23 more days...

until the dreaded 30th birthday! Ugh, I think reality is kicking in that it is going to happen, so I need to enjoy the final few weeks of my 20's in style! Blah!!! Really quick, here is a follow up on Dathan Ritzenhein's performance last weekend - absolutely amazing! Also, a post from Runners World talking about why GPS watches aren't necessary accurate to course mile markers - pretty much discrepancies from blocked signals from tall buildings and losing/gaining ground from excessive turns on a course.

Yesterday, woke up feeling better - took a ton of anti-inflammatories, and did minor stretching. Weather was overcast and cool - low 70's, just PERFECT for running, so dragged myself out to test out my groin and attempt a pace run. Groin was super tight, and had problems lifting my right leg so shorted my stride about 25% and kept going. This sounds like a radical solution, and not recommended but I have a pretty short stride as it is and almost feel like I'm shuffling my feet when I run so wasn't that big of a change. First mile, felt pretty comfortable, got into a good rhythm pretty quickly. Shocked to see a fast split, quite frankly. 2nd and 3rd mile, was cruising along, shouldn't feel this easy. Loosened up a little, still felt like I was dragging my right leg but no stinging pain like before. Coming back, realized why I was killing these splits - was running completely downwind first half, so kind of battled into the wind coming home. 5th mile, started to feel a little stinging sensation so eased up. Was laboring a bit, but felt strong for the most part. Last mile, battled some hills, hit it hard but let up the last 200 meters. Cooled down, stretched, more drugs. Total mileage: ~6.5 miles - splits were: 6:31, 6:35, 6:26, 6:32, 6:38, 6:25.

Went to a former co-worker's retirement dinner last night with Jared, actually got to hang out with him and his family a ton this weekend and got in some good quality time with his gorgeous daughters! Weekend was pretty laid back for the most part, and got caught up with rest which was nice.

So my pace run was more of a speed workout, but it didn't feel hard which was pleasantly surprising. I am a lot more strong at this point than I thought, but having an easier week probably helped a ton. Got in 38 miles this week (felt like 20 quite honestly), and hit all my runs according to plan! This week, another 50 mile week and another 20 mile run! But shouldn't be too bad, seeing we hit 22 the week before with no problems. Groin is a little tight today, but should be good to go on our easy 4 tonight.

Jared and I

Sophie playing with Lillian

Just adorable :)