All it takes is all you've got

Ran 5.5 miles at 8:00 pace at 11:00 a.m. after returning from taking the kids to the dentist because Aaron was dead to the world when I tried to wake him up at 8:00 so I could run before the kids' dentist appointment.  He hadn't gone to sleep until 4:00 a.m. because he had a super busy night researching 12 properties that were going to sale the next morning, needless to say, he was wasted.  And the stinky part is that he didn't even win anything at the auction.  But at least he got a really good property the day before at the Adams County auction.  I just feel bad for him when he stays up SO late working under the time crunch to bid on properties the next morning and then he just gets outbid.  I suspect our Tuesday and Wednesdays (the days before all the Denver area County auctions) are going to be super hectic for about a month because he just sold a bunch of houses and now has 500K of his own investment capital, plus another 500K of his auction partner's money back in the account ready to be spent again.  

For lunch, we had an appointment with one of his investors, Cindy Liu (sp?).  She treated us to the International Buffet.  I don't normally choose Buffet style cuisine, but since it was Cindy's treat and Cindy's suggestion, we obliged.  The food was pretty good, but the company was even better.  It was Aaron, our assistant, Shawna, Cindy, Breanne, and Ali (Abe missed out because he was at school).  Cindy is a very nice woman and I really enjoyed chatting with her.  She is originally from Singapore but moved to CO to start her own business.  She owns an antique shop and invests in Real Estate.

8 miles around Standley Lake at 8:00 pace again.

The little germs that have been scaling my body trying to get in as my immune system is still a little supressed from the marathon have officially set up camp in my lungs.  I have this nasty phlegm cough and lightheadedness that started setting in yesterday and is running its course.  At least I don't have any fever or body ache.  Just fatigue and an aggravating cough.  I'm pounding the vitamin C and trying to get extra rest so that those little germ dudes will break down camp and take a hike soon.

I also went to the gym this morning for pilates, stretching, and lifting.  Felt good. 

Easy 9.5 around Countryside at Noon.  Aaron went Mt. Biking early so I went running after the morning session of Conference.  It was such a BEAUTIFUL day here in Denver!  Cool Fall air, sunny skies, and gorgeous Fall colors.  I felt pretty good on the run, minus some stomach issues that caused me to have to visit the trees 4 times.  Must have been those 4 chocolate chip cookies and bowl of ice cream I ate at my friends house last night.  My body is not used to that much sugar at one time.  It tasted good in the moment, I just payed for it today on the run.  And now I need to refresh my intestines with a big yummy spinach salad for dinner.  Yes, I'm still chipping away at the Costco spinach bag.  Its not quite wilting yet.  Anybody want some?  

Today is the best I have felt since the Marathon.  My cough is starting to get better, my legs feel better, and my energy is better too.  Of course that two hour nap yesterday afternoon didn't hurt.

10 miles around Standley Lake 7:40 average.

We're taking the kiddos swimming tonight and they are STOKED!  I don't really love swimming but I DO love seeing my kids have a grand old time.  All their smiles and giggles are so worth it.  I also love the family temperature hot tub that the pool that we're going to has.  Its a "warming tub."  Cool enough that I can sit in there with my kids for a good 8-10 minutes before we start itching for the pool again.  Ahhhh... 

7 miles in 7:51 ave.  Felt a little tired so I took a nap while the girls napped this afternoon.  Then I went to the gym to lift weights and stretch and work my core.

Somewhere in my first mile this morning I was crossing a street where a woman in a minivan was stopped trying to turn left onto another street.  As I was approaching her car she caught my eye as she gave me a big smile and an adamant Thumb Up as if to say "kudos for being out on your morning run, neighbor."  It made me smile and feel grateful that I am healthy and able to run every morning in this beautiful life. 

8 miles out and back on big dry creek. 7:40 ave.  Feeling Halloween-ish in my hunter orange TOU shirt. 

I guess its time I start thinking about races I'd like to do in the next couple of months to give me some motivation to do speed workouts again.  As fun as it is to just do mileage every day, I really do love racing, and racing fast, so its time to look at the race calendar and set some goals.  Maybe a Thanksgiving 10K and a Halloween 5K.  I'll see what I can find.  The nice thing is that Colorado Runner Magazine has  a GREAT race calendar with all the local races, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

6 miles in 7:15 pace. 

