SPRING!

The problem with taking so long between posts, is that all my inspiration dissolves into the chaos that is my brain right now, and I forget what I wanted to write about. So this will be a mishmash of various topics.

At the forefront of the goings on in the Great White North is that spring is finally here! As proof, I shall provide photographic evidence:

It's the green thing in the center of the picture

 

If you don't know what is in the picture, it's the start of a tulip that I discovered earlier this week. The Boy and I planted 7 bulbs last fall, and it appears that all 7 survived the winter and the squirrels and are in the process of becoming flowers. We got a variety pack of bulbs, so the colors are going to be a surprise, which is kinda fun. I sort of hope that they are blooming before the family arrives in two weeks...

 

Aaron moved the last of his stuff from his rental, and now our house is stuffed to the gills. But it's another step, a big one, towards our life together and so it's a relief that it's finally done. Plus, paying a mortgage and utilities on one place helps a lot.

 

Last, but definitely not least, it is now 2 weeks until the big day, the day when I take that big step and marry my other half, my sweetheart, my love. We're down to the final little details, finally, and so far everything is falling into place. I'm trying to make a list of the stuff that still needs to be done, but when I sit down to write it down my mind goes blank. And I am surprisingly not overly stressed out about it all; so far no panic attacks or extreme binge eating episodes. I am happy and (mostly) calm, and I think Aaron has a lot to do with that. His attitude is that we just need to get hitched, the rest of it doesn't matter. I slightly agree with him about that, but I want to look good in the pictures too.

 

And then there was the running....

 

Tuesday's Run

This week was supposed to be a recovery week after Saturday's long run of 20 miles. I say "supposed to" because in reality, it was just as hard, if not harder, than previous weeks. On Tuesday we did ladder fartleks - 1 min run, 1 minute jog, 2 minute run, 2 minute jog, 3 minute run, 3 minute jog, 4 minute run, 4 minute jog, repeated three times. The fast parts were averaging between 6:30 and 7:30 average pace, which is pretty awesome. On Tuesday I ran 6.94 miles in 60 minutes, for an average pace of 8:38.

Thursday's Run

And then there was Thursday. The dreaded hill repeats. Fortunately for my glutes and hammies it's been an extremely wet "spring" so we were relegated to doing the workout on Seven Bridges Road. Not that Seven Bridges Road is easy at all, it's just a lot easier than going up and down a ski hill. For proof of the elevation changes, here's what the Shiny told me I did on Thursday:

Up and down three times

 

As my friend Ben likes to say, those poor runners in Nebraska are missing out on all the fun. We did this run once last year in running group, and I ended up walking the last little bit the second, and final time, through up the road. This year, I was tired on the last time up, but I ran the whole way. Ben and I both did much better this year. Which proves that our training is really clicking this year, and hopefully will continue on through to race day, which is now only 5 weeks away! On Thursday I ran 7.74 miles in 1:08:45, for an average pace of 8:53.

 

Today's Run

Long run Saturday. And I really felt it. We started out too fast, again, and were struggling a bit at the end. Not as bad as last Saturday with the 20 miles, but still not optimal. We are going to really try to go out slower in the beginning next Saturday, to see if we can finish stronger. Overall it was a pretty good run. Today I ran 16.13 miles in 2:21:14, for an average pace of 8:45. Just 5 seconds slower than my goal pace!