It's all relative

AM: 12 miles.  Partially due to the fact I was mad I DNS-ed for the first time in my running career at a race I was registered at.  It didn't feel good physically, but emotionally it helped.

PM: Watched some football with friends and avoided snacks like the plague.  Then felt the need to work out after feeling lethargic watching football all afternoon, so... did 2 miles, then gym- quads/knees/balance, chest, tris, shoulders.  this had the added benefit of keeping my mind off things as well.

Knee update: Not promising, but not worsening, so I will keep going and just continue to stay away from the speed for a bit longer.  

Body update: Down to 150.0 lbs while only suffering no measurable muscle loss.  Still tough to manage training, lifting, and a healthy calorie deficit, but seeing the progress helps.  Next stop: 146.5 by next Saturday.  

Life update: headed up to CT for two days.  Living in FL is challenging sometimes when your family isn't close and family things come up.  Sometimes I feel selfish and wonder why I always have to do the travelling and my family doesn't visit, but then I remember I'm the one who moved my life here (for a girl nonetheless) away from them, so I quickly see my immaturity.  Realization is humiliating sometimes.

AM: run with Jim in St. Pete on the trail. I could barely hold a conversation I was so out of shape.

PM: 5 cold miles on the frozen taiga...

AM: 18 degrees, windy, and hilly. On a positive note, it was too cold to feel any pain anywhere.

PM: run in Clearwater on the trail right after I got off the plane.

PM: run in East Lake, real slow. Wicked sore.

AM: 2 Miles with the team.  Hung out mostly with the coaches, and then had a "business" meeting afterwards about money- not my idea of fun.

PM: 2.5 mile warm up and cool down, then decided to run in the Bellair Sunset 5k under an incognito name as I haven't been running much and have been injured, so I thought I'd just relax more if I did it this way.  I figured, what the hell- it's a 5k, and I can do 3 miles on my easy runs pretty handily right now, albeit not expecting race pace.  The course ended up being a tad short this year as they changed things up a bit by about .05-.07 depending on the watch you read, so add about 25 seconds to the times.

My alias: Dick Tater.  Now, Dick Tater knew he has not been running real well in a while and was coming off an injury, so he took it conservative right in the beginning, and assumed that even with a 5:30 mile he'd be gassed.  He rolled right through mile 1 in 6th place behind a set of 3 high schoolers, a savvy veteran (Larry Smart), and what looked like a child not even old enough to run (turned out to be 16 years old).  The first two runners he caught during the next mile while running the same pace, each time coming up next to them and just gradually passing them, making note that their breathing was heavy and taxed.  Mile 3 came, and he was shocked that at about the 2.1 he had a lot of gas left and the wind at his back, so he decided to just go for it.  Now, Dick has raced one of these guys before and knew a quick kick past him and a speed up would be needed, so as he passed them both, he sped things up quite a bit.  Larry challenged and Dick Tater was worried, but fortunately Larry (and the pint-sized companion trailing him) decided to let him be and not to chase, allowing him to glide in with a 7-second advantage to get second place.

The crowd was the funniest when they announced my name as "Dick Tater", to which the announcer apologized as he though he mispronounced it.  Oh.  He pronounced it perfectly...

1    Luke Peterson     17   M       1 OVERALL          15:52       
      2    Dick Tater    30   M       1 30-34          16:21      
      3    Larry Smart   46   M       1 Masters        16:28      
      4    Cooper Labrant 16   M       1 15-19         16:32     
      5    Jackson Gillette  17   M    2 15-19         16:32      
      6    Christian Kondor  16   M       3 15-19      16:44      
      7    John Robida  35   M       1 35-39           16:58      

Splits:

Mile one    5:27

Mile two    5:31

Mile three  5:12

Finish      ~0:11