50 Is Not That Bad

In case you didn't know it. I just turned 50 this week. That's right, the big 50. Half a century old. 12 years to retirement maybe? Ha....not at the rate the economy is going. Getting done with 49 seemed quite the task between a long time dealing with Plantar in my foot and then kidney stones. But now that 50 has hit, those things seem 100% better. I am also getting my endurance back and yesterday was my first Saturday run with the Cruisers in forever it seemed. Had a great run too. Ran with Annette, Jane, Michele and Eugene for most of the run. Eugene and I left the girls later as they were doing 8 miles and we just wanted between 5-6. I ended up getting 5.54 miles with just a long slow average pace of 10:21. On top of that, no walk breaks for me either. And we ran some good Cabot "inclines".

Saturday night we were invited to Jackie's house for a birthday dinner. Annette told me before we left that Brenda, Tony, Michele and James was coming also. I was starting to smell something. When we turned on Jackie's street there were cars everywhere. Annette said that Jackie's neighbors were having a party. Then I saw Cheryl's truck and I recognized some of the others that were parked and I said "yeah right". I knew something was up then. But I did get surprised! When we opened the door it seemed like the whole running club was there. Had to be 20-30 people. It was an awesome surprise party. Great food with a great group of friends. I cannot say enough about how lucky I am to have friends like this. Thanks guys for making it a great 50th!

At the party plans were made to bike to Conway Sunday morning with James and Russ. They wanted to ride to Conway, then catch a ride on up to the Grand Prix race in Russellville. I had my doubts that it may be too cold to ride but I said I would go if it wasn't too cold. Well, this morning it was 26 degrees when I got up and didn't promise to get much warmer. We would have had to leave around 9:30 to make it to Conway in time so it was just too cold. Ended up working out, Alex was sick so Michele couldn't go and do the shuttle and it was too cold for James too. James and Russ did drive up and run the race. I just didn't feel like I was ready to race yet so I stayed home.

I did get an awesome workout in today though. I set the bike up on the trainer in the living room and watched the Tour Down Under while riding. That is the way to do the trainer! I never got bored, and every time they would race to the finish line I would race with them. Think I watched 4 segments of the tour and rode a total of 1:18:00 for about 23 miles. Then it was off the bike and up to the treadmill for a run. Got a nice 2 mile run in while I was still warmed up from the bike. The first half mile my legs felt pretty heavy but I just ran slow until they came to life then just picked it up a little. Ended up with a 10:16 average pace for 2 miles which I was very happy with after being on the bike so long. Then finished out with a .3 walk to cool down. Should have burnt plenty of calories to make up for my birthday cake last night!

Remember, getting older is really not that bad, especially when you have great friends to help you celebrate!