Wednesday, January 10, 2018

WWU - 6@6on6th

You know I have a thing for cool numbers, right?  Like, when the date was 11/12/13, or 7/7/07 - ahhh, I just love it when things line up like that.  Which is why, when I was posting our route and start time in our Renegade group's Facebook page and wrote "6 miles at 6:00 am" I had to change it to "6@6(am)" - but later, when I was logging that run into my running journal, I realized that the date was the 6th and, well, I was way too happy.  Hey, it's the little things in life that thrill me, what can I say?

Anyway, you can probably surmise that we ran 6 miles on Saturday.  And because we were running a shorter distance, it was really nice to not start running until 6:00 am for a change; I liked setting my alarm where the first number was a 5 and not a 4.  It was cold, right around 32 degrees, but by now I've got my gear figured out and except for my standard frozen fingers for the first couple of miles, I was comfortable.  Diane was still out of town on her Christmas holiday, so it was just Cary and I who ran together, which was nice as we had a couple of weeks worth of stuff to catch up on.  Considering this was the first time I'd run in 9 days, and the first time Cary had run in two weeks due to the cold she was still dealing with, the run went well and we ran fairly fast for us, thanks to the cold weather.

This was our last long run before the Houston half marathon, which is on Sunday.  If you'd asked me a month ago, I would have said I was decently prepared for the race.  But the problem with a half marathon coming so close after the holiday season is that sometimes you get off track with your training, and although I really only missed one long run, I did miss several weekday runs thanks to the extremely cold weather and the long drive, and now, I just don't know.  I mean, I know I'll finish the distance, but I suspect it might be more of a struggle than usual - and believe me, running 13.1 miles is ALWAYS a struggle for me, it's just a question of at what point during that distance will the struggle become evident?  Generally I have my "I can't do this, I want to quit" moment right around 3 miles (yes, 3 miles, which is ridiculous I KNOW), and then I physically start to hurt around mile 8, and that becomes rough as I grit my way through another 5+ miles.  Hey, maybe that won't happen until mile 12 this year?  One can hope...

But Diane is in the same boat as me, so we're planning on just enjoying the race, soaking up the experience as much as possible, and in the end, we'll cross the finish line, same as we always do.  And if any other Renegades need to join us as we run around downtown Houston, we are happy to have them - the more, the merrier!

********************

After our run on Saturday, we changed into warm, dry clothing and headed over to Blue Baker, where this was waiting for us:
Two giant loaves of ciabatta bread!  Our baker is so good to us.

It was great fun to be with everyone after being gone for two weeks, and I was sitting right next to Logan, so I couldn't resist taking some pictures:
I love this - it looks like he's pondering what he's going to say to me.  Oh, and also?  He's found his voice and was making all kinds of noise, probably trying to rise up with the loudness of the Renegade chatter (but we were still much louder).
And then, his eyelids started fluttering, which elicited all kinds of "awwwws" from everyone around him...and then he was out!  Adorbs.

********************

Yesterday morning Jeff, Diane, and I ran a couple miles around our neighborhood, and we'll do the same tomorrow, weather-permitting (currently rain is in the forecast).  And then, it's race day!  We're ready...I think.

12 comments:

  1. So behind on everything that I didn't realize that you a) do a half marathon and b) that it's Sunday. So good luck and most of all: have fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the whole number thing too and couldn't help but smile every time I wrote 1/8/18 on Monday!

    Good luck at Houston!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm telling you, muscle memory kicks in and your body will remember the distance. Also, you might find you are more rested and run just fine. In any case, like you said, you know you'll finish and that's really all that matters for us non-elites.

    I actually sit here in admiration that you keep running the half distance - that's no joke.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm hoping you are right. This morning I woke up with my left heel hurting, and last night my right knee was clicking as I walked. So, typical for race week...pretty sure everything is just phantom pain to distract me from the fact that I'll be running 13.1 miles!

      Delete
  4. I am always super surprised that the Houston race comes up so fast. I think they should move it to the end of the month--you can tell them I said that :) Even though I haven't done it personally, I'm with Helen. You've trained for a year for this race. A couple of weeks is not going to undo that training. Logan is adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Crossing my fingers for an amazing race..and no pain until like 12.5....no make that mile 13!! You can push through that last tenth!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have those same thoughts around mile 3 too! Eventually I fall into a groove though and hopefully you will too on Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have those same thoughts around mile 3 too! Eventually I fall into a groove though and hopefully you will too on Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have those same thoughts at mile 3 too..lol. Eventually I fall into a groove and hopefully you will too on Sunday! Good luck and have fun!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Aww, Logan! Look at those cheeks!

    I hope you do have fun and don't hurt or feel crummy early on!!!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are now moderated to prevent spammers from leaving, well, spam - but rest assured that as soon as I read a real comment, I will publish it. So please, comment away, even though the blog is officially closed. Thanks!