T - 6 days

Six days until the half-marathon and a vacation in Las Vegas. I have one more long run to do tomorrow and then Wednesday and Thursday will be easy 3 mile runs. I should be tapering down to 8 miles tomorrow but I fell a little behind on my training back in January so I'll be going 11-12 miles tomorrow.

I received my 'registered athlete' letter detailing everything I need to know about the race. What I failed to notice when I registered is that the half-marathon climbs 800-900 feet over the first 5 miles. Yikes! I've definitely been doing hills during my training but I don't think I've climbed that much. The good news is that the remainder of the course is completely down-hill, the weather is supposed to be great, AND I'll be running at about 3,500 feet which is 3,500 feet lower than I've been training at.(I've been training at 7,000 feet if you couldn't do the math) Hopefully it's all a recipe for success! Finishing the race is always the goal!

The land that I'll be running on in Vegas is all BLM(Bureau of Land Management) ground...which I didn't really know when I registered so hopefully that'll keep Mike entertained as he waits for my at the finish line...hopefully with a cocktail in his hand waiting for me. :) Then after the race, we plan to have a heck of a time in Vegas with some friends!! Once again - sounds like a recipe for success.

BLM swearing in

Yesterday afternoon was Mike's formal swearing in ceremony for BLM. He was sworn in back in October before he left for training but yesterday there was an official ceremony. They had snacks, cake, and everything!

[The woman is the Director of NM BLM, the guy in the light grey shirt is the NM State Ranger, and the guy in the vest is the SAC(Special Agent in Charge) for this region.] I'm not really clear why I had to stand up there with him but I was there for moral support!

Look - I even dressed in brown for the occasion! I even showered and dressed for the day ~ If you ever have worked from home you know what I'm talking about.

Since we had special plans last Friday at Ojo Caliente(which was fantastic by the way), we stayed at home for Valentine's Day. We had shrimp fondue and strawberries with chocolate fondue. It was DEEE-licious!

That is quite a chocolate-covered strawberry you have there Mike. YUM!

Stuart looking depressed because he didn't have a valentine. Poor guy! So - Stuart became my valentine back-up. Such a cutie-pie he is!!

Watch it ~ I'm running here!

Did you finish the 10 miles? yep
How did it go? unh...it went
How long did it take? longer than I'd like to admit
Was the weather nice? it was wonderful ~ I forgot to put on sunscreen so I hope my ears didn't get too much sun
Did people in cars honk at you and try get your attention for whatever reason? yes - my message to those drivers...just leave ME ALONE! I'm going to ignore you and do I look like I want to have a conversation with you? NO!! Bug off!
Did you have to walk? more than I'd like to admit
Did you almost get hit by a careless driver? I suppose it would be exaggerating if I said I almost got hit but as I was crossing a street, a careless driver trying to turn right basically blasted through the red light he was supposed to stop at in order to let me cross the street. He did, however, roll down the window, wave at me, and said he was sorry.
Did it annoy you that you had to stop at so many street lights? Not really ~ it was a nice mandatory break
Did you almost quit at mile 7? yep ~ I could have turned to go home at mile 7 but thought, "What's another 3 miles?" and kept truckin' on
Did you finish strong? if you call walking the last 1/2 mile finishing strong then I finished SUPER strong!
How many miles are you running tomorrow? absolutely none
What's on the agenda for tomorrow then? Yoga
What was the best thing about your run today? finishing

10 miles??...No problem

Hopefully I'll be saying 'no problem' after I'm done running those 10 miles. I'm trying to convince myself it will be just fine and I'll feel like a rock-star afterwards. I don't have any Gu or Sport Beans so I'll be surviving on water only. I have my route all mapped out and my clothes ready so I can take off this afternoon at the warmest part of the day. I think it's supposed to get into the 50's today so it's going to be a fabulous day for a run. I should probably put on some sunscreen too because the Santa Fe sun is shining brightly!

Including today, I have three long runs left before the big 'ole half-marathon. I'm really looking forward to it...I haven't run a race(and I use the term 'race' loosely) for so long.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Oooo La La

I was told earlier today via text from the hubs - "Don't plan anything for Friday"

I assumed maybe we were to attend some sort of work function or maybe we were invited to a dinner at one of his co-workers houses, etc. I just recently talked to him on the phone and he said "Did you figure out what we were doing on Friday?" I said, "Nope - didn't even think about it because I haven't left my office since my lunch break."

He told me we were going to Ojo Caliente to spend 2 hrs in a private mineral hot springs pool and then dinner afterward at their restaurant. Holy smokes! Who knew the hubs could be so romatically sneaky??!! When asked - what's the occasion, he said, "It's almost Valentine's Day." :)

MUWAH! You're the best hubby EVER! xoxo

Happy 29th Michael!

It's Mike's birthday and he made it home from AZ by 11:55am this morning. I begged him to leave super early from AZ and he lefted at 5am! I just finished up work and Mike is currently napping. Gotta go wake him so we can hit the gym in this tornado of a snow-storm we're getting. I'm happy the snow is not accumulating too much yet but not thrilled about the wind that has been howling since last night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!

Thanks for sharing your airport stories on my last post.

Stacey - The Cancun one definitely should have made my post...how could I have forgotten our luggage not making it to Cancun?!! Not to mention the one bag that we did get was totally worthless to us. And, if I recall, it rained the next day so we couldn't even jump into our suits and lay by the pool. :) Oh - the memories!!