 2 or 3 times a week doesn't make me so sore.