Cold, windy, and misty rain this morning.  Went a little faster in an effort to warm up but I was still pretty cold, at least my face and hands were.  Also I was running late because Aaron went to bed at 2:30 a.m. last night after working a 17 hour day to prepare for the Denver County auction this morning.  He did win a good one, so at least his long hours weren't in vain this week.  But I didn't have the heart to wake him up early to watch the kids after he stayed up so late.  So I let him sleep as long as possible but finally left for my run at 8:15 a.m. and had to be back, showered, and leave to take Breanne to a joy school group we tried out today at 9:15 a.m.  So you could say I was a little rushed on the run.  We got to the joy school group 5 minutes late.  I'm trying to decide it I want to commit to doing this joy school group for sure.  Its just once a week on Thursday mornings.  Breanne is a very social, fun 3-year-old and really enjoyed herself at the group but its a 20 minute drive to get there and she already plays well with Abe at home in the mornings anyway.  That is the beauty of having three kids close together, they do play well together (most of the time...when they're not screaming at each other.)  I may just keep it simple and wait until next year to do pre-school with her.  One year of pre-school seemed to work well for Abe.  And Breanne is a lot less shy and just as smart as he was at 3.

Ran 9 miles around Countryside in 7:31 pace.  I normally see at least a few other exersisers out but I didn't see ANY this morning.  I hope this cooler weather isn't scaring people off.  Its really quite pleasant with warmer clothes on.

Went to pilates and lifted weights afterwards.  Then I took a nap while the girls napped after lunch.  We're watching our friend's kids overnight tonight so they can have a night off.  They have a 5 year old boy and a 3 year old girl just like us, but no toddler.  It'll be a fun-filled night for all.  We got Monsters VS Aliens from Netflix and I'll pop some popcorn on the stove.

It was pretty cold out today.  22 degrees.  It warmed up a little from the 15 degrees and snowing that was going on this morning, but still very chilly.  Beautiful though with the dusting of snow we got last night.  I need to remember to wear two shirts when its that cold.  My arms and hands were pretty numb when I got back.

10 miles out and back on Big Dry Creek 7:35 ave. 

I took a little trail off to the right after mile 4 and ran through a neighborhood for the middle couple of miles.  I had to stop for three different potty breaks and accidentally mooned a biker on the last one.  Oops!  Maybe I should jog further off the trail...I just thought I could wing it quickly because not many people were out braving the cold.  Thats what I get for running in the afternoon after eating a big breakfast and drinking a lot.  We had our friends kids this morning until 9 a.m. though so I wanted to get up and make them waffles before they had to leave.  Then Aaron took Abe and Breanne to the gym with him while Ali took her nap and I cleaned the house.  I continued cleaning after they got home 'cause I was in a zone.  You could say I was doing Marathon race pace cleaning  possibly even 10K race pace cleaning.  Three hours later I had pretty much cleaned everything...ahhh....I love having a clean house.  Too bad it doesn't last long with 3 kids and Aaron and me living in it.  Not to mention our Executive Assistant and Accountant coming in and out on week days (they don't make messes, I just feel compelled to vacuum their office and clean their bathroom often so it doesn't get gross down there.)  One time Breanne decided to use the downstairs bathroom in the middle of the day and a little while later our Accountant, Judy came upstairs to use the kids bathroom (which is never very clean except for the first 10 minutes after I clean it.)  She found me afterwards and said, "I hate to be the one to inform you, but the basement bathroom needs a little attention."  I went down to discover little Breanne poo smeared ALL OVER the toilet seat.  I just burst out laughing because that was the worst it has ever been.  It was like she didn't even attempt to use toilet paper, she just smeared it off.  Hahaha.  I have to be very patient with her, after all she's still pretty new at the wiping by herself trick.

Saw a man sitting in his hot tub with a beannie on this morning.  Thought it was kind-of a strange thing to be doing at 7:30 a.m. on a Monday.  Looked relaxing though.

