All it takes is all you've got

Heres the link to the Halloween party and pics of Aaron and me as Napoleon and Deb.  http://picasaweb.google.com/nankennard/2009_10_17HalloweenParty#5394090953936976498

The party was super fun.  Good food, fun and folks.  My favorite part was watching Aaron and Owen (another guy who dressed as Napoleon) do Napoleon's famous dance.  I was so glad that our friend's Karaoke selection included Jamiroquai so that we could enjoy Aaron's dancing.  Aaron also blessed us with a little "Ice, Ice, Baby," and a few other sweet songs.  He is a natural entertainer.  He actually used to be a lead singer/trombonist in a Ska/Punk band, Tom Elvis and the Prestleys so he knows how to rock it.  Good times!

9 miles around Countryside at 7:41 pace.

I had my closest encounter with a coyote this morning.  Well it wasn't really an encounter because we didn't speak to each other or attack each other.  We just gave each other the evil eye as if to say "Stay out of my open space!"  Usually I see coyotes off in the distance prancing away.  Or they just sit and stare at me as I run by and if I clap or yell they run off.  Once I saw a few of them barking at me from about 100 meters away and I avoided them, assuming they were protecting young or fresh meat.  Today I didn't even see this coyote as I approached but then as I passed him he ran across the trail just 10-15 feet behind me and then stopped to stare at me.   It kinda startled me but he looked more threatened then I was.  I've often review in my head what I would do if a coyote were to approach me.  I'd probably just wind up and kick it as hard as I could in the face and then bolt away as fast as possible.  I highly doubt it will ever happen though because I've seen over 30 coyotes in the 4 years that I've lived here in CO and not once have they approached me.  They are always shorter than waist height to me and obviously don't think they could take me.  They're right.  They couldn't.

I decided to join back up with a running group that I ran with for a month last fall, Boulder Running Republic.  The Coach is Darren De Reuck.  He coaches his wife, Colleen who is an amazing runner (2nd at the USA Marathon Championships in Twin Cities earlier this month in 2:32 and 1st in the USA 20K Championships last month at the age of 45!!)  He also coaches a recreational club, Boulder Striders and this smaller more elite group, the Running Republic.  Darren has organized group workouts on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

This morning we met at 7:00 a.m. in Boulder.  Aaron gave the kids breakfast and took them to the gym with him so I could go to Boulder.  Then he dropped them off at our friend, Silvina's house afterwards so I could come home, take my shower, eat, and then clean the house.

We did a fartlek workout this morning. 

20 minute warm up with 4 X 25 second strides

2 X 3 min @ 10K effort/90 sec easy - my pace was around 5:58 on these

4 X 30 sec quick turnover/60 sec easy - He had us count our strides, so each time my right foot hit was one stride, and mine were 53, 54, 53, 54 which was about 5:25 pace

2 X 5 min @ half marathon effort/2 min easy - my pace was 5:57 on the first and 5:47 on the second.  I finally started to feel good and warmed up for these.  The sun came out and I took my long sleve off after these repeats.

4 X 60 sec fast/60 sec easy - my pace was 5:13-5:30 ave

10 min cool down

Total time was 1:12:55, 9.47 miles with 7:41 ave pace

GREAT workout!

Darren and I also talked about a 6 month plan for me in racing.  He reccomended that I focus on going for a half-marathon PR at the USA Half-Marathon Championships in Houston on January 17, 2010.  Then go for a marathon PR in the elite section at Boston in April.  He thinks Boston is a lot better for me than Grandmas because it is two months earlier and gives me better timing to recover and train for another fast fall marathon.  There is a more competitive field at Boston, but the prize money isn't neccessarily better unless I really think I can run sub 2:35...which I'm not sure is within reach for me yet.   I do agree that the timing is probably better if I want to go for another marathon in the fall though.  And I do like the idea of seeing Boston since I've never been there.   

Ran with Carolyn in Colorado today.  She was kind enough to make the 50 minute drive from Littleton to join me on a nice long run on Big Dry Creek.  It was about 32 degrees and lightly snowing.  I enjoyed getting to know Carolyn better and having someone to pass the time with.  The pace felt great as a nice recovery pace for me after my fast workout yesterday and Carolyn pushed it for a nice long tempo run at her half marathon race pace.  She ran impressively well especially considering that she did a fast workout yesterday too. 

My watch said 8:35 average pace for 11.5 miles.  A solid 1:39 on my legs.  Thanks for the run, Carolyn!  We'll have to do it again!

Easy 6 around Countryside.

My legs were pretty tired because I had them worked on for over an hour last night by Aaron's massage therapist, Sherry.  She does Push Therapy Technique, which is quite different from just a standard Swedish or Sports massage.  She also uses essential oils, so I smelled very fragrant when I left last night and all through my run this morning.  The work she did on my legs and feet felt good.  The jury is still out on whether I like it better than deep tissue massage for tightness in my legs or not.  We'll see how I feel over the next few days.  This is actually my second time going to her.  She is a very nice lady and interesting to listen to. 

I think I'll go to Las Vegas now and hang out with my sister-in-laws in the mid-80 degree sun.  Its girls weekend!  Gotta get to the airport!

8 miles around our rental house in Las Vegas, NV.

 Ahh it is beautiful weather here in Las Vegas.  Mid 80's and clear skies.  I was actually really hot on my run in the desert sun this morning.  I slept in until around 8:00 a.m. and left for my run around 8:30 a.m. but it was already very warm at that time, so I ended up just running in my sports bra and shorts.  As I was coming back I saw a biker out with arm warmers on.  'Cause to the locals it must be cold?  Before coming here I think I was almost acclimated to the 30 degree mornings in CO.  I hope a few warm mornings here doesn't spoil me and I have to re-acclimate.

