Today was a gorgeous day!  I went running in the park, as I like to do. 

I was finishing up my run, and I passed a man walking across the grass and then across my path.  He was holding a passport and a phone, and he looked confused.  I almost stopped, but then I kept going a bit.  I turned around, and he waved me down.  Normally I don’t stop for people, but I was now at a corner with lots of cars going by so I figured I was safe enough. 

He asked if I knew where the nearest library was.  He explained that he had dual citizenship and his visa was expiring (or had expired) and he needed to find an embassy.  Frankly it was all sort of confusing, plus I was finishing up a run, so my brain wasn’t fully working.  I pointed him towards the direction I was pretty sure a library was (embarrassingly I wasn’t sure but I recalled driving by one within 6 to 8 blocks.) He persisted, asking, was that the "carpenter" branch he was finding on his cell phone.  I told him I just didn’t know, but I was sure there was a library that way.  Then he said he had been lost, and was walking through the park, and some man came up to him and asked was he looking for a date, and he thought the man had exposed himself. 

So…I said, huh, I’ve heard of that happening.  And I asked, what did he look like?  (At this point, my brain is saying, what?? why is a stranger telling me this?)  He said he was in a Nissan.  At which point, I thought, why is he telling me this?  He might just be freaked out…or perhaps he’s leading in a direction I don’t want to go, like, maybe he was planning to expose HIMSELF or maybe he was just going to ask for a date, or for who knows.  So I said, I have to be on my way, and I left.

What do you think?  I found the whole situation really strange and odd.  I wouldn’t have stopped at all except he did look lost plus I was bigger and near a busy street corner (busy with both cars and pedestrians, I might add.)  Has anything weird like that happened to you? 

Also…here’s the forecast for tomorrow.  What happened??  Scattered flurries???

Running (for me) seems to be one of those things that sometimes feels really easy and other times feels ridiculously difficult.  The past few days have been those easy days…the race Saturday, 9 miles on Sunday, and today!

I did a little treadmill workout Mike recommended for me—25/35 he calls it.  You run for 25 seconds/rest for 35 seconds (just hop to the sides) for 30 minutes.  I set the incline to 6.0 and the speed to 6.2, after ten minutes I moved it up to 6.3, then a little further along moved the incline to 6.3.  I did the last 5 minutes at 7 and 6.4.  He suggested eventually taking the incline up to 8, and of course moving the speed up as you can.  For your reference, I generally run flat on the treadmill between 5.5 and 6 mph if I am running a few miles.  Anyway, the minutes flew by (I hate when people say that, but they truly did!) and I felt sweaty and exhausted, but great.  Mike thinks my goal for the half in April should be at least 2:20 (I’m thinking of 2:15 as an "A" goal, and making that my "B" goal, actually). 

We also discussed using the "bathroom" while running.  I told him for my fastest 5K I felt like I had to puke the entire time, and he (of course) one-upped me by saying for his fastest half-marathon he had to pee the whole time.  I asked why he didn’t just pee himself…and he said he was trying but was completely unable to pee while running.  I guess maybe that’s something he needs to train for? (I suggested trying to pee while walking and then building from there…) We of course naturally discussed pooping while running, since we are both fascinated by that (who isn’t?).  The next exercise he made me do involved clenching my glute muscles and I suggested this was counter to training to poop while running, in fact would make it more challenging.  Then we realized we had spent over five minutes discussing gross bodily functions while running…and figured we should move on. 

Okay, fine.  I’ll stop talking about bodily functions.

Honestly, not much else to report.  I’ve got over five hours of teaching ahead of me today (gasp! the horrors!) and this week is pretty much just a normal week.  One big of exciting news is that I got a phone call from Bed, Bath, and Beyond about a special "Registry Completion Event" at the store where everything we want to buy will be 20 percent off, so we are going to wait to shop then.  I’m hoping it won’t be too hectic?  Has anyone been to one of these things?  Opera rehearsals start this weekend, and I’ve got a STACK of music to learn for the next six weeks…and I haven’t practiced all week because my violin is in the shop being cleaned and getting the fingerboard planed.  I get it back tomorrow though, and it should be gorgeous!

