Monday, December 28, 2009

Happy Holidays!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

We had a great time on Christmas Eve seeing Riley perform with the children's choir at church and then celebrating with my in-laws. Seriously, we had soooo many new toys from my sister-in-law and her family, not to mention from my mother and father in-law, that I was concerned. Concerned about where in the hell we were going to put everything! Santa still had to come and we still had to celebrate with my parents! My dining room looked like a fully stocked Toys R Us. No joke! As usual, my parents overloaded the kids with toys on Christmas Day (as did Santa)...now, we have some serious purging of the old and organizing of the new to do!!! I'm a total type A, so seeing all the clutter and mess in the playroom is driving me crazy already. :-)

Two runs to report...

Thursday, 12/24 - 70 minutes 40+ minutes
Yeah, I was a bit of a slacker on Christmas Eve...I was scheduled to run 70 minutes, but seriously, the kiddos and hubby were at home, my in-laws we visiting and I had a gazillion things to do. I had pretty much talked myself out of running the full 70 minutes before I even started my run. Then, as I started, it felt like one of those heavy legs, no gusto kinda running days. One of those days where I don't like running very much. That sealed the deal. I ran 2 of the 2-mile loops around the 'hood and called it a day. It was chilly (around 50), but not cold. But there was a lady out running geared up in long tights, a jacket, a cap and gloves. And there I was in a running skirt and short sleeves (and sweating). I thought she was crazy, and I'm sure she thought the same of me. I'm not even sure of my pace or time, because somewhere along the way I must have accidentally bumped the button on my watch and turned off the stopwatch. Doh!

Saturday, 12/26 - 12 miles
Saturday I was lucky enough to have running peep, Katie, as a running partner. Katie and I trained for the 1/2 with Woodlands Fit last year and this year, Katie is doing the whole enchilada (the Houston Marathon). I was in luck, because her taper started this weekend with 12 miles and I wanted to get in one last 12-miler before starting my taper.

We had an out and back though The Woodlands, starting at the Y. There were a few inclines sprinkled in, but nothing too terrible. It was pretty chilly when we started (34 degrees), so I layered with a cap, short sleeved technical tee, long sleeved shirt, NYC Marathon jacket (it's light) and full tights. Around mile 2, I decided to get rid of the cap...my head was too warm. Somewhere before the turnaround, I shed the jacket too and tied it around my waist. I really need to learn how to dress properly in this weather. I used to have no problem, but for some reason since having kids, I tend to get much warmer during my runs.

As we were finishing our run, I realized that I felt really strong. As in, "wow, I feel like I could run a few more miles with no problem" strong. Then, Katie told me our pace - 11:30. Hmmm, that might be why I felt like I could keep running. It was about 45 seconds slower per mile than my most recent long run pace. I guess that's not a bad thing, but I am seriously questioning my ability to run the 1/2 at a 10:30 pace. Maybe running the Ten for Texas at a 10:30 pace was just a fluke? I hope not. Of course, I also realize that I will need nice cool temps, the wind at my back and the planets to be aligned on race day too. :-) Certainly couldn't hurt!

3 comments:

Felice Devine said...

Nice job on the 12! My races are always a minute per mile (or more) faster than my long run pace. So, I bet you'll do the half in 10:30 no problem!

Unknown said...

I remember those post-Christmas dilemas like, "AH! What are we going to do with all of this stuff?!"
So happy you got a nice long run in AND finished strong. Great!

Running Diva Mom said...

Nice job -- WTG!