Aaron went running today for the second time in three weeks.  His lower back has been injured and his right knee is tempermental too.  He returned in a very humble, sheepish state confessing that he stooped to a new level today.  He tried to get me to guess what happened, and after three guesses I still had no idea.  He tried to prompt me by reminding me that he always makes fun of these people.  Its an olympic sport.  Thats right, he race walked.  After running a few miles, his right knee siezed up on him (probably due to the cold air and lack of training.)  After his knee stopped working he was just going to walk home but then realized that it would take him a long, boring time if he just walked slowly home, so he started walking FAST.  And the next thing he knew he was swinging his arms and swiveling his hips as his heart rate shot up to 170 and he was pushing and pushing to get that mile pace down to a 10 minute mile.  The good thing is that he gained a whole new appreciation for race walkers. And he gained a new sense of hope and optimism at the fact that he can still get an extremely good workout in even if his knee is refusing to run.  He can race walk.

I first witnessed race walking and met some pro race walkers when I went to the Jr. Olympic Training Camp at the San Diego Olympic Training Center my Senior year in High School.  Ever since then I have greatly respected race walkers.  I think it an extremely challenging sport because not only are you maxing out your lungs and aerobic muscles, you also have to have perfect form.  Race walkers are seriously TOUGH and very fine-tuned athletes.  I would be happy for Aaron if he decided to pursue a race walking hobby.  He would actually probaby be very good at it because he is tall and has long legs.

Here's a nice fluid race walking video:

Totally unrelated, but equally interesting, I also found this video and had to post it since it gave me all sorts of warm fuzzie nostalgic feelings from my former steeplechasing days:

Sunday I stayed home with our 15 month old because she puked before Church and again on the way over, so I just dropped Aaron and the older kids off and went home to nap with Ali.  Apparently Breanne and I picked up her bug because I awoke at 5 a.m. today with stabbing pains in my stomach, chills, and whole body achiness/weakness.  After attempting to sleep until 7:30, all the kids had finally woken up and I asked Aaron if he could feed them breakfast and take them to the gym with him so I could have an extra hour and a half of sleep.  He did that and I finally woke up around 9 a.m still very weak and nauseated.  I wished I could have just puked and gotten it over with...you know that feeling?  But no, the nausea went on another 3 hours and my chills and body ache got worse until I finally puked.  It did feel better to puke, but my body just feels hashed and weak all over still.  I cannot seem to regulate temperature because of my fever.  Oh and as Breanne played in the child care at the gym this morning, she puked too.  The child care worker just asked Aaron to roll up the rug she had puked on and take it home to clean it ourselves and bring it back later I guess because she didn't want to spread those germs.  When Aaron and the kids got home Breanne continued to puke 3-4 times over the next few hours and we have just been laying around like a couple of week, fever-stricken blobs together.  Aaron has been super helpful driving Abe to school and cleaning up Breanne's messes...which I hope doesn't mean he will be getting the stomach bug tomorrow.  But at least it appears to be a 24 hour flu because Ali is already feeling better besides still having the runs.

Gotta love those winter germs!  Needless to say, there will be no exercise for me today.  Hopefully I can restore fluids and get out for some movement tomorrow.

Slept 10 hours last night and had weird dreams and night sweats, but woke up feeling a TON better this morning.  Ate breakfast and hydrated while Aaron slept in (he was up until 2:30 a.m. again working on auction comps).  Then when he finally woke up around 9:00 a.m. I went running.  While I was running Aaron puked.  He also got a text from our administrative assistant reporting that she has been puking all morning too.  So apparently its their turn today.  Abe is telling me that he is feeling sick too so I'm going to keep him home from school to avoid him puking all over his classmates.  The good news is that it is just a 24 hour bug.  Breanne and I feel completely better today.  It felt good to go sweat it out on my run.  I think I'm still a bit dehydrated, but I'll take in extra fluids all day.  

We also have some friends, Kyle and Lizzie staying in our basement this week who are still uninfected.  They have been gone working all day and only home in the evenings, so they have so far avoided the germs.  I'm going to sanitize all the door knobs and light switches today and cross my fingers that they don't get it.  Our accountant, Judy ususally comes in on Wednesdays and Fridays so she was supposed to come in today but we told her not to because we're the sick house.  Hopefully we can be a safe zone again by Friday so she can come to work then.

