AGGHHH! It's hard to believe that this race I've wanted to do for so long will be here before I know it!
Last Thursday was a rest day. Well "rest" meaning I didn't swim, bike, or run, but I did drive to Marion (a little under 5 hours) with both kids and the dog. There is nothing restful about that! Thankfully the trip went well and everyone was excited to get out of the car and run around.
Friday morning I took the kids to Hungry Mother Park to play in the lake. They had a great time and I'm so proud of Makayla and how comfortable she is in the water. After play time and lunch, we headed back to my parents house and my plan was put the kids down for a nap and go for a run while Erin hung out at the house. Well, Erin and I started chatting and before I knew it, clouds were rolling in, thunder was booming, and the kids were waking up! I really wanted to get a run in so I decided to chance it and headed out. It wasn't raining yet but there were some pretty unfriendly clouds so I started running pretty fast. I got the the bridge that's about .9 miles at 7:35 - it's been a long time since I ran that fast! I kept going another mile, turned around and headed home. I really wanted to walk a bit but I knew my dad would be coming home soon and he couldn't see me walking! And sure enough, he passed by as I was running along pretty good :) I thought about walking after that but I was just over a mile from home and wanted to see how fast I could finish (plus, those dark clouds were getting closer!) I cruised home feeling fast and strong and finished the 3.8 miles in just over 32 minutes. Not bad! It started to rain just as I finished and I enjoyed my walk up the driveway in the rain. That's what I get for chatting the afternoon away!
Saturday afternoon Erin and I were able to do a bike ride together. Again we got distracted with hanging out with everyone and ended up leaving a little later then we wanted, as more dark clouds were building... The plan was a 50 mile ride, through the country roads to Rural Retreat and back. There are no flat areas near my parents house and the first part of this ride was up a gradual hill where my legs were saying they really didn't want to do this... Not a great way to start a ride! The first 10 miles of the ride were familiar and I remembered the ups, downs, and dogs. I'm feeling so much better about all of those things now! We passed through Sugar Grove and out towards Rural Retreat. More hills, but it was so beautiful! There wasn't a lot of traffic so Erin and I were able to ride side by side and chit chat a bit. Well, she was chit chatting, I was trying not to sound like I was going to die! At an intersection she said we could turn around and make it a 40 mile ride, or do a loop to make it a total of 50 miles. Turning around sounded like a great idea but I knew I would be disappointed later so on we went. Even though the next section was pretty hilly, I'm glad we did it. We stopped at a gas station with about 15 miles to go to refill water and get an apple juice. The rest of the ride seemed to fly by and my legs finally started to feel good! The weather turned out to be awesome, those dark clouds must have gone and rained on someone else. We finished the 50 miles in just under 3 hours, for a 16.8 avg pace which I was happy with considering the amount of hills. After walking up the driveway, I was happy to sit and watch the kids play, and Erin headed out on a run. Ahh, to be young again...
Sunday's plan was to do a long run. But when you stay up late watching the Olympics, get up early with the kids, see your mom making Monkey Bread, and everyone else is hanging out watching TV, it's really hard to get motivated to go run! But, with only three weeks to Louisville and lots of time after that for hanging out, I got ready and went for my run. I started along the same roads as the ride the day before, about 1.5 miles of up hill. Not a fun way to start and my legs were TIRED! The next few miles didn't feel much better but I tried to focus on my form and just keep going. I did a big loop that took me by a fish hatchery that my dad said is about the only flat road around there, so I ran down that about a mile and back, then finished the loop. I finally started to feel good with about three miles to go - good thing I'll have plenty of time to warm up on race day! The route ended up being just under ten miles and I did it in about 1 hour, 38 minutes. Pretty happy with that! The kids were happily playing with grandma which gave me some time to cool down, pack up, and get ready to drive back home. Jason had been out of town at a friend's wedding but got home Saturday night so we were all looking forward to getting home to see him. The drive went well and dinner was being prepared when we got home!
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