I'm not crazy...I'm just bored!!

Woke up early to get a ride in with Kami and Julie again. I really enjoy riding with those girls! It was supposed to be a short 15 miler, so I figured I'd be done in an hour, but with a late start and lingering and stops and a few detours it was a little longer. Oh well, good times...I enjoyed it all!

Got home and despite the heat got my Lauren out of bed to run. She needs to start working out every day and training for her tri in September. Her bike will be ready Tuesday and she really needs to start getting out to do at least one sport a day and as we get closer 2/3 every day. I don't think she realizes how hard this is going to be. She was reluctant to get out of bed, but I convinced her. Only problem was she started pulling "teenage drama" on me. What the heck?!? Welcome to the downward slope to 13 I guess.... 

She was running and at mile 1 (the first mile is 80% downhill) I heard her crying. What?!? I asked her was was wrong and she said she couldn't breathe. I didn't believe her. She was just running next to me and was breathing fine. I let her take a break, get some water and encouraged her that we could make it. The next mile is uphill and I told her a designated spot we could stop. We got there and she was crying again (only the last 50 feet) because she 'couldn't breathe' again. I told her that she COULD breathe and that there was something more going on. She said "I didn't want to go on this stupid run anyway!" Then I got it. She wanted to go the short way home and I told her no. We had a little talk about her brain stopping her from reaching her goals. That she needed to put in the work. She isn't going to be able to just show up and do this tri, she is going to have to work for it! She has run 3+ miles more times than I could count and I KNEW she could do it and her body knew it too, she just needed to convince her brain. I told her to stop telling herself why she CAN'T and start telling herself why she CAN! We got through the next mile+ and she was fine and finished strong.

Oh how many times my brain has been there. I couldn't do it. I wasn't supposed to do it. I understood her plight, but wanted her to prove to herself that she could do it! She didn't need to give in or give up, she could do it. After I asked her if it was really all that bad and with a smile on her face she said "yes." Stinker, stickin' to her guns! But, I know she knows it wasn't really that hard and that she did it well.

When I got home I wanted one more mile. I wanted to push the mile and see if my legs would respond to some speed. I did my TM mile on the road and although the first .1 was with Lauren, I finished with a 7:47 mile. So, I'm guessing it was closer to 7:40, but I don't know for sure. I'm just glad my legs are finally responding to some speed. I hope to do some Fartleks on our Tuesday Ten tomorrow to see if I can hit some more speed. Slowly, but surely....

Ten miles with the Newtons. I, again, was slower than molasses (especially compared to those guys) and I'm not sure I'll ever run my fast again. Oh well, I can still run and I guess that should be enough...right?

I came home and was SO tired I fell back to sleep. The idea was to get Lauren out to Masters swim at 10:00, but that didn't happen since I re-woke at 10:30AM.

AP: 8:50

View Benchmark with Neast and some of her friends. I really like that trail, runnable! Then the downhill is just a fun cruise. Had a great morning just chatting and having a fun social run. Oh, how I love it! Who cares that I was embarrassingly slow?!?

Came home and got ready to do a ride with bye-wing. She wanted to try out the new JL Sorenson tri bike route. Short, but hilly. We did it backwards, because someone didn't properly read the map :) But, at least she knows what to expect now. Short ride of 14 miles, but time in the saddle is what I'm after now.

Got up early again...it is killing me! Did the hi-country loop with the Newton regulars and Kelli came along too. It was nice to have someone that just ran and chatted with me, that I wasn't chasing the whole time. I can't blame the guys though, I've gotten slow...really slow. It was a great morning with a beautiful sunrise! Got home in time to get my son and nephew up for scout camp and drive them up to Cub Country and spend the day with them. Oh, cub scouts...how I love thee.... :/

My garmin was in bike mode, but had my AP around 9:15

Nothing...too tired! Too, sinkin' tired! I didn't wake up until 10:30 and then had a bunch of errands to run and despite getting my new clips and pedals and my daughter getting her fit on my bike hubby is out of town and so I didn't even get out on a ride. Feel fat and lazy. Hope I can shake it by 6:30 tomorrow morning when I go to pace Hobbler Half :) 

I'm really mad about this race. Well, disappointed in myself is a better way to say it I guess. I was pacing 1:50 and thought I was right on pace...nope! Makes me just beat myself up over not knowing better. 

I met Blaine and Co at Thanksgiving point park n ride at 3:40AM...oh, those early wake up calls are buggers!! It was nice to get a good parking spot before traffic, we were the 2nd car in the parking lot :) Blaine said it was because I drove too fast, but I think I could've slept another 15 minutes!

The race was well organized and it was fun having raffles and stuff at the start line up the canyon instead of just sitting around chatting. Made time pass a lot faster. Saw lots of good friends and lined up to pace. I had a decent crowd of runners...that didn't want to talk! What the heck?!? Finally Brooke found me and I got to chatting. About .1-.2 into the race I looked at my watch to check our pace and realized I was in bike mode! Son of a.... I quickly switched to running mode, but it was too late. I thought the overall time would stay the same, but it didn't. I checked with Brooke to see how far off I was and I thought I had it all under control. I guess not. I don't know if I just stopped adding the extra time at the end or what my problem was, but I thought I was Waaay ahead, like 40ish seconds, by mile 12 so I took the last mile (that was uphill) nice and slow. Everyone that started with me was behind me and the last 1/2 mile I picked up 3-4 people that were walking the uphill and I motivated them to come with me and finish strong. I did a good job pacing...just not the RIGHT job :(

At a turn infront of the school next to the park I thought we were done so I slowed even more, because my watch said 1:46:XX I was Waaay early! I thought I'd eaten up enough time. I picked up 2 more walkers and we ran in to the finish in a big group. As I turned the REAL corner into the finish my watch said 1:49:58 and I knew it was all over. The race clock was 1:50:4X and I still had that last .1 to go. It was too late to fix anything now. I couldn't believe it! I guess there is a first time for everything, I screwed up my pace. I'm certain I was on at mile 12, it was just going too slow that last mile that screwed it up. I could've run faster, I just didn't anticipate the ending or the proper time on my watch correctly. Still upset at myself about it!

The only comfort I had was that nearly every other pacer was over by 20-30 seconds and the course was about .1 long according to most garmins. I always pace off mile markers for the race (which there were only a few!) not my garmin, but if the course is a little long then that extra .05-.1 would explain why we were all off. I feel like an epic failure. I can't believe I didn't come in on time regardless of how long the course was or how off my watch was. Boo.

Anyway, I had a great time visiting with the other pacers and racers and Brooke now owes me another 6+ miles to finish my story that I made stretch out long to go the entire course :) I felt great with the pace despite the rolling hills that I didn't anticipate on the course and that made my day more than anything honestly. I haven't run 'fast' in a long time, so it was good to have a decent pace and feel good and talk and encourage others while I was doing it.

I also won $20 to California Pizza Kitchen in a raffle...woo hoo! Good stuff.

I then went to get my bike fitted for tri riding, aero bars and all! Can't wait to try it out.

AP: 8:28 splits: 8:16, 8:14, 8:18, 8:32 (walk through water stop), 8:26, 8:39 (another walk), 8:21, 8:34, 8:24, 8:13, 8:22, 8:22, 9:12 (see?!? that last mile I went just too slow! I didn't anticipate it right and probably went slower than I thought because of the uphill too. Whatever...) 7:32 (last .05 recorded)