Fast race day

There is nothing like having a great run after a not so hot run to remind you that all of the miles and speedwork and frustration can be worth the trouble.  I ran in the Cranberry festival 5k this morning and despite getting snippy with one of the volunteers over their parking nonsense, it was a good day for a fast run.  The course starts downhill for about a mile and up for a chunk but it is no steeper than anything in Franklin and uphills motivate my legs and my head to work harder.  I hope to keep up on hills during the fall non-planned training period.  I was the second female behind a familiar face who I will admit is flippin fast!  She won that race today.  I was more happy with my time which is probably one of the fastest I have gone all year.  I clopped in at 21.39 and I will take that!  I don't know where those sub 7min miles came from but going into the two weeks before Applefest, I enjoy having some mental reinforcement to keep me going.  A couple good training runs here in between marathon rehearsals and school and life happenings will keep me fresh for hopefully another sub 22 race.  Applefest is one of my favorites, but it is usually not a fast race for me.  

I got to follow up my race with some theatre time with the hubby.  We spent the mid to late afternoon painting and doing detail work for set stuff.  I hung out with a seven year old and chatted her up.  It was generally a blast minus the lingering headache that has been giving me the business the past few days.  

Also, new Lancome make-up was purchased today along with nude-hose (I just love saying nude-hose!).  The make-up came with a "free" gift (the only time I buy fancy make-up) of samples and sweet lipstick.  I have decided that I am going to make my thirtieth year of life the one where I become a lipstick wearer.  It is so sheek and fun and yet everytime I put it on, I feel not quite right.  Like I am trying to hard to tart it up or something.  I wonder if this is just because I almost never wear it and just need to make it a habit so I can get used to it.  I may try this to see if it works.  

Birthday week, post marathon blah non running week

School has been incredible this first month!  I am a lucky first grade teacher.  The kiddos that make up my class are fun, energetic, child like in a way they enjoy my childishness, and they work hard.  It has been a whirlwind of a first month with everything that goes into getting ready for back to school.  My room set up is the bomb; I am not going to lie.  I moved my desk to the corner nearest my central teaching area instead of in the Siberian corner it was in last year.  I still don't sit at it hardly ever, but I can set things there and they are closer than they would have been last year.  Teaching first grade still feels like quite the adventure, almost like the whitewater rafting of education. I am always surprised by how much I enjoy it.  Five/six years ago I could hardly picture myself in any classroom younger than fourth graders.  Now I can help pull out teeth and tie shoes and comfort weepy children like a boss.  Yesterday, one of my fellas spilt a bottle of water on my desk.  It completely soaked my desk calendar and part of my math manual.  25 year old Amanda would have melted down along with the child.  30 year old Mrs. Greene goes with the flow and tells the boy all is fine and that she is probably the clumsiest person she knows.  I told my husband it is probably all of the maturity.  However, I am not too old to play with six year olds and stuffed frogs and puppets.  It is a crazy awesome development I did not know would occur five/six years ago.

I am so thankful for the passing of time.  I turned 30 on Monday and thank goodness for the end of my twenties.  Do any other early 30-ers feel this way?  Relieved to be out of this period where you are a grown up but you are not really; people say you are an adult but don't treat you like one.  The shifting and changing and evolving of my twenties turned out great, but I am a creature of comfort and prefer stability and predictability.  

I finished out my 20s with a marathon in Erie.  It was a rough race.  My hip or IT band has been all out of sorts since the race in Harrisvile back in August.  I can push up to 2 hours and it gets all kinds of ouchy that I don't really know what to do with it.  The answer is probably to just lay off and let things heal.  I am taking down my milage, but I still have races coming up (tomorrow for instance!) and would like to have decent times.  I find it hard to turn off the competitiveness going into a race and do not need to get hurt.  In my mind, crossing the finish line on Sunday marked the end of my marathoning days.  This is probably not true.  Marathons truly demand not all but most of what a person has to give.  They take time, energy both mental and physical.  I am thankful I work in a profession where I had the summer to prepare for this race.  The two a days reminded me of my strength and capabilities.  I felt fast and fierce most of the summer.  I am excited to do some speed work and get into these last few months' races for 2014.  I will easily average one a month with only missing February because I couldn't find a nearby race to get to.  After 2014 what should I do?  Do I try to step it up somehow (how)?  Do I incorporate more tris (yes)?  When can I get back into the pool?  So many things to think about.  

I am writing this post from my new iPad my husband got me for the birthday celebrations.  It feels too fancy, yet, I am enjoying its niftiness.  I got a keyboard to do the typing thing because touch screen keyboard typing is banana pants!  Yes, banana pants!