I'm back from vacation!

First, can I say how much I missed you guys? I felt totally out of the loop while I was away and I didn't like it at all! I did well with my training though; I got in all but 2 or 3 days of running or cross training, but I was very active the whole time (cleaning out my mom's house, taking my friend's dog on long walks, playing a lot with small children). I did both of my long runs and did them well, except for some sunburn which I didn't plan for (duh). I ate a whole lot of junk food and enjoyed it very much at the time but I'm feeling unhealthy now and anxious to get back into my routine. Overall, my trip was good and I enjoyed being with my friends and family again. I miss them and St. Louis in general very much. Boo hoo! But now back to the swing of things here...

Of course I'm absolutely swamped at work and am still trying to dig out. I've been slowly catching up on blogs and have about 50 to read still. I'll get through them but I probably won't comment as much. Sorry guys but I'm overwhelmed.

And today I'm feeling VERY guilty. I did my weekend long run on Sunday and haven't run since. I did not crosstrain on Monday since I drove for 7 hours and I turned off the alarm yesterday and this morning too, and I hate myself for it. I have GOT to get up tomorrow and run or else I'll be crawling my 11 miles on Saturday. I've set another alarm to go off tomorrow so that should help. I'm just exhausted and need to rest but need to run also. I cannot wait for Saturday as that day will be the start of my serious training again! I'm needing it, bad! Seeing all you guys will help tremendously too! Can't wait!

Christa

Going out of town

I will miss the next 2 group runs and I hate it! I'm heading to St. Louis (home up until 2.5 years ago) for vacation and I must say I am a bit nervous about getting in my training while I'll be there. I'm concerned that I will have a difficult time making myself do it, even though I know I MUST do it and right now I WANT to do it. I'll just have to keep telling myself that I will ONLY HURT MYSELF if I don't do it!

I've had the work week from hell and with getting ready to go on vacation at work and at home I haven't had much time to blog and to respond to blogs. Sorry guys! And I won't be able to check blogs or write blogs while I'm gone so I guess this is goodbye until I return from my trip on Memorial Day! I will miss you all over the next couple weeks. Keep up the great work all and I promise I will do my best to do the same!

Addicted to running!

Never have I ever said that or even thought I would ever say it! I don't even like running! I've ALWAYS been athletic (off and on mostly, but basically always) but I've never enjoyed running, that is until now. I tried it in my 20's but I only got up to 3 miles at a time and it really wasn't fun. I stopped after only a couple months. But now I can hardly contain my excitement for my new favorite hobby! I think I even had an out of body experience this morning. I was just running along, forcing my legs to keep moving when they desperately wanted to stop, and my mental being just left my physical body for a few seconds. It was weird, but I liked it! Was that the runner's high I hear so much about?

Saturday was soooo much fun and I was running like a machine that day! I don't know what got into me (I think it was the Monster-I only drink it on Saturday mornings--it REALLY helps), but Kim started me out on a really fast interval, and that set the pace for my whole run. I did 1.5:1 and I finished in less than 2 hours. That was the best I'd ever done and the strongest I'd ever felt. It was wonderful! Thank you so much Kim! Of course, I must admit that I am wiped out for the rest of the weekend every weekend after my runs. I took a 3 hour nap Saturday afternoon and I took 2 naps on Sunday! (Feeling back to my usual self now though!) Saturday's route was treacherous at times (breathtaking at others) and the hills were killers. Two of our MMers, both named Christy, took spills and have sprained ankles. Hope you guys are healing speedily! Clark, you are so awesome and it is so fun to have you out there with us on wheels. Thanks for sticking with us! It wouldn't be the same without you!

I gotta tell the girls about my new favorite running attire: the skirt! They are so comfortable and they prevent that feeling of having a rolled up newspaper between your legs that we females get from shorts that bunch up. I highly recommend a skirt to every girl, and to the guys too if you dare!

By the way, those of you who drive a Honda or an Acura, I highly recommend The Carshop that Jana blogged about. For the first time in my life I feel like I am being treated fairly by a mechanic! They are wonderful and I even had a nice chat with the owner about how people, mostly females, get ripped off by car places. The owner even told me that he left a certain dealership, which will remain nameless unless you really want to know, to open his own place because he was tired of people getting ripped off. How priceless is that?!!!

Keep on moving forward ya'll running your own races. We are marathoners and I can't imagine there is anything else we'd rather be!