Whew!! The last few weeks have been quite the whirl-wind for me! I was in Moab and Lake Powell with my sisters, then out with some friends, then two shows at Red Rocks, and then Snowmass with my Ragnar team! I think I have been home 3 of the last 18 days! BUT, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I love this crazy storm I call my life! Sometimes it seems like there is no real middle ground for me though...I either plan every last detail of something, or fly by the seat of my pants. 

With the Garden of the Gods 10 Miler fast approaching (THIS weekend, eeek!), I find myself wondering, like every runner, did I train enough? Am I ready, or am I going to collapse off the side of the trail in tears and blubbering snot down the front of the shiny new gold and purple jersey? I highly doubt that will happen, but I would be lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed my mind. It never seems to fail that I am confident in my hap-hazard training plan up until the week or a few days before a race, and then I panic and find myself envious of all of those who busted out the markers, highlighters, stickers and Hal Higdon books to fashion a 12 week training program complete with fartleks, hill repeats, speed work, tempo runs and selfies. Why, o why hadn't I done that?! O wait, I had...but I haven’t seen that piece of paper since about 3 days after I made it. I was proud of that thing too. I put a lot of time and effort into researching training plans and printing off blank calendars to write on...for a moment I appeared organized! I don’t know what the problem is or was, but I just couldn’t stick to the training plan. It's not that I mind the putting in the work, I just don’t want to be tied down by an official plan I guess...OH! light bulb moment --> it just occurred to me (literally) that maybe I don’t want to stick to training plan in case the race doesn’t turn out favorable; I don’t want to be disappointed. If I don’t stick to a real training program then my expectations for the race are low, allowing me to relatively easily surpass them...I don’t know, just a thought. 

Anyways, its not like I have been completely sitting on my butt! I got in some swimming and trail runs in Moab, did some climbing at City Rock, did my regular Crossfit workouts (yes, I am one of THOSE people), and even got a few trail runs around home in, including one trip to the Incline with an epic fail whilst blasting down Barr Trail (Exhibit A). 

I was honestly feeling pretty good until I went to Ragnar in Snowmass this weekend. Ragnar was tough. My lower back hurt from deadlifts I had done earlier in the week, the hills were big, the rain was heavy, my breath was short, and my legs were like lead...but the scenery was epic, the comradery incredible, and whole the experience spectacular! 

It wasn’t until Sunday night that I had the "man I just got my butt kicked by Snowmass...the GOG 10 Miler is next weekend...can I hack it," thoughts. Upon further contemplation and severe over analyzation, I have come to the conclusion (luckily) that it is what it is. There is nothing that I am going to do this week that is going to really change the outcome of the race (unless I do something stupid like more deadlifts), so I might as well sit back and enjoy the ride. Sometimes I get so caught up in the logistics that I forget why I even started running the first place! 

Well, that about wraps up my ramble for this week. My goal for this weekend is to have a good attitude and enjoy myself, and just let the rest of the race fall into place...according to one side of my brain. The other side says the goal for the weekend is a sub 1:30:00... :)