My encounter with a COW, the usual life and training, and a pretty cool contest!

So, I haven't posted in EONS. Did I spell that wrong? Probably, and I'm much too lazy to simply google the word and fix it. I know, this is totally out of character for me..I'm usually so professional and such.

Had quite a fun little experience at work today. I work in a dental office that is located somewhat in the country next to a large farm. We aren't completely remote and it's a very busy office. I had to open the window in the op I work in today because I was actually too cold with the AC on. (I don't have AC in my house and I'm accustomed to 80 degrees not 48 degrees which is the temperature in the office. There are WAY too many menopausal women working here and our patients actually ask for blankets- no lie.) OK-back to my story. I am leaning over my little patient attempting to put sealants on her teeth when I hear a bit of a noise that makes me turn my head. What do I see?? Well, nothing out of the ordinary, just a COW sticking it's head in my window. NOT KIDDING!! A BIG flippin' COW with it's head sticking RIGHT in my window. I may or may not have yelped and my coworker came in my room and we were about dying laughing and making all these noises trying to get the cow to move but it just stayed put. I took the air/water syringe and started firing through the window in hopes it would turn and run but apparently it was a HOT cow and enjoyed the cool shower because it would NOT move. Pretty soon, all the patients in the waiting room and all of the employees were up in my room looking at this cow. One of the hygienists and I decided we somehow had to get it away from the window as perhaps it's a bit of a problem if a cow decides to trample one of the patients on their way out..... We ended up outside with both of us trying to chase this cow off the lawn and back into the pasture across the road. We were seriously running and shouting and chasing and I have honestly NEVER laughed harder in my life than watching Paula do her "Bessie" call. Moving on......

Life:

*Ryan made the volleyball team. She is the libero for the A team and had her first game tonight which I had to miss because of the cow. Not really, I would have missed it anyway.

*Max had a big tournament in the cities last weekend. They televised his game on Saturday night and then later archived it online so he has been able to see himself play. He scored the first goal, a really nice one, and the announcers made such a big deal out of it and his face practically cracks from smiling when he watches this OVER and OVER and OVER.

*Reese is going to run a cross country mile next Thursday. It is being held on the golf course. She ran a mile tonight on gravel with my Garmin in 6:40 and she hasn't been running much. She's 10, I think she's a ROCKSTAR (I'm her mother-I would think she was a ROCKSTAR if this was 9:40)

*It is Joe's 40th birthday next month, the week after my marathon. I feel like I should be planning a party or something. I'm thinking more along the lines of 4 couples and dinner but maybe this is boring for a 40th. I'm also thinking a short getaway for the 2 of us would be in order. You know because he's turning 40, not because I just ran a marathon and think I should reward myself with a few days on a beach sipping margaritas:)

*Max's birthday is on Saturday. He will be 8. I have an 8th grader and my baby is 8 years old. I'm almost 36... I'm asking for a sweatshirt with a built in collar and some songbirds on the front for my birthday. Seems fitting.

Training:

So, I've been away from blogworld a bit here. I ended up with a glute problem after a long run a while ago. This resulted in a 10 day break from running which abruptly ended when I felt I had reached the MAXIMUM allowable time off for my sanity.... When I'm NOT running, my mojo for blogging goes down the tubes a bit unfortunately.... Many of you know this from my tiny 4 month hiatus during my stress fracture last year....Anyway, I am now back at it fighting to make up lost ground while still fighting some annoying discomfort. My marathon is in 4 and 1/2 weeks. I have greatly modified my training plan since starting back, my mileage is down, and even easy pace has been SLOWER than I would like. I've also been really fighting some mental demons and obsessing about lost fitness which surely hasn't helped. Tuesday, I had a bit of a reward however as I met up with a speedy friend for a tempo run of sorts. Decided on the 10K loop in town and pulled out this:

Really hard effort. Race effort actually and the reward of completing it was just as good as that of a race. My PITA was definitely there but dulled some with the fact that I loaded up on ibuprofen for this run. I don't need lectures here. I almost never take this running and I know the risks of masking pain etc. I NEEDED a good run however and for this day it was worth it. I'm two days "ibuprofen sober" now and I took an unscheduled rest day after this run.

Tomorrow I'm attempting 6 mile repeats@10K+5 seconds which is somewhere around 6:50 for me. Planning for a long run of 20+ on Sunday. Praying my body cooperates here.

SO-one last IMPORTANT thing!!!

My dear friend Amanda@Runninghood sent me this a few weeks ago. It was created JUST FOR ME by her amAZingly talented mother Cher Odum. I was EXTREMELY touched that his was done for me and furthermore I just LOVE it!!! This lady really has a special special gift and she's developed some new really fantastic work specifically geared toward runners and athletes!!! Check out Amanda's blog for a fun contest and a chance to get your hands on some PERSONALIZED professional art!!!

OK-I know there are some BIG races this weekend. I have several that I've been keeping tabs on and will get around personally to wish you good luck in the morning!! SO much to catch up on here!