Sooooooooooo close!

*pulling hair out!*
TWENTY-ONE Seconds!!!! Twenty-one BLASTED seconds off of a new PR!
The Lyndon Ellefson Half marathon was this morning and Julie and I met at the registration booth. She, unfortunately, had a VERY early morning in order to make the start at 7:30. She was on the road by 5:00, while *I* was able to sleep until 5:30. (hee-hee). The weather was ALMOST ideal....overcast and low 60's. And I say ALMOST because for much of the course, there was a cross-breeze/wind just enough to make a runner realize it was there.

Okay....okay.....quick run-down. Miles 1&2 we were averaging 9:40's, mile 3 9:50 (cross-breeze). Mile 4-5 slowed down to about 10:15's----both had some hills, with a LONG SLOW climb for much of mile 4. Mile 6 was mostly a coast, UNTIL the turn-around point. And then....BAM! Full wind pushing against us along with a slow climb for about 1/4 mile. Yada-yada....2 climbs at mile 8, and at that point I said ....."UGH! I think we're losing our 10's as a goal-grrrrrrr---but we can easily make 10"30's......so let's just do what we can."

Then amazingly as we came into mile 10, the clock ticked 1:40----right on 10's!!!!!!!!!!! Ooooo.....we STILL had a chance of making 2:11:00 (10 min/mile average). However, the same wind that hit us at the 6.5 turn-around hit us AGAIN as we took a final turn coming into mile 11. AND not only did we have a full-force wind pushing against us, we saw a Lonnnnnnnnnnnng, sloooooooooow climb ahead of us for almost the entire mile from 11 to 12. *sigh*.......if ONLY the wind wasn't there I KNOW we could have made a new PR (2:11:30 current PR). My (our) legs just didn't have enough to push up that hill against that wind AND have something left to push through the final mile at 8:50, which is what would have had us finish right at 2:11:00. Instead, our final mile ended up being 9:41 to have us finish with 2:11:51 as a final time. Soooooooooooo close!!! But we just couldn't make up what we lost on Mile 11 (which I think we did in 11:15). *frustrating sigh*. Oh well----I really am okay with our time------it was better than my time last year on this course (2:14:31).

The scary thing-----LOOK AT THAT PIC OF ME! Oh my goodness.....you see those crow's feet ?!??!!?!? *giggle* Alright, alright....maybe I'm just smiling too hard/!??!!?!? Will that excuse work for you? :0) The pic on the right is of Sarah, who ran the Birkie Monster last weekend too. She finished in about 1:58 or 1:59 today----I didn't check the posted result times and I they aren't published online yet. BUT I KNEW she'd be able to run sub-2:00 based on her time last weekend.

After showering and eating, Julie and I hit the road and spent most of the day shopping. We both coughed up some $$$$ for a new pair of shoes (actually, I bought TWO pairs with both being on sale... so I essentially got 2 for the price of 1.) We both NEEDED new shoes! She's on year THREE for her shoes, and with the amount of miles I've put on in the past two months, my shoes have worn holes in the toes and on my left heel. I hit the jack-pot of sales on clothes and walked away with 4 pairs of knee-shorts, which I had SWORN I would never wear, but they were comfortable and ONLY $3.00 EACH!!!!! How could I pass them up?!?!? I also hit the sales racks for Cassie for next summer since most of the sales are on the going-out-of-season-summer clothes. Her Birthday is coming up in November, so I'm going to set most of them aside until then.

Julie and I parted our ways at 3:30 and I was home by 4:00 with FULL intentions of lacing up for another 6 miles. (That marathon is two weeks away and this is my last chance to log the long miles). *chuckle*....but I made a boo-boo! I told myself...."just 10 minutes....just 10 minutes" and I put my head down (on the bed). *grin*...the next thing I knew it was 85 minutes later!!!!! So, the 6 miles didn't quite happen, but the nap felt good! I have to mentally prepare to get my butt out on the road tomorrow though so some slow, EZ miles.

Anyway----I don't think I'll be heading downstairs tonight. There is a "House" marathon on USA-----I LOVE that show! What a sarcastic, pompass, arrogant character------I love him!

Oh.....that's right....one final comment! When I got out of the shower this morning, I suddenly wondered what my weight was. I haven't been on a scale in well over a month, and with all the miles I've been logging lately, my pants have been sliding down a bit more if I don't tighten up my belt. Holy POOPERS!!!!!! For most of the summer, I had been toggling between 130 and 135. :0) ONE-TWENTY-FOUR this AM! Whoa-----I wasn't expecting it that low! But dropping those 5 pounds really does wonders to racing times! I remember reading an article in Runner's World last year or the year before that gave a calculation. Something like, for each 2 pounds dropped, 5 seconds per mile should easily be able to be dropped. Angela----have you heard that or know the exact numbers???

Happy Saturday everyone!