THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

Now that David is back to work I have to be a little more creative to get my miles in.  That's cool. 5 am--6.2 bleary-eyed pre-coffee straight out of bed miles.  Started at a rickety 9:30 pace and ended at 7:41 pace.  8:37 average.  Home in time to kiss David off to his first day at his new job.  Rousted the kids out of bed and got them all off to the bus stop for school.  Next fed and dressed Vanessa after a little Bible-reading and we drove into town.  8 am--5.62 miles in the dreary drizzle with Vanessa in the stroller, but it was fifty degrees and Vanessa happily played with the flashlight and ate her granola bar while I ran around town.  Slowed down at mile 5 and ran a mile with two ladies, both named Wendy.  I rarely see other runners so this was a treat.  Back to the car to drive our soaking wet selves home for a warm shower.  8:34 average pace.

7:42 average pace.  Was supposed to do 5x2 at MP but only had time for 4x2 because I had to sandwich my run between getting the kids to school and going to my interview(which went well).

warm up 2, 9:17, 8:27

2 at MP 7:23, 7:22 .5 recovery at 8:02 pace

2 at MP 7:25, 7:23 .5 recovery at 8:02 pace

2 at MP 7:05, 7:12 .5 recovery at 8:10 pace

2 at MP 7:14, 7:12

.5 cooldown at 8:10 pace

20 minutes to transform into a polished professional in a business suit and heels and into the car.

Felt pretty good today, wish I had time for the 5th interval, I don't think I would have had a hard time with it.

Drove into town and did another stroller run today.  8:29 average pace.  It wouldn't have been too chilly except for the wind and Vanessa was getting tired of the stroller so the third time we ran by Sonic I called it quits and got her some tater tots and then walked the two blocks to my car.  Came home and did two circuits of strength drills and some abs.  Hopefully tomorrow is a little warmer or at least not so windy so Vanessa will tolerate more stroller riding if I punctuate it with playground stops where she plays and I run laps.  There are 3 different playgrounds I can hit on my route in town.  Off to drop her off at my mom's and go to work.

5am--came awful early after getting off work at midnight.  6.2 semi-conscious miles in the dark at a sputtering 9:01 pace.  Got the kids off to school, waited for Vanessa to wake up and eat breakfast, and then 4.5 in the stroller at 8:57 pace.  It was chilly and windy but I bundled her up and she was a trooper.  She requested some tater tots from Sonic at the end and I was happy to oblige.  Tater tots from Sonic a few days a week are much cheaper than a babysitter or a gym membership, and I like my little running partner anyways!  stroller+28 pound child+uphill+headwind=who needs speedwork that was enough!

Won't be running until David gets home from work this evening, and the plan is just a super-easy 10.  I have the "fight for air stair climb" race tomorrow morning.  I am on a team with the Sedgwick county Paramedics and there are like 20 of us.  It's chip timed and basicially you climb stairs, run a lap around the arena, climb to the next floor, run a lap, go back down, run a lap, and go to the bottom--repeat this circuit 3x for a total of 9 arena laps and 400+ stairs up.   I will do my best for my team although I am not much of a sprinter!  I figure I will take it easy on the stairs for a breather and then burn the laps as fast as I can.  Total course distance is 1.98 miles.  Should be interesting!  I will call it my speedwork for the week!  So far we are the biggest team and have raised the most money so it's kinda cool.  It benefits the American Lung Association and having smoked the majority of my adult life I am cool with helping that organization out.  

Was tempted to weigh myself today out of curiousity and then decided NO it was pointless and right now I feel good and fit in my clothes so that stupid number does not matter and I do not need to know.

Update: pm 10 at 8:24 pace, last mile at MP 7:24.  Fierce headwind from the north.

Did the stair climb today with my co-workers on the Sedgwick County EMS Paramedics team.  Almost 20 of us came out to do it. It was a benefit for the American Lung Association and our team raised the most money.  Don't know my time or place--just took a wild guess--it was chip-timed with staggered starts so no results will be posted until Monday.  It was at the arena so you climbed stairs to the second floor, ran around, climbed to the third, ran around, went down to the second again, ran around, and then down to the bottom.  repeatx2 for a total of 3 circuits.  A lot of people were getting confused and cutting out laps or running extra laps so the finishing times will be messed up but oh well.  People that I had lapped several times over were finishing right behind me so I know they didn't do all the laps.  It wasn't an all out effort for me but definitely a good hard one as my calves and chest were burning a bit at the end.  .5 mile warm-up with strides.  1.98 mile race. Drove home, and then out for my scheduled 16 mile training run--the real work today.  Coming back in the headwind was tough and I must've been fatigued from the morning race because around mile 13 my legs turned to rubber and I felt like I was bonking.  The headwind was beating me up.  I thought about calling it a day and then thought about how going North in my April marathon I am likely to hit this same headwind.  So, I decided I would beat the run, the run would not beat me, and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to force my rubbery legs to hold steady.  7:43 average pace for the 16, splits 8:00, 7:48, 7:25, 7:24, 7:24, 7:50, 8:02, 7:58, 7:50, 7:40, 7:36, 7:35, 7:38, 7:51, 7:40, 7:40.   Ran this all on dirt roads to give my joints a break.  Stopped and walked half a mile, wanted to get home faster, so finally mustered up the will to break into a jog.  1.08 at 9:18 pace for a cool down. 

Update:  14:24 well I guess with the stairs that is alright.  Supposedly I got second in my age group but who really knows haha