Thelma, the new love of my life

Today we got up and kicked around the house picking up. It really needed it - the maid is so fired! We ran out to do some miscellaneous errands. Yesterday, Mike got a guy on a Bobcat at the neighbors house to come and get the boulders moved from the old rock garden to the new one, so our first stop today was the Home Depot to pick up dirt, fertilizer and other miscellaneous yard items.
Our next stop was the bike shop. We have been bitching about the Yakima roof rack we bought last summer. It is hard for Mike to get them up and down, we need a ladder to do it, and I am far too short to even think about being able to help or do it myself, which rules out any "drive to get there" bike routes. We bought the rack last summer to be able to take the bikes AND the camper on camping trips, then we sold the camper the next month. I know- dumb- but thats just how we roll. I have been drooling over the Saris Thelma rack for months in the cycling magazines, and I have heard through the grapevine that one of the guys from the Michael's team is one of the people involved in engineering this for Saris which is pretty cool. Mike watched the You tube video explaining how it worked and he was finally sold on it too. So today we picked her up and brought our new baby home.
We had made plans to run with another couple from the SWAT group at 2, so we were really on a tight time line to get home and get to Edgerton for a run. We got there right on time and somewhere from Janesville to Edgerton it got really HOT! We took off quick and I was having a hard time keeping the pace up. They are fast runners (well everyone really is compared to me usually) so I was really trying to keep up a pace that everyone could deal with. Bottom line, I was not successful. My legs felt like rubbery lead and just didn't want to move. It was hot, I was sore and tired, and i really struggled. To compound things a little more, I really had not had much in for calories for the day - I was at 535 for the day when we arrived at their house - or much in to drink most of the day. I walked quite a bit off and on and I.NEVER.WALK. The few Sports Beans I brought along were not enough to make up for the calorie debt and it was so hot out I ran out of water with at least 2 miles to go ( I never finish all my water in my fuel belt either). So, I bonked a little, tried to overcome it unsuccessfully, and finished with a dismal pace of 4.9 mph. A little embarrassing.
So, today's lessons were:
*Don't overestimate your ability- Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is my mileage tolerance
*Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Especially before a longer run
*Eat something you fool! What do you think- you can run on FUMES!
*Try carrying a gel for quick sugar, just in case.
*Pay attention to the weather and prepare a little better.
So anyhow, hopefully the Hagens are OK with today - I know they were wanting a workout too and I held everyone back.
Tawya asked me today why I do not like to run. After thinking a little bit about it this afternoon, I guess it is because it doesn't seem like you cover much ground very fast, and also because physically my performance is so variable. On the bike I never seem to have an off day, but with the run some days I feel like Superman others I just feel like I am wearing cement shoes or get too out of breath, or just plain struggle to keep going and finish. I really want to do a half marathon sometime this summer/fall, but I am a little worried that the run I sign up for will be one of my OFF days and I will suck more than usual at it. So, my strategy is to run more, until I like it more or I get better at it. Or it kills me - :-)
We got Thelma assembled to night and I also got to transplanting some of my favorite plants from the old rock garden to the new one. I had some plants I got from Mike's gramma before they moved to North carolina and I really wanted to get them transplanted, since I really am kind of sentimental about them. I also had some that I transplanted from my Dad's garden last year, and some other stuff I had planted over the last couple years that I really like - lillies, Jacob's Ladder, ecchinacea, and some other yellow thing that spreads everywhere. I moved gramma's hens and chicks too, some of which got run over by the Bobcat and yet were nice and perky tonight. I took some of gramma's daisies and used them to seed the new bed along with some other widflower seed. We shall see how it goes - you never know. Cross your fingers for me please!