W00T! Great run! We went to Greenlake to meet a friend who is visiting from Utah. I got there early so I could run. Saw a beautiful heron on the run and stopped for a photo op. He was just sitting on Turtle Log. Beautiful guy! What a blessing!

Finished well in advance of Lisa showing up. (Roy says I am not allowed to have any more friends named Lisa, so apparently I've hit my quota.) Could have run three more, but um...didn't need to.

Swam with a friend who is doing Danskin Sunday and was ready to drop out. She thought she'd take an hour to do half a mile. Roy and I took her out and she finished in 32:09! I did some extra because I (for once in my life) am faster than she is. Felt GREAT!

Took my friend Lisa and her family kayaking on Greenlake. GREAT time! It was their first time, so we all decided a nice quiet lake would be prudent. Everyone had fun and we got some "hard core" racing in. LOL!

Poor Roy has tired arms today, though because he had to kayak for 1 1/2 hours, then for another 1/2 hour when we swam. At least it was only a 1/2 hour swim. I would have gladly gone an hour.

Holy slowbee, Batman! Feeling sluggish. Should have taken a rest day.

Met Lisa at Redhook for a 12 mile run. Today was supposed to be 18, but I'm still tired from the HIM, so since Lisa proposed 12 I went with that. I also have been having horrible back pain lately, so it made more sense.

We ran two miles out to Wilmot Park and met Jenny and then we all ran and talked the entire time. Good fun! I love running with friends! We did 5:11. I can tell Jenny wasn't hip to that jive, but I just couldn't NOT do that today. Normally 12 miles wouldn't be an issue, but day-yum my back was KILLING me! It didn't really release until about mile four, but by the time we were done it was a lot better.

Pretty happy with the pace, considering run/walk!

So to deal with my back pain we have moved the big easy chair into the office. LOL! It looks ridiculous, but if I sit upright and work on the computer it KILLS me even if I get up and move every 15 minutes. It is fine if I work on the laptop in the livingroom, but all my stuff is on my main computer and I have a LOT of website stuff to do setting up my second year program. The easy chair reclines and has lumbar support, so I look like the laziest nerd in the world!

Wasn't feeling hot on the way out, but was fine on the way back. I think I've figured it out. Yesterday and today I took Aleve for my back before going on a run and both days I had lightheadedness.

I had my half marathon class this morning, but no takers. Bummer. I'm not going to give up, though. It was pouring down rain and three papers I submitted an entry to in the community section didn't put them in. So I made sure to re-send them again last night (one had called me and said it would go in this week). If it doesn't work, no problem. I'll probably do some sort of free clinic to establish a name, plus it will free me up to go to a running coach clinic in Portland (and maybe run the marathon).

So afterwards I ran to Starbucks and was wearing my "26.2 and still smiling" shirt. A lady commented on it and we got to talking. She's a walker and was thrilled when I told her that you can walk a marathon or half marathon. I told her about the Seattle Rock and Roll and that I'd be doing a training program for that, as well as some other 5k classes before then (I decided not to mention the current one for now). She took my card, as did another lady who overheard us talking and was interested...so maybe there's a reason I needed to be there instead of running with others.

Who knows? I know that I am definitely going to do a training program for RnR starting in February. I'll have plenty of time to advertise. I threw this one out really fast because I didn't want to advertise until I had my license and my liability insurance. Live and learn! Nothing ventured, nothing gained so I'm not going to stress. I was disappointed, but not dramatically so.

Man I did NOT feel good on this run at all. I think I'm still tired from Sunday, plus last night I ran hard at the track meet. Roy and I drove to Sbux and had breakfast (I was hoping to see a girl who had expressed interest in the marathon class, but she wasn't there.) I ran home and he went to school to get stuff done. I think it was part cranberry orange scone and coffee, part legs being tired, and part heat. Oh well...whatevahs.

I might make my long run Sunday be just 12 miles and do 18 next weekend. I'm not sure my legs will speak to me if I attempt 18 on Sunday.

3k at the track meet. Not last in this one, either. They messed up the counting of laps, which was funny. I knew I hadn't been lapped by a lady who finished just ahead of me, but my counter wasn't counting (and neither was I) so rather than stop, I kept going. When they realized I should have been done, someone ran across the field to tell me and I said "No problem, I'll just finish the lap." They ran back and one of the timers said to Roy "Does she know she can stop running?" He said, "Oh, she does that. If you don't tell her to stop, she'll run forever." Ha! So my "official" time was 13:58. But honestly I think the lady in front of me was shy a lap. I think I was right because of the distance.

Oh well! It was fun. I won't get to do next week, but for sure I'll do all the ones next year!

Jogger's Mile and I won a shirt! You tell them what you think your finishing time will be for a 1600, and if you're within 3 seconds, you win a shirt. I predicted 7:50 because last week I was 7:41 and my 800 time was slower than last week. I finished in 7:48! Not last on this one!

800 race. I was last...pffft. But oh well, still a fantastic pace for me. Plus I don't think anyone else did a 70.3 on Sunday.

Ran nice and slow because I knew I had the track meet tonight.

Long slow swim (LSS). Just fishing around at the pool. One thing that was semi-frustrating was that they were having swim lessons. This pool has three pools (a kiddie pool, med pool, and a big 12ft deep pool). It was open for lap swim, and often there are also lessons going on in the middle pool and one or two lanes of the big pool, but this time they were going on crosswise (the short way) across the big pool, so I'd have to turn before getting to the wall. Irritating because you do pay to do lap swim and, I feel, there should be at least a few lanes open for lap swimming if they're advertising and taking your money for a scheduled lap swim.

But oh well! Roy joined me and swam for about 20 minutes. He told me later he couldn't believe how tired he was after the swim. Yup! It does tend to wear you at first because, I think, new swimmers don't breathe right and are so tense about being in the water. I gave him some drills to do just to get used to swimming (breathing drills at first, some kick drills). He's very very trepiditious about swimming, but I'm proud that he's trying.