But I just finished 12 easy miles at Westminster, it was a blast. the weather was perfect, it feel great now that its finally warming up!  I’m hoping to run tomorrow with Jim at the river for another good run. Its so much harder for my legs to warm up when its cold, so when the weather is warmer, my warm ups are not so time intensive.

My poor running partner- she was begging me to get there early today, and I really thought that might happen until Katie called telling me she left her P.E. Clothes at home… now I may have to run home and get those before I run, which I’ll have to cut short because I’ve got an 11am Apple class to help me understand how to work my Apple computer that I just got, which I’ll have to cut short because I’ve got my Pilates class which I absolutely won’t miss for anything.

We saw a lot of kids out there in high school who stopped us and asked us for advice for their training, it was really fun talking with them about some of the basics of running. A lot of that is something they naturally have or they don’t. but all in all, we had a lot of fun today.

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.

Tomorrow morning I’ll have to get an extra early run in between 4:30 and 5am before our flight leaves in the morning. I would normally do it on the treadmill downstairs but that get soooo boring- I’ve been wearing this night life gear from Brooks that glows when light hits it so you’re visible to any lights- I definitely feel safer wearing it!

I’ve also been getting my shirts a little longer so I can pull the sleeves over my hands when I run- I hate wearing gloves when its cold because when you’re hands get hot, you have to carry them the rest of the way….. I’m so excited to be able to run in the warm sun!

As I move back into competitive training, focus is something I seriously need to work on, along with recovery. I spoke with another Masters elite runner yesterday- he and I were commiserating on how different training cycles become as you age, and how you have to adjust what you’re doing. and how you can’t do the same things you used to do.

It’s hard because you’re mentally and physically sharp, but you can’t recover as quickly so it makes things much tougher. The other struggle is that it takes so long to warm your body up, then when it does get warmed up, you have such a short window to workout before you have to cool down, and you have to be careful not to over-train.

I’ve settled in a training program that works for my body:
-mile repeats on Mondays
-tempo on Wednesdays
-long runs on Friday
-Saturday is my easy day (usually from home)
-Sundays I take off

But when I switch back into competitive mode, the intensity of my workouts will increase substantially and more speed will be added throughout the week, and I won’t be able to take Sundays off.

All my running friends canceled for today- Fulton county schools are delayed 2 hours so that kind of puts a hinder in my runs.  It’s so hard to motivate yourself to run on a cold day, alone.  I’ll probably warm up for 2-3 miles then a 30 minute tempo then finish up with a long warm-down. I’d like to get 12 miles in this morning; it would alleviate me from running this afternoon.

We’re so busy packing for vacation that its hard to get both my workouts during the day. We’re just trying to get through these last few miserable, wintry days before we head off for vacation. This afternoon I have to get the kids’ passports expedited (crossing fingers) and get all my errands done!

I had the worst, coldest, most awful run EVER today.  It started out at 39 degrees, I had enough gear on, but as I got to my 3rd mile the temperature dropped, the rain began crystallizing and I was soaked to the bone. When I hit 7.5 miles, I ran back to my car and debated whether or not to jump in the car or keep running… I decided to finish my run.

I went back out until I got to 9 miles… and when I finally returned to my car, I was so cold I couldn’t even hold the key to open the car door-I literally was about to run inside to find help because I couldn’t open my car door- I had to warm my hands up with my breath until I could twist the key and unlock the door! It was so ridiculous.

Sooo now that it’s snowing I’m canceling my second run and will make up the mileage on vacation- which I wouldn’t recommend to anyone else- But it’s the way I kind of balance my brain.

I today I felt pretty good even though I slept horribly last night. I’m hoping to get 12 miles in today. We’ll see.. it feels like the temperature is dropping.

For tonight, its Gymnastics for Katie, Madeline has a haircut at 3:30 and Daniel has an orthodontist appointment. Madeline lost her cell phone, so we’ve been on a frantic search for it!