7:45 pace

Left for my run at 8:50 after letting Aaron sleep in again.  He was up until 4:00 a.m. last night.  Crazy.  The weather was SO nice this morning!  Sunny and 60 degrees. 

7 miles, Pilates Reformer, and weights this morning.

We're taking the kids to a skating rink with bouncy houses this afternoon for a Halloween Party.  We also have a Halloween Party just for Aaron and Me on Saturday night at the Church.  Aaron is going at Napoleon Dynamite and I will be Deb.  I was suprised how easy it was to find some awesome women's jeans from the 90's at Goodwill.  There were like 5 pair in my size to choose from.  And then of course all the bright colored jewlery and 90's shirts are the "in" thing at Wal-Mart right now, so my costume was an easy find.  Here's a link to the jeans I'm wearing.

10.5 miles at 7:41 pace.  Out on big dry creek to Westminster City Park and back.  Suprised to see the water fountain still on.  I thought for sure they'd have it off so it wouldn't freeze. 

Saw the Pomona High School CC team out running on the trail and the Coach jokingly tried to corral me in with the group.  Then he saw my Knights shirt and thought I was associated with a High School in Boulder.  I told him it was actually a team I used to coach in Utah, the Lone Peak Knights.  Then I wished him good luck with his season and took off again.  Ahhh, the good ol' Lone Peak Knights.  Good times.

Our Halloween party is tonight.  Aaron got his Napoleon Dynamite costume in the mail yesterday.  I'll post pictures tomorrow. 

Heres the link to the Halloween party and pics of Aaron and me as Napoleon and Deb.  http://picasaweb.google.com/nankennard/2009_10_17HalloweenParty#5394090953936976498

The party was super fun.  Good food, fun and folks.  My favorite part was watching Aaron and Owen (another guy who dressed as Napoleon) do Napoleon's famous dance.  I was so glad that our friend's Karaoke selection included Jamiroquai so that we could enjoy Aaron's dancing.  Aaron also blessed us with a little "Ice, Ice, Baby," and a few other sweet songs.  He is a natural entertainer.  He actually used to be a lead singer/trombonist in a Ska/Punk band, Tom Elvis and the Prestleys so he knows how to rock it.  Good times!

9 miles around Countryside at 7:41 pace.

I had my closest encounter with a coyote this morning.  Well it wasn't really an encounter because we didn't speak to each other or attack each other.  We just gave each other the evil eye as if to say "Stay out of my open space!"  Usually I see coyotes off in the distance prancing away.  Or they just sit and stare at me as I run by and if I clap or yell they run off.  Once I saw a few of them barking at me from about 100 meters away and I avoided them, assuming they were protecting young or fresh meat.  Today I didn't even see this coyote as I approached but then as I passed him he ran across the trail just 10-15 feet behind me and then stopped to stare at me.   It kinda startled me but he looked more threatened then I was.  I've often review in my head what I would do if a coyote were to approach me.  I'd probably just wind up and kick it as hard as I could in the face and then bolt away as fast as possible.  I highly doubt it will ever happen though because I've seen over 30 coyotes in the 4 years that I've lived here in CO and not once have they approached me.  They are always shorter than waist height to me and obviously don't think they could take me.  They're right.  They couldn't.

I decided to join back up with a running group that I ran with for a month last fall, Boulder Running Republic.  The Coach is Darren De Reuck.  He coaches his wife, Colleen who is an amazing runner (2nd at the USA Marathon Championships in Twin Cities earlier this month in 2:32 and 1st in the USA 20K Championships last month at the age of 45!!)  He also coaches a recreational club, Boulder Striders and this smaller more elite group, the Running Republic.  Darren has organized group workouts on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

This morning we met at 7:00 a.m. in Boulder.  Aaron gave the kids breakfast and took them to the gym with him so I could go to Boulder.  Then he dropped them off at our friend, Silvina's house afterwards so I could come home, take my shower, eat, and then clean the house.

We did a fartlek workout this morning. 

