Caught on the verge

Sometimes Lucy just all of a sudden gets really excited about life.  She grabs a toy, runs back and forth across the apartment, playfully growls, and jumps on me if I ignore her.  Sometimes this excitement is provoked (say, if I just came home or am about to take her on a run).  Other times, it just happens.  Life just gets exciting.

Life got so exciting that her head went blurry.

Sometimes when it happens, you can see her getting revved up for it.  She gets a crazy look in her eye, a telltale tenseness in her body.  It's just a split second, but when you spot it, you know that excitement is on it's way.

With school over, now that I'm officially a week into summer, I feel like I'm in the split second that happens just before things get exciting.  I'm not sure why.  Here's what my first week of summer has looked like so far.

Thursday: I went into work to clean up a bit and start getting ready for summer school.  So I guess summer hadn't started yet, but I'm counting it.  I came home around 2:00 to quick turn around and head downtown to make it to the Seattle Rock N Roll Expo with Ironman Jason and Ironman Joe to pick up my race packet.  I collected lots of free stuff from all the vendors.

Look at that haul.  Everything that's edible has been eaten.
The rest remains useless in the free bag I got.

After gorging myself on free samples of running energy crap, I came back to my place, grabbed Lucy, and headed out on a run with Jason and Joe.  We went about 5 miles, and in the middle, Lucy quite successfully made Joe tumble to the pavement.  That's right, she took down an Ironman.  Pretty impressive.  Sorry Joe.

Friday:  I woke up, relaxed for a couple hours, and then went for the first swim I've been on in about a year and a half.  As expected, my arms felt like they were going to fall off, but it was great to be back in the water.  Ironman Jason came with me, and I was able to give him a few pointers on how to improve his stroke.  Helping is fun.  And Jason has helped me so much with running, and most especially biking in the past few months, it was great to be able to return the favor for once.  Then I came home, walked Lucy, and headed downtown for our Inspirational Dinner for the Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon with Team in Training.  Dinner was carbful (yep, that's a word in the dictionary of Tessa), and I got to hear John "The Penguin" Bingham speak again.  And then I got to hear Erica tell the story of her sister Heather, which I've heard before, but this time was different.  She told it for a whole room full of nervous marathoners and inspired them to keep running, keep pushing, and feel good about the awesome amount of fundraising they'd done in the past few months.

Saturday: I ran the Rock N Roll Seattle Half Marathon and then did a lot of cheering.  You can read about that here.

Sunday: I wasn't exactly 100% when I woke up after the celebrations from the night before, so I relaxed for the morning.  Then around mid afternoon Erica, Lucy, and I went for an easy 4 mile recovery run.  Lucy really likes Erica so she didn't trip her and make her fall down.  That was nice.

Monday: I'm not sure if what I did on Monday can be consider a "brick" workout, but I ran and biked both on the same day, so that counts for me.  Lucy and I did a 3 miler in the morning, then Lucy accompanied me to school for about 4 hours while I made final preparations for summer school.  Later that night, I met up with Erica and MacKenzie for a "Girls' Night" bike ride that rounded out at about 30 miles.

We're ladies.  And we ride bikes.

This was my first time back on the bike in a little over a month, and I was ecstatic to be back on it.  STP is creeping slowly closer and I need to build up some seat time again.  My seat wasn't super happy on this ride, but me and my seat powered through.

Tuesday:  First day of summer school!  It was crazy, hectic, and a lot of fun.  I was impressed with how many kiddos showed up and how excited they were to be there.  And then I got to do a lot of reading with them.  The 2.5 hours breezed by, and before I knew it, it was 1:00 and I was out and running with my teacher crew.  We've decided to keep up the teacher running club throughout the summer so that everyone can stay motivated to stay active.  Then Tuesday night we celebrated MacKenzie's birthday with lots of wine and lots of sushi.

Jason's not just an Ironman, he's also a chef.  So he
pre-prepped everything.

And then we became sushi rolling masters.

