PAUSE please

I need for someone to please press the Pause button for a few minutes. This running recap is so long overdue because these are literally the first free minutes I've had. My Google Reader was overflowing with your wonderful posts, which I'm getting to (!), and now I can turn to this.

Tuesday (4/13): After a busy day at work and playing with the babe, I was left to race against sunset to get my run in. So, foolishly, that's what I did. I just ran as hard as I could for a 2-mile loop around the neighborhood. It felt awesome, and I had a blast, but I payed for it later (read on).

Wednesday: Our regular track was out of commission for some needed repairs, so Meg, RunningFirst, our teammate AM and I decided to run the neighborhood around there instead. It seemed like we started out way fast but somehow our first mile was our slowest. We ended up doing 3.3 miles in 30:57 for a 9:20 pace. Not bad for an "easy" run.

Thursday, o-dawn-thirty, aka, the only time Meg and I could do our dress rehearsal: Meg and I met at 7am at a Meijer (the Midwest's improved version of a Wal-Mart), left one car there with Powerade, left another bottle of Powerade in a park along our route, then parked at our starting/stopping area. It was dress rehearsal time for the upcoming Illinois Half. How did it go? Good and bad.

Let me explain. One thing Meg and I have markedly improved on during this training cycle has been strategy for long runs. We have had at least 2 long runs at each mileage (2 8-mile runs, 2 10-milers, etc). Each time we've had a mileage hike, we've used the first time to ease into it, then the second time to really attack it at race pace. So, our 12-miler dress rehearsal was hard. Really hard, for me (thank you, Tuesday sunset run). But it was good. Why? Because we got through it, and fairly respectably at that. Because we now know what to expect of the course. Because we are now past our peak training run.

This week we run hard. Next week we taper. Then we race, May 1. The goal is to PR (2:06:09); the dream is to sub-2.

After our run we grabbed some breakfast before I dashed home to get cleaned up and drive 2 hours to pick up my mom (nickname: Pepper) from our nearest metro airport. The return trip was eventful, but that story is for another day (Meg is my hero).

Friday-Saturday: Mr. Joanna and I got up with the babe, got his day started with Pepper, then left for the 3 hour drive to our soon-to-be-hometown to go house hunting. I'm not ready to post details about the trip yet, but I will give you this. On Friday night we had dinner at an Italian place. For dessert I ordered 2 profiteroles. In France, 2 profiteroles makes a nice, reasonable dessert. Here in the obese U.S. of A., it's enough food to feed a family. Not that I'm complaining. We all know I'm a total sugar addict. Why do you think I run?!?

Sunday: We got back around 1 and found, to our great dismay, that Pepper had taken the babe to the grocery store. We couldn't wait to see him and practically smothered him in hugs when they got back. I got in an easy 3.9 miler that afternoon. It was good, even if just to loosen up. And bonus: the babe used his potty successfully THREE times (twice while we were gone, once after we got back) over the weekend. I realize that this may seem like TMI to those of you who don't have kids....

Monday: I took Pepper back to the airport, worked on some stuff around the house, and played with the babe until his bedtime. I got a picture of one of his recent quirks that I wanted to share. He routinely lines up all his trucks/trains when he plays with them. I love this. I also love that he puts them away when asked. He's a pretty orderly kid. And yes, that's a giant duck laundry hamper in the background.

Mileage:

193.2 + 2.0 + 3.3 + 12.2 + 3.9 = 214.7