Nancy and Sarah wrote this blog post

Okay, not really. But as we were coming back to the Pro Club from our run, they were discussing what I'd write:

"The run was so rockin'! And Nancy and Sarah were weenies!"

I told them I'd never write that my friends were weenies - we all have our days, and it wasn't too long ago when I was the one being dragged along instead of leading. But the run was really rockin'. But let me back up.

I don't know what my deal is, but every time I go to run, I get nervous. I don't know why. I worry about the temperature. I worry that I'll be slow. I worry about getting cramps. And every time I run, everything is fine.

Today I had an extra worry: Shona, a newer runner to our group (but a very experienced, very fast runner) was taking us through Bridle Trails - trail running. And apparently, according to Nancy, Shona had kicked Nancy's and Sarah's behinds on Friday (yeah, they were still up for more).

I've run with Shona once before. She runs faster than our group, but not so much faster that anyone would tell her to slow down. Nobody wants to be the weenie.

Plus, I had to do my intense swim this morning before the run, so I worried I'd be tired.

I ate a Luna Sunrise bar with my coffee on the way to the club. I did a 45-minute swim - the main timed set was 5 100's with fins, each faster than the previous. My times were:

1 - 1:40
2 - 1:37
3 - 1:34
4 - 1:33
5 - 1:32

I could feel myself tiring in the last couple, but I didn't panic and I was able to push on the second half of the 100 each time. The rest of my swim was drills and a couple of timed 100s where I just swam at my "natural" pace - which is now less than 2 minutes. That's good, because I know I lose time on my turns (I don't flip-turn, and I'm debating whether I should use some precious pool time to learn), and a 2-minute 100 is just fine for my Ironman swim.

When I finished my swim, I got changed and ate a GU in preparation for the run. Fortunately for me, as we were starting, the Pro Club "Boot Camp" class was also starting their run - in the same direction we were headed. Shona saw a few of her friends and ran with them up this super-steep hill. So I got to run at a reasonable pace up the hill with Nancy and Sarah.

Then we hit the trail. I started out running next to Shona because there really was only room for two across. And we started chatting, and suddenly we're pretty far ahead of Nancy and Sarah and I realize - I'm running with SHONA. Scary, fast Shona. And I'm talking!

I think what it was is pretty simple: I like the trail. I like the variety of the land, scrambling up hills and practically sliding down, running around corners, and so on. It's pretty, it's safe, the worst thing I have to dodge is horse poop, not traffic, and I love how trail running really uses all the muscles in your legs and core to maintain balance. It's just different from pavement.

So I managed to keep up and feel happy the entire way. It was a pretty morning, and the trail wasn't too muddy. Then we hit pavement for the last half-mile or so back to the club - and immediately I felt a pounding throughout my body. It felt hard and yucky. I liked the connection to the earth that I felt running the trail.

Then I did my strength training, but I found myself getting really hungry - so I had to finish up and hurry to the office so I could eat.

Solid training day! I do notice, though, that my legs are kind of tired. They're probably angry at me for writing yesterday about how good I felt. I know they're doing a ton of work - I'm just sayin' they're strong!