Today:  Despite the plethora of wine that was imbibed last night, I woke up this morning feeling good and ready for a bike ride.  Me, Jason, and Nick (another fellow runner and rider) rode up to coach Shelby's running store to say hi and then back down again--altogether about 40 miles.  Not too shabby, I'd say.  My legs are certainly feeling it though.  No bike rides for a month and then 2 pretty hefty ones so close together proved to be a little bit of a challenge (mainly on the hills and the seat).  But I ended the ride feeling good, took an unexpected 30 minute power nap, and then walked Lucy for about an hour.

So now, I am tired.  My body and my mind are both tired.  And I apologize if that makes this post fairly uninteresting.  But there's a point to all of it.

Refer back to Lucy's sudden life excitement.  Remember how I'm suddenly feeling "on the verge" of something.  This week was fun, and I exercised a lot.  And I saw a lot of friends and experienced strength at it's core (in a few different ways).  And I reflected back on what I've accomplished in the past few months, with my running and biking and teaching and writing.  And I realized that life is pretty great right now.  And suddenly I feel like life might just get exciting.  I don't want to jinx things, but I feel like I'm due for something really good to happen.  I've put so much positive effort into living lately that I feel like it's time for something awesome to be waiting around a corner somewhere for me.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Maybe something will come up and bite me on my very sore seat instead, but for now I want to believe that I've got a lot to look forward to.  Come what may in whatever form it takes, I'll be smiling until I get there anyways.

Life with Lucy: Mama's Little Helper

This is me.  Helping.  Now pet me.

Seattle Rock N Roll Half Marathon: Who cares how I did...

Running isn't easy.  If through any of my writings and ramblings I've ever given you the impression that it is, this was not my intention and please disregard.  I've had a few conversations lately with some friends who've recently taken up running, and their main complaint is that it's hard.  And when I hear this, I simply think (and say), "well, yeah."  Of course it is.  It wouldn't be so incredibly rewarding and fulfilling if it wasn't hard.  If you ever decide to get out there and run and think that it's going to be easy, you will be sorely (ha, pun) disappointed.

Running is about getting out there and challenging yourself.  Pushing yourself to your limits.  Testing your bounds and believing in yourself.  Running is about conquering each day and every run, whether it's 1 mile or a marathon.  Yes, there will be easy runs.  It does happen.  Sometimes your body just loves you.  Sometimes your body feels great, enjoys the push, and performs for you.  But many days, runs don't feel great and it's a struggle to get yourself to enjoy them.

But no matter how hard running is, we keep coming back to it.  We keep pushing ourselves harder and faster and farther.  Why, you may ask?  Why keep pushing yourself to do this incredibly hard thing that never gets any easier?  Well, let me tell a little anecdotal story to show you the answer.

Yesterday, I ran the Seattle Rock N Roll Half Marathon.  I will tell you a little bit about my race, but that's not what the story is about.  I went into this race knowing that I wouldn't PR.  I ran a full marathon 3 weeks ago, and I didn't need to push myself.  I wanted to have fun, to enjoy the race, to enjoy being out there with my Team.

Three of these ladies were embarking on their
first full marathon.

And three of these ladies were too.

And one of these.  Yay, Space Needle in the background.

If you can add correctly, that's 7 amazing women ready to take on 26.2 miles for the first time.  And there were many more.  But we'll come back to that.

I ran my race at an easy pace with Erica.  We saw lots of teammates and coaches, got to watch the top 2 men marathoners run by us at our mile 6 (their mile 12).

Pretty awesome watching these guys fly by.
That's the marathon winner in orange, my coach
Shelby running next to him to say hi (he actually
knows him, he's not just a creeper).

We enjoyed the race.  We had fun and kept smiles the whole way through.

The road looks wet, but the weather was actually perfect here.
Some cloud cover, a cool breeze.  No rain.

