Knowing Your Limits Pays Off

After the lovely excitement last Wednesday, we were blessed with a couple of days of great weather. Unfortunately for me, I didn't get to take advantage of them.

Thursday afternoon was Madison's first track meet. She was selected to run the 400 meter and there was no way I was missing it. We weren't sure what order the events would be in, so I went straight from work to the stadium. It was a beautiful day for a track meet. And I got to enjoy a couple of hours of it sitting in the stands waiting for her to run. Yes, it took that long. She ended up 4th place - out of 4, but I was so proud of her. I didn't have my stop watch and they didn't post official times, but according to my watch, she ran that 400 meters in about 1:30. That, my friends, is faster than I can run 400 meters! And she never gave up, even when it was obvious she would come in last place. And so, that's how I spend my Thursday evening.

Friday was spent doing laundry and running errands. I had already decided to "rest" on Friday because I had a scheduled long bike ride and a 10K race for the weekend. And the forecast showed the winds would be returning for Saturday's bike.

I woke up early Saturday to head for the Rosedale Ride. My original plan was to do the 62 mile route. I did it last week and felt great and then ran 5 miles the next day, so why not? Well, I'll tell you why not. It's called 20-25 mph wind with 40 degree temps, lots of hills and horrible chip seal roads. One of these at a time I can deal with, but all three combined. Forget it. I had started out with a group doing the 62 miles, but got a little behind them and just decided I wasn't going to push it. So, at the first aid station I stopped and waited for a couple guys from our team who were a little behind us and were doing the 42 mile route. The three of us headed off at a nice relaxed (sometimes a little slow) pace and had a great time riding. I hung out with the team for a while after the ride before heading back home.

And I'm glad I made that decision, because today I totally rocked my 10K. My previous record for a 10K is 59:20. Today's time on that same course: 55:50. Oh YEAH! And it felt great. The temps were still in the 40s, but I know myself when I run. Forty degrees is shorts for me. I did have on a long sleeve under armour shirt on top. I was freezing at the start, but once I got going I warmed up fast. In fact, at one point I wished I hadn't worn long sleeves. But I didn't let it get to me. And I didn't look at my accumulated time at all during the race - just my splits as I hit each mile. I knew if I kept each mile under 9:30 I'd beat my time. Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 9:06
Mile 2: 8:35
Mile 3: 9:23
Mile 4: 8:55
Mile 5: 8:49
Mile 6: 9:13
last .2: 1:46

Goal accomplished!

If I would have pushed on and finished the 62 miles yesterday, I know I could have finished the 10K today, and probably in a decent time, but I don't think I could have done it in 55 minutes.

After the 10K, I headed back to our church. The youth group was in charge of worship at our Creekside Gathering and I didn't want to miss it. I put on a little makeup in the car, sprayed myself with some Vanilla Body Mist from Bath & Body Works and headed in for worship. And I'm glad I did. The youth did a wonderful job and had a great message.

After church I took Roscoe for a walk and then spent some quality time in the hammock. Nice!!!

And speaking of dogs, they both are doing great. Roscoe loves his daily walks and gets a little hyper without them. Tank has lots of energy as well and sometimes we have to send them outside because they play too much in the house. They like to play chase and they go full speed. Roscoe is very protective of the home and when he hears or sees something unusual he will go to the front window and growl or bark. Once we look and know things are ok, he is fine. He's a very spoiled dog and is loving his forever home. Tank has adjusted well, too. He likes to antagonize Roscoe at times and nips at Roscoe's feet. But he can be a cuddle dog as well. He sleeps in his kennel in Dalton's room and knows when it is night-night time. They keep us on our toes, but we wouldn't trade them for anything.