THE 15 MINUTE RULE

     Last night was our Wednesday night group workout. It was the first time we had all seen each other since Saturday's big run. It seemed as if there was a mix of those who were still quite sore, battling colds/fatique and those who seemed "ok" for the most part but probably not enough to go out and run another 21 last night. I fell in the latter category. My muscle soreness is gone although if I sit for long periods I stiffen up a bit in my calves. My energy level seems okay. I don't (knock on wood) have a cold brewing so overall, I am feeling pretty darn good but am taking an extra day to rest before Saturday (aka skipping today's 3-5 miles). As much as my mind protests, my body seems to need an extra day before a long strenuous run.
     Last night's workout was supposed to be a 15 minute warm up, a 40 minute tempo run followed by a 15 minute cool down. The majority of the group voted on the 15 minute assessment "rule" . . . as in we'll run for 15 minutes and assess how we feel and then determine if a tempo run is in our future. I think the majority of the group, although I couldn't be sure, decided on not pushing the tempo pace. I stuck with Garmin who despite this trailmomma's advice to stay home and rest, came out to run with a cold. We ran almost 7.5 miles total and talked about our Saturday running experience. The legs felt good suprisingly, but when we hit a hill I noticed some struggling so I am glad I took it fairly easy.
     Our group talked a lot about Saturday's experience and also about this coming Saturday. This Saturday is "the big kahuna" . . . 26 miles with the last 3 being a climb up Damn Hill. I will not be making the same mistake the last time I met Damn Hill. However, I do think this Saturday may be tougher mentally because it isn't an organized run like last weekend, it is just our group but Coach (Blurry) Nikon is hooking us up with an aid station (can I pre-order PayDay bars please?) about half way before we're supposed to turn around. Still, it is an 'out and back' type of run which is one of my least favorites however the easiest to plan when you're short one coach . . . Captain Kirk will me M.I.A on Saturday. Boo.
     Speaking of being M.I.A. all this training has left me somewhat absent for certain family outings. Last night for example, Vans and the Peanut took Grandma out to celebrate her birthday. The Peanut had a blast.

"mmm what else can I order?"

"mmm yummy applesauce"

Although I missed last night's fun, I was able to make Tuesday night's big outing . . . the Peanut attended her first ever Sacramento KINGS game! She had a blast although I think she had more fun playing with the ThunderSticks than she did actually watching the game.

"awe mom, give me back my thunderstick!"