We cruised through our 13.1, crossed the finish line together (something we didn't get to do in San Diego), and finished in 2 hours and 1 minute.  If you remember reading my Amica Seattle Marathon post just 7 short months ago, I had to give my all to finish just 1+ minute under that time.  I ran the same exact time at the Seattle RNR Half Marathon exactly one year ago, but again, I pushed myself and gave my all to get there.  Yesterday I fully admit that I did not give everything I had.  I've come a long way since last year, and it feels pretty great to "take it easy" and still run a 2:01 half.  I've now run 8 races over the past 3 years (5 halves and 3 fulls), and this is the first race that I didn't PR in.  And I am totally OK with that.  

But again, this story isn't about me or my race.  If I didn't send this message home with my race recap of the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon (Part I and Part II), I'll repeat it again here.  When I run a race with Team in Training, all I can think is that it is not about me.  And yesterday was no exception.

The best part of this story is about what happened after I crossed the finish line.  It is about what I got to witness.  It is about tears of joy and sadness, smiles, and cheers.  It is about being able to see strength.  And I'm not talking about the muscle strength that pushes legs forward.  I'm talking about a strength of the heart and mind that isn't visible to the human eye.  But yesterday I saw this strength.  It radiated from the faces of marathoners at mile 25.7, on the corner of highway 99 and Republican St. for a little over 4 hours.  

After crossing the finish line, meeting up with a few other teammates, housing down some calories, pit stopping at the bathroom, and grabbing some coffee, me and two other ladies headed back out onto the race course.  We wanted to see our teammates finish.  We'd been with them as they trained all season, struggled through tough practices, and shined through good ones.  We wanted to cheer them on, help them through that last, toughest mile.  So out we went.

Standing in the middle of 99 on the corner of Republican.
Half marathoners came down the right, fulls down the left.

We posted ourselves in the middle of the street so we could catch every purple shirt that ran by.  We screamed our hearts out.  We worried that the sun was getting a little warm, that our marathoners would have a long hot race ahead.  We saw Melody and Jodi come in together.  We saw Danger shuffle his way through his 2nd half marathon in 3 weeks.  We saw Dorothy jump with joy and take a few running steps at the end of her 2nd half marathon, helping her to break the PR she set at her first half in San Diego.  We watched Ana power through her first full marathon, looking strong and fearless to the finish.  We ran with Jamie for a couple blocks, amazed that the little bundle of energy that she typically is still shone through in her smile and chit-chatting at mile 26.

And then...well...then it started to rain.  That sun we were worried about?  No more.  It clouded over quick, and then those clouds let loose.  And this was not the typical Seattle sprinkle.  This was a DOWNPOUR.  And it didn't stop.  For 3 hours, it didn't stop.  And suddenly I was worried.  I was worried that spirits would be broken, that strength would go down the drain with the rain.  How silly of me.  The spirit of a marathoner cannot be broken by rain.  Bite me zones were had.  Emotions ran high.  But spirits were not broken.  Not at all.

All those ladies in the pictures at the beginning of this post?  We watched them run through one by one.  We walked and ran with Betsy as she stayed strong through her final mile.  MacKenzie ran with Melanie and Anna all the way in to the finish line, supporting them the whole way through.  Sally ran smiling by, taking high fives to the finish.  Yes, there were some tears when people saw us, but I believe these tears were tears of relief and gratitude and undescribable marathon emotions.  They were tears of joy and strength and sadness all wrapped into one.  There were smiles in the tears.  Regan smiled and laughed and cried her way through her last half mile, and I hope that by us being there, we made it just a little bit more bearable.  

There were other names, other faces, and other emotions that we saw during our 4+ hours out in the rain on the course.  We were there for our teammates because we wanted to be, because we needed to be.  And then we were blown away by the thank yous we received after.

These aren't even all of them.

We had hoped to maybe boost a few people.  But the response was overwhelming.  And here's where my story gets a little selfish.  Here's where I started think just a little bit about me.  I took something from all of my teammates that I watched run by yesterday.  I took just a little bit of their strength.  I absorbed it, let it sink in, let it spread throughout my body.  I didn't mean to do it.  But by seeing their strength, by witnessing their final battles, I think that some of it may have rubbed off on me.  And now I have a hope for the future.  I hope that the next time I run a marathon, the next time I take on 26.2 miles with the Team...I hope that their strength is still with me.  I hope that it has compounded with my own.  I hope that it helps me push through my final miles at some point in the future.

