So I stepped WAY OUTSIDE my comfort zone on Monday and joined the running group at the new local running store (River Valley Running aka RVR). I’m new this thing and was excited but also nervous. I’m a slow fat runner; would there be other slow fat runners? Are they all going to be tiny marathon looking, speed demons?

Monday was the inaugural night so there were only 8 of us there…all skinny looking fast types. Crap! Eric came with me just in case this happened. He was my comfort. He was going to be slow and fat with me. So we broke up into two groups. Fast and slow. It was agreed that we would do 4 miles. I was hoping to do 3 but whatever. The fast group consisted of 5 people and the slow group was Eric, Amber and me. The first quarter mile we stayed sort of close together. But it wasn’t long before the fast group was gone. No big deal, I still had Eric and Amber. After about a half a mile, I could no longer keep up. Eric and Amber were running just under a 10 minute pace (yeah right “slow”) and I can’t run that fast for very long! Finally I just said screw it and let them go and I slowed down to a faster-than-normal-for-me pace of 12. Since I was no longer with a group my second mile also slowed down. But in my defense, I ran 7 miles the day before so I wasn’t on fresh legs. And secondly, I don’t start out my runs at under a 10 minute mile pace so I’m sure that had something to do with it too.

Yes, my “I’ll run with you” husband left me in the dust. So much for being my comfort! I spent mile 2 just pissed off. I vowed to never join a running group again. I am too slow and fat to be considered a “real” runner. I’ll just putz along at my pace and screw them all. During the third mile I saw that Eric and Amber were slowing down. I eventually caught up to them but I was still pissed off. I walked the last half mile to the store, grabbed my banana, water and eventually went home deflated. I was hoping that I could run with somebody but that wasn’t meant to be. Oh well back to solo training for me.  :(

Saturday is the Get Lucky 14K (8.7 miles). I will be running it by myself, at my pace and I don’t care.

The Viking March

Highlights from “Oliver”

Southern Hymn

Bond…James Bond

Irish Tune from County Derry

The March of 1941

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

Fantasy for Flutes

Tritsch-Tratch Polka

Chicago

Instant ConcertStars and Stripes

Runs: 14
Walks: 15
Miles: 51.23
Races: 1 (Valentine’s Day 5K)
Outdoors: 20
Indoors: 9
Longest: 5.5 miles
Average Running Pace: 12:46
Bike: 14 miles
Swim: 2.7 miles

Motivation was a problem in February. I even wrote about it in my “Running Blues” blog post on February 6th. The weather for the most part was great. The only really cold day was the day of the Valentine’s Day 5K…of course! I had some really good runs and then I had some really crappy runs. Hopefully March will bring more good runs. I have some long distance races coming up including a 14K in March and 15K in April. So a 5.5 mile run isn’t going to cut it for training the longer races.

I had a good month of swimming. I’m training for a triathlon in May so I try to hit the pool on Wednesday and Fridays and occasionally Saturday. I didn’t do so hot on the bike. I have a hard time on the trainer. It is like running on a treadmill, I hate treadmill. The bike trainer is the same sort of deal. Yes I can watch TV while riding but I’d rather be outside and actually moving. Oh well, I got to get used to it.

Leap Day

Well here we are, Leap Day 2016. I realized I haven’t been very active on the blog this month. My life hasn’t been that interesting. My running goes in phases of sucking and awesomeness. This weekend I had both on back-to-back days. Overall, right now I’m feeling terrible about my running. Eric thinks I have a mental problem not a physical problem. All I know is I want to run like I used to.

My swimming is improving. I’ve been going pretty religious to swimming. My 200 yard sprint is getting faster. I was able to do it 13 seconds faster on Friday compared to January. That is a win for me as I’m slow in the pool. I love swimming; I just wish I was faster. My bike is there as a constant reminder but I haven’t felt motivated to ride it. I’ve only been on it 5 days this month and those were all very short rides. I need to get out of this funk!

Eric had the flu all last week and was out of work for three days. Yes, three days!  It was bad. Fortunately, I got my flu shot so I didn’t catch it.  I took Friday off from work. I was looking forward to a nice day home alone but Eric was still sick so I got take care of him instead. I managed to get a great 4 mile run in at a great pace and swam 950 yards. I also watched 13 episodes of the new Netflix series Fuller House (a refresh of the old series Full House) and made a Special K bar. So delicious! I got zero housework down. Ha!

Saturday was supposed to be a great day. The weather was in the 50s with plenty of sunshine. I was looking forward to a great long run all week but my expectations were crushed. Firstly, I woke up with a massive back ache. I’m not sure if it was the swimming or the speed workout that did it but I was in pain. I fell asleep on the couch watch TV. I finally woke up around 10:30 and thought I better go for my long run. I got my running clothes on, my hydration belt and my beans and was out the door. I was so excited but I was in a lot of pain too. I started running and my legs wouldn’t move. I could walk just fine but running was almost impossible. I ran a quarter mile and thought to myself I should just go home and go back to bed. It was awful. I struggled for another 2.75 miles before I finally called it quits. My 7 mile run turned into 3 and a long mile walk home. I was so deflated while I was walking home. How am I going to run over 8 miles in two weeks? My back was hurting, my leg was hurting. I was just one big hot mess. Eric is right I have a mental problem. But also physical. I guess I need to rest.

Saturday night I went snow tubing with Greg, Celeste and Evelyn. Eric was still sick so he stayed home. It was so much fun. You really get some speed going down the hill. The weather was perfect (remember it was 59 degrees during the day). It was in the mid-40s by the time we were tubing. I actually had too many layers on and was getting a bit hot! Imagine that…in February!? We tube for about 2 hours. It was a blast!

Yesterday we met my mom, Mike, Linda and Alec in Menomonie for lunch and bike shopping for Alec. What a difference a day makes! Remember it was almost 60 degrees Saturday, well on the drive to Menomonie we drove in a snow globe…huge snowflakes and much colder weather. Our fun in the sun lasted one day.

Well my goal today is to run 2.29 miles for Leap Day (2/29). Hopefully I can manage that, but based on Saturday I will have trouble.