Happy Valentine's Day
To tell you the truth I've never much liked Valentines day. For years and years I was single on the holiday and I spent many oh' Feb 14th's at a bar with my girlfriends on "D-Day."
I actually remember the first Valentines day with Shane.... I took him to The Cheesecake Factory. He had never been there? Who has never been to Cheesecake Factory? We only have like 3 or maybe 4 now here in town. And, that was even before I knew what a dessert fanatic he was.... Needless to say, I do blame him (after my college bff Erin) for my chocolate obsession these days.
But, back to what I was saying, I think it's a silly holiday. Men end up spending tons and tons of money on flowers that on any other day they could buy for 1/3 the price. And as much as I LOVE the color RED, it's every where... And, if you are single, who really wants to be surrounded by that ALL the TIME. Silly little teddy bears and trinkets that most likely end up tossed....
Without portraying myself as a total scrooge (again), I'm going to say I think it's just cool to have a day when you get to just spend time with someone.... Not get wrapped up in the commercialised version of the Holiday..
Shane & I met training for a marathon in 2001.... We've spent the last years training, racing, recovering & of course nesting together. And, this being the year of "racing" and having fun, I found the absolute perfect way to spend our Valentine's day together.
The Skirt Chaser 5K. Seriously, is this not the coolest thing ever? And, maybe, just maybe I'll find a new love for the 5k. I mean, a year ago I'd say I hated 5ks... but, after last weekends race and I PR'd my 5k time in the first half of the 10k - who knows...maybe I will LOVE IT now.
So, the girls start at 2:15 and the boys, the "chasers" start exactly 3 mins after... Now, under any normal circumstances Shane catching me would be no question. I think the boy's 5k PR is 19:something.... My recorded 5k PR, just over 26mins. Yes, I did beat that last weekend 24:21 I suppose is my new official 5k split, but as you can see there is more than a 3min difference there.
That said, I do have a few things going for me. I've been running well - and when I hit the 24min 5k mark I had more left in the tank... like another 5k at the same pace. However, probably the biggest thing I have going for me is actually Shane. While the boy is flipping fast... he hasn't been run/speed training. The winter is usually his "off season," and that he takes very seriously. This year is a little different in that he's working out regularly, but for the most part he's running with me - my tempo and my speed paces... So, he hasn't had a chance to work on his own.
However - the boy can RACE. Like my girl supa, something just fires inside of him when he gets to that start line and sees competition. It's quite amazing actually. You know back to the whole thing where I can lap the guy in the pool, but he beats me out of the swim in EVERY SINGLE RACE. Yah, not that I'm bitter or anything.... Second, the race is in the afternoon. Running after 9am, not my cup of tea, but Shane on the other hand... he loves it.
So, I would say there is a 50/50 chance Shane will catch me today. And with that motivation, along with a little wager from the Big J (who apparently has no confidence in me, but a LOT in his buttercup) I will take my girl supa's advice and run until I puke...
Maybe I will just put Eminem "Loose Yourself" on Repeat for 24mins :-)
Stay tuned to see who will be buying the bottle of wine at Terroir, The Dog Mom or Big J.....
***Update****
The Skirt Chaser 5K was a BLAST. And, the best news - Big J will be buying the bottle of wine, not me. And for anyone thinking Shane sandbagged it, ask him what his HR was!
It wasn't a best performance by either of us, but it was a tough course. Lots of turning and CROWDED (1200people!). For the first time ever I went out WAY too hard hitting the mile one mark in sub 7mins, followed by a VERY slow mile 2 fighting a side ached turned entire stomach ache... Oops. I finally got my rhythm back around mile 2.5 and finished pretty strong. Of course as soon as I realized how much time I lost with the stomach cramping I was turning back to look for Shane every few steps. Thankfully, he never caught me and came in just over a minute after me.
I think the 10k is definitely more my race, but I had a blast none the less. My only complaint about the race was the post race libations. Barefoot Wine (2 Buck Chuck - just couldn't bring myself to drink it) and Dale's Pale Ale - it was WAY WAY too hoppy for me. Even though post race quick buzz is one of my favorite things to do, I just couldn't down the beer. We went to Z tejas and I had a YUMMY pomegranate/ginger margarita - YUMMY!