20 minute warm up with 4 X 25 second strides

2 X 3 min @ 10K effort/90 sec easy - my pace was around 5:58 on these

4 X 30 sec quick turnover/60 sec easy - He had us count our strides, so each time my right foot hit was one stride, and mine were 53, 54, 53, 54 which was about 5:25 pace

2 X 5 min @ half marathon effort/2 min easy - my pace was 5:57 on the first and 5:47 on the second.  I finally started to feel good and warmed up for these.  The sun came out and I took my long sleve off after these repeats.

4 X 60 sec fast/60 sec easy - my pace was 5:13-5:30 ave

10 min cool down

Total time was 1:12:55, 9.47 miles with 7:41 ave pace

GREAT workout!

Darren and I also talked about a 6 month plan for me in racing.  He reccomended that I focus on going for a half-marathon PR at the USA Half-Marathon Championships in Houston on January 17, 2010.  Then go for a marathon PR in the elite section at Boston in April.  He thinks Boston is a lot better for me than Grandmas because it is two months earlier and gives me better timing to recover and train for another fast fall marathon.  There is a more competitive field at Boston, but the prize money isn't neccessarily better unless I really think I can run sub 2:35...which I'm not sure is within reach for me yet.   I do agree that the timing is probably better if I want to go for another marathon in the fall though.  And I do like the idea of seeing Boston since I've never been there.   

Ran with Carolyn in Colorado today.  She was kind enough to make the 50 minute drive from Littleton to join me on a nice long run on Big Dry Creek.  It was about 32 degrees and lightly snowing.  I enjoyed getting to know Carolyn better and having someone to pass the time with.  The pace felt great as a nice recovery pace for me after my fast workout yesterday and Carolyn pushed it for a nice long tempo run at her half marathon race pace.  She ran impressively well especially considering that she did a fast workout yesterday too. 

My watch said 8:35 average pace for 11.5 miles.  A solid 1:39 on my legs.  Thanks for the run, Carolyn!  We'll have to do it again!

Easy 6 around Countryside.

My legs were pretty tired because I had them worked on for over an hour last night by Aaron's massage therapist, Sherry.  She does Push Therapy Technique, which is quite different from just a standard Swedish or Sports massage.  She also uses essential oils, so I smelled very fragrant when I left last night and all through my run this morning.  The work she did on my legs and feet felt good.  The jury is still out on whether I like it better than deep tissue massage for tightness in my legs or not.  We'll see how I feel over the next few days.  This is actually my second time going to her.  She is a very nice lady and interesting to listen to. 

I think I'll go to Las Vegas now and hang out with my sister-in-laws in the mid-80 degree sun.  Its girls weekend!  Gotta get to the airport!

8 miles around our rental house in Las Vegas, NV.

 Ahh it is beautiful weather here in Las Vegas.  Mid 80's and clear skies.  I was actually really hot on my run in the desert sun this morning.  I slept in until around 8:00 a.m. and left for my run around 8:30 a.m. but it was already very warm at that time, so I ended up just running in my sports bra and shorts.  As I was coming back I saw a biker out with arm warmers on.  'Cause to the locals it must be cold?  Before coming here I think I was almost acclimated to the 30 degree mornings in CO.  I hope a few warm mornings here doesn't spoil me and I have to re-acclimate.

Girls weekend has been fun.  Last night we stayed up late watching a movie and eating chocolate and popcorn.  Then we all slept in and I woke up and went for a run.  After my run I soaked in the 72 degree pool and ended up swimming a few laps and taking a few dives off the little diving board.  My sister-in-laws all thought I was crazy for getting in the "cold" water, but it was actually quite refreshing after my hour run in the heat.  Then we showered and went shopping.  I got some new winter running clothes and shoes at the Nike Outlet and a few shirts at Aeropostale.  After that we got pedi/manicures.  In all my 28 years I have actually never actually gotten a pedicure or a manicure, but I decided to try the pedicure on my callused runners feet.  It felt very nice and my feet currently look more pristine than they have ever looked.  Then we came home, took naps, and made beaded watch bands.  My sister-in-law, Dawn has a large plethora of beads and brings them to all girl-gatherings.  I decided to make a watch since everyone else seemed to be really into it, and I actually really like it!  Nothing like a girls weekend to help me become more in touch with my feminine, fashion side.

