With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams...

I was dressed and ready to go, then when I went to feed the chickens before I left I realized that their coop needed attention.  I wanted to walk away and take care of it later but I knew I wouldn't be in the mood to do it after a long run.

so 2 hours and a cordless drill, pneumatic nailer, circular saw, & jig saw late r, I was ready to run and it started raining.  My weather app showed a sun and no rain for 3 more hours.  I was so mad at that dumb weather app.  I just wasn't feeling the love for 3 hours on the muddy trail in the cold rain. After all the snow this week I realized the clay in the trail was probably not a safe bet today either.

My lucky day- the high school was having a day long basketball game with boys/girls jayvee/varsity games back to back.  So i got to run the treadmill and watch some b-ball.  I saw some sweet moves on the boy's varsity team.  Impressive!  Some girls on the visiting team were mocking me (they could see in the window on the 2nd floor) before their game.  They played, they lost, and no one was mocking me when I was still going an hour later.

The last hour sucked.  I wanted to quit.  I didn't, but I did a little slow jog for 5 minutes to get my groove back.  Then treated myself to a 3 course Thai dinner.  Happy year of the horse.  I ate like one.  Totally worth that last hour on the milly.

Monday- 6.21 down past the RR tracks.  I thought about becoming a super hipster and collecting vinyl, but realized this might be the wrong kind:

Tuesday- I felt as if I'd rather have dental work done that run today.  So I did 20 min on elliptical and took the day off.  I lived.

Wednesday- 5.24

Thursday- 4.56

Friday- 4.22.  Early and chilly, but the sunrise coming home was beautiful.  I guess it was pre-sun rise- this was at the front of the cattle ranch.  Venus is at the top of the entrance in the sky.  It didn't smell as good as it looked. 

Saturday- 14.06 on the trail.  The sun was out- woo hoo!!  This was a great run and boosted my confidence for the trail run coming up.  I was able to keep up my endurance and actually had a couple of really good miles pace wise.  I feel like I'll be able to run the course and be strong.  Taper a little more next week, then it's time for the race.  I'll be sure to carb load over Valentine's day weekend :-) There were a couple slippery & muddy spots. I almost ended up swimming in this little pond! 

Here's a photo of the trail right before it drops off.  You can see the top of the tree line in the distance.  There is a steep drop on this path.  I always enjoy going down it more than I do up.  On this run, there were a couple of people I passed at the bottom of the hill on my way back up.  Knowing they were watching me helped encourage me to get up to the top of the hill.  I often shout encouraging colorful phrases to myself about how steep the hill is or is not, but on this run, I kept my yawps to myself.

Monday- 11 miles.  Wanted to get some miles in before snowmageddon comes.  Glad I did.  I also found where Uncle Rico's been staying.  I didn't see him (he must have been out selling high quality polymer) but I found his trailer and weight bench.  Tina's been replaced with a horse wearing a blanket.

Tuesday- just started snowing so I went out for 4.14 miles.  It was fine until I had to run that last 1/2 mile into the high winds pelting my face with snow.  I found a bunch of treasures, so it was totally worth going out.

Wednesday- Snow everywhere, more coming down, and I don't trust the drivers to not hit me.  So I played on the elliptical and did Shred level 1.  Then spent the second day in a row cursing the snow and ice.  Tomorrow I'll shovel snow for my workout.

Thursday - Shoveled snow. it was heavy and wet.  great workout. elliptical and pilates video.  The pilates on the ball felt good when I got to stretch my back out after that shoveling.

Friday - 2 miles- went easy in preparation for a longer run tomorrow.

Saturday - last taper long run for the big run next Saturday.  It ended up being 0 miles.  Too dang windy and cold.  MR and I were busy doing home improvements all day anyway.

2/16 - 4.2 miles

2/18 - 8.05 miles

2/19 - 3.21 miles with Wyatt

2/20 - 4.5 miles with Wyatt. Skibi road run, no one yelled at us this time.  The frogs were crazy loud.

trail run.  got lost driving there - panic.

good weather, I really enjoyed the run until mile 6 when I twisted my ankle hard on a nubby root.  I was worried it was broken.  It took me a fair amount of time to get moving again.  Walked maybe 1/4 mile on it, then slowly started jogging on it.  I was able to get my pace back on track eventually, but downhills I had to slow down big time.  Grateful to finish, glad I improved my time over last year.  My standings went down, but that's because more people showed up to run this year since it wasn't pouring rain.

I was feeling confident about not slipping in the rainy mud around mile 11-12 when I tripped over a root and went body surfing on the trail.  Confidence needs to be kept in check on this run until you're safe in the car.

By Tuesday I was able to walk without pain.  I'll be ready to go hiking with Terry Saturday :-)

mon-elliptical

tues-elliptical

wed-elliptical ... ankle feeling better

thur- elliptical

friday- elliptical