1 down, 17 to go.

Lots going on around here since the last time I managed to blog. Our last week of non-training we did a whole lot of nothing. It was really nice. I went to Bikram a couple of times and I think we lifted once or twice, but otherwise we didn't run at all and we just generally hung out and enjoyed the fact that we didn't HAVE to do anything. awesome.

Memorial Day weekend we went up to the cabin and helped open the place up. There were about 3 too many kids present so the mornings were way earlier than they should have been. We came back on Sunday night, hoping to have plenty of time on Monday to prepare ourselves for the week, but we were so beat from working, the kids waking us up at an ungodly hour, and the general (read: MASSIVE!) stress of having to deal with my family that we slept pretty much half of the day away and were scrambling to get our 7 miler in before going to meet up with friends for dinner. We did it, though, and even got the strides in. BOOOOOO STRIDES. I cannot stress enough how much I hate these things. Seriously.

We completed all of our runs last week within the desired paces, so that was awesome. We were on the fast end of our 7 miler and our 9 miler, were right on target for our 4 miler. For our long run, we were right in the middle of the pace range McMillan suggests, and were on the low to middle end of what we should have been running according to Pfitz, so I'll take it. 32 miles total for the week, so that's a good start. Now we just have to nail the mileage each week for 17 more weeks and we'll be golden. :)

As Dice mentioned, we spent this past weekend purging my apartment in an attempt to begin to fit his stuff once we get married. If you've seen my parents' house, you'll know that our family DOES NOT THROW STUFF AWAY. like, at all. When we were up north we found an entire BOX full of lids that used to be on pickle jars. why? WHO KNOWS. because, you know, they MIGHT BE VALUABLE SOME DAY IN THE DISTANT FUTURE. My mother saved EVERYTHING and my dad was just too lazy to throw stuff away, so clutter is just part of my nature. Pair this with the fact that almost all of my worldly possessions are either in my apartment or are in the storage cube upstairs, and this becomes nearly a gargantuan task. I don't have the luxury of being able to store stuff at my parents' house anymore, and have already thrown away a huge amount of stuff because of that. There was a HUGE amount of stuff that I really would have liked to have kept and couldn't simply because of space constrictions. And I'm not just talking *my* crap, either. I've actually done a remarkably great job of getting rid of most of my stuff. But I've also had to decide what family heirlooms are worth keeping and storing, and that's a ridiculously difficult process. It's sorting through your entire life, as well as sorting through your family's history, all rolled up into one big, complex task. Having to look at every item that holds some sort of meaning or significance, and having to literally put a price on it (Is this worth storing if it's going to cost $X for a storage unit each month? Is it worth spending $Y more for a larger apartment?) is mentally and emotionally taxing. I know it's a task that I have to do, and in the end I'll feel better about being less clutter-filled, but it's just hard, you know? We are going to get a storage unit for stuff that we don't need immediate access to (my mom's wedding dress, Christmas decorations, etc.) and once we do that I know I'll be a lot less stressed out, but until then I have to decide what I should keep and what needs to go. Seriously... how do you decide what to do with your grandfather's diploma from the institution that you graduated from when you mom told you repeatedly while you were going to school there that he would have been SO proud of you? You can't throw that away, right? But then WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO WITH IT??? ERRRRRG!

Anyways, so the giant rant is over. And we have to run 8 miles tonight. So, YAY! except, BOOOOOOO STRIDES. I hate those things, man.