Gotta Go!  Off to Cheescake Factory for dinner! 

Went with my sister-in-laws, Chris and Elisse to the bird nesting grounds that we saw on the map thinking it would be a beautiful place walk around, then I could run back to the rental house from there for 7 miles.  It took us a good half an hour to find the place as it was nestled back behind the waste management plant on a dirt road and was not extremely beautiful, but we did walk around and we did see one bird.  It was just a dry open space with a small stream running through it and trees growing right around the stream.  It was fun to chat to Chris and Elisse while we walked through the desert oasis.  They are my only two other homebirthing sister-in-laws (like me).  But they also homeschool and I am not on that band wagon.  Actually, Chris recently put her 4 boys back into public school.  Elisse is still completely against the idea of public school and I was trying to understand why.  After probing for 20-30 minutes I think I got closer to understanding her reasons but I just dont subscribe to the same train of thought.  I really love that Abe is being taught by someone other than me and socializing with other kids his age at school.  He is experiencing lots of things I could not provide for him at home.  But I do respect Elisse for her homeschool decision.  After all, very few of my friends and family agree with my decision to homebirth, but I appreciate their respecting my decision and recognizing that it is what I believe is the best option for me.

Anyway, back to the run...

After our walk I took a potty stop in the bushes and started my run back to the rental house.  It was almost noon by now and starting to get very hot (probably close to 90 degrees) in that Las Vegas sun.  I only got 2.5 miles before I had to stop in a Casino and use their drinking fountain.  I wanted to just stay in the cool air-conditioned building a bit longer but the cigarette smoke was bringing me early death, so I took off again.  I did some strides and attempted a 2 mile tempo run.  Ran 13 minutes for 2 miles and it was not easy.  The heat gave me an extreme headache probably because I am used to 30 degree Colorado mornings.  After my tempo segment I stopped in a grocery store and guzzled more water.   I was going to do another 2 miles tempo, but my head was pounding and I was starting to get extremely hungry as I had not eaten breakfast yet (staying up late and sleeping in really messes with me).  I just ran easy the rest of the way home and returned home extremely overheated.  Immediatly upon my return home I downed an entire 20 ounces of fluid in about 4.6 seconds and jumped in the now 68 degree unheated pool.  It was the most refreshing plunge into cold water I have ever experienced!  I had been looking forward to that plunge for my entire run, actually.  And it felt great!!  Seeing me swimming in the cold water and actually enjoying it, a few other of my sister-in-laws decided they just had to be a part of the fun and suddenly I was swimming with Chris, Michelle, and Dawn.  Chris and Michelle were already in their swimming suits enjoying the sun so we just counted down together and jumped in.  Dawn was the most hilarious of the group.  She had been inside and was the last to behold our swimming and was suddenly very impulsive about wanting to get in the pool so she didn't even bother putting her swimming suit on.  She just slipped her shirt off and jumped in au natural.  At that point all the sister-in-laws were either swimming or standing poolside laughing our heads off at Dawn.  And that is when the craziness of the day began.  After swimming and some more shopping, we went to the Strip and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, rode the NY NY Rollercoaster (awesome), and decided to go dancing.  I actually had never been to a club in my life and was not super excited about going (I was also VERY tired as I am not  a late night person), so I was just going to drive home and take whomever else was tired with me.  But as we were standing outside the club trying to decide who was going to go home with me and who was going to go dancing, Dawn and Shauna had been working their magic with the guys that worked the club and we ended up getting in free on someone's guest list (instead of having to pay $20 each).  So I went in for a few minutes and tried to muster some energy to dance, while laughing at my sisters all gettin' jiggy with it.  I was most impressed by my 60-year-old mother-in-law who is a very good ballroom dancer.  She grabbed my SIL Emily and started swinging her around with fancy feet and much skill.  Then she swung my other SIL Ashley around for a bit too.  She was definitely the best dancer on the floor as everyone else was just doing that jiggly bounce that seems fitting to loud thumping music.  After about 30 minutes, I was done and decided to leave.  Four other sister-in-laws went with me and we went home to sleep.  Ahhhh sleep.  The other 5 sisters stayed another hour and a half and reported that they had a blast.  Clubbing isn't really my scene, I doubt that I will ever do it again.  I thought it was a unique activity for 10 married, non-drinking (for the most part) women to do together, but it was pretty funny and fun for a bit.  I guess thats why they say, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

