It was my first day back after the break with the kids- the Cayman Islands were absolutely fabulous! We caught up on our sleep and just had a great time. I allowed myself to take one day off from running during vacation, but I never ended up taking it because the weather was just so nice.

The first two days I ran the road.  It was a very high traffic area and because they drive on the opposite side of the road, I was a little nervous and afraid I might get hit- so the rest of the time I ran on the beach barefoot which felt so good on my feet. The first day was tough, my feet weren’t used to running in sand but the rest of the time went great.  It was much tougher running on the open sand!  The first day, I ran mile repeats on the beach- I just kind of measured a mile and ran back and forth kind of in and out of the water and around the people, it was just a blast.

It was funny because people actually stopped me during my run and asked me things like directions about the other side of the island…really funny.

My first run back in the states was great! I did mile repeats and I had a great tempo going, finished about a 6:12 pace but my average was sub-6:00. I’m debating on whether or not to enter the Women’s 5k here in Atlanta; it’s a pretty big race. I’m just not in good condition but I’ve been getting some flack from the running community to run a race.  If I ran like I did today, I should probably be able to win the Master’s division but I just want to make sure I’m running the best I can. I probably won’t do my 2nd run today since I did 12 miles total today.

I’m been topping out at about 71 miles each week which is still pretty safe mileage for the off-season, and once I get closer to elite racing and the Peachtree, I’ll bump it up significantly.

Fun run this morning with Steph, I did about a 1 mile warm-up, it was freezing about 24 degrees! Really stupid-you need about 3 miles to warm your body up, but I just did 1 mile so I could be done with my tempo… I did a 5 mile tempo; I didn’t even look at my watch time because I just knew it wasn’t going to be good.  I was so stiff and tight, which really reminds me how I need to focus more on hydration so I can get through these cold days coming up. I rounded it off at 10 miles, and felt good overall.  I’ve had some achy arthritis feelings especially as I’m getting old, so I’m taking lots of vitamins to deal with it: B-12, iron, folic acid… in hopes of getting through these cold weeks of winter.

Its Daniel’s VIP week at school, so I get to eat lunch with him every day this week!  I stopped at Caribou Coffee and got him a donut and chocolate covered graham cracker… try to make it a little special

We’re officially going to the Cayman Islands for spring break so any free second I have in my day I’m making mad dashes to get ready for spring break next week. The kids still have all their sports and activities, although when it gets below 40 degrees, Daniel’s baseball practice is canceled (I’m secretly hoping it will drop below 40….)

Today’s Sunday, my one day off a week, and it is a weird feeling!

I had two good runs yesterday- I ran outside on the road, something I really never do anymore, and it was so wonderful… but my mileage isn’t as fast- I ran about 7:30 minute mile. I ran Friday at the river with Jim and had a better pace going… I need to get as many runs as I can with Jim because we run a little faster pace, and on my 2nd run of the day, I need to increase my pace to get more miles in.  Other than that, everything is going great- I’m taking my vitamins and I go in tomorrow for more blood work. The results from that will be a good indication on how my general health is going.

I have my tempo run this morning- I think I’m going to cut it down to 20 minutes with a mile warm-up, 20 minute tempo, then meet my girlfriends to run for 45 minutes.

Yesterday I did my long run with Steph, we did 14 miles. I didn’t want to do the hills of Westminster, but we did. Mental note: when it gets warmer outside I’ve got to do my long runs on the flat surface and do them much faster. On the hills, you just can’t go that fast and the combination of the cold weather and the hills is demoralizing, and I’m running slower each day…not the best venue to run fast and I can tell from my legs that they’re getting lethargic and not doing well becuase I’m not getting all the junk out of them and just not doing my recovery runs fast enough… this morning should be fun though, my friend Tuba is back from being out of town and its always fun running with her!

Rest of today’s schedule: Pilates this afternoon followed by my 2nd run.