Roo Running

While I sit here and blog I am bopping back & forth to Jack Johnson. I am not really even a JJ fan and after his outstanding performance at bonnaROO Sat night I decided I like this dude after all! I need more a meloncholy side to me anyways! :-) I am sad that Bonnaroo is gone... I drive by it everytime I leave my house and wish it was year-round. I am sure it would not be as good if we experienced it everyday, but to me it was like a vacation. Everyone is so nice at Bonnaroo. Kinda like JJ sings "Where'd all the good people go?" Most are freaks.... or what we southern "by the book" people would consider freaks. But I think they look at us and think "look at that freak!" And maybe they aren't freaks... I think they're great, actually. You gotta admire someone who will just let themselves go. Pack in tens of thouands of good freaks letting themselves go - I call that a vacation, my dear :-) And I like it... I think it's good for us.

So, onto training. Well, it's been kind of few & far between to be honest. Last Wed I got in a 17 mile ride at lunch, Thursday I managed to run 5 miles at 5am & Friday morning I met the speed demons (Tim, Holly, Heather, Tammy, & Lana) at 5:15 and I was thinking we would run anywhere from 7-10 miles and I was leaning towards the least distance. However, these guys got me out there and many times I was checking my garmin and we were hitting 8:05 & 8:16 paces... and the next thing I know we are headed right through the middle of Bonnaroo... and we were at mile 6 and I know it's about 5 miles back to our starting point. No wonder I am DYING!!! We made the joke that this run would be called the "Roo Run." LOL. Ok, so now WE'RE the freaks! I struggled to keep up! We hit a cloud of 2nd hand mary..... wow! Took my breath away and gave us a really nice laugh! LOL. Then a cloud of porta stink. Gag! But it still made us laugh. We stopped in at my house and grabbed some water & gatorade and headed back. It seemed like an eternity getting back. Lana checked her garmin when we got back and she said overall pace was 8:37. That is just out of my league unless it's 13 degrees outside! We ended up with 11 miles! It was a far cry from 7, and I'll tell ya what... I was BEAT DOWN!!!!

I worked all day and headed home. Jamie was here to see me! We hung out for awhile and she dropped me off at the main Bonnaroo gate and I trekked in to see Willie Nelson. I started seeing tons of people I knew - it was so cool! I ran into my old buddy Josh Cole! Delightful.... I thought a wild alien had stolen him off the face of the earth. Then I found K & we enjoyed Chris Rock & Metallica. Then we found Lana, JT & Mary Beth.
Me, Lana, Mary Beth

Saturday I napped to try and sleep off some of the roo-ness, and Lana & JT picked me up around 6 and we headed back for more. I loved it out here.... it was like a different planet full of peace and love and serenity. Someone just bring a hammock & a mich ultra & I'll make a career outta this! I met up with Bethy-roo, Jerm, Kim, Brad, Katy, Heath, & more! We watched Jack Johnson and then the main act Pearl Jam.

Jerm, Bethy-roo, Kim
Lana, Bethy-roo
JT, Me, Lana-roo

So, I sat on my butt and did nothing but accumulate lots of calories Sat & Sun. Today at lunch I joined some speedy triathletes for a 19.2 mile ride. Tomorrow is a run day and Wednesday I believe the plan is for Lana & I to be commuter girls again. LOL. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!