down hill

so its been sort of downhill lately. maybe? i think?
ever since i took that one long workout day off, i am not sure i have gotten my goove back. but maybe i have. i had been doing those crazy long ass weeks and i was doing great, then BAM, i got sick. i took that one day off even though i wasn't feeling terrible. but the sore throat was going and i kept coughing. but then it was on to rest week which i think was fine then on to the first week of the new phase, where i started with some zone 3 stuff. that was going well, i still had the sore throat but i went to the dr and he said he thot it was acid reflux but took the throat culture anyway. i did a 1:25 run on a tuesday! that was nutty but i headed out right from work and ran towards home. eric and the kids met me along the way and they didmy intervals with me. damn those were tough. apparently i was doing them right because i really didn't want to talk at all during each of them. i wasn't dying but i really wasn't amuzed either. heading out was into a head wind and heading back was all tail wind.
that week was the longest week ever because i was waiting to go to SF for the LUNA summit. i went last year and thot that was the greatest weekend ever but it was nothing compared to this time around. eric and the kids woke up friday morning with me at 430 to drop me off at the airport. they are so sweet to do that. the flight was uneventful although it was the first time i flew virgin and it was delux. i landed, got my suitcase and BIKE and next thing i knew allie was there in a giant white truck picking me up! it was so awesome to see her and she had cookies, too! i quickly chowed down two of the cookies and we headed out to do some shopping. allie is the all time best shopping partner. she will tell you flat out if something looks good or not. for instance, black tub socks do not look good with shorts. but no really, she tells it like it is. i wound up with some shorts that i like and she wound up with a green shirt and we split her coupon so that is abonus, too! then we went back to the airport to pick up her parents!! now, allie and i have known each other since i was 3, but we have always been essentially the same age. her parents have known me that entire time too and its funny to think that they have memories of me when i was little like that. anyway, we went for sushi and looked at ceramics and it was just fun. then to berkley for a while and then they dropped me off. i headed over to CLIF for the festivities to begin! all the pros were there this year which was so awesome. once again they are so amazing and i love to listen to how funny they are! we had dinner and learned about the Breast Cancer Fund and then we headed to our hotel.
i was totally freaking out at the prospect of the swim in the morning. yikes! we had some breakfast and then headed out to the sf bay. we got an awesome swim lesson from one of the pros and then we went in. yikes. it was damn cold. i didn't stay in the water for very long though. i had borrowed some awesome booties but also a neoprene hat that really messed with my ears and my neck. and i was wimpy.
back to the hotel and into the shower to get that nastyness off. then some hanging around off for some mtn biking. i was pretty nervous about going out but we started up on the road and kept going up and up on the road. eventually we got onto some trails but then wound up on a fire road for miles and miles and miles. and it was warm! i was happy that i was feeling good and able to keep up. then we went down! the descnet was so awesome! then we went back up!! this time it was steep and narrower and there were switch backs, but i managed to get up the whole thing and keep up! i was pleasantly surpised. then it was down again! the whole ride took about forever and i was tired by the end but it was a great confidence booster and the views were amazing. i guess we had gone up mt tamalpias?
then it was dinner and Q&A with the pros. then a totally stiff margarita to celebrate LaVonne's birthday! then i crashed out. next morning we got up, had breakfast and headed out for more mtn biking. this time it was a steeper more technical trail and we stopped to try a few obsticles. the first one we tried i managed ok. then we tired a trick switch back. i tried three times but couldn't even manage to get to the damn thing and would bail before i even got to it so i was discouraged. but the decent was fun and i was happy to have gone.
once we got back i took my bike apart and packed it up. then changed and had lunch. i had 3 - 1/2 sandwiches because i was starving. then allie came and we ran out to stenson beach. it was hot which i was loving and we had a great run. i was pretty tired by the end but so happy to do it. allie took me back to her house to hang out with her family and parents again, and i had the chance to organize my suitcase and rest a little on the couch. allie's mom made us lamb which was a childhood treat when ihad dinner at their house and then allie took me to the airport. i checked in and then waited. and waited and waited. he flight was totally delayed. wehn i finally landed eric was there and the kids were totally passed out. he had tried to keep the kids awake - seamus made it all the way to 11 and told eric how she had never been awake that late before!
monday at work i moved into my new office which i was happy about because my old office had ants in it but my mid day i was feeling like ASS. i had really started coughing and sneezing and yuck. my coach had given me monday as a rest day and once i told her about how terrible i was feeling, i got tuesday off, too. wednesday i did an easy spin on the trainer ( and watched some nip/tuck) and then some stretching and core work. i bailed on swimming since i still felt bad. thursday was a zn1 run and some plyometrics? and some power cleans? i am so weak the bar was too heavy. there are no other options, but i did try using the lat pull down bar which alowed me to have my hands far enough apart but i almost scraped my face off with the part that you clip onto so i didn't continue with that.
friday i went swiming but it was hard and the coach was just like what the hell when he saw me swimming in the indoor pool but it was damn cold and snowing and i knew the water was going to be cold. and i was sore. way sore from the weights.
i'll tell about today's awesome mtn bike ride later! it was totally fun!