Turning 38

I'm turning 38 this week and for the past 7 days, my body is reminding me that I'm getting older. Since last Monday, I've been damn tired. It's been all about what I could not do versus what I could do. I could not hold 1:15 pace for my swim workouts all last week. I could not average faster than 7:30 pace for my 9 mile treadmill run. I could not wake up and get myself out of bed to do two of my planned workouts. This past Saturday, I went out and did the Pat Tillman run (4.2 miles) with my sister, a tradition of sorts for us. I was using the race as my first speed work in preparation for Wildflower this coming weekend. I felt my new age and could not hold anything faster than a 5:55 pace. It was a disappointing race but a good training day as I've not done any run averaging faster than 6:00 pace. Also, I was looking forward to running the last 50 yards with my 3 year-old niece but a volunteer jumped out, stopped us, and said no because she was not a registered runner. To add insult to injury, they allowed dogs to run and finish with their owners. All I can say is a huge WTF?!?! I can't finish with my 3 year-old niece but I can with my dog? If you're really bored and have lots of free time, do me a favor and write a strong-worded letter to the race director at the Pat Tillman run. Back to being tired and old, what this means is that I'll be out there longer than I thought come Sunday's race. But rather than resting, I went out and did a hilly 50 mile ride after the run. On Sunday, I got my @$$ handed to me by 19 year-old Josh (boy smiling in the pic) during a 4000 yard swim workout. Then I bonked during a 2-hour ride (and no, it wasn't hilly, or windy, or hot) and then I got my @$$ handed to me (what's left of it) again by Ashley (girl in the cool shades in the pic) on the brick run afterwards. Ashley dropped me at about the 4.5 mile mark of a 10K run, pushing 5:45 pace. I miss being young, speedy, and a bit stupider.