I actually remember the first Valentines day with Shane.... I took him to The Cheesecake Factory. He had never been there? Who has never been to Cheesecake Factory? We only have like 3 or maybe 4 now here in town. And, that was even before I knew what a dessert fanatic he was.... Needless to say, I do blame him (after my college bff Erin) for my chocolate obsession these days.
But, back to what I was saying, I think it's a silly holiday. Men end up spending tons and tons of money on flowers that on any other day they could buy for 1/3 the price. And as much as I LOVE the color RED, it's every where... And, if you are single, who really wants to be surrounded by that ALL the TIME. Silly little teddy bears and trinkets that most likely end up tossed....
Without portraying myself as a total scrooge (again), I'm going to say I think it's just cool to have a day when you get to just spend time with someone.... Not get wrapped up in the commercialised version of the Holiday..
Shane & I met training for a marathon in 2001.... We've spent the last years training, racing, recovering & of course nesting together. And, this being the year of "racing" and having fun, I found the absolute perfect way to spend our Valentine's day together.
The Skirt Chaser 5K. Seriously, is this not the coolest thing ever? And, maybe, just maybe I'll find a new love for the 5k. I mean, a year ago I'd say I hated 5ks... but, after last weekends race and I PR'd my 5k time in the first half of the 10k - who knows...maybe I will LOVE IT now.
So, the girls start at 2:15 and the boys, the "chasers" start exactly 3 mins after... Now, under any normal circumstances Shane catching me would be no question. I think the boy's 5k PR is 19:something.... My recorded 5k PR, just over 26mins. Yes, I did beat that last weekend 24:21 I suppose is my new official 5k split, but as you can see there is more than a 3min difference there.
That said, I do have a few things going for me. I've been running well - and when I hit the 24min 5k mark I had more left in the tank... like another 5k at the same pace. However, probably the biggest thing I have going for me is actually Shane. While the boy is flipping fast... he hasn't been run/speed training. The winter is usually his "off season," and that he takes very seriously. This year is a little different in that he's working out regularly, but for the most part he's running with me - my tempo and my speed paces... So, he hasn't had a chance to work on his own.
However - the boy can RACE. Like my girl supa, something just fires inside of him when he gets to that start line and sees competition. It's quite amazing actually. You know back to the whole thing where I can lap the guy in the pool, but he beats me out of the swim in EVERY SINGLE RACE. Yah, not that I'm bitter or anything.... Second, the race is in the afternoon. Running after 9am, not my cup of tea, but Shane on the other hand... he loves it.
So, I would say there is a 50/50 chance Shane will catch me today. And with that motivation, along with a little wager from the Big J (who apparently has no confidence in me, but a LOT in his buttercup) I will take my girl supa's advice and run until I puke...
Maybe I will just put Eminem "Loose Yourself" on Repeat for 24mins :-)
Stay tuned to see who will be buying the bottle of wine at Terroir, The Dog Mom or Big J.....
***Update****
The Skirt Chaser 5K was a BLAST. And, the best news - Big J will be buying the bottle of wine, not me. And for anyone thinking Shane sandbagged it, ask him what his HR was!
It wasn't a best performance by either of us, but it was a tough course. Lots of turning and CROWDED (1200people!). For the first time ever I went out WAY too hard hitting the mile one mark in sub 7mins, followed by a VERY slow mile 2 fighting a side ached turned entire stomach ache... Oops. I finally got my rhythm back around mile 2.5 and finished pretty strong. Of course as soon as I realized how much time I lost with the stomach cramping I was turning back to look for Shane every few steps. Thankfully, he never caught me and came in just over a minute after me.
I think the 10k is definitely more my race, but I had a blast none the less. My only complaint about the race was the post race libations. Barefoot Wine (2 Buck Chuck - just couldn't bring myself to drink it) and Dale's Pale Ale - it was WAY WAY too hoppy for me. Even though post race quick buzz is one of my favorite things to do, I just couldn't down the beer. We went to Z tejas and I had a YUMMY pomegranate/ginger margarita - YUMMY!
Comments
Well, the single me.
Which hasn't existed for nigh onto 20 years now.