So instead of reading all those thank you's, I should be saying thank you to all of you.  Thank you for letting me witness what you are capable of.  Thank you for letting me cheer you on.  Thank you for being who you are and doing what you do.  Thank you for allowing me to build my strength upon your own.  Because I believe I am stronger now because of it.  

And the best part of it all?  As we celebrated the day at our victory party last night, the one thing I kept hearing over and over again from these amazingly strong people was, "I can't wait until next time," "next time, I'll do so much better," "there will be a next time."  So Team, here's to next time.  Until then, I'll be biding my time until I can cross the finish line with you again.

I don't think I can type it loud enough, but GO TEAM!!  And thanks for everything.

Summer!!

All that talk about no need for speed, and oops I did this on Monday:

All green percentages!  Yay for negative splits!

Mile 1, I did a good job of going nice and slow, but as the run progressed, suddenly I felt great.  Suddenly my feet wanted to go faster.  Suddenly, Lucy was not protesting to this speed.  I don't know what sort of high we were on Monday, but we rocked this short 4.1 mile run.  And as much as I extolled the wonders of running steady and slow in my last post, this felt pretty great too.

I ran on Saturday and Sunday too, but neither of these runs felt awesome.  Saturday I did an 8.5 miler with the Team in preparation for this weekend's Seattle Rock N Roll Half Marathon.  Although I wasn't super uncomfortable on this run, and it felt good to get some longer mileage in again, I still wasn't at my "yay running is great!" feeling.  After this run, I went and partook in the happiness of the Fremont Solstice Parade and Fair.  I was a good girl and was home many hours before dark, but then after crying my way through the final 3 episodes of Glee for this season, I received a phone call around 9pm that went basically like this:

Friends: "So...we want to have a game night, but we can't do it anywhere else but at your place.  Can we come over with games, wine, and food?"
Tessa: "OMG, I just cried through 3 hours of Glee, my eyes are puffy and red, and now I am drinking wine by myself."
Friends: "Um...so that means yes?"
Tessa: "Totally."

So, 6 hours later, I finally went to bed after a number of glasses of wine and a good deal of laughter (How many glasses of wine?  How much laughter?  Well...it's may be a little fuzzy to answer these questions in measurable terms).  Needless to say, when my alarm went off at 8:00 the next morning, the thought of conquering my planned 50 mile bike ride was a little daunting.  I was ready to rally, but when I got the text from another bike rider basically indicating that her Saturday night went something along the same lines as mine, I was more than happy to bail on the ride.

I slept in a while longer, wasted time on the couch for a bit, drank lots of water, and then decided around 2ish that I was ready for a run.  This run did not feel great.  I ran a bit, walked a bit, crossed my fingers that I  would run into someone I knew running around Greenlake so I could get rid of Lucy momentarily and make the mad dash for the bathroom that I suddenly needed (this actually worked!  I bumped into a friend, dumped Lucy on her, and ran into the closest restaurant for a pit stop), and then ran the rest of the way home.  Not fun.  Not great.  Not fast.

But then Monday?  Monday was just a normal day.  2.5 days before the end of the school year, no special plans.  No special diet, liquid intake, or expectations.  I went out for a run, and I ran fast.  And it felt easy.  And good.  Why?  Who knows?  Maybe it's not just marathons that are mysterious, unknowable entities.  Maybe running in general is just fickle.  Sometimes when I'm out there running, it feels like the Gods of Running have a plan for me that I have no control over.  Yes, I can do things to boost the run (hydrate, eat well) or ruin it (drink lots of wine, play games until 3am), but there's something that I'm not quite conscious of that decides what a run will feel like for me.

