Randomize!

Had a really fun weekend this weekend, and it all started with a Friday off of work... *cue flashback music*

 

Thursday of last week, I got an e-mail from a friend asking me to make a batch of brownies for him because our other friend "wouldn't share" or some such nonsense. With that, the Brownie Throw Down was born. So I asked my mom for her recipe and set out to get the ingredients. I forgot to get chocolate chips, though, and ended up at CVS looking for an adequate substitute: viola! Hershey's Special Dark Kisses! Yum! Friday night, around 8, we gathered at my friend's new apartment (which is totally cute!) and each served our brownies. Hers were amazing with oreos and cream cheese in the frosting, oh, yum. I made a more traditional brownie with a fudge frosting. We ended up not voting because we were having too much fun just talking and the brownies were so different. We headed back home around 10:30 so I could get to bed, because the next morning was my...

 

12 mile run. I was really nervous about this run because I had had a really hard time running on Thursday night. I don't know what, exactly, was wrong, but I was supposed to run 6 miles and ended up walking after 2 because my shins hurt so bad. I stopped to stretch and managed to run 5 more minutes, but the pain just wouldn't go away. So that made me really nervous for my long run on Saturday. Shouldn't have worried, though, because my running partner and I ran our 12 miles at 11:15 pace, which is faster than our normal by about 15-30 seconds/mile!

 

In other running-related news: I'm strategizing for the races I have coming up. I have 2 half-marathons in 3 weeks: Houston Half this Sunday and San Antonio Rock-n-Roll Half on the 15th of November. I *really* want to race the SA Half, and get a good time, so I want to be decently rested and recovered for that one. So, I'm thinking of shooting for a 10:30 pace for the Houston Half, which is faster than normal  long run (see above), but not as fast as I raced the 10 miler last week, and not as fast as I'd like to race the SA Half. I'll plan to do speedwork Wednesday morning and basically train through this half marathon. Then, for San Antonio, I'll do the 14 miler the week before, but then skip speedwork on Wednesday morning and just do the 5 miles at training pace. Thursday night, I'll run my 7 miler easy, and then Friday, try to run the last 3 miles of the course in San Antonio. Saturday, rest up, hit the expo, figure out where to park and how to get to the start from our hotel, and find a nice Italian restaurant for lunch. Then I'm thinking of shooting for a 9:45 pace for the half marathon, giving me an overall goal of around 2:07, or a PR of 7 minutes. I think it's doable, and maybe I could even do it faster. My goal and target pace are pending the results of the half this weekend. If it goes well and I feel like I have energy at the end, I'll think about shooting for 9:30 pace, or even a 2 hr half!