for being such a slacker blogger. I was home (HOME!!) last week, working from the front office the first part of the week, and it was so loverly that I couldn't stand spending any time online once I was free from work obligations. I did spend some time surfing the blogroll over there and on personal email for a bit Thursday morning, but beyond that, I just couldn't handle being in front of the computer. So I didn't do update after Wednesday AM. Sorry.
The weather was yucky and cold from Thursday midday (right about the time we left for turkey dinner at Grandma's house) until I left Monday morning. It was perfect for some deep hibernation and lazying, which is exactly what we did. Hub and his dad and brother took the Elder Child for his first hunting trip Friday and Saturday, so I had TDP DinoBoy all to myself those two days. We spent a LOT of time watching old Looney Tunes cartoons, the pop-up versions of High School Musical, and Arthur episodes on the DVR. We did the bare minimum amount of housekeeping, and spent much of the weekend snuggling with the cat and eating popcorn. We relived his trip to the city when we watched Enchanted and the Macy's Thanksgiving parade.
The Tooth Fairy paid us a visit while I was home, too, which was very good timing on her part. The lower tooth on TDP DinoBoy had been loose for months, with the permanent tooth growing in nearly full behind it. It finally came out Wednesday morning, not without some wiggling on his part, but I was very lucky to have been home for it, as was Hub, since he fully admitted that he wouldn't have figured out how to do the certificate thing and cash exchange.
Oh, yeah, and that Turkey Trot thing. I had run the day before, right, when it was freakin' Africa hot and humid, right? And I was thoroughly disgusted with my performance and the wheezing and gasping that accompanied what felt like a very slow four miles. So I went into Thursday morning's run with the attitude that it would only be a fun way to burn off some calories and make room for the pumpkin cheesecake later that day (which, BTW, was fabulous!). I had put any thought of a PR well behind me. Also, I had confirmation that morning that the Garmin is indeed kaput. After three years and more than 3000 miles, the display on it doesn't even come on. I'm hoping that i can hook it up to the serial port and get the last bit of data on it transferred to the desktop, at least, but I realized early Thursday that I had to go low-tech and run with only my sad little stopwatch, with no lap times or any other way to measure splits. So I was going in for fun and the t-shirt, pretty much (they always have great long-sleeved tees, which i pretty much live in from October to February), and wouldn't have any data to dissect later on. Which, really, let's face it, is half the fun of running!
So, after being nearly 80 on Wednesday morning, the temps fell almost 40 degrees in 24 hours, so that when I left the house Thursday, it was only 41,with a fierce wind. There's a stretch of the Turkey Trot course, early on in the first two miles, where we run along the highway, pretty much unprotected from the winds. I knew that wasn't going to be fun. I layered a tank with two long-sleeved tech shirts, and wore my number on the top one. I thought I might have to strip one off, and in retrospect, i should have pinned my number on the bottom one, but I decided that it might be cold enough that I could handle both layers. Mistake number one. Second mistake was taking it a bit too easy on the first couple of laps. I ended up passing the first mile marker at 11:00 and change on my watch, which just reinforced my thinking that a PR was out of reach. Right past the first water stop at the mile 2 marker, I had to pull off to the side and take the top two shirts off, then put the outer layer back on and tie the inner shirt around my waist (dumping it was NOT an option - this is the LS shirt that I've worn in all my marathons and I LOVE it!). That probably burned a good 30-40 seconds, since I was pretty much not in a rush or anything. Plus my hair came loose and I had to futz with the ponytail thingy for a bit.
I've done the 10k on this course probably three or four years now; I did the 5K instead a couple of years in there when Elder Child ran it with me before his foot problems waylaid him. Each time, the hills kill me. There aren't any big ones, just a lot of rollers that come pretty close together in the first 4.5 miles. These are always my bane, and I dread them. This year, I was able to handle them with ease, and passed several folks at each one. I think this is due to the inclines I hit when I run around Central Park. In any case, I was getting stronger the longer the race went on. I was having a blast, making sure to thank the police officers and course volunteers, and I was just clipping off the miles without much effort at all. Last year, when I had that PR and crossed at 1:02 and change, I thought I was going to puke I'd been breathing so hard and swallowing so much air. This time, I felt strong and relaxed, but was reeling more and more folks in the closer we got to the finish. I must have seriously boogied on the last four miles, since I was at 22 and change after I stopped to change shirts. So, I was very surprised to come across the street from to the finish and see 1:02:40 on the clock -- I had no idea I'd been going that fast for the second half of the race. Who knew?! I ended up crossing at 1:03:05, about 25 seconds shy of last year's time.
So I didn't PR, but hey, I had fun, and I felt good at the end. I was a little disappointed, but in the end, I decided that if I had that good of a time (for me) without really trying, I do have a 10K PR in me. But it was not to be that day. And that's OK. Really, it's OK. I went out to enjoy the day and that's what ended up happening. The weather turned sour later that day (witness the snow during the Cowboys game if you don't believe me!), but that morning, it was clear and brisk, and truly a glorious morning once we got warmed up and going. Right about mile 5, the sky was so bright and the day so crisp that I seriously got teared up, thinking about how lucky I was to be home, to be where I was that day, to be in good enough shape to enjoy the race and the atmosphere and to really be thankful for what I have. It was a good way to start the day, PR or not.
So, there. I missed the PR by about 5 seconds a mile. I spent too much and yet not enough time with the boys hanging out and snuggling and reconnecting. I didnt' do a whit of work more than was required. Not a bad week, if I do say so myself.
Gotta run. Almost time for Sex and the City re-runs on TBS. So sad, but they're the highlight of my evenings here in at the apartment. Sigh. Peace out!!
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