So far (this week)...

...so good. Last Sunday I did an 8 mile run on lots of hills. Man, it felt good to run long. It sounds funny to call 8 miles "long", but it's the longest run I've done in quite a while, actually. It was hot, but it felt good. I got in no hurry, and only averaged 10 minute miles, but it was a good, mind clearing, "yes I can still run more than 6 miles" run. My quads were a little sore on Monday, so I rested.I had planned on swimming Monday night, but Holly came over and we opted for shopping on the internet for a new road bike. Man, I am in LOVE with the Orbeas. But they really are racing bikes, and I have a racing bike. I need a climbing bike.

Tuesday I met a whole crew of people at the rec center at 5:30 a.m. for an early morning ride. As I rode into the parking lot the cyclists were swarming around like bees!! You wouldn't believe how many people are riding these days, compared to a year ago. Very encouraging. We rode the Star Triathlon route, and then I rode on home and got ready for work. I did manage to get a swim in that night - about 7:45 the boys and I decided to get on our swimsuits and head to the pool. The boys played while I swam laps and tried to get my feel back for the water.

Wednesday I met Michele at the rec center at 4:45 a.m. and we did our usual 4 mile tempo run in 35:29, and then we went to Cindy's toning class. The class was good as usual, and I added an extra half lap(63) of lunges afterwards since I have been eating too much chocolate and twizzlers lately. Gotta cut that out. I also managed to get swim class Wednesday night. It was a little different this time. Ashley took all the lane ropes down and made us swim in circles and against each other so we could used to looking, sighting, and dealing with swimming in a crowd. Whew...I was just glad I escaped without injury! I am so bad at sighting. I just can't seem to do it like she tells us too. And I feel like it messes up my rhythm, so I don't like to practice it. I guess that's no excuse, though.

Then this morning Holly and I had planned on taking a stab at MTB trails on the Air Force Base again. I was gung-ho about it at 9:30 last night when we made the final plans, set the meeting time for 5:20 a.m., and said goodbye. But somehow between 9:30 p.m. and 4:35 a.m. when my alarm went off, I turned into a chicken. I got scared we were going to get lost. My printer cartridge is out of ink, and I wasn't able to print out the map. So I call Holly at 4:55:

"Uh...Holly, have you left yet?"

Holly: No, but I'm about to."

Me: Oh ok, well, I just wanted to let you know I wasn't able to print that map out. My cartridge is out of ink.

Holly: Oh. Ok. Are you wanting to back out?

Me: (hoping she's wanting to back out) Well, no. I just don't wanna get lost again, ya know. What do you think?

Holly: Well, I don't wanna get lost either, but we could try it.

Me: Yeah, yeah, we could try it. Do you think we can make it?

Holly: Well, I don't know. What to do you think?

Me: Whew...I don't know. (I'm even too chicken to ask if we can just go back to bed!LOL)

Holly: Well, we can try it.

At this point it's obvious that she's not going to offer me the option of going back to bed. And I won't be the first to say it, either, so we decide to head on out. I get ready, put my bike up on the roof rack and take off. I get about a half mile down the road and remember that I left the front wheel in garage. U-Turn in the highway, go back and get the weel and skewer. I finally make it to the AF Base, and we get started. We studied the map that was posted there for a while, and thought we had a good route to ride. But we got back in there about 3 miles and it didn't exactly look like we had planned, so we turned it into an out and back to ensure we didn't get lost. I got covered in spider webs on the way out, so I was happy to have already knocked them down during the trip back. It didn't seem like too much of a workout because we were really more concerned with finding the right way than getting up our heart rate, but it was a productive ride in that we learned more of those trails. The next time, I think we can do more of it and almost actually know what we are doing.

On my way home, it was evident that Bonnaroo is now here. The interstate was lined for miles with cars waiting to get into the festival. It made me a little bit excited to see all the people and everything. Holly got J.T. and I tickets for the event this year, so we'll actually, legitimately get in this year. Our main goal is to take Briar to see The Police. After getting Guitar Hero, he became a fan because he loved playing "Message In a Bottle". I enjoy seeing and meeting all the different kinds of people that show up for Bonnaroo. I have a little bit of an alternative side to me anyways...and if I wasn't a 30 year old mom of 2 kiddos, I'd be right there camping in the midst of them.

I don't think I'm going to do anything major tomorrow. I'm a little short on sleep this week, and my legs feel sore from the lunges and toning class. I'd like to go do the Moon Pie 10 Miler Saturday, but I'm not in 10 mile racing shape, so I don't know if I will or not. I might just go do it and run with some friends and not try to push it. Then again, I might be doing good just to keep up with them. Or I might just run my own 10 mile run and skip the entry fee.