I Almost Got Tackled!

I got my ribbon in the mail yesterday!  Thank you
Tacoma City Marathon Association!!!

After the race last weekend I took 3 entire days off from working out.  It felt kind of strange and by Wednesday I was ready to resume my (almost) daily sweat sessions.  I am signed up to run the High Speed Pursuit Half Marathon on April 7th with Cynthia in Boise.  For those of you that don't know, she is my original running/racing buddy- and also happens to be my hubby's brother's significant other.  How awesome is that?  Except that they moved from Tacoma to Boise last year and now running together is a little bit more challenging.  So when I found a race during the week we would be visiting we decided we should go for it!

So excited!  Just wait until you see what we are going to wear!! 

I have been sneaking a few long runs in during my 5K training to prepare for the race, and yesterday I set out for a 12 miler.  My original plan was to head down to the trails at Point Defiance but there was this lovely ball of light shining in the sky so I opted to run where I could actually soak up some Vitamin D instead! 

A little more than halfway done.  Some lady stopped me here to tell me she liked my socks- they made me look like a Catholic school girl.  Um...thanks??  I was wearing my white RunLove socks with the pink heart.

I didn't worry about my pace at all, my only intention was to get a long run in and feel good about it.  And in the Boise race the final 3 miles are all hills (oh joy) so I made sure to find some doozy's around town and trudge gleefully run up them!
 

Overlooking the water where the race was last weekend. 
Hard to believe that it was so dark and freezing cold just 6 days ago!!

After my run I drank some Hammer Recoverite in strawberry.  It is not the greatest tasting thing in the world but I really think it helped me.  I ran from 11am-1pm or so and at 9pm played a full game of indoor soccer- literally- because there weren't any subs for the girls.  My legs felt really good and my energy level was actually pretty high.  It is true what they say- refueling properly after a hard workout is important! 

The elevation profile from my run and my daily mile post.  Love those hills!!!

I have created my own training plan of sorts leading up to the race in Boise.  It is over there ---------->  I know I said I was done with all the speed work craziness but I have found myself still using the Run Less, Run Faster training plan for the half marathons.  I enjoy the focus they provide and running only 3 days a week allows me to do all the other activities I also like to do.  And I am going bike shopping today so hopefully I can soon add that to my list of cross training activities!  Plus, I kind of like the idea that I am slowly but surely getting faster!

Oh, and here is the real reason I got that fancy PR last week:

You would run fast if somebody was trying to tackle you too!!!

Actually I had no clue that some guy was trying to pounce on me, I was too focused on not dying!!!

He missed!  I look down every time I cross the finish line- I am so worried about tripping
on those blue matts and falling on my face I can't help it!