Super sweet weekend!

Soooo after getting off work on Friday, the husband and I headed to meet up with some friends at Rays Indoor Mountain Bike Park for a super fun night of checking out all the new changes such as the new room on the cross country loop, the new jump line in the intermediate area, some improved bathrooms and a host of other things!  We were sure to hit everything there to take it all in!  While I felt a little rusty and a wee bit cautious on the jumps, it was a good time all in all!  The five of us had some fun playing HORSE on the different lines and seeing just who really had technical skillz....needless to say, I did not win!  Afterwards, we hit Rocknes for some food and drink and then it was time to hit the hay!

Saturday morning I got woke up early by the dog so I had plenty of time for stupid housework before heading off to the Twinsburg Turkey Trot!  It was a beautiful morning that was warming up quickly!  After picking up my packet and seeing some friends, I headed out for a 2 mile warm-up with some striders before rushing to the bathroom for one final stop.  With the count down at the start line, I was off.  I glanced down at my Garmin to see the splits and saw something with a 4 at the front and then I slowed way down.  Oh the thrill of the start line!!!  As we started up the bridge last years overall female winner passed me and I urged myself to be patient.  I was running just over 6 now and I knew I still need to slow a bit as I was shooting for a 6:30 avg pace.  As we crested the bridge and made a hard left to head down to the trails, I closed the gap a bit on the lead female.  I was feeling darn good and honestly I think I am just thankful to run these days whenever I get the chance after last year!  I was now on the heels of lead female and reluctant to pass but after a quarter mile or so,  I passed in the uphill section of the trail as I wanted to run my own race.

The uphill sections in the trail were definitely slow for me.  As I crossed the 2 mile mark, I looked down to see a 6:55 avg.  CRAP!  Then the fun part.....massive long downhill.  I just let my legs go while even getting a nice recovery!  I was just loving it as we winded through the neighborhood!  I kept thinking I was feeling too good and perhaps I should pick it up but I just wanted to ensure I finished strong.  As we rounded onto the bike path in mile 4, I was having some trouble getting around this one guy with headphones that seemed to always run one step in front of where I was going.  Finally I got around him!  I was taken back by this younger short boy I passed...he was looking strong for someone so young and I gave him a "nice job" as I went by.  As we came around to the main road, there was definitely some confusion with the copy directing traffic.  I thought he was stopping cars but later realized he was trying to stop me.  He was not pleased with me as I headed in towards the finish line.  The final 100 yards, I even managed to have something left to kick it in to finish with a 33:17 (6:39 pace).   I was soooo excited....a 1st place overall female win.  As I walked trying to catch my breath, I returned to the finish line to hear the 2nd place overall female coming in and it was none other than my girl, SS!!!!!!  She had ran an awesome race after just wrapping up a tough workout with her trainer.  She rocks!  Best part was Top 3 Men and Female won turkeys!!!!  What a super awesome morning!  To be honest, I am still a bit disappointed in my race pace, but I will work on it and it was not the easiest course with the hills and trail sections.

Look at these turkeys....Amie (SS) & I!

Then I went home to get a few things done and get ready for some afternoon mountain biking at West Branch!  The leaves made the rock gardens even more interesting but oh the ride was such good fun!  I was just having so much fun hitting the long bridge and rock gardens that by the end of the ride I was just feeling like a kid flying through Lakeside as we had rode the ~13 mile course in reverse (as Joey's cousin Ricky wanted to ride the harder stuff when he was fresher).  What a great time and we capped that off with some Mexican and Dos Equis!  (Yeah, not in my diet plan, but I felt it was earned!)

Then Sunday was another funday!   Can't imagine a better way to kick off a Sunday than a 13.35 mile run with my sister.  Sis kicks butt by the way.  We managed to hold sub 9 and this was after sis had ran 13 miles the day before (how about that for a girl who has only been running just over 7 months!)  Then it was off to Lifetime for a short swim & a shower!  Hit a couple meetings Sunday, which included a great seminar put on by Pro Triathlete, Jared Woodford.  Wow, what a busy super awesome way to spend the weekend!

This morning as I made the sad return back to reality I forced myself out of bed at the crack of dawn again to kick off the week on the right foot.  The plan was 6AM Performance Cycle followed by some pool time.  However as I put my stuff into the locker I looked down at my Crocks as I realized there were only heels in my bag.  Neither of which would work for cycling...CRAP!  So instead I managed my longest swim of 4000 meters which I have not done in forever....I must say, strangely it was almost enjoyable!