I haven't run since Monday, and probably won't have time to again until the half marathon on Saturday.  I am ok with this.  Or at least I'm telling myself I am.  I'll make it through.  No PR expected this weekend.

Instead of obsessing and worrying about this weekend's race, I'm thinking about the fact that today was the last day of school.  Today, my summer officially begins.  And, of course, I have a wonderfully long list of things I'd like to accomplish this summer.  Here it is.

Things I will do this summer (and by summer, I mean the next 2 months)
1)  Run.  A lot.  This is #1 on my list.  I want to run with Lucy.  I want to do some speed work with just me.  I have a plan to continue our teacher running groups on Tuesdays after summer school.  And I plan to prepare for the oh-so-hilly Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco that I'll be completing in October.
2)  Read.  A lot.  I've been stuck in the middle of the 2nd book of Game of Thrones (AKA Clash of Kings, which is technically part of a serious know as Song of Fire and Ice--or is it  Ice and Fire?--anyways, the series is NOT called Game of Thrones).  I want to finish this and then start the The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (#3 in The Girl Who...Series--definitely not the official name).  I also would like to do some professional reading.  I like to think about trying to become a better teacher over the summer.  This rarely happens, but it's always on the list.
3)  Write.  A lot.  Expect to hear from me often.  I may even try to encourage you to make comments.  Because I know you're out there reading this (I may not know who you are, but you're there), and I'd love to hear back from you!  Maybe I'll even try to write something besides a blog.  That's scary though.  I will probably be unsuccessful at that.
4)  Bike.  As much as I can.  The Seattle to Portland bike ride is less than a month away.  I haven't been on a bike in over a month.  This is nerve-wracking.  I would like to get my butt back on a bike ASAP so that my butt will survive two 100 mile days in a row.
5)  Go to the zoo.  I live within 5 minutes walking distance of the Woodland Park Zoo, and I have a membership, which means I get to go for free as often as I want.  For $40 a year, a membership is way worth it.  I just need to get there regularly and spend a few hours staring at the orangutans.  Maybe some other animals too.
6)  Try to have a lot of fun without spending a lot of money.  Because being a lowly teacher who lives by her lonesome, there isn't much of it to go around.  And that Nike Women's trip I mentioned above?  Costs money.  So will going home for Christmas and my brother's wedding in May.  So much to save up for, so little time, and so little to work with.
7)  Try to widen my cooking repertoire again.  I used to cook many varied kinds of things.  Lately, the vast majority of what I cook includes soy sauce and/or peanut butter.  I love both of these ingredients, which is why I eat so much of them, but I'd like to expand my horizons again.  I live about 4 blocks away from what is rumored to be a pretty awesome farmer's market.  I'd like to visit it weekly and then cook with different spices and bases.
8)  Spend time with Lucy.  This should actually be #1 and needs no explanation.

Right now, I feel like I have so much time.  I'm only working 2 days a week teaching summer school, and those days are only half days.  And then of course my regular Friday hostessing shift.  Other than that, I've got nothing but time this summer.  This is the first summer since...well...since my freshman/sophomore year of college that I haven't worked full time.  Wow.  Here's to hoping that I cross everything off my to do list.  And here's to knowing that I probably won't even come close to it.

View from South Lake Union last summer.  May there be
many days like this.

Thanks Dad!

As much as I love living in Seattle, being here is hard sometimes.  Because sometimes, I just miss my dad.  I am a self-admitted daddy's girl, and being so far away from my dad isn't easy.

My dad is a deeply good person with a huge heart.  There has never been an ounce of doubt in my mind that  he didn't love me and our family with his entire heart.  Growing up, I knew that the life he led and the decisions he made were shaped around his family.  He is a kindhearted, giving, and caring person.

My dad gave me these values.  He gave me a lot of the qualities that are inherent in me that make me a good teacher, friend, and person.  He gave me the joy I get from being outside as much as I can.  He gave me the ability to be alone and enjoy solitude.  He gave me truth and purpose and independence.  He gave me morality and justice.  And he gave me trust.  He trusted that I would be become a good person, make good choices, and choose a worthy path in my life.  And because he believes in me and trusts me, I have done those things.