A few weeks ago I mentioned I would be up for any races my friends asked me for (within reason).  After that various friends asked me to do a couple of races.   Jennedy asked if I wanted to run the Truffle Shuffle, I said sure!  (The other was last week’s Chocolate 5k and also the St Patrick’s Day 5 mile race coming up in March.)

Truffle Shuffle:  a 4 mile race in Cottleville, Missouri.  I liked the idea of a 4 mile race—not as “fast” as a 5k and a good amount for a workout.  The perks were great too—long sleeve technical shirt, finishers mug, and plenty of chocolate.  (Like I need more, but still, fun.)

So early Saturday morning I woke up (I only wake up early for races and traveling…never for work or any other sort of recreation) and met Jennedy to go to Cottleville.  It was cold enough to want to bundle up but not as cold as the week before…basically the temps were such that it was tough to decide what to wear—near 35 degrees, sort of windy, and sunny.  I ended up wearing a long sleeve shirt with a fleece vest, gloves, and my headband.

Me, Jennedy, and her friend Katie.

I couldn’t resist photographing this guy…but I was trying to be sneaky about it so he didn’t feel weird…yet…he chose to wear what seemed to be orange underwear over running tights and a gas mask?  Hmm.

It was a pretty big race!  We were lined up towards what we thought was the middle, but I think it was towards the front.  It seemed that there were about 1300 people who ran it.

Public Service Announcement and major pet peeve:  if you are in a RACE and you are WALKING the whole time, don’t start in the front.  Just don’t.  This was the second race in a row where I started towards the middle of the front and had to dodge around (read, almost fell several times) walkers, two and three abreast sometimes…honestly I don’t care if you are walking or not, but just don’t start in the front.  It’s a race, and you obviously aren’t going to win if you aren’t running really fast.

I had hoped to keep up 10 minute miles, but it just wasn’t possible for me.  The route was a bit narrow and really congested.  Nonetheless, it was a nice race.  Miles 1 and 2 went by quickly, and then Mile 3 was almost completely uphill—really tough, but I tried to push through.  Mile 4 was basically all downhill and I decided to let the momentum carry me through.  And then the last .2 to .3 miles (estimating) was a steep uphill to the finish line.  I wanted to sprint it, of course, and I just reminded myself of how I had been practicing treadmill hill sprinting and this was the same.  I passed a bunch of people right at the end and I felt pretty darned proud of myself for that.  Then I almost collapsed past the finish line, where they gave us our “chocolate finishers medal.”  Which I was hoping would be wrapped in shiny foil like the one from last week, but wasn’t.  Oh well!

Final time:  42:03.  Not quite the ten minute miles I was hoping for (I ran watch-less, by perceived effort rather than looking at my watch) but not bad for the congestion!  I have been trying to figure out my goal time for April’s half marathon.

Sunday morning I ran 9 miles with Jen.  We decided to do the outer loop of Forest Park, run 4.5 miles one way, and then turn around and run back.  Mentally it seemed easier since we never had to pass our starting place.  It went surprisingly well.  Next weekend is the Castlewood Cup, 15k trail race.  Though I haven’t really trained on trails, at least I know I can cover the mileage.

Sunday night Chris and I went to Bailey’s Range with Kyle and Jennedy.  It’s a burger and ice cream restaurant owned by the same folks who own the Chocolate Bar and Rooster (where we had breakfast after our wedding.)  I had heard the “boozy shakes” were fantastic so I ordered one called “Sweet sweet bacon.”

Yes, that is a piece of candied bacon IN the shake.  No, I am not allowed to complain about my weight for at least a few days.  Yes, it was absolutely delicious.

The burgers were okay—honestly I am not a huge fan of burgers, and the initial fries they brought out were cold.  Kyle asked them to bring hot fries and they agreed so quickly it seemed they knew our fries were cold, which put a bad taste in my mouth—why serve cold fries to begin with?  But the shakes were fantastic.  I think I would return for dessert only, maybe after a concert.  Or I would go for dessert and simply order two shakes rather than one and a burger.

Anyway, that was my weekend.  13 miles of running, lots of great eats, and now it’s Monday.  I baked a coconut pie to take to Jon and Laura’s tonight—they just got two new kittens and I can’t wait to see them.  KITTIE!!!

How was your weekend?  Did you do any races or eat any ice cream?