Dopey in 30 days (or so)....

On Monday my mother had her shoulder replaced. It's been a very tough week for her and for my dad. I was "this" close to calling out from work, canceling all my plans and heading out to be there with her. Then tonight I spoke to mom and she sounded great. She was lucid, aware and while there were still some cognitive issues, she was aware of them. I think it might have been the best conversation I've had with my mom in a while. To those of you who have included her in your prayers and have sent well wishes, thank you! Please continue as she still has a long road ahead of her!

My next event is the Dopey Challenge in January. This week was also the first week I created my own training plans, sorta.

I went back into my Training Peaks Calendar to see what I did last year and I modified it. Last year I was coming off of a sprained ankle. This year, I am coming off of recovering from IMFL. I feel confident ramping up my mileage a little bit. 

Originally I was going to run 9 miles on Friday but after running 6.2 with Adam we decided that a swim would be a better workout. After all, I didn't really have a rest day on Saturday as I had 4 lacrosse games. Sunday I was reffing 4 games before running 12 miles. He agreed with me that NOT running on Friday was a good idea.

The biggest difference between having a coach and not is that a little voice inside my head during the workout sometimes chirps: If I don't do this, or I change it, no one knows but me. While I didn't need a coach for accountability to get started on the work out, having a coach helped me stick to plan. I did end up modifying my 3 on Wednesday. I had assigned myself a cut back run, but the evening got away from me. Instead I just found a challenging route and ran that.

On Thursday I was looking for a swim workout that would break up the monotony of just swimming laps in the pool. A Facebook friend answered my inquiry for a swim workout and I did pretty well with it. It was for a full body workout and I felt it! 2400 yards done and no boredom.

Sunday was a good day! Not only did I get to trot out a pretty steady 12 mile run over one of my favorite routes, but I got to do it with 2 good friends. Then a 3rd found us and joined us for a 2 hour dinner of good food, good laughs...good times! I've taken to running in Roswell and part of the loop I do is up Timber Ridge Road. It really is getting easier. Our pace dropped slightly, but nearly as significantly has it has in the past.

Earlier in the week the t-shirt fairy came by....

I do love my Raw Threads t-shirts. There actually isn't a t-shirt fairy, but there is a T-shirt Guy. Remember him? I think the last time we were able to hang out was before he dropped me at the Publix Half Marathon. Maybe we got together after that, but I'm really not sure.

Lo and behold, TG doesn't work too far from my office so he swung by for a short visit. He also commented how he hadn't been in my blog for a while and he felt neglected. Hey TG... you made it again!

No new dates to report, but the count this week of married guys (or might as well be married guys) who have told me, "If I weren't married you'd be in trouble," is THREE. As I tell them, this isn't helpful. Maybe I'll make a great second wife.

Meanwhile, I'm tired. It's late. I survived my first week of only be accountable to me!