My dad has played a huge role in shaping the person I've become--the teacher, the marathoner, the reader, the writer, the friend, the daughter, sister and doggy mother.  He are 3 of the important lessons I've learned from my father that have helped me become me.

1) Dogs are necessary.  My love for dogs developed because of my dad.  We've had several dogs come and go throughout the years, and dad loved every single one of them.  He takes the dogs for long walks, pets them endlessly, and life just doesn't seem right for him without a dog in it.  I think the day the I decided to get a dog, he was more excited than me.  He picked Lucy.  There was another black lab puppy that looked a lot like Maya that I wanted to get, but dad saw Lucy's floppy ears and wiggly body and said I think you should get that one.  And because I listen when my dad talks, I did.  So now I have Lucy.  And I can't imagine life without her.

2) Be patient and listen.  Some people like to be dramatic.  Some people get upset really easily.  Some people stress about life's every little problem.  And that's the way they are.  If you don't want to get caught up in it, sometimes it's best to just step back, let it happen, and then help pick up the pieces when it's over.  You can't change the way people are, but you can be patient with them.  You can be the non-judging ear that listens.  You can be the calming presence, the rock that will always be there to lean against.

3) Don't assume that they know you care.  I know that my dad loves me.  I have always known and never doubted it.  I know that he loves his children, he loves his wife, he loves his family.  In my house, there has never been a lack of love.  Whether it's a spoken "I love you, Miss Bird," a big hug, or a simple smile, my dad always lets me know he loves me.  Sometimes, even though you may have said it a million times before, people just need some reassurance that they are in your heart.  And even if they don't need it, you should still say it anyways.  Because you certainly don't lose anything by saying it, and nobody is hurt by hearing it.

I wanted to put of picture of my dad here, and it took me a really long time to find one.  My dad is a behind-the-scenes guy.  He's the picture taker.  He quietly lets everyone else take the stage and asks for very little in return.  I found this one though (I'm not sure who was able to convince him to be in the picture):

Side by side with my mom.

And then there's this one too:

Christmas 2004, nice hair Ian.

Dad with his family, dad with his dogs.  Dad as he loves to be.

Thanks for everything you've given me, Daddo.  I hope one day I can come close to giving you something as worthy in return.  

Who needs speed? (or sun?)

Can you tell it's mid June in Seattle?

See the clouds?  See the gloom?  At least it's
not raining...

This weekend is Fremont's annual Summer Solstice Parade and Fremont Fair.  I love this occasion.  The parade is very risque and tons of fun.  The fair is entertaining too.  And the forecast for this weekend?

At least it'll be in the 70's.  That's a bonus.

Last year, my brother and his fiance came out from NY to visit during this time.  We went to the Solstice Parade together, which they loved, despite the fact that it looked like this:

Rain jackets, grey skies, giant geoduck replica.  Yep, looks like
Summer Solstice in Seattle.

My "little" brother.  If we look uncomfortable, it's because
we are.

Anyways, despite the gloominess outside, I had a really great run today.  I've been having a lot more just me and Lucy runs lately, and to be honest, I've been getting a little frustrated with them.  I get bored running by myself now.  And by myself, I mean without another human capable of conversation.  I think too much about what I'm doing.  And I've been really focused on pace lately.  It seems like mentally all I want to do is go faster and still feel better, but this hasn't been happening.  I've been pushing my solo runs to around an 8:50-9:00 average.  I start out feeling great, but then of course am exhausted by the end of the run, just counting the minutes until I'll be home.  And then there's Lucy.  Lucy doesn't like to run fast.  She drags behind and I end up getting really frustrated as she "ruins" my pace.  But this is so silly.  Why do I need to go that fast right now?  I just ran a marathon.  I may feel normal again, but that doesn't mean that I didn't severely beat up my body a week and a half ago.  Just because my muscles feel fine now doesn't mean that my body is fully recovered.

