Weekend Wrap-Up

This past weekend was crazy busy with out-of-town guests, but good fun was had by all.  Plus, I had the first weekend in 16 weeks (!!) where I did not have to plan my social life around a weekend long run (read: where I didn't have to plan my drinking around my running). Two things I learned this weekend:

• Our new house is "big enough" if you take "big enough" to mean that it can accommodate eight overnight guests who don't mind sleeping on air mattresses. Buying a futon has been on our to-do list for a long time. It is surprising how hard it is to find a used futon that is A) reasonably priced, B) located somewhat nearby, and C) not disgusting.
• Five kids (ages 6, 6, 6, 4, and 3) can sound (and feel!) more like 25 kids.

 I had big plans for a "long" run of six miles (the long is in quotes mostly because that distance seems so refreshing to me now), but I got little to no sleep on Saturday night and ended up bagging Sunday's run. All told, I ran a grand total of five miles last week. It was rather lovely and probably more than a little necessary since my runner's knee is raring its ugly head. And just when my plans for world domination (this is how I am jokingly referring to my 2011 racing schedule) were taking shape!

Ella kicked ass at soccer again this weekend, scoring two back-to-back goals that I missed because I was putting teeny-tiny clothes on Polly Pocket for Sadie. Damn that Polly Pocket! Blue Fire's (that's Ella's soccer team's name) quest for world domination is coming along nicely. That's the good thing about being six--no runner's knee. Oh to be six again. Or, for that matter, four. You should see how Sadie can rock the leggings with tall boots look. It's just not fair.

After reveling in an entire luxurious week of agenda-less running, I signed up for the Hot Chocolate 15K last night. Which means I will spend the next two weeks doing a training form of "cramming." Surely I can handle 9.3 miles in two weeks when I ran 26.2 a week ago? Looks like I'm back to schedule juggling and weekend long runs. At least for the next two weeks. I figure I can jump right to eight-mile long runs (right?) for the next two weekends and be more than ready to run 15K on November 6. Can anyone say "glutton for punishment"?

At least I have some sweet race swag and chocolate on the horizon! I mean, who wouldn't run 15K for some chocolate fondue? (Just go with me on this one.) Plus, I talked my dad into signing up, so we'll be able to close 2010 with at least one father/daughter race under our belts (we did three together last year).