Tapering

I love tapering! I wish every workout week was all about cutting back. I thought about going to the gym this morning but decided not to. I'm tapering, I shouldn't be adding extra workouts this week as I prepare for the big race on Sunday. Oh tapering. But I guess if I was constantly cutting back my workouts, then I would eventually stop working out. And not working out is not an option, so it's good that I don't "taper" all the time.

It was so nice running only 5 miles on Sunday. The weather was finally cool (although a bit windy). I had forgotten what it felt like to run in 55 degree weather. Every other run so far during running clinic has been done when it's been 75+ degrees, making running rather unenjoyable. Who wants to run 10 miles when it's hot and humid outside? Not me.

Let's all just keep our fingers crossed that at 7:15am on Sunday it is 50 degrees outside with no rain or wind. The current forecast is looking a little iffy. Granted, it's Tuesday and Sunday is still 5 days away so the weather forecast is bound to change at least once. But I don't like where it is headed. Rain would probably be better to run in than wind. But I don't want it to rain since my sisters are making signs to hold along the race course. How crappy for them to be standing out in the rain, cheering me on, holding up signs that are being ruined in the rain. I don't want my sparkly signs to be ruined! I'm planning on keeping them forever after the race.

I never thought that I would be the person who said, "Yeah, I only ran 5 miles on Sunday. It was a shorter run." When I started running, on my first ever treadmill run, I managed more than a mile without stopping. That was a workout! But I was so proud of myself. Then I did my first 5k (who remembers the Turkey Trot... Bridget, Sara, Leah???) and thought that was an accomplishment never to be duplicated. And now here I am, having completed numerous 5k races, two 10k races, and ready to conquer a 10 mile race. I never thought that I would be a "runner". Never!

TC 10 mile... here I come!!

College Football

Let me just say this... I love college football! There is just something about it that is so much more inspiring than watching the NFL. I'm not going to lie, I'm not a huge Vikings fan. I don't cheer against them, I don't hope that they lose, but I definitely don't purposefully sit down on a Sunday (or Monday) to watch them. But college football on the other hand, I will make sure that I am home to watch select games.

I know it's going to sound random, but I love the Florida Gators. I think it started when I was young girl (approx. 13 years old) watching football with my Dad. For whatever reason, he was cheering on Florida State - we were watching the big FSU/UF game. Being 13, I wanted to cheer against him, so I picked the Gators. And what do you know, the Gators won. My love for them was cemented after that victory. I'm telling you, this love goes way back to the days of Danny Wuerffel - I didn't just jump on the bandwagon when Tim Tebow arrived.

So today, I had to make time for the Florida / Tennessee game. I could have wasted way more minutes at my beloved Roseville library (I'm very good at wasting time at the library), but I didn't because the game was starting at 2:30 and I needed to be home to cheer on the Gators. All of that trash talking that Lane Kiffin did before the season began just made me even more fired up. I mean, please... did he really think that his team was going to march into "The Swamp" and beat the Gators? Yeah right! [Side note: Thank goodness they were on channel 4 because now that I don't get "deluxe" cable I would have been very, very disappointed to have missed the game due to it being a "sports" channel. Thank you CBS!]

And along with loving Florida, I also love Tim Tebow. How can a person not love #15?! He plays with grit. He plays with passion. He's fired up and he makes a statement on the field. He doesn't let Eric Berry - SEC Defensive Player of the Year - scare him. No, no. Tim meets Berry literally head on and shows Berry whose field it is - it's Tim's. [Side note: Tebow is the returning SEC Offensive Player of the Year. So he's got himself some skills as well.] And, Tim was the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. Really, how can you not love him?

There's just something about the atmosphere of a college football game. The students. The band. The passion. The grit. There is so much festivity that it's hard not to fall in love with the game. Now that the MN Gophers finally have an on-campus stadium, they will rekindle that spirit. Not that people didn't cheer for them when they played in the Metrodome, it's just better now that they're in their own stadium. (Not that I would know since I haven't been to "The Bank" yet, but I can only imagine how fantastic it is there.)

I just love college football and I'm so happy it's September!!