I've now been on 5 runs since the marathon.  I did the Roadrunner Adventure Run the Thursday after the marathon, which was fun, but my body was still tired.  Last Saturday, I went to TNT practice, which was a hilly 4 miles that tired me out more than I wanted it to.  Another 4 miler on Sunday felt OK, but not great.  Then on Tuesday, I came down with a cold.  So instead of waiting until the 6:30 team practice, I went out and ran earlier with Lucy by myself.  Just a flat 3 miler around Greenlake, but with the sore throat and runny nose, I wasn't feeling that run either.

I intended to have my last run of the year with my teacher group yesterday, but by the time the school day was over, my throat felt like sandpaper, I couldn't breathe through my nose, and I felt a pounding headache coming on so quickly that I "borrowed" a Tempadot from the nurse's office to make sure I didn't have a fever (I didn't).  So instead of running, I took advantage of the fact that Lucy had been at day care all day (and therefore didn't need exercise) and went home and did nothing.

This rest paid off, because I felt a little better this morning and then even better by the afternoon.  And now, I just have an annoying runny nose that keeps trying to drain down the back of my throat (too much information?  Oops, sorry).  Anyways, the point is, when I got home from work today, I was excited to go for a nice, easy 5 mile run.  I didn't want to push myself though.  I wanted this run to feel good, the whole way through.  Which meant taking it slow at the beginning.  But when I have a nice fancy watch on my wrist telling me my pace, I have trouble trying not to beat the numbers.  So instead of looking at my watch the whole time (I couldn't bring myself to leave it at home though...), I decided to use this as my pacer instead:

So much happier when she gets to decide
how fast we go.

As long as Lucy was trotting happily near my side, we kept that pace.  If I sped up and suddenly felt a tightening of the leash behind me, I slowed down.  Pretty simple.  And in the end, everyone was happier.  Here's how Lucy paced me:

So, I figured out that the weird percentages tell me how much faster or
slower I went than the previous mile.  I'm guessing with the intention
of helping me focus on making every mile green and therefore faster
than the previous one--as a proper run should be.  Fail here, but oh well.

I was surprised we still kept it under 9:30.  I assumed Lucy would keep me a little closer to 10:00, but she seems to have sped up recently with me lately.  Lucy was even so full of pep and energy at mile 4 that she was inspired to play a little game of leash tug of war.

Look at the focus in those eyes. Ready to chomp on.

And then the tug.  There's lots of growling and jumping
involved.  She likes to try to catch hold as close to my hand
as possible.

The last time Lucy had enough spunk in the middle of a run to play leash tug of war, she caused me to eat shit in the middle of the gravelly outer loop of Greenlake.  So I made sure she stayed to my side this time.  But I also took out my phone and took pictures.  Those 2 things may have cancelled each other out in improving the safety of this situation.  Nonetheless, no face plant this time.  No skinned knees.

During mile 5, you'll notice that the pace slowed a ton.  This was not because we were tired.  It was not because we didn't feel great.  It was because of this:

Not the "30 minute load and unload only" sign,
the ginormous hill behind it (ha, I did not think
ginormous was a real word, but spell checker
isn't yelling at me for it).

I tried to take a picture of this hill that exemplified the grade and length of the hill, but found it impossible.  Let's just say it's big.  And about 5 blocks long.  And steep, really steep.  And Lucy paced me well enough through the run that I confidently ran this hill, albeit slowly, all the way to the top.  And I didn't fell like I was going to die.  And my legs didn't feel like they were going to fall off.  And I start a lot of sentences with the word "and"...even though I know perfectly well that this is grammatically incorrect.  Don't judge me (no "and" in that one).

So today, after having a bit of a rough week, I'm feeling great.  My legs feel happy.  My confidence is cushioned.  I ran my longest run since the marathon, and finally felt great.  And I can attribute all of it to my faithful (and now very tired) running buddy.

She is also faithfully keeping my toes warm.

Thanks Lucy.  Again.

Life with Lucy: Flashback

Oh, the plans I have in store for you...