Flew home from Vegas.  Got to the gate to board my flight and they asked me to be bumped for a $200 plus the cost of my flight, which was $160, equaling a $360 travel voucher.  I strongly hesitated as I was very tired and anxious to see my kids and husband.  But then I thought, hey this is a free flight for Aaron AND me to Houston in January or Boston in April.  Its worth it.  So I agreed and they confirmed me on a flight that didn't get to Denver until 10:45 p.m. Ugh. It was going to be a looooong day in the airport.  But then I had him put me on the top of the standby list for the next 3 full flights to Denver and prayed that I could get on the next flight just 50 minutes later.  My prayer was answered!!!  Someone missed their flight and I was the lucky standby person to get on!!  So I got a $360 travel voucher for just waiting in the Vegas Airport for an extra 50 minutes!  Score!  I got home around 4:00 p.m., gave my kids some little souveniers I had picked up for them and enjoyed the evening with my family.  Its SO good to be home.  And I looked online and discovered that my travel voucher will all but $50 cover our trip to Houston OR Boston, whichever I decide to use it on.  Sweet! 

Easy 9.5 around Standley Lake.  The water level is way down so I decided to run on the beach next to the water until my shoes had an inch of mud stuck to the bottom.  I scraped the mud off on a fence post and ran on the road after mile 6.  

I was super tired today after my weekend of staying up too late every night so I took a nice long nap while my girls were napping and Abe was at school this afternoon.  I love sleep.  Sleep is good. 

Ran with Boulder Running Republic this evening.  The weather was 50 degrees and holding all day until right as we started our workout, the temp started to drop, wind started to blow, and rain started to fall. 

We did a 20 minute warm up and strethched together.  Then we did some strides and started our workout.

1 minute at 5k effort-5:27 pace

1 minute easy

2 minutes at 5k effort-5:40 pace

1 minute easy

3 minutes at 10k effort-5:42 pace

1 minute easy

4 minutes at 10k effort-6:23 (uphill into the wind, hail pelting my face at one point...fun)

2 minutes easy

4 minutes at 10k effort-missed the split on this one. Watch says 6 minutes in 6:50 pace

2 minutes easy

3 minutes at 10k effort-5:24 pace (downhill with wind at our backs)

1 minute easy

2 minutes at 5k effort-6:00 pace (uphill and into the wind again)

1 minute easy

1 minute at 5k effort-5:14 pace

Jogged an 8:06 mile back to the car.  Watch said 7:40 ave for 8.3 miles.  At the end the rain was picking up and temp was  still dropping.  I put my rain jacket on and we all chatted for a few minutes.  Then I drove home and it started snowing as I was driving home.  Now I've taken a hot shower and eaten dinner and I'm feeling a lot more comfortable.  I really like that group.  There were probably about 15 people there tonight and a couple of the guys were really pushing me. I'm sure there will be more runners pushing the pace at the front once everyone recovers from their marathon. A handful of them did the Columbus marathon together last weekend so after taking the entire week off las week they were just running easy tonight.  My next workout with them is Saturday morning.  Looking forward to it!

See snow day pics here.

AM: Slow run this morning in the snow.  6 miles in 9:06 pace.  Felt like 8:06 pace effort though.  Probably because I'm tired from the evening workout yesterday and also because I was running in 3 inches of snow with wind that seemed to change direction so it could always be blowing me in the face.  Light snow was falling.  I was wishing I would have worn a hat with a brim to protect my eyes from the snow, but as it was I just pulled my beanie way down half way over my eyes and that helped a little.

Its SO beautiful out there!  I love the snow mornings.  I left my ipod home today because there is just something amazingly quiet and peaceful about fresh snowfall and I didn't want to interrupt it with music in my ears.  I didn't see any other exersisers out but I did see a few tracks from people who had walked their dogs.  I was suprised to find when I got home that all Jefferson County Schools have been cancelled today.  I told Abe and he's pretty stoked that he gets to stay home with us.  The roads really aren't too bad but I guess they are worried that the forecast says its supposed to snow heavily all day and they didn't want to mess with sending kids home mid-day.  Watever, I'll take it.  I have a Chiropractor appointment this morning and then maybe we'll go play in the white stuff and go to the gym later for a few more miles on the TM and some stretching/lifting.

