Just Relaxin'

It has been so nice to just relax. I don't seem to get to do that too much these days, so its nice when the opportunity presents itself. Last weekend we went camping with the group at Raccoon Lake and it was the most laid back weekend we have had this summer. Night swimming, hiking at Turkey Run, drinking and cooking out. No make up, dirty clothes, rainy nights and coons that lurked in the night. Cigars, pudgie-pies, deer steaks and 'party like a rock-star.' It was the perfect camping weekend!
I got my 10 mile long run in on Friday before we left, so that way I didn't have to worry about fitting it in. Good thinking!! Monday I got a 3 miler in with Jamie and it was awesome to just chat and hang out during the run. Last night, it was a tad hotter outside, but I got 4 miles in with Keith at the Fort. It was probably the worst run this year for me. My right knee just didn't want to cooperate and twice I had to stop while I screamed at it. With a little ice and some deep stretching, I think I will live. Its a 19 mile long run for this weekend... yikes!!

17 mile loop

You have to see Dave's blog entry from Sunday. He always updates his blog the day we do a run, while it tends to take me several days before I get around to it, so he always has the cool charts and links to our paths online before me. In short, he does all the hard work and I just tell you all to go see his blog to see how our run went!! Andy, Jason, Dave and I did our 17 mile long run Saturday morning in the awesome 61 degree weather. We started downtown at Andy's house and ran a loop up the Monon to the Canal towpath to the White River Trail back downtown. It was really nice to take a different route that wasn't just out and back, was scenic and not heavily travelled. Click on this link for the aerial & pin point version of the route we took (total credit to Dave since he made this one too), which was actually 18+ miles, but we walked the difference as a warm up and cool down. This great run was topped of by taking off our shoes and putting our feet into the very chilly water of the Veteran's Memorial Park fountain after we finished. Surprisingly, I wasn't completely wiped out after the run, and didn't even take a nap that afternoon. That's a big step for me!

Most Annoying Run Ever....

Its bad enough that it was 78 degrees and incredibly humid yesterday during my 14x400 m repeats, but to be verbally berated by a bunch of kids while I am doing it, about sent me over the edge. First, they stole my Gatorade, so I had to nicely ask for it back (thank goodness they didn't open it) and explain to them that just because its sitting on the public bench, doesn't mean its fair game. So as I continue my runs, everytime I pass them, I hear little comments, which turn into sarcastic catcalls:
"Look at her big feet" - i am a size 8 and thats completely average, thank you very much.
"Can't you run faster than that" - no, I can not. I would like you to get out here and try to run these consistently.
"Why yo' face so red" - see previous explanation. Its called effort.
"Gross, even her legs are drippin' sweat" - by now, I am almost halfway done and envisioning myself charging up the bleachers to knock them off, one by one.
"Hey, old lady, why you breathin' so hard" - thats the comment that put me over the edge. It was the 'old lady' part that made me stop dead in my tracks, march across the track, give the kid "the look" and tell him I wanted to talk to him. Well, he isn't as stupid as he looked or sounded, because he hightailed it back to his mama's car and locked the doors. I was about to whip out the "You need a lesson on respect" lecture, but it didn't come to that. Phew. Did I mention that these kids were ages 4-8??? Where do kids learn to speak like this to complete strangers? It was infuriating that (of course) their moms weren't watching them, because they were too busy gossiping about child support payments and having no money, while they were walking. But, to put a positive spin on it... I ran the fastest laps after they left and my thoughts returned to normal. Looking forward to the 17 miler planner for Saturday morning!

Laura is trying to kill me

Week 7 begins with a killer Pilates session w/Laura on Monday followed by a 3.25 mile run on the Canal Towpath. I think Laura is trying to kill me. Really. I skipped last weeks session and clearly paid for it this week. I increased my weights again, so maybe that is why I am feeling it. I am sore, sore, sore, but its the good kind of sore. I love it! My run afterwards was hard and it was still humid out, but it felt good to just get moving again. Last Saturday's 15 mile run with Dave, Jason & Andy went well, and running with 3 other friends sure did make the time fly by quickly. I was mentally unprepared for the 1+ mile walking cool down at the end and for me, that was the hardest part of the morning.
I had to modify my running schedule a little this week, so tonight I am doing sprints, but only 14x400 instead of the 16x400 that is scheduled. Tomorrow is CT on the bike, which I LOVE doing, and is motivating me to do a Sprint Tri in the Spring. We'll see.

42K Relay & All-Star Updates

So, it was a little hot and muggy this weekend, but that didn't stop us! The 42K relay (26.2 miles) was Sunday in Carmel and I ran with Andy and Dave - our team name was B.A.D Running. I won't go into details because Dave did it so elloquently in his blog entry, which you can read here. He even broke the segments down into mile pace times. It was a great way to get a long run in!
The All-Star game was Tuesday and Keith rocked the field! He had some awesome plays on 3rd base and never fails to amaze me. The game was very laid back, the players were having fun and the crowd was the largest I have seen. Keith's team didn't win, but they all enjoyed themselves, and that was really the whole point. Check out the pic of Keith and his 2 other Cubs team mates that both made the All-Stars as well. If Blogger ever gets to loading pics correctly, I will add in a few of Keith in action!