Today was the 16th time I've volunteered for Field Day at my kids' elementary school. 16th and last, sad but true. My baby is going to middle school next year. Well, I was so excited and hoping to of course help with a running relay race. No such luck. I ended up helping the "hand ball" groups. OK, after my attitude adjustment (I was all dressed in my running clothes and best race shoes. Damn. Why didn't they pick me? I signed up for the relays!) I realized it was kinda fun. It was pretty much like soccer except you had to only use your hands. No kicking. Well, when a team didn't have enough players, I decided to jump in for some fun and offered to be goalie. Kids all said "Hooray for Mrs. Suvick!" I thought "Sweet!" That all changed when the first evil little 6th grader whacked me with a friggin' hard gym ball in the leg. I blocked it, but I seriously thought I should let the next one fly into the net. Unfortunately, my competitive (aka stupid) side wouldn't let me do that. So, after 9 rotations and 4 teams short a player, I limped off the field covered in welts, after being pummeled by 20 plus balls by wicked 6th grade punks! It was all in fun, I'm sure. NOT!

So, now it was time for my run. I was hungry and it was hot! 82 degrees and humid. Ugh. I head to the park with a plan from the coach to get ready for my big race tomorrow. I had to run 20 min, then do 2 sets of strides and a 2 min tempo run. (For those of you that don't know what this means, look it up. Hey! I'm tired and my husband is waiting upstairs with a beer and a movie.) I did fairly well jogging the first 20 min. Started feeling spunky and ready to go after Rihanna's Disturbia played on my iPod. (That song kinda defines my running lately.) The strides worried me but once I started I thought they were a ton of fun! Very bouncy - like me! Now it was time for the tempo run. I set my Garmin (non-running enthusiasts, look it up!) and took off. I was told not to go all out, so, I held myself back while letting go a little. At 2 minutes BEEP! times up. I was running a 6:07 mile pace! I could have gone faster and ran further. OOooh! CoOOoooliooO! I smiled and got the chills! Wierd, very good feeling. (married couples experience something similar when children are conceived. Maybe.) I'm getting faster and it feels so good. 1 mile jog and back to the car and some icy cold Gatorade! Creepy dude sitting in his car near my car freaks me out. He passed me 3 times while I was running. Ew! I speed off( park speed limit is 25, I go 28mph) to the gym to get my UE bike fix to finish off my workout. I put Disturbia on in the car and sing all the way dreaming of my race tomorrow. I will definitely need a beer and a Benedryl to sleep tonight!