About Me

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Austin, Texas, United States
I'll make you laugh, or break my neck trying. This is usually accomplished with daily bouts of swimming, biking and running. A former "chub-a-holic," I got fit and healthy the good old fashioned way and went from a mid-pack athlete to top age group runner and triathlete. I'm a Writer and USAT Level 1 Certified Triathlon Coach. I guess that makes me part Tina Fey and part Jillian Michaels. Visit my coaching site at www.fomotraining.com

Friday, June 30, 2006

Ecstasy in my 12-Miler?

I normally do my long runs on Saturdays, but since I'll be out of town this weekend (yay!!!), I wanted to tackle the run early so as to feel the sense of relief one feels when you put aloe on a sunburn. Pure and utter ecstasy! Unfortunately, I felt far from pure and utter ecstasy this morning when the alarm went off at 4:45am. A little groggy from early morning workouts this week and drinking wine with my late dinner last night left me wanting to stay in bed...Fortunately, I was meeting Scud, Cindy, Lisa and Thon at Runtex at 5:30am. It was my idea to run on Friday so I absolutely couldn't bail! I was just happy that there were others who wanted to do the same thing.

The entire run was kept at a comfortable pace, but we did the challenging 12 mile Scenic Course backwards for a little change. That meant that the Exposition hills came early and often. I think I was being cursed at that moment by everyone for switching the course around. It didn't help that we saw a huge snake (dead I think) by the side of the road. It wasn't easy, but it was a relaxing run. Lisa, who is new to gazelles, commented that you really get to KNOW your running partners at 5:30am. She's absolutely right. There are no filters. If you feel crappy, everyone knows. Hell, if you have to crap, everyone knows. There's intimacy in being so raw...Much like a sunburn. You feel every ounce of pain until you cover it up with ointment (I can't believe I typed an "oi" word). I felt sluggish and groggy until I covered it up with my breath and sweat on the hills. Now, I really can leave town in pure and utter ecstasy!! I just have to finish packing now...

12 miles approx.
9:00 min pace--good recovery pace after the Mile Repeats on Wednesday.

No word on my bike yet! Still hoping for the best.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

oops, forgot you were running today. I'll miss you tomorrow :-) I see thon ran with you, so I'm gonna be without my running club, oh well guess I'll have to like, meet new Gazelles or something.

Deb said...

Carrie.... I live 10 min from John Wayne Airport. Whaaaaaaaaa!! Santa Barbara is one of my favorite places and our coast is beautiful once you get beyond L.A. I'm struggling to remember this place in Santa Barabara my g-friends & I went to eat... old Victorian house, on a main st across from a high end shopping area. I'll die laughing if you find it. Good drinks, great food! Fairly well known locally so maybe you'll get lucky!

Paco said...

The running term, as coined by our Euro traveling friend Sean, is "drop the deuce." :)