Ryan and I also had the opportunity to rent fatbikes. Those were super fun. They had a ton of snow, so we were able to handle them well on the multiuse trail, but the fatbike specific trail was pretty deep and we struggled to stay afloat. There were a couple times I had to put a foot down, and sunk up to my hip.
We also stopped into the NAIAS in Detroit while we were in MI. Despite being out of the industry for almost 8 years, I still really get excited about this. The kids got to make some fun models of the 2015 Ford Mustang
Then, we got back to Kentucky and it was only sort of back to reality. We had such unusually cold weather, that instead of the kids going back to school on Tuesday, they had an additional 3 days off due to snow and cold. On Tuesday, we actually welcomed the snow day. We knew with enough advance that I didn't wake the kids early, but we still got an relatively early start on our day. I had a track workout planned, so I would go to the gym regardless. We were one of the few crazies that made it to the gym. The freeways were fine, so it really wasn't too bad at all to get there, though. I was able to hit the workout no problem. It was a challenge, though, after a week off. I took this on the way to the gym. It was pretty amazing looking. There were no cars around, so I wasn't going to cause an accident, and I'm probably better at taking pictures with my camera while driving than I am dealing with the kids while driving.
Wednesday was another snow day, due to cold. However, I worked. I was really freaking out though, because my 20miler was scheduled for Thursday, and it was supposed to be the coldest day of the year! There was a wind chill advisory announced, which pretty much meant I would be indoors. 20 on a treadmill? Yikes. At least their was an indoor track if I needed it. If there was school, I would have 4.5 hours to go to the gym, get it done, and get home. That was going to be tight. Then, they called off school. I nearly lost it. I am so OCD when it comes to my long runs. Even though I have a ton of 20s planned, the idea of scrapping my first was not an option. So, after sending out a barrage of texts, I was finally able to find someone to take the kids for me. Really, I was just looking for someone to come to the gym with me and take them home when they were done with their more sane workout than mine. The running portion was supposed to be just under 3 hours, but I would need to check in the kids, refill water, gu up, and take breaks from the dreadmill, so it would take longer total. Plus, who wants to step off the treadmill after being on it for that long and immediately pick up the kids? Carolyn, a friend who has two children the same ages as mine, just said she would take them from the morning, and if she felt like leaving, she would bring them to me at the Y. This was a better deal, because then the kids got to do something really fun (play at a friends' house) while I did my workout. I decided I would break my workout into 4 5 mile runs. Usually, when I run outside, I run out 5 miles, stop, gu up and turn around, and then run another 5, repeat, until I get home. It would be the same on the treadmill. I had my neighbor, Ande, running next to me for my first set of 5. She's going to Boston too, but her working hours and kids' schedules are different. Noelle stopped by to say hi, and Ron ran with me for a set. The third set was the hardest. I had been changing my pace up every half mile for the first two sets, and by the third, I felt like it was too hard to go any faster, so I just kept it the same. I had Amy come by, and France. Lisa was in the locker room before my last set. I'm sure I'm leaving people out. I felt like I was never really alone though, which was great. Towards the end I really needed to just listen to music and zone out. However, I had Joe come out and run me in for my last mile. It was really great to have all the support. I was able to hit my goal pace, and had very close to even splits- 43:34, 43:33, 44:07, 44:06 for a total of 2:55:13, and avg pace of 8:45. I felt pretty good afterwards too! Here is a photo of it:
My final workout of the week was a tempo run. It was my first tempo fail of the plan. Last year, most of my temp runs were fails until I started doing them on the treadmill. I felt tired going into it, and it was really hot in the gym. The fans weren't on despite every piece of cardio equipment being in use. I was supposed to do 1 mile warm up, 4 at 7:19, and 1 cool down. I made it 2.5 at 7:19 when I had to pause the treadmill. I was dying. I got in another half mile, and as toast. I struggled through 2 more miles at a cool down pace, and those were hard. I'm sure it didn't help that Soren was up off and on last night with an ear ache, but I bet it was really taking a week off running and then hitting it hard like I hadn't that caused this.
I have a few more things from this week that I am going to wait to post about because this is getting long. Hopefully this next week will be better from a weather standpoint and I can get outside for my long run. The only good thing about all these snow days is that Soren will have at least an extra week of school when it is nice out, post marathon, so that means more time to be able to ride with both kids in school. Yes, I am sick in the head for looking at it like this. Last year I didn't realize how much earlier his school ended before Keira's and was getting sitters left and right for just him trying to prepare for the century that I crashed during.
