I Never Claimed to be Sane

Oh man, I won't bore you all with one long blog post right now.  I'll just give you all some highlights in bullet form - sometimes I even bore myself ;)

• The week before, I had my highest mileage ever, 76, during the worst week ever for me.  When this last week started, I wanted to see what I could do when I felt good and had less stress - it's official, I broke 90 miles this week!  91 to be exact, but who's counting ;)  My legs felt awesome all week, and let's just say, this week, I don't expect that number to go down at all!
• Today is day 46 - I ran 16 miles - again, I never said I was sane ;)
• I ran two races this weekend - one Saturday in the worst conditions ever.  Punky and Tara came out to run, too!  Two of my fav running peeps! A half marathon in rain, wind, cold and gravel.  But...I came out on top.  Despite having 53 miles on my legs before the race, I ran a PR of 1:34!!  Yes, I know, I'm in shock, too!  That was a 7:11/mi pace for the race - and my last 3 miles were 7:09, 7:04 & 6:49!  I'm beyond excited about this - and more excited to see what I can do with rested legs, a better course and conditions.  Unfortunately though, it wasn't a certified race, so darn the luck, I have to go and get my NY qualifier somewhere else!
• After the race, I came home and pulled a crazy again - and ran another 6 miles on the hamsterwheel to loosen up my legs & get my long run done.  I'm really enjoying breaking up my long run.  If I run slow in the morning, I'll do some speed in the afternoon.  If I run fast in the morning, I'll do an easier pace in the afternoon - it seems to be working out well.
• Sunday was a trail 20K with my buddy Punky again.  It was cold, and I think I told him more than once that I was just going to stay in the warm car and sit this one out.  

Freezing my butt off before (hey, it was 36 out, that's cold for this California girl!)

• Since we had been pelted by rain here in the Bay for 5 days straight, it was a muddy scene out there.  But Punky and I took our time and enjoyed the beautiful scenery running around Lake Chabot.  We warmed up quickly, especially when we picked up the pace as we ran by a shooting range!  We were NOT expecting to hear gun shots on our beautiful early morning trail run.  I took it easy, probably slowing down Punky in the process, but ran the uphills and walked the downhills as to not tear my quads up or fall on my butt in the mud.  We finished with 10.75 miles and jumped right into the car to get warm!  We also may or may not have been beaten by a blind man ;)

One muddy hill!

• After getting home and getting warmed up, you guessed it, I jumped on the TM to finish off the day.  But...let me defend myself!  I was at 84 miles and I wanted to see if I could hit 90!  As soon as I started running I felt awesome.  My legs welcomed a little even pace on the hamsterwheel and I finished the day with 18 miles and 91 for the week!  Whoo hoo!  That really made me smile ;)

As you can see, I had one hell of a crazy week!  I think I'm going to be more than prepared for my 50K in March, but more than anything, I am excited to see where my paces are going to be when May comes around.  I'm going to continue to ride the running streak for as long as possible.  My legs are feeling fresh and awesome, and I couldn't be more pleased.

I'm off to catch up with all of you!  Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend, especially my buddy LB who had a huge 5K PR and to Denise who also had a huge 5 miler PR!  You guys rock!

Happy Running Peeps!