Week two & I already blew it - and the criminals

-the criminals-

Ok, so I was really busy this past week.  I had a new guy out with me for training.  Adam - from Jersey!!!  Adam said he had never seen anything like Phoenix before, so what better than a nice run in the desert to really experience the Saguaros and lizards in all their grandeur?!!!

Adam was up for it, so he joined me on a 3 mile run early Tuesday before his class began. He is a young pup of 36 and of course could run circles around me.  But I have learned to ignore all the competitiveness and angst that arises in me when around those that go faster than I do. I always have to remember that I am OLD and am keeping my pace tied to my heart rate, not my running pals!  Which brings up something I really want to talk about right here and now:  My husband likes to walk next to me while I run and make great fun of how slow I go.  He has also enlisted his teenage daughter in this past time and they both get such great laughs out of my pace.  Well - I showed them both last year when I kept up my pace for 26.2 miles!  So there.  A 12 minute mile may be slow enough for them to walk, but for someone with short legs like me, it's a run.  I don't go fast - but I showed them!  I can go pretty far!  So the moral of that story is, don't ever feel bad that you go slow!  Because while you are going slow, there are many folks out there not going at all.  And I was able to prove that OLD + SLOW = 26.2.  So there!

So back to week 2 of training.  I was able to get up early and get all my runs in before starting my work day.  My schedule called for two 4 mile runs and two 3 mile runs - piece of cake!  Just as long as you get your butt in gear and don't lay around drinking coffee!  And funny thing - I noticed near the end of the week that my quadriceps were coming back!  That was fast!  They were very pronounced and hard by the time I finished my big run in February, but they sort of disappeared when I took my little break.  And oh, there was also this little issue of gaining 15 pounds along with getting soft...!!!!!  Yikes!   But after watching my calorie intake and following this running program for 2 weeks, I am down several pounds and my muscles are poking out again.  It is great to see the results come so quickly.

So I was scheduled to do an 8 mile run this Saturday.  I was mentally psyched and looking forward the trail I have grown to know so well, around the Superstition Mountains.  So majestic and peaceful.  Well... here's the other piece.  My loving husband was gone all week visiting his brother in New Mexico.  He got home around dinner time on Friday and it was such a joy to have him back.  (yes, the same guy that laughs at me!)  We had a nice dinner and watched the Olympics and stayed up late and I drank 2 glasses of wine and... long story short, I slept in on Saturday!!!  I couldn't believe it when I looked at the clock and it was already 7:30!  I NEVER sleep that late.  And the bummer was - I should've been out and back from my 8-miler by that time.  It was just way too hot to start out then.  So now I am miserable and mad at myself and... well... this is exactly why I have 12 extra weeks built into my training program for this dang February Marathon.  I will repeat week 2 again this week.  I knew I was gonna have some screw ups along the way, but WEEK 2????  Jeez!!!!  

Sunday is usually my day of rest but because I woke up early, the loving husband and I, and our 2 criminal dogs, went for a hike on Silly Mountain.  Yes, we broke the law there - no leashes, no collars (!) but our dogs have put so many miles on trails, running with me, hiking with their daddy - that they are well behaved and happy creatures.  We chanced it and were early enough that the dog cops weren't out yet to haul us in.  We were all happy and tired when got back home and made Hatch Green Chili, Egg and Ham sandwiches.

And - I guess I have beat myself up enough for blowing my Saturday schedule.  I will be back at it again tomorrow.  And I won't sleep in!