Yep - my daffodils are trying to make a bloom in late October. Are they crazy? Yes - they were only planted in early November last year and I think they did not make an appearance this spring. So what does this mean? Not sure - but these are the kind of noteworthy discoveries I make, when doing lawn work in the mid 40s of taper week.
Cleveland was frantic but fun. I then slept most of the day I took to recover. Wednesday was a bit tough and I started the drive to conference two in Traverse City. I arrived with enough time on Thursday to grab breakfast, take a class on Tableau, setup my poster, and begin the final preparations for my Paper presentation. I got great questions and thoroughly enjoyed myself, but I did not pack sufficient layers.
I then drove through snow on/off including the bridge to the Upper Peninsula. Let me tell you - driving in the wind and snow flurries was not so fun the first time. Needing to complete a speed workout, I got my stuff sorted, changed, and did it. No, I did not hit the splits and yes I resembled a Pillsbury Dough Boy, but I did it. My second to last long run was similar - cold, lots of turns, but I did it. The walking around the Island convinced me that I have trained on harder terrain and so the race will in fact be a reward. Will I struggle? Yep. And I may hit a point where I decide I cannot continue? When those moments hit, I will just take a second to re frame it, remind myself that I trained hard, and keep up on going.
And...yes, I posted some photos twice. Sorry, folks - I did spot some hilarious boots and I picked up a cute owl, which will be an excellent donation to the 2019 Midwest MLA silent auction.
I returned in the mid afternoon/early evening a week ago. I was pretty exhausted and not running well - as you might imagine -for more days than I care to admit. Wednesday night - I ran with my group and coach. The "tantrum" finally passed and I was told to speed up and I did. The last long run was easy and now the race week is upon us.
And...I got my haircut, after getting a recommendation, and the curls have returned. They are much more "prominent" in the initial cut and now my hair is back to doing its usual with little prompting (yay).
I will drive-up Thursday afternoon/evening, pickup stuff on Friday afternoon, run Saturday, and then return on Sunday. If I feel up to it, I will do a pre/post race write-up. The post race recap will occur happen within a day or two. In the meantime, Twitter and Instagram are the best ways to keep up with me for the next week or so.
