The best plans....

Hey guys! How's the weekend going??? We've had......better.

Thursday night we did a 6 mile run outdoor. Not really wanting to deal with traffic we did 4 laps at the hospital and then the mile to and from our house to make the course 6. I had had a work induced headache all day, so we took the pace nice and easy. It was a chilly night, but beautiful. The stars were out in full force and in the lesser lit areas of the path you could really enjoy them. As we got moving I felt my form strengthening and just enjoyed the feeling of a good run. It was even nice to see the annoying woman was walking her enormous lab on a leash! Score to us. Once we were warmed up we picked up our pace on each lap, and finished in less than an hour (by a few minutes.)

Friday is a rest day, and we were pretty lazy so we didn't do much last night. We went out to eat at a local restaurant that has the BEST cheese biscuit/muffins. They're shaped like little muffins and have the lightest, meltiest taste. We ordered a half dozen for an appetizer and I also had an awesome Greek salad with my meal. When I went to get my second biscuit I noticed there was only one left!! Brent had eaten the rest of our half dozen. So beware, he's a biscuit stealer. I had the baked BBQ chicken and we ended up absolutely, grossly stuffed. We came home, relaxed on the couch and watched Project Runway from earlier in the week. It was nice to just kick back and do NOTHING.

This morning I set my alarm for 7.30, got up at 8.30 and then heated some water up for our pre-run oatmeal. Today's run was to be 8 miles, so I only ate one packet of oatmeal. Too strange!! Just as we sat down for breakie Brent howled out in pain. Major neck spasm. That was around 9 am and he's been in pain ever since. I tried to massage it out, no luck. He tried a hot shower, no luck. We got the heating pad out and he's had that on his neck ever since. About this time my stomach decided that BBQ chicken was not a good thing. And man, it was not a good thing. I went out for my run, not really feeling too good and worried about Brent at home. When I left Pippin was sitting an inch from his foot, staring intently at him. I had visions of Pippin jumping in B's lap when I left and mercilessly licking his face with poor, defenseless B unable to move.

I ran out from our house, and up about .6 miles to a newer subdivision with sidewalks. It has some fairly nice elevation to it, so it's a good training run. I ran through it, skidding through a big section of mud last night's rain had deposited on the sidewalk. Of course the weather today was sub par. As a result of last night's storm, the temps have been steadily falling tonight. It was 45 with a 'feels like' of 38 and annoying 13 mph winds. Blah. I was running in my Miami shorts, with my Miami shirt on under a long sleeve tech shirt. Once I was warmed up I felt fine, but I wished I had my earwrap on! I wore a cap just in case it rained, and some of the wind gusts were so strong and miserable I had to literally hold onto my hat. I am desperately sick of winter!! From this subdivision I had planned to run over to a subdivision with some serious hills, but right about this time I had round 2 of never eat the BBQ chicken again. I decided the smarter move would be to head over to the neighborhood park restrooms. So, at mile 2.3 I took a potty break. I instantly felt MUCH better (thank goodness for neighborhood parks - it's this small area with a few swings, a small Bskt Ball court, .25 mile walking track and a nice bathroom!!!). Instead of pressing my luck on some serious hills I headed up a stretch of sidewalk we rarely run. I ran it uphill to its end and then enjoyed the downhill back before I headed over to the hospital. I only had to do one lap at the hospital and then headed back home to make my 8 miles complete. I ran most of the run at marathon pace, and picked up the last 2 miles a bit. It was so strange when I realized this is my LAST long run before Miami!! Very weird. It made me strangely sentimental for the whole training process and all the blood, sweat and tears I've put into it. It's been a long, crazy road and it's hard to believe the marathon is just a week from tomorrow!

Waiting for me in the email box was a note from David. He was nice enough to scout out an Italian restaurant for our carb loading celebration in Miami. I can't wait!!

When I got back Brent was just where I'd left him. He's never had neck spasms like this, so I looked up on the internet what to do. Some people suggested icing, so we've tried that and he's asleep now in the bed. We've also done some icy hot and Aleve. If anyone has any suggestions let us know!

I think I may be the last person in the world to do their 2006 goals, so I may work on that in a bit. Have a great rest of the weekend and good luck to anyone who may be racing this weekend!

Rachel

Exercise-
Thursday - 1 mile am walk with Pips, 6 mile outdoor run w/Brent, 20 minutes toning/stretching focus: abs
Friday - 1 mile am walk with Brent and Pips
Sat - 8 mile run