way behind

The bad thing about 4 day holiday weekends is that I get sort of lazy. How about you? I don't check email, I don't pay bills, I just put life on hold. Except for running and laundry. I have to run and I like to wear clean underwear so the running and laundry must go on!

Running report:

Thursday morning (Thanksgiving)-
I had decided to run the Monclair Run 10k (our local annual turkey trot). I knew I was going to be doing more running over the four days so I decide to not really push the pace. It was a nice sunny morning and the race started at 8:30 so the weather was nice . . . about 50 degrees. I always get a chuckle when I look at the folks wearing sweat shirts, sweat pants, and jackets. They don't have a clue and it always shows about mile 2 when they are all tying clothing around their waists. I was shorts, singlet and then gloves (which I tucked in my waistband before the first mile was over). The course has a couple of small hills but enough to effect pace. My fastest mile was dead on 8 minute pace and my slowest mile was 8:45. My average pace was 8:28. Slow for a 10k but like I said . . . I was not racing it. Afterwards, Susan and her two girls, MA and E, showed up to run the 1 mile fun run which is run AFTER the 10k. MA asked me to run with her since she was wanting to run faster. Susan ran with E and I agreed to run with MA. As we walked to the starting area, MA asked if we could run a 9 minute mile. "Sure" I said, knowing full well the 9 minute mile is a piece of cake. Then MA asked if we could run an 8 minute mile. "Hmmmmm . . . . I just ran 6.2 miles but I didn't push it. We should be able to do that!" I said confidently to a 10 year old girl, thinking that there is no way she could do that. THEN she asked if we could run a 7 minute mile. "Wow! You're awfully brave to be so short!" I chuckled, know that there is no way she can do it. We toed the line and took off at a pretty good clip. MA and I left Susan and E behind us. I was having to remind MA to breathe slow and deep (she has a little asthma). I knew we were running pretty hard but I was letting her set the pace. As we approached the turn around point (1/2 mile) I noticed that there were only maybe a dozen people in front of us. We hit the turn around point in 3:15. I'm thinking to myself "we cannot keep up this pace, either MA or I will pass out!". However, I did not share my feelings with MA. Instead, I kept encouraging her and cheering her on, staying slightly behind off her right shoulder. As we approached the finish area, 4 spectators (big cow people) stepped off the curb and into the chute area! Can you believe it? We had to come to a dead stop. I yelled (sort of) at the people who didn't have a clue what they had just done. We worked our way around them and ran on to the finish live. 7:06 mile. That is a pretty good mile for me and I'm sure it was a good workout for MA. I figure we would have broken 7 minute mile if the cow people had not stepped in our path. I assured MA that she would have run about a 6:55 . . . Nothing like the grin of a cute 10 year girl! Susan and E surprised MA and me. We back tracked to watch them finish. I told MA that they would probably be running 10-10 1/2 minute mile. We saw them quicker than I had expected and they clocked a 9 1/2 minute mile. Not a problem for Susan but pretty good for E who is 6 years old and would prefer to look at the bugs along the way than to bear down on a one mile run!

Friday afternoon-
We had every intention of doing a 10 miler on Lakeshore trail. It was a pretty afternoon but the legs and back were a little sore from Thursday's run. We did a slightly longer loop so our round trip was between 5 1/2 and 6 miles. We decided to call it quits when we got back to the car. My legs just were not moving that well and the back was a little bit tight. Still, we had a good time and it was some mileage to add to the week.

Saturday-
Off! Rested. We did do some hiking. We took the girls to my parents house for brunch and then walked in the woods for a little while. Then we went to Blount county for a self-guided tour of covered bridges and a side trip to a local park that sits on top of a rock outcropping on top of a mountain. Very pretty and scenic and we saw rock climbers and rapellers (sp?). A good day to just walk around and knock the spider webs off my legs.

Sunday afternoon-
After church, we loaded up in the truck and went to kill a Christmas tree for Susan. After about an hour of walking through hundreds of evergreens, the girls picked a tree. We cut it down, had it loaded and took it to Susan's house. I helped them put it up and decorate it. I have to admit it was sort of strange . . . I have decided that I was not going to do anything at my house. Not really in the mood. Anyway, after the tree lighting ceremony, we decided to go out for a few miles. MA wanted to run and bike with me and E went with Susan. Susan has a 1 mile loop in her neighborhood the circles by her house . . . very convenient. I ran four miles. MA biked mile 1 and 3 and ran miles 2 and 4. The biggest thrill was when MA and I caught E and Susan. We were starting our fourth loop and caught them on their third loop! It was all I could do to keep MA in check when we spotted them a block away. I convinced her that we would catch them and got her to slow down a bit. We passed them and headed to the house. MA enjoyed standing in the driveway and asking her mom "where have you been?". A fun afternoon.

Monday night-
Legs are still a little sore but I know that I have to get some miles in. I got started a little later than normal so it was almost dark when I walked out the door. I had planned on 5 miles slow but I ran into Dom "The Dominator" doing is recovery run. He is training like a mad man right now and he was needing some rest so we ran some very slow loops in the 9:15 avg range. I got six miles in and it seemed to help work the soreness out of my legs.