Week 5 is in the bag

Now it's on to week 6 which is a recovery week.  Yahoo!
Week 5 featured some great runs.  On Thursday I went out for a 10 mile run, and, after 1 and a half miles was settling in to the Adele CD Live at Royal Albert Hall when who should pass me going the other way on the trail but Craig Bartlett. He turned around and ran the route with me which was so much better than running alone.  Sorry Adele, maybe later.
We ran into the dark and had a fantastic run.
Friday was a day off and then Saturday's 16 mile run which included the Nookachamps Half Marathon.  The plan was to get there early run 3 miles and then start the race with 3 easy miles and finish the last 10 miles at marathon pace.  (for me 8:20 miles)
Saturday morning dawned with 37 degree temperatures and heavy rain.  By the time I got to the race, it was 35 degrees with chunky rain and heavy winds.  I didn't get out the door until 9:40 so only got 2 miles done in unbelievably bad weather.  I was drenched before the race even started.  My timing was pretty good though.  By the time I got to the start line, I went to the back and kept running down the street, turned around, and got there right before the start.  This was nice because I didn't need to stand around and freeze.  Both last week and this week, I've enjoyed the difference in starting the race at the back.  I wouldn't want to make a habit of it, but it's been interesting.
For the first three miles I just let people stream past me, knowing that I'd be catching up to many of them in the miles to come.  At mile 3 I reset my watch and got into my rhythm. As a diversion I started counting how many people I passed before the finish.  I really didn't know how many that would be but I was surprised when the total was 109. That made me wonder how many people ran the race. (I was 142 out of 425) Not bad for a training run.
I had a great run, ran relaxed and held a 8:15 pace throughout.  Another spot of good news was that after about 4 or 5 miles the weather calmed down, the chunky rain stopped, the wind quieted down, and it got quite pleasant for running.  By the time we crested the hill at mile 11 there was even clear sky ahead off to the west.
A great, great run.
Since daughter Emily is visiting this weekend with boyfriend Travis, we all made a night of it by going out to eat and then off to Contra Dancing.  I wasn't sure how my legs would hold up, but they were fine and we had quite a time.  I apologize to all the women I led astray with my clumsy feet, but they didn't SEEM to mind too much and it was a blast.
This morning my legs were on the heavy side but not too bad.
The recovery week will feature runs shorter by a mile or two and Sunday's long run will only be 12 miles.
Next week we bump up to 18 and the week after will be the first of 3 runs at 20 miles.
Fundraising money continues to come in and the wine tasting initial email list has been created and will go out soon.