Time Slides By

It has been some time since I've blogged.  Many things have happened in that time so this blog will be somewhat of a summary of life after October 7th when I last posted.

I officially started training for the Rock and Roll Vegas Half Marathon.  Many of my runs Terry joins me even though his training plan is a bit different than mine.  My hard days (Tuesday) are killing me.  Running at 90% effort is tough when you do it for a longer distance 6-7 miles at this point.  Wednesdays are moderate runs (50 - 70% effort).  These are easier but coming off of Tuesday they seem tough.  My long runs are up to 13 miles now and sometimes she has me do an easy/hard run so that the first half is more like a long warm up and the second half is like a race.  I actually enjoy those and seem to do well.

The week after the 7th I found myself flying to Minneapolis, MN for personal reasons.  I cannot really go into the reason for my visit there, I left on Thursday very early in the morning and returned home late on the next Monday.  While there I did have the opportunity to do some exploring and running around the many lakes and beautiful trails.  Wow! It was amazing to run there and I will write more about this specifically when I can.  There are so many trails that you can get through the entire city and to St. Paul without ever leaving a path.  And they have the paths for bikes separated from the path for walking/running.  I met some very nice runners who helped me to get my bearings and that is when I began my organic revival.  Yeah you got that right!  We are now eating as organically as possible as well as cutting out sugar where we can (especially added sugars), and also working on eating gluten free.  The gluten free is not critical for us but it is part of the "eating clean" way of life.  Basically lots of organic protien and veggies with fruits on the side.  I was feeling very good and having more energy and then...

I came home, ate pretty well, and Terry and I flew out to South Carolina where we spent a few days with our son's future in-laws.  They are so much like us it's uncanny.  We have a wonderful time together and can't wait to get together again.  They too are normally healthy eaters but when company comes we all eat poorly and what do you expect in South Carolina?  Especially up in the mountains away from the cities where southern food is really SOUTHERN!  We ate and ate and ate, lots of fat, sugar, and yummy things.  I had to do an 11 mile run while there and happen to be in Clemson SC that day so I ran there.  Clemson is not a big place so it took a few loops around campus and town to get my miles in.  Very hilly, but an awesome run in the rain and 48 degree weather.  Then we moved to Anderson, SC which is where Gin's parents live.  They are runners/swimmers as well so we ran together 6 miles on Monday.  They live in a beautiful area and although very hilly the running was amazing.  48 degrees or so and sunny, perfect!  Terry and I then ran on Wednesday too before heading out to Greenville for awhile and then to the airport.  While there we saw the church for the wedding, the reception venue, and booked the rehearsal dinner at Table Rock Lodge.  Things are moving along quickly.

We got home late on Wednesday night, cross training on Thursday, 5 easy on Friday, cross on Saturday and yesterday Terry ran 11 and I ran 13 in Weatherford on the Rails to Trails (one of our favorite places) and then had a big breakfast at our favorite diner there.  Today I swam and will do yoga, tomorrow is another hard run day...sigh...I dread those days.

My knee is holding up. It swells in the back and that part hurts but not while running so I am hoping it will get used to the hard work and quit swelling at some point.

Now you are up to date.  Hopefully my posts will be a little more entertaining now that I'm back.