Decisions, Decisions

On Saturday, I had to make some decisions about what I was going to do as far as my workouts were concerned. Lately, I have been biking on Saturday morning and then doing my long runs on Sunday. I used to have the opposite schedule – run on Saturday/bike on Sunday, but it’s much easier to start a long run before dawn and be done in time for Church. The problem? The weatherman warned of monsoon-like, storms ALL DAY on Sunday. And, I was really hoping to have one really good, quality 12-13 miler on Sunday. The last long run before the taper…

As luck would have it, I had a friend who is training for a 100-miler and she was looking for some support during her 40-mile training run on Saturday. I was excited to have the chance to help out and have someone to run with for a change!

If I was smart, I would have skipped the bike ride and concentrated on the run. But, I apparently am not that smart and insisted on going ahead with the bike ride – my bffs Kelly and Jenn came along too. The ride was supposed to be 25+ miles. However, there was an issue – I couldn’t find my freaking bike helmet. Yes, the same one I wore just last week. After about 15 minutes of looking, I decided to make do with the Hubby’s helmet. Ugh. By the time we got going, we only had time for about 20 miles. But, it was a fun ride and I loved catching up with friends.

Next, it was on to an informational meeting about a local tri group that I am thinking of joining. I love the idea of being part of a team, having group rides/runs/swims and actually being coached for once. I have been just “winging it” with my tri training for two season now and if I am going to attempt the 70.3 in April, I definitely need some coaching.

I finished up at the tri meeting just in time to meet Karen and her support team! I was also fortunate to finally meet fellow blogger, Holden, who was part of that support team. I was completely amazed at Karen’s energy level – she had already run more than 30 miles and was going strong. I could barely keep up with the 9:30-ish pace she was keeping…lucky for me, she was doing 8:2’s and trust me when I say I enjoyed every second of that 2. Of course it helped that we had some good conversation going on - makes the miles go faster. After running 7 with Karen and then going back to my car, I decided that I should run more…just in case the weather was really that bad the following day. I made it to 10 (and kept the pace at sub-10!) and called it a day – I was beat either because of the bike ride earlier, the faster pace, the fact that it was warming up and I had on capris (dumb move) or a combination of all three.

So now I am torn – I didn’t do my 12-13 miler this weekend. I did get in a quality 10-miler, though. So now I am trying to decide – do I run 12-13 this weekend, but keep it at what feels like an easy pace and then taper? Or, do I proceed with the taper? Honestly, I don’t feel like I need that much of a taper for a ½ marathon. And, I think one more 12-13 miler would be a good confidence boost. What do you think? Decisions, decisions!

Oh and it did rain on Sunday…until about 10 am. It was still nasty outside – cold and damp – but not too bad for a run. Darn weatherman!