Weekend Roundup!

As most of you are at home enjoying your well deserved day off for President's Day, I on the other hand, am at work :(  No day off for me until April 16th, boo.  I think I may need to find another profession where I get pointless holidays off and calling in sick between February 1st and April 15th isn't a capital crime :)  On to the weekend!

I had a blast of a weekend.  Isn't it funny though, when you leave your job on Friday afternoon, you feel like you have all the time in the world?  And then suddenly it's Sunday night again and you think to yourself, where did the weekend go?  I packed a lot into my weekend and I accomplished a lot.  I got my hair cut, ran a 10K, ran another 6 miles, made a romantic Valentine's dinner for the best running sherpa ever and then tackled a twenty miler all in the span of less than 72 hours!  Wow!

I have to say, the 10K is not my favorite distance.  I had a ton of fun meeting up with my cousin Sarah and her friend Nicole on Saturday morning to run the Campbell Valentine's Day 10K.  The weather was awesome, actually awesome ALL weekend long.  At the start line, I met a couple of girls about my age and we started talking.  They were new to the area and didn't know the course.  I gave them some tips about the two big hills and the rolling hills and said I was shooting for a sub 45.  They said great, that's what we're going for, too.  The gun went off and we hit our first mile in 6:49!  I knew this was too fast for me to hold on to the whole race so I let them go.  I chased their yellow shirts all the way through the race.  My second mile was 7:40 so I slowed down way too much but this is also where we hit the first big hill around mile 2.2.  I lost it all on that hill and never really regained my pace.  From miles 3-5 I was hitting the 7:15 range but I still felt like I had burned myself in those first couple of miles and never felt like I hit my groove.  I finally crossed the finish line in 46:00 flat.  I didn't hit my time goal, but I was so happy to be out there racing.  I chicked a ton of guys in that last mile and reminded myself I hadn't really done any speed work leading up to this.  Plus those hills in there were brutal!  I came in fourth for my age group and felt satisfied with the day.  You couldn't ask for better weather also.  The race was even more special with the fact that Sarah broke 60 mins!  Whoo hoo!  I am soo proud of her.  Her shins were killing her that day but she broke through it all and came in around 59:xx!  Great job Sarah!!!!!!!!!

Me, Sarah and Nicole before the race :)

Sarah and I at the finish!!

The finisher's circle :)

Lilly came out to cheer her mommy on! :)

Enough Mommy!

After we finished up at the race, I grabbed a bagel and coffee and hit up the nail salon.  My nails were in major "crack-ho" status and really needed taking care of.  When I finished up in the nail salon I came home and finished up the day with another 6 miles.  They were slow miles but I wanted to get my legs tired and ready for my 20 miler on Sunday.  I am trying my best to simulate what it will feel like after Boston heading into Big Sur.  And in a way, I think it's going to help me keep my speedy legs for Boston.

Saturday night I fixed my hubbs his requested dinner of Steak au Poirve with champagne risotto and asparagus.  Followed by choco soufflet.  It was very tasty and being the good running hubbs he is, he got me a ton of new sports bras!  Only a runner would appreciate sports bras vs. real lingere :)

The choco soufflet - before we broke into it!

The choco soufflet with homemade whipped cream :)

Sunday came and my legs were tired.  I tried to embrace this and remind myself I did it to myself but it was HARD.  The first couple of miles were painful.  I only had 30 miles on my legs for the week but they were feeling like lead!  By the time I hit mile 8 and had gu'ed, I found my stride.  Miles 16-18 felt like the last 10K of a marathon!  I was clicking off 9 min miles and dying!  But being the good running sherpa the hubbs was, he talked me through them and I finished those 20 strong, in fact, my last 1/2 mile was at 7:00/mi pace!
20 miles  2:43:19  8:10/mi pace.

I was exhausted by noon on Sunday and we both collapsed into a heap!  I took a quick 20 min nap after my shower and ice bath and then we headed out to the dogpark with Lilly for Valentine's day.  Sorry, this post has more pics of Lilly - these are her in the car, on Ari's lap on the way to the dogpark.  Yes, she is wearing a sweatshirt and doggles :)  What can I say, we don't have kids yet!

It was a whirlwind of a weekend but it was a blast.  I am so proud of Sarah and her big Saturday and I am contemplating running the Santa Cruz Half Marathon with her in April to help pace her.  Yes, it's the weekend before Boston but I think 13 easy, slow miles will be just fine even when I am in taper. 

And since this is a post with a ton of photo's, I thought I would share what came in the mail on Saturday!!!

My 2010 Boston Jacket - I received a gift card from my auntie for my b-day and couldn't think of a better way to spend it!  It's awesome, the arms come off and turn into a vest - I'm in love :)

I am off to catch up on blogs and see how everyone's long runs and races went!

Happy Monday and Happy Running peeps!