All it takes is all you've got

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.