Girls weekend has been fun.  Last night we stayed up late watching a movie and eating chocolate and popcorn.  Then we all slept in and I woke up and went for a run.  After my run I soaked in the 72 degree pool and ended up swimming a few laps and taking a few dives off the little diving board.  My sister-in-laws all thought I was crazy for getting in the "cold" water, but it was actually quite refreshing after my hour run in the heat.  Then we showered and went shopping.  I got some new winter running clothes and shoes at the Nike Outlet and a few shirts at Aeropostale.  After that we got pedi/manicures.  In all my 28 years I have actually never actually gotten a pedicure or a manicure, but I decided to try the pedicure on my callused runners feet.  It felt very nice and my feet currently look more pristine than they have ever looked.  Then we came home, took naps, and made beaded watch bands.  My sister-in-law, Dawn has a large plethora of beads and brings them to all girl-gatherings.  I decided to make a watch since everyone else seemed to be really into it, and I actually really like it!  Nothing like a girls weekend to help me become more in touch with my feminine, fashion side.

Gotta Go!  Off to Cheescake Factory for dinner! 

Went with my sister-in-laws, Chris and Elisse to the bird nesting grounds that we saw on the map thinking it would be a beautiful place walk around, then I could run back to the rental house from there for 7 miles.  It took us a good half an hour to find the place as it was nestled back behind the waste management plant on a dirt road and was not extremely beautiful, but we did walk around and we did see one bird.  It was just a dry open space with a small stream running through it and trees growing right around the stream.  It was fun to chat to Chris and Elisse while we walked through the desert oasis.  They are my only two other homebirthing sister-in-laws (like me).  But they also homeschool and I am not on that band wagon.  Actually, Chris recently put her 4 boys back into public school.  Elisse is still completely against the idea of public school and I was trying to understand why.  After probing for 20-30 minutes I think I got closer to understanding her reasons but I just dont subscribe to the same train of thought.  I really love that Abe is being taught by someone other than me and socializing with other kids his age at school.  He is experiencing lots of things I could not provide for him at home.  But I do respect Elisse for her homeschool decision.  After all, very few of my friends and family agree with my decision to homebirth, but I appreciate their respecting my decision and recognizing that it is what I believe is the best option for me.

Anyway, back to the run...

After our walk I took a potty stop in the bushes and started my run back to the rental house.  It was almost noon by now and starting to get very hot (probably close to 90 degrees) in that Las Vegas sun.  I only got 2.5 miles before I had to stop in a Casino and use their drinking fountain.  I wanted to just stay in the cool air-conditioned building a bit longer but the cigarette smoke was bringing me early death, so I took off again.  I did some strides and attempted a 2 mile tempo run.  Ran 13 minutes for 2 miles and it was not easy.  The heat gave me an extreme headache probably because I am used to 30 degree Colorado mornings.  After my tempo segment I stopped in a grocery store and guzzled more water.   I was going to do another 2 miles tempo, but my head was pounding and I was starting to get extremely hungry as I had not eaten breakfast yet (staying up late and sleeping in really messes with me).  I just ran easy the rest of the way home and returned home extremely overheated.  Immediatly upon my return home I downed an entire 20 ounces of fluid in about 4.6 seconds and jumped in the now 68 degree unheated pool.  It was the most refreshing plunge into cold water I have ever experienced!  I had been looking forward to that plunge for my entire run, actually.  And it felt great!!  Seeing me swimming in the cold water and actually enjoying it, a few other of my sister-in-laws decided they just had to be a part of the fun and suddenly I was swimming with Chris, Michelle, and Dawn.  Chris and Michelle were already in their swimming suits enjoying the sun so we just counted down together and jumped in.  Dawn was the most hilarious of the group.  She had been inside and was the last to behold our swimming and was suddenly very impulsive about wanting to get in the pool so she didn't even bother putting her swimming suit on.  She just slipped her shirt off and jumped in au natural.  At that point all the sister-in-laws were either swimming or standing poolside laughing our heads off at Dawn.  And that is when the craziness of the day began.  After swimming and some more shopping, we went to the Strip and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, rode the NY NY Rollercoaster (awesome), and decided to go dancing.  I actually had never been to a club in my life and was not super excited about going (I was also VERY tired as I am not  a late night person), so I was just going to drive home and take whomever else was tired with me.  But as we were standing outside the club trying to decide who was going to go home with me and who was going to go dancing, Dawn and Shauna had been working their magic with the guys that worked the club and we ended up getting in free on someone's guest list (instead of having to pay $20 each).  So I went in for a few minutes and tried to muster some energy to dance, while laughing at my sisters all gettin' jiggy with it.  I was most impressed by my 60-year-old mother-in-law who is a very good ballroom dancer.  She grabbed my SIL Emily and started swinging her around with fancy feet and much skill.  Then she swung my other SIL Ashley around for a bit too.  She was definitely the best dancer on the floor as everyone else was just doing that jiggly bounce that seems fitting to loud thumping music.  After about 30 minutes, I was done and decided to leave.  Four other sister-in-laws went with me and we went home to sleep.  Ahhhh sleep.  The other 5 sisters stayed another hour and a half and reported that they had a blast.  Clubbing isn't really my scene, I doubt that I will ever do it again.  I thought it was a unique activity for 10 married, non-drinking (for the most part) women to do together, but it was pretty funny and fun for a bit.  I guess thats why they say, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."