Trick or Treat Trail Race

This might have been the most fun race I have ever participated in.  Thank goodness I asked my friend to join me, or I couldn't have done it.  It is just plain scary to be out on trails in the dark!  I don't care how good your head lamp is.  We could hear critters rustling in the bushes along the trail.  And the thing we didn't know?  We did not know that we had to cross a river twice !  through water up to our knees!  In the dark!  HOLY CRAP!  

It was the coolest thing ever.

We won a prize for the best team name.  Her last name is Knight.  My first name is Mary.... so our team was --- drum roll----

KNIGHT-MARE.

We had shirts made and everything.  It was so fun.

Four miles in the dark through a river a couple of times and tripping over rocks and roots, our time was abysmal.  

But I am absolutely certain I have never enjoyed a race so much!

Does raking leaves count as cross training?

I raked leaves this morning - that is a lot of work and I think it is my workout du jour.  Now I am making apple butter.  Making apple butter is a very long process.

I am very excited about P.F. Chang's and it has really energized my training.  I am, so far, uninjured, and I feel good.  I don't know why, but my pace per mile has decreased by approximately a minute.  Honestly, I don't know why - except that I am not in pain as I have been almost 100% of the time for the last 2 years.  

Tomorrow I will run 6 miles again.  Next week I will try increasing it to 7 miles.  That will be over half a half.  Yay!

All Set to Rock 'n' Roll...

I am registered for the race.  I have my airline tickets.  I have a room.  The room was WAY cheaper than I imagined.  I am so excited.

So I went and bought a new Nike + thing yesterday to go with the new iPod I bought 2 weeks ago.  On this morning's 6 mile run, it kept stopping.  I have no clue what that is about because my old one never did that.  It was also extremely incorrect, so I will have to calibrate it with my garmie.  

The 6 miles was good this morning.  I threw in some hills.  And some trails.  And some nice smooth paths.  It was good.  My times are getting better for some reason, not real clear on why.  Maybe I am just happy to be running after all the injuries I have had in the last year.  This is the first time I have run more than 5 miles at a time since June.  I hope I can just keep increasing the mileage.  I would like to get up to running 13.1 or more on my training runs, and then maybe the half won't feel so hard when I do it. 

I did it!

I am registered for the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll (half) Marathon in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe, Arizona!  Yay!  I am very excited about this.

I called a friend today.  She is older than I am, retired, and very sensible with her money.  I asked her how extravagant she thought it was for me to do this.  She just said "hell, you spend more than that on one outfit!"  Well, she does have a point there.  

All I needed was one more person to tell me to do it... and I registered. I am so excited.  I took the full page ad (with the $10 off coupon) from the Runner's World Magazine and hung it in my office, just behind my computer.  

I have my flights picked out... early Saturday morning and then Monday afternoon.  

All I have to do is figure out where to stay.  Running Knitter suggested the Four Points by Sheraton in Tempe.  Java Mom was going to drive by there tonight to see what she thinks. 

Oh!  I am so so so so so excited!

Any tips on where to stay?    I would like to stay south of $200. a night.... and in Tempe...

OK, gotta go watch the debate.

Arizona Dreaming...

What the heck is the matter with me?

On Sunday I was trying to be responsible and not pay to go to Phoenix for the PFChang thang.  But I WANNA.  I hope to talk with Java-Mom tomorrow to get some hotel advice.  I am looking for a cheap hotel that isn't disgusting.  

This is hard because I have only been to Phoenix once - and I have no clue.  The race runs through three cities.  Apparently Tempe is the place to stay?

I don't know.

Maybe tomorrow I will post all about my plans to run this race in January.  I really, really, want to.

And a small disclosure:  My psychologist thinks I really ought to do this.  If I were to ask my financial planner, I bet he would not concur.  But I did not ask my financial planner.  

So Conflicted...

Today on my run, I saw many beautiful things along the trail.  But the sight above really struck me.  Somebody stood and tied many cottonwood leaves individually onto the fence.  This trail runs through a touristy mountain town for a while... it is fenced off from the restaurants and bars.   I imagined that last night a couple stood in this parking lot, breaking up.   The woman stands and in an effort not to make a scene, picks up leaves from the ground and ties little knots into them onto the little bars of this fence.  Okay, so I have a vivid imagination.  

Money.  I want to go to Phoenix for the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll (half) Marathon in January.  But let me tell you, I also WANT new hardwood floors in my house, which I plan to do in January.  I WANT a new car.  I WANT to go to Europe in 2010.  I WANT, I WANT, I WANT.  Where do you draw the line in the sand, and just say - well, I may WANT to go to Phoenix in January, but that is money I do not NEED to spend.  Hell, what do I know?

I am training for something.  I ran 5 good miles this morning.  I felt good.  I plan on running 6 miles next Sunday, and keep training until I am ready to run a half-marathon again.    I just don't know what I am doing.  Why can't there be a race in Colorado in January - that is a rhetorical question - I know why... start with ice, snow, sub-zero temperatures, and add from there.  

Head Lamp

I registered for the Trick or Treat Trail Run race on October 29.  It is a night race on trails.  I purchased a head lamp so that I can illuminate the rocks and roots and not get hurt.  I am very excited about this race, which has motivated me to get out and run this week.  

Today I also looked up airfares and hotels to get to P.F. Chang's RnR in Phoenix.  I might just do this!   The airfare is not expensive and I can find cheap hotels.  I just have no clue what part of town one should stay in.  Many of you live in this area, and many others are planning to run it.  Any suggestions?