Rainy Run and a very nice weekend

I've been wanting to write in my blog all of the latter part of last week but more important things kept getting in the way.

The 5K Plano Pacers prediction run results were posted last Wednesday. Our times were decent but nowhere close to what we predicted. It's obvious from the results that I wasn't trying too hard to make it a fast 5k.

http://www.planopacers.org/prediction_results/?m=09&y=08

Friday evening started out delightfully once I left work. The clouds in the sky and the gray cover was a sight to behold.

I was quite chipper and well rested for early Saturday run but the weather was humid as heck and I was tiring out quickly during the first half of the 14 miler. We did a couple of Winsted hill repeats and that was actually quite the "refresher" or shall I say "shocker" my legs needed. I had decent bit of energy left after that but into the 10th mile I was feeling it! The dreaded, how much longer feeling.

I didn't have any GU for this particular run and maybe that contributed to the low energy levels. Into the 10.5 mile or so down an uphill Brachfield Street and back onto the lake, the rain started coming down harder and that's when things started to turn around for me. I got my energy back and made a recovery out of nowhere. What helped was running with an energetic group of runners by my side, one in particular who challenged me to sprint to the upcoming water stop! Wow, that really got my adrenaline pumping. I beat her by just a hair. Overall, great run! Can't wait for TDF.

The rest of Saturday was just great! We did a group lunch for our Red 2 group at Panera and mmm the breakfast sandwich and soup was too good. It was nice to get the whole group together and the rainy weather just made the gathering that much more enjoyable.

I drove home in the rain. It started pouring when we left Panera but it was just the most beautiful overcast day. There were periods of breaks in the sky for some sky light. Gorgeous! I went home to relax for a bit but I had other things on the agenda.

I had to gear up for next Sat and I had a running skirt in mind. I called around and finally ended up at Luke's that afternoon in the market for a Nike running skirt. The ladies in the Luke's womens apparel dept are ever so helpful. I was just so happy that they had what I wanted in the color and size I liked. I am pretty proud of my purchase. I brought an old friend to Luke's with me and then I actually got him to go have a late lunch at Cosmic Cafe on Oak Lawn. It was pretty good but I was stuffed from the somosas and the rest of the very healthy veggie meal.

The rest of the day was unproductive but that's kind of exactly what I had planned for a Saturday.

Sunday was productive. I had a homework assignment due in Financial Accounting and it got accomplished. It was a bright and sunny day and I took a long nap in the middle of the day. Lovely.

Fun 5K and then 2 miles of more fun

I went out to Plano last evening to run a fun 5k with Bianca sponsored by the Plano Pacers.
It was a fun race, one of those where you have to predict your finish time with the course around part of the Chisholm Trail.
We ran and finished around 2 minutes faster than our predicted time of 31:46. Bianca was only 24 seconds behind me. My first race in months and month. It definietly got the adrenaline kicking!
I was happy with the results and the test run in the running skirt. The skirt gets me sweating more than running shorts would, but it's too cute to worry about now.

The race was fun and then we ran another 2 around the neighborhood.
The fun wasn't quite over quite yet.
After hanging with Mari, D&B; I decided to meet Jason and company at Martini Park at Legacy.
I had no idea my friend Jason had singing talents. He definietly got an ovation from the crowd. He sang Walking in Memphis and I think he sounded better than I've heard that song sung by any other artist.

I had a fun night and got some good running in. It's only Wednesday and the week is flying!
Excited that I get to do another 5 mile at the trail closer to home this evening!

Finally Monday evening!

The Financial Analysis midterm went pretty well. I was excited and nervous and ready to get it over with. I chatted with a guy in class as I got there about 30 mins ahead of test time. Who says you can't learn much right before an exam. I clarified all the confusion I had about what to record in an income statement. Whew! It actually appeared on the exam.

Now that I'm caught up in this course, I have the Info Systems course to get caught up in. Here is something amazing I learned in class tonight. Debt is good for corporations because it helps build leverage. I'll keep that in mind. Class was long and I was hungry. He covered all new stuff, mostly 10 thousand different ratios about how to assess financial statements. Funnest part was when he used calculus to explain the Price to Earnings ratio and physics to explain leverage. He's a cool dude!

I'm exhausted but its hard to go right to bed after coming home from the 4 hour class. I wonder if it rained out this evening while I was in class. I forgot to close the sunroof of my car and my seats got wet. :( and I missed a nice evening of running.

Tomorrow better be a nice day.

100 days left in marathon training

Yes, 100 days left in the White Rock marathon training program and roughly 100 days until marathon day. Maybe I should start following the training schedule? :) I was having this discussion with the other pace leader of our group around the end of the first mile yesterday. It was still dark out for the first 2 or more miles.

As we were chatting, I was realizing that I have to figure out how to run more times during the week. I've only been putting in 2 or 3 runs during the week and I should be running 4 to 5 times. I have a marathon goal finish time and that I probably should add another day of running in my weekday routine. Althought I like to think optimistic, I'm more of a realist. It doesn't bother me that I do what I can and I try hard for the most part. I like the schedule but I take a very liberal approach to it. Liberal meaning I don't usually even look at it except to see what's happening for Saturday run. I follow my mood during the week and usually end up doing 2 or 3 runs during the week. Lately, time has been a factor.

I just started gradudate school. Yippe! I'm a graduate student and so with working full-time and marathon training, the free-time is looking a bit sparse.
My first mid-term exam of this semester is tomorrow in the Financial Accounting course. So far, I think I know what's going on. I'm not that lost :)
5 chapters of accounting reading had to be crammed in the last few days since I just recieved my textbooks in the mail.

Ok, back to running. I shopped at Target today and was somehow inspired to buy a running skirt. I bought a bright yellow sports bra that I just had to have. It was on sale, $12! I'm pretty excited about the new running gear. I wore the running skirt while lounging around the apt today and then I wore it out to run errands. It's quite comfy.

Anyhow, I really need to be studying instead of blogging but I'm so sick of reading and doing review problems.
I'm ready for tomorrow evening!