And suddenly, it's 2016...

Yes, I have fallen off the face of the earth.  But it’s been good.  :)

2 weeks off of work were fantastic!  We did so much, had so much fun, and basically it’s tough coming back to the reality of work!

There was a race (12k), there was the Nutcracker and dinner and fanciness and sequin dresses, there was Star Wars at 7am in comfy clothes and chairs, there was Christmas prepping and Christmas-ing and lots of eating, and mountain biking and road biking and running and swimming and SNOWBOARDING and skiing and movies and family get-togethers and girls night and lots of coloring by the fireplace and feeding penguins at the zoo and and and and…!!!!

And now I’m at work.  Zzzzzz.

Quick notes on the 12k:

Coach actually did a little kinda baby-taper (more like, no hard leg workouts for a few days before), and after a rough 10k test the week before, I had a general goal.  I did the 10k at a 7:14 pace on the flat trail, so I was hoping I could maybe hit 7:15 for the 12k (2k further, plus it had a few monster hills and packed-gravel trail).

I started the race with Mic, who kept pulling me along the first 3ish miles until he got tired of me being slow and he took off (I’m surprised he stayed slow enough for me to chase him the first few miles lol), and then it was alllllll about keeping moving.

Another girl stuck behind me and was clearly pacing off of me for a few miles in the middle, which was kind of annoying but in a good way, because it made me feel more accountable, like, “don’t stop now Rosanne, otherwise this chick is gonna pass you and know you’re slow!”

Pete from Woodinville Bicycle was taking pictures halfway through, and when he saw me, he yelled “COME ON, GET UP THERE AND CATCH HIM ROSANNE” (referring to Mic) which was funny because I hadn’t even seen him yet (so he got a pretty epic photo of me first, total pain face)…so I tried to sprint to at least look fast but then I got tired (probably wasted a lot yelling back and whining about being tired…toughen up, Rosanne!).

By the last couple miles, I was ready to be done!  I was staying relatively consistent though, so that was good.  Naturally, mile 7 took us off the trail and up another couple ENORMOUS hills.  Like, massive hills.  Oh my gosh.  That was brutal, and definitely the slowest mile at 7:39 and I was suffering!

The last 0.4 was all downhill, and I tried SOOOO hard to push it and speed up and use that speed, but honestly I’m awful at running downhills.  Down to 6:32 but that, plus just being pretty much beat by then, and I had like 5 people pass me in the last half mile!  UGH!

Oh well, still came in in 53:50, which put me at a 7:13/mi average and I was pretty darn thrilled!  3^rd AG and 14^th female—there were some incredibly fast girls out there!!  Oh my gosh.  Overall, I was pretty pleased with my efforts; I know I WANT to be faster, but it seemed like a pretty good representation of where I am these days, and I haven’t done much speed-wise (just starting to) so really I can’t ask for any better!

Finally getting back into things.  Mostly I’m excited to eat better and not feel so bleh!  Only up a couple pounds, honestly, and I know it’s totally fine and was what I needed, but ready to get rid of it.

Fitness-wise, Shawn did an awesome job over the last couple months.  I feel pretty good: stronger, and probably better than last January.  I’m sure I lost a little, but I think it’s minimal, maybe some endurance, but nothing I can’t get back easily.  Relatively easy week, plus a day of snowboarding, but then I have a brick on Sunday!!  True, I’ll likely be inside on the trainer for 2:30 while it rains, then freeze for the 0:30 run, but I am SO STOKED!  Plus, the instructions this time are to run HARD for the first 10 minutes and then report back the numbers.  This is in stark contrast to the bricks I did leading up to CDA, when it was all about “run easy off the bike just to get a feel for it.”

I’ve been getting very specific intervals and speed workouts about once a week, too, and I am LOVING it!  Half the time, I didn’t even know I could hit the numbers, so not only does it feel really good, but it’s fun to surprise myself and realize I actually CAN run 20 x 0:50 at 6:30 and really not feel like I had to work very hard!  ;)  I am so excited to be working on building all these things and focusing on speed; I feel so ready to really train hard and see improvements, and hoping it all comes together for Australia!!