Day 61 + 62

Grab a cup of coffee and get comfy... this is going to be a long one.

Friday started out with a 6 mile run before work. It was the first time since being back from the west coast that Andy and I had the energy to get up early enough for a morning run. I was actually really nervous to run because I was convinced my ankles would be on fire and my knee would hurt again. But things change daily, and I was so thankful that my ankles felt fine and my knee barely bothered me at all. What DID bother me was breathing. My legs felt fine, my head felt fine, my mood was fine, but I was sucking wind like it was nobodies business. Of course... I didn't help the cause by trying to go fast. As you know I've been getting a little faster during this process, and I was tempted to see if I could keep it up over a slightly longer distance. My pace averaged 9:37/mile (smug smile). I was pretty proud of myself.

However! Although I did a good job with my run, I did not prepare well for it. NEW RULE: I must carry water with me on any run longer than 4 miles. I got so thirsty that I wanted to drink from the river. That's never a good idea.

Post-run I went to work, boring boring blah blah, and then met Sarah for dinner at Pomodoro's! I got to eat carbs AND hang out with Sarah. How can that not be fun? Then we decided to get really classy, so it was off to Joe's Crab Shack to hear our boss's band's debut. ;-) Yeah... interesting place for a band to play, but they actually sounded pretty good! Or at least they sounded good after a few glasses of wine...

Good times at the Crab Shack, lol

I pretty much crashed when I got home, which was good because it gave me less time to get nervous for the next day.

Saturday! K, so you all know I run, obviously. I've run in freezing cold weather, sticky hot humid temps, rain, snow, wind, up hills, down hills, on trails, through grass, sidewalks, roads, gravel.... but not through mud. Never mud. Why? Because mud is gross and I don't like to get dirty. Bugs live in mud. I don't like bugs. Did I mention I don't like to get dirty?

Apparently my brain was out to lunch months ago, because once upon a time I agreed that on September 8th, I would run the Dirty Girl 5k Mud Run. What was I thinking??? I got up, put on an old old pair of running shoes and clothes that I didn't care about, packed a bag full of garbage bags, towels, and wet ones (I need to remember if there is any event where I need a bag with those three items, I should probably run the other way), and then we were off to Kissing Bridge - a ski area about 90 minutes away. Sarah and Shelley kindly allotted me 30 minutes to freak out on the drive there, but I did a good job of pretending to be cool while just silently freaking out in my head for the entire drive. :-)

It was raining when we got there and we had close to 2 hours to kill. I busted out my Project Runway skills and made myself a raincoat. I mean, obviously I wasn't going to stay clean and pretty forever, but I was going to hold out as long as possible.

Couture Kitchen Trash Tunic

Honestly, once we were there, there was no turning back, so I stopped being nervous and just accepted the fact that it really might suck and I would definitely get dirty - as long as I was cautious and didn't get hurt, I could handle it. Our wave started at 12:30 - our team of 8 lined up and we were off! I probably ran a total of 100 yards (kind of disappointing as I was counting this as a 4 mile run this week), but the trail got SO muddy, it was basically impossible to run (at least without falling face first in it). Somehow "ski resort" didn't really register "lots of hills" with me, but oh... there were hills, and they were big. Thankfully since we were walking the hills were totally fine, but they would have been a bear to run on.

For those of you that haven't heard about the Dirty Girl 5k, it is more than just a 3.1 mile trudge across a muddy course. No no, that's not enough mud and disgustingness - let's throw in 11 obstacles! Most of the obstacles consisted of crawling through various mud pits or water pits (which were muddy water pits), although some of them involved climbing - we had to climb over a wall, up and over a wooden ramp (it was harder than it looked because it was so slippery), and up and over a cargo net that was probably 10 people high (It wasn't really 10 people high, but if Andy asks it was at LEAST 10 people high if not 20). After the first obstacle I got a little muddy, so after that it was really no big deal. I took it like a champ. I wish I had been a little warmer and had been able to shower a little sooner, but other than that, it was really a lot of fun. And yes, I'd do it again. :-)

Since iPhones and mud don't mix well, I wasn't able to use my camera to get any super muddy shots of myself, but here is just a generic shot of nothing in particular - it gives you an idea of how muddy we all got.

Ewwww

Babs, Shelley, and Sarah - hosed off and cold

By the time I got home from the mud run, I had to fly into the shower (no question that was needed) and then totally turn around and look presentable for Anna and Bipul's engagement party! They had it at Eros, one of mine and Andy's favorite restaurants in town. Anna and Bipul both wore beautifully elaborate Indian outfits. Anna's parents had flown in for the occasion and I was SO excited to see them. Now that I know they are fans of the blog, here's a special shout out to the entire Steltenpohl Family!! Woot woot!!! :-) Seriously though, so many of my favorite people were there and I had a great time hanging out, catching up, and of course, eating delicious delicious food. Eros never disappoints! Anna and Bipul - I am so happy for you guys and I'm so glad I got to be there to celebrate the start of your journey together!

Happy Babs Sandwich

Babsandy w/ Annabips

If that weren't a festive enough weekend already, I've got a 16 mile run to do in the morning (longest one yet). I should be more nervous for it, but I'm pretty tired, so the nerves will have to wait until tomorrow. This girl's going to bed! Goodnight friends! Thanks for reading!!

Total Miles Run: 181.87 (I'm not counting today's 5k since I didn't run it)
Total Weight Change: -4.1