PM: Went to the gym for another 4 miles on the TM.  Originally I resolved that it would take 32 minutes to run 4 miles (8:00 pace) but I kept getting bored and wanting to be done sooner as I pushed the speed up arrow.  Finished in just under 30 minutes (7:30 pace.)  Felt good to go faster than my earlier snow run.  After running I stretched and lifted weights for 40 minutes.  It was a good workout.  Looks like I'll be heading to the gym again today for running on the TM.  As much as I enjoy running in the snow, 2 feet on the sidewalks isn't condusive to running any sort of decent pace.  I hope I can get my car to the gym and I hope the gym is open.  Guess I better call first.  If not, maybe I'll dust off the snow shoes and go for a hike.

Another snow day for Abe's school. Here's a picture:

Went to the gym and ran on the treadmill for as long as I could until the child care people paged because Abe had a bloody nose and Ali was extremly tired and fussy. 

8 miles in 7:45 pace

9 miles on the TM again.  7:55 pace

Attempted to go outside this morning around 8:00 am but after running 0.1 mile and slipping 7 times, I decided I'd rather run 9 miles on the TM than ice skate my way to a broken collarbone.  I've broken my left collarbone twice so I have a small fear of falling on ice.  Gladly, I did not fall on the TM. And after I had run 5 miles, my friend Lindsey showed up and ran the last few miles with me.   Aaron also returned after being so kind to drive home and get Ali a bottle of milk (she would not go to child care when we first got there so Aaron volunteered to drive her home to get the milk and return in the hope that she would go to the child care if she had her milk.)  She did in fact go for that plan and we were able to get our workouts in. 

This afternoon was Abe's class party and Halloween parade.  I took a plate of fruit and joined them for the festivities.  Gotta love Halloween.

10 miles with Boulder Running Republic.  Thank goodness the sun came out yesterday and today and melted the sidewalks.  We ran on a clear bike path in Boulder in pleasant 45 degree morning sun.

20 minute warm up.  Stretching, 4X25 second strides.

20 minute tempo at half marathon effort - 5:56 pace (a couple of miles of  gradual downhill with a tailwind, then last 1.3 mile gradual uphill with headwind)

4 minutes easy

6 minute tempo at 10k effort - 5:50 pace (one hill and some headwind)

3 minutes easy

6 minute tempo at 10k effort - 6:03 pace (last .2 mile was pretty uphill and into the wind and I was very tired).

20 minute cool down

Coach Darren invited everyone in the group to race the Longmont Turkey Trot 10k together on November 14th in place of our Saturday workout.  I ran this race last year and I think I was barely under 40 minutes.  I'll shoot for sub-38 minutes this year.

We had a family vote yesterday while eating breakfast and it was unanimous...we need to drive to Utah next weekend to go to the They Might Be Giants family concert at the Murray Theater.  Immediatly after our vote, Aaron went online and purchased 4 tickets to the Concert.  Our kids are HUGE fans of their music; especially the new Here Comes Science album and also other kids albums, ABCs, 123s, Bed Bed Bed, as well as a plethora of other songs they sing.  Actually I can't think of a TMBG song that I DON'T like.  They pretty much bring it in every song they've written.  So Aaron and I are just as excited as our kids for the concert.  We'll drive out Friday, go to the concert Saturday, and drive back home Sunday afternoon.  Maybe I'll find a little 5k to race in SLC Saturday morning so I dont have to run my tempo run alone.  Anyone know of a good cheap race in SLC on the 7th?

Oh, and if any of you have young children and for some absurd reason you haven't yet been listening to TMBG, you really need to get your kids the Here Comes Science album.  It rocks.  It comes with a DVD and CD.  The videos are awesome too.  My son listens to the album quietly every night as he falls asleep and he cant help but sing along.  Its hilarious to hear him belting it out for about 4 songs and then he kinda trails off and zonks out.