Weekend Update & Tall Mom Virtual Race for the Cure Report

I've said it before and I'll say it again...weekends go by way toooo fast!  How did it get to be Monday again?  Oh well, only 18 more days of tax season and only 3 weeks to Boston!  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

Running went so-so this weekend.  I didn't get in as much as I wanted and for once I am at peace with that.  I feel I may be burning the candle at both ends with work and running, and unfortunately, work pays the bills and it often wins *sigh*  Friday went I got home from work I wanted to hit the road and get some easy miles in.  It has been beautiful here all week and I have been soaking up the sun!  I already have the runners tan on my legs from my shorts, on my ankles from my socks, my sports bra on my chest, and of course, the garmin tan!  Haha!  And it's only March!  Summer/Spring is here and I'm already spraying on sunscreen!  If you don't know this about me, I hate to wear a shirt while I run.  I know, big shocker, but even though my abs aren't quite as ripped as I would like, I am a sweaty runner and usually by mile 2 the shirt is off.  This is quite apparent as I run through the streets of my neighborhood and every other car has a cat call or a honk!  :)

With the awesome weather, I managed to bang out 10 easy miles and enjoyed every second of it.
10 miles 1:18:19  7:50/mi pace.
Saturday I had to work most of the day and I all I really wanted to do was participate in the Tall Mom's Virtual Race for the Cure.  But leaving work at 2pm on a warm day did not seem like the ideal time to run a 10K.  But, it's a race and who am I to turn down an opportunity to race?  So, I lubed up in layers of Body Glide and grabbed my hand held and hit the road for my solo shot at the 10K.  The 10K is not my favorite distance at all.  It's long enough to make you feel like you're gonna pass out or puke, but just short enough to make you feel like your efforts are well worth it.  I started up with a warm up mile then hit my 3 mile out and back.  I wanted to save my legs a little bit for Sunday's long run that I had scheduled (more of that in a second) but I also wanted to put a decent effort in.  Mile one I came in at 7:38 and thought that was a little slow, and picked up the pace.  Mile 2, 7:18 - just a bit too fast.  And that is how my race went.  I was hop-skipping between paces of going a little too fast or a little too slow.  By the time I was at mile 5 I was all over the place with my paces and just attempted to salvage the run.  I averaged 7:36 for the whole race, although I know that isn't all that accurate since my fastest was 7:18 and one was at 7:50!  A cool down mile rounded out my Saturday with 8.2 miles and my legs felt awesome.
6.2 miles 47:07  7:36/mi pace 
8.2 miles 1:04:22  7:51/mi pace  Not my best showing for a 10K but I really wanted to save my legs for Sunday.  Thanks Mel for a great race!  I love the virtual runs and the whole time I was thinking about my other bloggy buddies out there racing for the cure, just like me :)

So, yeah, about Sunday.  Saturday night my hubbs and I stayed in and made a fun dinner together.  But the dinner also included some adult beverages.  One turned into two, and the next thing I new I was a bit tipsy and crying to Ari, "I can't be dehydrated for tomorrow's big run!"  LOL!  Well, we enjoyed ourselves and I'm not a bit disappointed.  Sometimes even during marathon training you have to let your hair down and with the way work has been going, well those drinks were just the therapy I needed!

The plan was to get up early, get the miles done before Mass, then have a relaxing Sunday afternoon together.  I didn't set my alarm because my body wakes up every.single.day at 5.  Well, not on Sunday!  I woke up at 7:30 and knew I couldn't get 16 miles done before 11:30 Mass.  So I figured I would just head out after Mass and deal with the weather.  Well, when you go to 11:30 Mass, that is right during the lunch hour.  And when we were done (it was extra long thanks to Palm Sunday)  I was starved!  So lunch had so come first.  But after lunch all my motivation had drained and I decided to take a rest day.  I gave myself a zillion excuses: my knee has been wonky, it's hot out, I had a big week of miles even with out this run, one run won't make or break me...you get the point.  So I plowed through laundry and chalked it up as a rest day.  Around 4:30 we decided to head out and see if we could find a new suitcase for Boston and while we were leaving the neighborhood I see Sarah coming down the road and she is looking tired!  I was surprised to see her, too!  I thought she had already done her long run for the weekend but there she was!  She was hot and drained.  So I stopped next to her and asked if she wanted some help getting in those last 3 miles.  She did so I jumped out of the car, we ran to my house (in my flip-flops) and I threw on some running clothes.  We got her home to finish up her longest run ever - 13 miles!  Whoo hoo!  I am so proud of her!  It was hot and humid yesterday but my girl finished strong!  Great job Sarah! 

After we left Sarah I was about 3 miles from home.  So, I ran home and added some miles on and salvaged the day with 8 miles.  Not too shabby - not the 16 I wanted/needed but it wasn't a total bust after all.  I ended the week pretty strong, too considering I didn't really get a "long run" in - 44.2 miles.  Some runs really were difficult for me, while others I breezed through.  I think that this is good prep mentally for Boston.  It's a crap shoot on race day - you can do everything you're supposed to do, train right, eat right, sleep enough, but anything can happen and you have to be able to rally and salvage the hand you're dealt.

I have one more long 20+ miler next week then I am going to cut it back.  I don't do 2 week tapers, I only do one.  So, just 2 more intense weeks for me until Boston!  I can't wait!  Well, actually, I could - if I just had one more month! LOL!  Shoulda, woulda, coulda - can't look back now.  I just wish Boston was somewhere tropical, like Hawaii then I would be even more excited.  You think they could move the Boston marathon from Boston to say, Maui next year?  That would be awesome since I am really in need of a vacation here:

I'm off to read all the race reports and long run stories!  Sounds like a lot of you kicked some ass this weekend! 

Happy Monday and Happy Running peeps!