Auntie Em Goes Running

Here is what I did today:  no running, no biking, 2 mile walk into town for some ice cream.  I ate a lot, slept a lot, and hid under the bed for the fireworks.  I had three coffees and two tootsie pops, a cottage cheese pancake, delicious BBQ salmon, peas from the garden, peanut butter, and a whole bunch of other (mostly good) stuff, and no wheat.  After over two weeks of this no wheat diet, I suddenly get really hungry for something I can't even find (could it be wheat?)

Exactly five easy miles at exactly 9 minutes per mile.  AND, there was some sun.  I was so grateful.  I feel as though I have been barely saved from leaping off of a tall building by the appearance of a tiny bit of sun!  I am also aware that it is probably a cruel trick, and tomorrow we'll be back to iciness and gloom.  With the sun actually penetrating my top layer of skin, it was difficult to keep within my "easy" range on this run.  I focused instead on maintaining perfect form, keeping my wandering right leg right under me at all times.  I was pretty successful. 

We have sunshine!  And it is actually supposed to be warm.  They say 80!  I don't believe it, but I did my track workout at 5:30am just in case.  Was supposed to do 8X200m Hills at .51 (or the approximate "effort" associated with 5K pace up a hill).  Then 4X200m flats at .51.  Well, my Garmin promptly announced that its little battery was dead, so I did these all by feel.  Luckily, I have run the exact same hill so many times, I know EXACTLY where 200m is and I think I'm pretty good at the pace.  So all was good, except that was a lot of repeats!  I am tired, but not trashed.

A busy day, and a busy week.  I'm race director for the Saturday race!  Lots to do still. 

One and a quarter hours on the bike.  Flat ride with a big pace group.  Easy and FAST!  5 easy running miles. 

That's all folks, crazy busy (panicked) with Race Director duties!   

Tempo intervals this morning.  I've got a lot to do today, and don't want to be interrupted, so I started about 5:30.  Already I can tell its going to be really hot today!  

Started out feeling like I could never get through the workout (I always feel this way when faced with tempo intervals)!  I surprised myself by getting through it nicely.  Warm up, at AP of 9:30.  For this bit I met a couple of friends from my group, had a nice chat.  Then, my intervals pulled me away from the pleasant company.  Mile paces are supposed to be 7:38.  But I was running in the park, and the trails and terrain vary quite a bit, so I can't keep as close to exact pace as I can at a track.  Paces were:  7:56, 7:58, 7:56, 7:43, and 8:52 (this one was VERY hilly and technical).  

Great workout!   

Very early morning easy pedal around the lake front, AP about 15 mph.  Lovely morning, clear, warm and very still.

Been busy, busy, busy all day.  My big footrace is tomorrow!  Spent the evening cycling some more, along the trail, getting markers in place for tomorrow.

We have 827 people signed up!   

My Race Director job is over ):  Race was today; it was a big success I think!  I thoroughly enjoyed myself in my element directing the finish line.  I had a great food crew, a great flagging crew, a great timing crew, a great band, and great prizes and awards for many runners!  I also had great weather, which is something we can never take for granted.  I was out at the finish by 5:30am to meet the timing chip guys; while they were setting up, I jogged a bit on the trail.  By 7:30, my set up crew arrived, and I had them go to work building the finish shute, hanging sponsors' banners, and placing cones on the highway where runners have to cross to reach the finish line, and setting up food tables.  By 8:00, the massage team arrived and set up their own area; the band arrived and got the stage ready to go.  By 8:30, the band was playing for the rest of us!  By 8:30, all the food had arrived, and the prep crew was cutting oranges, melons and bananas, filling water jugs, and putting out the other food.

 At 9 sharp, I got the call that the start had started, and waited anxiously for the first runner to arrive!  At this point, I had so much adrenaline pumping that it was almost like running the race.  First finisher arrived in about 42 minutes, and was greeted by applause from a huge spectator group, lively music, and a lot of great food.

By about 10:15, I started awards, even though we still had finishers coming in.  We just had so many awards and prizes to give out, I thought we had better get started.  I had invited the young girls' group that I coach to come out and be prize runners, so they would hand the prizes out to the runners as they were awarded.  They are all 9 and 10 years old, so this was pretty cute and well received.  There were also about a hundred Gatorade plastic drink bottles that the Parks department had given us, so we would periodically throw these out to the crowd and they fought over catching them.

Our last runner arrived by around 11:00, and some fresh volunteers arrived for tear down.  The band continued for a bit, as runners made their way to the buses that would take them back to town.  Some run back, but most take the buses.  My husband arrived with the huge truck, having already driven along the course, taking down water stations and mile markers.  We loaded it all up, drove to the storage locker, unloaded everything, returned the truck, and WHEW!!  

I will make up my long run tomorrow!