It's a very slow process - two steps forward, one step back - but I'm inching in the right direction. - Rob Reiner

March 20, 2011

Running Against the Wind...and other stuff

What a great weekend.  On Friday night I headed straight from work to Springfield, MO with my sister Tracee to go visit my niece Ashley.  It was Ashley's 20th Birthday.  It's so hard for me to believe Ashley has grown from a sweet baby girl to a beautiful woman.  And if I found it too hard to believe, all I had to do was remember what we were going to do first - look for her wedding dress!!  Yes, Ashley is getting married in November.  We headed over to David's Bridal and she began to try on dresses.  Of course everything looked beautiful on her, but in the end she found "the one" - she will be the most beautiful bride on her wedding day - sorry - can't share any pics yet :)  After finding the dress, we headed over to a Japanese steak house (Ashley's favorite meal) and had our month's worth of sodium.  Ugghhh...I always feel like crap after I have eaten at those places. 

Tracee and I then headed back to our hotel where apparently on the third floor they were either racing the 50 yard dash or herding some elephants until about midnight.  The next morning we hung out a little more, did some shopping and had lunch with Ashley before heading home.  After I got home Jim was in the mood for a movie so we went to see Limitless - hmmm......it was just ok.  I thought it was kind of boring - well except for the part where you get to stare at Bradley Cooper - he's pretty easy on the eyes.

So this morning I got up and prepared for my 5 mile run.  It was a great day - it was sunny mid 60s.  However, there were also 20+ mile per hour winds.  Those winds were awful.  I did a 5 mile out and back loop.  The first 2.5 miles the wind was at my back and I was thinking - wow, this isn't bad at all.  It's so nice and warm and sunny, but then I turned around and the next 2.5 miles I was running directly against the wind.  There was one point when I was running up a large hill against the wind and I looked at my Garmin, my pace was 15:20 - really??  At that point I decided to take a walking break.  I ran the first 3 miles of my run - wahoo, but I have to admit, I walked alot of mile 4 (mostly all up hill), and ran mile 5.  Overall I finished in 61 minutes - so I had an average pace of 12 minutes 12 seconds.  It wasn't speedy, but I never am, so I was pleased overall.

When I got back from my run I took Jack for a couple of cool down laps - both mine and Jack's favorite part of running.  Jack enjoyed the winds much more than I did because that meant lots and lots of smells in the air.  It was hot out - at least for Jack.  He was really thirsty when we got home.  Jack only drinks out of the bathroom faucet.  I have no idea how this really happened, but it did.  So now he is totally spoiled.  After a drink Jack was tired and ready for a nap!  I stretched, took a couple of ibuprofen, and iced my back.  I'm hopeful my back won't be too sore later today.  Fingers crossed.


Jack - Happy Dog on a walk!


All Smiles - but squinting a little bit in the sun


Getting a much needed drink from the faucet


Jack sticking his tongue out at me!


Resting after his walk


15 comments:

  1. Ahhhh, your dog is so stinkin' cute!! I am just dying to get out there for a run today (after SEVEN days without a run--AACK!!). I'm sure I can make it happen at some point. Sounds like you had a fun weekend!

    PS Bradley Cooper = HOT

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  2. Sounds like a good weekend! Jack is really cute. :) He really only drinks out of the bathroom faucet?

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  3. Fingers crossed for your back! At least you got 5 in! Well done to Jack too!

    Are there many things worse than a stampede in the hotel hallway in the middle of the night? Don't think so.

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  4. Too funny about the bathroom faucet. Hope your back feels fine.

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  5. oh Jack - you are just too darn cute!

    I had a ride like that today - the wind KILLED ME! It was pretty pitiful.

    I used to have a cat that would ONLY drink out of the faucets. He would sit in the tub for HOURS waiting for someone to "wait on him".

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  6. jack is adorable! well, handsome. i'm sure he'd rather be handsome :)

    wedding dress shopping - so fun! can't wait to see a pic eventually, hopefully?

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  7. Sounds like a fun weekend! I love wedding dress shopping!

    Your dog is too cute! :)
    I know all about running/riding in the wind and it sucks!

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  8. I LOVE the pictures! Wind is the WORST.

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  9. 15:20 pace... sometimes I get that too where I'm trying to run against the wind or up a steep hill and I'll realize my legs are moving but my body's not. I'll say "What the hell am I doing?" and then will commence walking. Seriously, it's not even worth trying to fight through things sometimes.

    We get a ton of wind here in our portion of SoCal so I've built up a good, healthy dislike of wind. Hate the wind. Ya hear that, Wind? I hate you! :)

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  10. I'd have to go back a few weeks to find a workout report that didn't include the word "wind" in it. That's all we get in Dallas this time of year. Definitely feel your pain. Best advice: Accept the slowness and don't look at your watch!

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  11. Sounds like a good weekend!

    I love pictures of Jack.

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  12. Running Uphill + Running Against Wind = Walk Break

    I think I learned that equation in Physics.

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  13. Super cute dog.

    Kevin
    HalfTRIing.blogspot.com

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  14. I have the same tree trunk issue. What a sweet load you got from Rose! Love your hubster's comment above. You are smokin'!

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