back in sync

well, after a couple of weeks of virtual non-running, i'm starting to get back into it. this month has been one of the busiest i can remember, and the running has been the thing that has been sacrificed. either i just haven't had the time, or i just felt too tired. well things have settled down just a little and i've managed to get out a few times this week. early saturday morning, in frigid 17 degree weather, darrin and i did about 5 miles, which included a couple of pretty good hills. the last mile was flat and because i felt really good, i picked it up a little. i hit the finish line (darrin's driveway) and was surprised at how strong i was the whole time. darrin finished right along side of me. he's really improved in the last month or two. on sunday nite, i did three miles by myself. again, no big deal. i did three more miles on tuesday and really picked it up the last mile. i'm trying to negative split as much as i can.
i played soccer last nite as usual. and as usual, i was terrible. i missed so many easy goals... oh well, at least my competitive playing days are over. i know i should just have fun playing - and i do, but especially in soccer, i have a higher standard for myself. in running or triathlon, i am not competitive. i know i will never win my age group or any podium spots. soccer is different for me. it's what i was good at. at one time i played at a very high level, so playing poorly - even years later - bothers me. aaahhh, i'll get over it, though...
anyway, the plan for the rest of the week is 3 miles tonite, then 6-7 on saturday. darrin's plan for saturday is actually only 4 miles (it's a recovery week), but since we've been in recovery for a couple of weeks, we're going to do a longer run...