THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

I went roller skating yesterday at my nephew's 7th birthday party and it was fun!  It has been many years since I rollerskated.  I took all the little boys for loops around the rink.  My boys are skinny light little things and when they started to stumble and fall it was easy to grab ahold of them and put them on their feet and they would just barrel forward!  My nephew is just a tall and big-boned kid and when I went to scoop him up when he stumbled he was a bit heavier than I expected and we both almost bit the dust!  Anyways holding on to him and keeping him balanced was hard work.  I of course skated some loops on my own and played red light-green light and squatted in my skates while my 1 year old grabbed my hands and pulled me so I rolled along(she thought that was great).  This morning I am sore from all of it but at least I don't feel bad about that birthday cake I ate...Off to church this morning and then home to NOT watch the superbowl.  Neither me nor my husband care for football--I might tune in to catch some funny commercials and the halftime show though.

I put in a good long workout today because this weekend, well, really this whole week, I have been awful with my eating!  I warmed up 20 minutes on the elliptical, then 7.68 on the treadmill at 6.6mph(9:05 pace), and then 20:30 on the virtual bike.  It felt really good and I am ready to start this week right!

Nice and easy run on the dirt and gravel roads.  It is cold again--supposedly 22 degrees but there was a pretty stout wind and it made me feel much colder.  I was right on the border of underdressed but one more layer probably would have been too hot.  Did my strength drills afterward.  I am still running pain-free.  Had my whole wheat pancakes made with skim milk and olive oil for breakfast with peanut butter and sugar free syrup.  The kids and my husband really like them too so we have been making them 3 or 4 times a week for breakfast here recently!  I like them because they last for 3 or 4 hours before I am hungry again.

It was a bad dog day again.  I got almost two miles through my nice, easy run when this HUGE dog came running at me.  He had this massive thick rope around his neck that was broken so I knew he was supposed to be tied up.  I run this route all the time without troubles so this dog surprised me.  Anyways he did not bite me but he kept jumping up on me and nipping and would not leave me alone.  He was so big when he reared up his paw was on my shoulder and he was taller than me.  He was some sort of massive mutt with a head like a bear.  He wasn't biting but he wasn't friendly either and  I was getting scared so I broke a branch off a tree and started swinging.  He didn't like that so then he stayed out of reach of my branch but kept hovering.  I walked about a third of a mile swinging my branch before I shook him.  Anyways the rest of the run was uneventful and tomorrow I am running the same route with mace and teaching that dog a lesson if he pops up again.  Did 15 minutes of core work afterward.

I'm working on varying surfaces and watching road camber so I drove to the highschool track today and did 28 laps--reversed directions halfway through.  It was boring--even more boring than I anticipated.  I kept speeding up wanting to get it over with and I was really wrestling with myself to stay at recovery pace.  I finally made the bargain with myself that if I ran at 9:30 pace the whole time I could run one quarter as fast as I felt like toward the end.  It worked and I stayed at 9:30 pace except for an 89 second quarter on the 25th lap.  Felt wonderful.  Did my strength drills interspersed with striders afterward, stretched, drove home, and at a massive breakfast--2 eggs, two pieces of toast and margarine, half a piece of toast with peanut butter(my daughter commandeered the other half), and a cup of skim milk.  

7 one mile loops by my house, dashing through to check my children between loops.  I ran at a comfortable pace but probably a little faster than a recovery room---mostly because of an eagerness to check on my children, in particular my toddler.  Big brother Nick has strict instructions to keep her in sight at all times but at just getting ready to turn 9(in 2 weeks) he can become distracted.  The loops are still nice though since I can see my street and anything that moves on it throughout the whole loop so I would know if a strange car was headed toward my house and take a shortcut to get home.  Anyways, 9:30 between checkups is just a tad too long so I ran faster--not sure how much faster--but I covered 7 miles in an hour.  My muscles are a little sore from the strength exercises yesterday--but no real pain anywhere so that is good!  I found out more about my 10k next weekend.  Surprise, it is actually a trail race.  I have never run in that kind of race before, but I am actually really excited.  I am going to run for fun and take care not to twist my ankles--rather than go for any kind of time!  There are no prizes but you get a picture of yourself running and cookies at the end!

p.m.  15 minute core workout

Nick wanted to go play on the football field today, so we packed up and went.  We brought baby dolls, water bottles, a sippy cup, fruit, fruit bars, books, and a stroller and drove to the track.  I ran 28 laps...eventually.  Between letting Vanessa in and out of the stroller for laps, craning my neck to watch the boys, doing a few dashes up the bleachers when Vanessa was climbing too high, yelling at the kids to be nice to each other, and doling out snacks, it took me a while!   It was not as boring as my 28 laps the other day, as I was quite engaged most of the time!  At the end I did a 100 meter dash in 17 seconds, timed Nick for a 100 meter dash(21.7 seconds) and did some stretching.  Ian didn't want to do a 100 meter dash, and Vanessa would veer off course to explore before she ever made it 100 meters.  All in all quite entertaining.  It was 60 degrees by 10:00 today(how do ya like that Walter?).

p.m.  my husband's basic training workout video.  mostly a lot of pushups and crunches