Adventures of Rachele

  I started the day off with the Love 'em or Leave 'em 5K at Greenlake.  You had a choice of running by yourself or having your times combined as a couple.  I ran with Cindy as a couple (they combine your ages and your race times), so we could qualify for the Women's Master's Division (thanks for inflating our age group, Cindy!).  We got 10th place in the Open Division (we would've been 5th, if they put us in right category).  Again, I gave in to peer pressure.  I would normally skip this kind of race since I run around Greenlake at least twice a week, and I couldn't figure out how 1,300 runners were going to fit around the path.  It actually spread out and I had more room than I've had in other races.  Serendipity?  I was also surprised that there wasn't much traffic getting there.  Cindy and I met an hour before on the other side of the lake and just hung out at Starbucks before the start time.  We planned on doing a warm-up run to the start line, but I thought an hour-long warm-up was overkill for a 3 mile race.  One to two miles is a perfect warm-up for a 5K.  It was funny that we bumped into friends at the coffee shop, at the start, at the finish, and walking back to our cars...it's a small town. Anyways, thanks for kicking my butt, Cindy.

So, on the way back we actually committed to our time goals for the year.  No sandbagging allowed in 2007!  We're also increasing our race schedule, which should help improve our times.  So, far we've already seen improvements, so racing does work.  I can attest that our  3 races last month have affected our bodies because we can't help but run faster in a race. 

Yeah, chores are done!

Healthy in moderation

Along, with the training schedule is fine-tuning our diets.  Really, it's another factor that will help us get faster.  So, Heidi and I agreed to do some healthy grocery shopping and cooking.  It's so much easier cooking for two or more people than just cooking for myself.  And, unless I'm throwing a dinner party, I just don't feel motivated to cook a complicated meal.  Also, having a cooking buddy made the errands of grocery shopping, putting things away and cooking, so much more fun.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely changing my life; I think resolutions don't work.  I can't imagine having a strict schedule of working and training...there is so much more to life! 

Heidi