PRs in my 40s???

finally got out today...and it was lovely. snow was lightly falling and air was nice and crisp.i love the feeling of running in snow..you almost feel protected from all around you. i ran a route that i do not normally love just b/c it is on a rather busy road but with the snow on the ground and the little that was falling from the sky i was able to just be in my own world.

7:28 pace..did most of the run pretty chilled and then picked it up for the last half mile (6:35 pace). felt ok but not great. just did not feel very much spring in my legs..maybe two days off in a row is to blame?

snuck out between conference calls..not very relaxed at all as the second was my performance review at work! 7:33 pace..felt fine...definetly pushed the last mile or so to get home in time.

had the most glorious run in the falling snow. and, boy was it falling! it started right when the sitter arrived and by the time i got to the high line trail it was really coming down. i decided to run there so that i could check out the other side of the trail from what karen and i ran last week and also to get some motivation from others being around. well, i think i saw like one other runner and i had my head down so far and hat pulled almost completely over my eyes to block the snow from my eyes that i really did not see anything and am lucky i found my way back on this out and back course i ran! it was beautiful though and i felt great...7:17 pace and barely felt it! luckily i chose the part of the trail that is paved as opposed to dirt and so the footing, except for first and last mile was pretty good. great run :)

7:35 ave...whew..not an easy run today. footing was a drag and just felt tired. not sure if it is from saturday or the 'workout' i got on the sledding hill yday! tried to just relax and take it easy. hoping to get some kind of workout in tomorrow as i am supposed to be doing a 5 mile race on saturday.

headed over to a gym near my house and successfully avoided the tour that is usually required to get the 3 day free pass. did a bit of a workout..20 in warm up, a few strides and then 5X 3 minutes wiht 90 sec rest. Pace was 6:44, 6:44, 6:40, 6:40, 6:35. Felt ok but I was definetly done when i was done! I have run on treadmills like 2 times in the last year and I just felt a bit off. Was thankful that the treadmill handled the pace for me though. 10 min warm down and now I am back here at my desk to work when i should really be stretching!!! I'll pay for it when I go to get up...

7:57 pace...nice and slow. had no choice really between the footing and the tiredness in my legs from yday (which was really only felt on hills). the sun was screaming and the snow on the ground was blinding. forgot my sunglasses! chilly but soooo nice!

7:35ish pace...ran 4.5ish and then some strides. was not very relaxing as a little after the first mile a beautiful white dog was sighted running through the snow in the golf course across the street from where i was running. i saw the dog..thought how beautiful it looked..noticed that there was no one with it..but charged on anyways. well shortly after 2 miles who popped ot of nowwhere and decided to join me on my run? the beautiful white dog. tag check told me her name was chloe. i tried to tell her she needed to go home but she was just too interested in joining me. i was heading towards a pretty busy street and tried numerous times to send her on her way but silly thing just would not listen. i needed to get my run over as i had a conference call scheduled and so i just had to hope for the best. it was a bit crazy at times and i am sure people going by in cars were cursing at me for being hte worst dog owner in the history of dog owners..but we survived the busy road. we turned onto a quieter road at about 3.5 and she darted off towards a house...never to be seen again. i did see her owner about 1 min later though and was very happy to point in the direction of where chloe went.

now i want a dog to run with.

wheee...can't believe i am racing tomorrow! strides felt so foreign..run was a bit sluggish...right on target for a good race i hope! :)

oh, that race that i thought was today??? it is next weekend..silly me. found out friday night around 8pm!

with sitter lined up i was not going to lose this chance...great run with Karen through Deer Creek Canyon. Found a great route with tons of hills..was a beautiful morning and the companionship was soooooo...nice! My body was ready to be done after 13..not really tired just kind of achy in the hips. Thankfully Karen brought some snacks for afterwards and was generous enough to share. When I got home I made a point of stuffing my face...protein shake, pasta, fruit, almonds..you name it, I was eating it! I wanted to see if this would help me to avoid the afternoon crash that is not really ideal when you have a 5 year old with the energy of mine! Didn't help one bit and I was quite exhausted for the rest of the day.

i have been super-dee-duperity sick ( my daughter is watching pooh right now and tigger was just on..sorry). saturday night i started to get a bit of a cough, sunday i was sore all over but thought it was just from the run (which i think partly it was), and then sunday night came the fever that lasted through this morning. i think i did some internal damage from coughing b/c my body is still in major pain anytime i cough or sneeze. but i ran anyways!? i was feeling ok this afternoon..just kind of stuffed up but not coughing much so i thought i would see if i could run this sickness out? just trotted along at 8 min miles..felt pretty yucky but not horrible. no idea if this was a good idea or not. i have not had a fever in years...like 10 years?...i just want it out of my body!!!

feeling a bit better..now i just have a cold with an ugly cough. lovely. just took it nice and easy for the first few and picked it up gradually as much as i could..foot started tingling at one point and then my hand at another. i was pretty sure at that point that i was about to die or something...was ready to just wrap it all up, hasta luego. :) but it went away...ahhh...what a freak i am. 7:32 pace

still got the smoker's cough and the cold but i can deal....warmed up for 2.5 and then did 6x400 (95, 93, 93, 93, 91, 88) with a full 400 jog in between. that rest may have been too long..i dont know..i'm not good at this stuff (hint, hint karen...please tell me :) ) felt pretty damn good considering my unhealthy week..was not really spent until the last one..warm down 2.0 et voila...a mini workout before the race on saturday...yikes, am i really racing?

Snowman Stampede - Littleton, CO, 5 mile 35:05, 7th place (I think), first masters.

Blech....I was feeling ok energy wise coming into this race. I was still coughing but honestly thought I was ok to race. I raced last year with a nasty cough and actually had a fine performance..but I guess this time was different. Maybe it was the altitude, maybe this bug was different as it started with a fever and the otther did not...who knows. I ran to the start of the race from my sister's and felt yucky the whole time. But I never feel good during warm ups so I did not think much of it. I had wanted to go out conservatively and so when I looked at my garmin 30 secs in and saw 6:45 pace I was fine with it but when I looked at it a few minutes later and it was 6:52 and I was feeling blah I knew this was not my day. The race was out and back on a cement walk way that runs along the Platte River. The river was nice but it is not that enjoyable of a course. A bit of a head wind kept me absolutely freezing the on the way out..not normal in a race especially since i was dressed fine for it. I spent the whole race except for the last  mile or so with this one guy..he passed me, i passed him...but no one else was anywhere to be found..so wierd. I ended up beating him though. Anyhoo...I got through it and managed 7 min miles but man oh man that is not what I wanted! My cough persisted thorugh the day and by the next day my fever was back! I guess a race was not want my body was wanting...wish it would have told me that! :)

woo hoo....i am alive again! it has been a long week but i am finally feeling better. felt really good on my run..nice and flat 6 miles at 7:30 pace. am so thrilled that i remember how to run! :)