interrupting the crickets here...

hi there. still here. still running. Had a great long run this weekend with the training group -- 8 miles along the trail, culminating in the hill at the end. And this time, even though I'd given myself all of December to make it up without walking, I was able to crush it, to run it the whole way. Was I running fast? Um, no, but I ran it, no stopping, no walking. I would have let out a huge "wahoo" at the end, but there are people in these big houses that probably were still sleeping, so I just laughed and jumped around when I reached the crest of it. It was awesome! And especially since I'd just finished a two-mile section in 20:21, so we had been booking it just prior.

Total time for the run was 1:26:14, for an average pace of 10:47. Splits below are for two-mile segments, since we had mile markers only every two miles at the water stops and then at the turnaround:

Segment 1: 21:15
Segment 2: 21:23
Segment 3: 20:21
Segment 4: 23:10 (includes hill)

After that, the whole family headed out to the big Scout camporee up in Fort Worth for a family campout. We missed last fall's camping trip since we were in NYC that weekend, and TDP DinoBoy only did the day trip for the spring trip, so this was our first foray into camping. We had a borrowed tent and only one true sleeping bag between us (tons of blankets and a couple of thick sleeping pads the boys use when they spend the night at Grandma's, though). The tent was HUGE and we had to tie it to the truck to keep it from tumping over in the winds, which were gusting up to 40 mph in the afternoon while we were trying to set it up. But it was nice and spacious. The boys spent all afternoon traipsing around all the activities, from the rifle range, to the human foosball course (hilarious!), to the marshmallow guns and bounce houses. We had made chili, so that was our evening meal with the pack -- a couple of other families had made some, so we had that with cornbread, potato salad and crackers, and baked beans. Afterward, there was a talent show and fireworks, and before you knew it, it was time for bed. Except that the temperature dropped very quickly to about mid-thirties, which is way too cold for us Texans to be out in a flimsy nylon tent. We froze! Elder Child got up in the middle of the night and crawled into the back seat of the truck, so I think he had the best sleep of all. It was very fun, but exhausting, especially after that workout.

So, there you go, that was the highlight of the weekend for me -- making it up the hill and freezing my arse off in the tent, all in the same day. I'm in Boulder again this week, where the weather is mercifully warmer than in Texas, so I'm looking forward to a great run this evening, with temps in the 50s even when the sun goes down. Should be awesome. We start ramping up the weekday mileage this week, with a 4-miler thrown into the mix instead of just the 3-milers we'd been doing. Then next week, we have the Turkey Trot 10K -- that is always a blast even if it is always flipping cold that day. Anyhoo, gotta blast -- have a great day!