The Week of 31 October 2011

Workout wise, the week was a bit of a bust. I knew I would be out of town Tuesday through Thursday for work and wanted to maximize my time with the husband. So I skipped Tone Zone on Monday to make dinner, hand out candy, and be with him. Tuesday through Thursday was spent driving all around Colorado looking at project areas for work stuff. I was so wiped out from the endless hours spent in the car and the morning I had time (and energy) to run, I checked the weather and it was 3 degrees outside! I definitely did not bring the proper attire for running in 3 degree weather, so I took a hot shower and tried to let the week slide without feeling too guilty.

Friday
10.01 miles/ 1:33:02
Part of the beauty of working out of town all week is leaving early on Friday. I got home from work and lunch around 1:00 and realized I had nothing to do once I got the laundry going. I set out with a gu and water and decided to go for as long as I felt good. I ran around my favorite parks and ticked off the miles. I even managed to conquer the monster hill on Decatur on the way home. Always a kick ass feeling!

Saturday
Spin 45 min
The Saturday instructor is a blast and had made a new mix CD for the class. Her plan was for us to end each song at our maximum effort level (what she calls a 10). Mentally this is normally hard for me to overcome since as a runner, I’m constantly trying to anticipate how much I need left in the “tank” to finish the course. But I pushed and pushed hard and had fun.

Sunday
Beer and Bagel Run 3.82 miles/ 35:12
Somehow in the weird ways of time, this has become Pat’s favorite race (it was the first race I ever made him do). He was super excited and even “trained” for it and talked all week how he was going to beat me. I knew I was going into the race on an emptier tank than he was thanks to my previous two days’ worth of workouts. We lined up about middle of the pack, which was annoying to me. At this point, I prefer to be in the upper ¼ of the starting pack (not at the front front, but not stuck behind some random walker either) so being stuck behind people wearing too many clothes and iPods is beyond irritating. As soon as we crossed the line, I was weaving all over trying to make my way forward and stay ahead of Pat. He caught up to me very quickly and we bunny-hopped for the first mile or so. I’d run up behind him and smack his buns and try to light a fire under him to get him to really push himself. It worked and I lost him completely around mile 2.5. The course was different this year and included crossing the same stream twice which meant running through shin-knee deep water. I actually didn’t mind it at all and felt like it woke me up when I was slowing down. Once we hit the pavement for the last section of the race, I did my best to push it as hard as I could. My legs felt slightly numb and heavy from the water, but the garmin data says I was moving at about 7:30 pace so I guess the stream crossings worked! Oh, and Pat definitely beat me but a solid minute and 30 seconds! There’s always next year!