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August 20, 2005
Is Summer Over Yet?
Waking up was relatively pain-free this morning. I took my Benadryl very early last night since I knew that this morning required getting up earlier than the past few days. It was not that much earlier than yesterday, but based on how much I dragged yesterday morning, I knew that it needed to be taken at an earlier hour. I took it right after dinner and then went to two grocery stores with my mom, I know I lead the most exciting life of single gals! Everyone must be so jealous of going grocery shopping on Friday nights. In all seriousness, I have been told that it is a good night to meet single guys in the grocery store, although I haven't met any yet. By the time we were leaving the second store, I was seriously dragging, and by the time we got home, I was nearly comatose. I was in my bed and nearly fast asleep by 9:30.
I slept pretty much straight through, except waking up around 5:15 to pee. I probably wasn't hydrated enough, because I usually have to get up earlier to pee. My benadryl wore off around the time the alarm was set to go off, I woke up a few minutes before it went off, always a good sign. It is so much easier for me to get going when I wake up on my own instead of to that blaring beep. The weather report was not the most conducive to a good long run, but I was not going to let the weather affect me today. Mind over matter ladies! The temperature was warm, but at this point I'm just used to it, but the humidity was way up there. Can I just say that I am tired of summer now?
I was ready really early this morning on account of the fact that I was functioning. My plan had been to try to run for about 90 minutes. Once my long run gets to 90 minutes, I can feel like I am getting into some kind of shape. I know that it is not the best way to increase my long run, but I take baby steps up to 90 minutes, but once I hit that magic number, I'll jump all the way up to 2 hours in one fell swoop. Something about an hour and a half for me is that if I'm comfortable there, I can go longer pretty comfortably. Anyhow, once we figured out which way we were going, I decided what route I would probably do. I wasn't sure if there was anyone who was going to do it with me, but A was looking to do about 15. I told him that I was planning on doing 13, so he asked J if he should do that route with me and then add on, which J thought was a good idea. It turned out that not only A and I did this route, but three others did as well. A and I did this loop about this time last summer and I'll write about that later, but it was a joke between us this morning.
Our course is about thirteen miles, downhill for the first six or so, then up for about three, and then rolling hills for the final four miles. The three miles that are up just keep going and going and going along a road that is supposed to be haunted. I suggested that when we got to this road that we slow down and tell the ghost stories associated with this road to the two who were with us who are not from the area. Going up the hill M (who ran 3/4 of the marathon with me), A, and I started to pull away from the other two. We stopped and waited for them when we got to the top of the hill since the three of us were the only ones who knew where we were going. M was struggling some, so he stayed with the other two, since A and I were feeling pretty good. I didn't really want to leave M alone, but he swore that he was OK and would not pass out on the side of the road. He was also with two other people who could wait with him, and I didn't really want to leave A alone either.
As we were running in A and I were talking about when we did this run last summer. We ran with another person who is the fastest woman I have ever met, she can whip most of the men I know. We were running this course at what felt like race pace and it was so hot and humid. A was telling me that he wanted to slow down and drop back that day but she was having a conversation with him. I was smart and made a water stop that morning to finish at a more reasonable pace. I have run with A in the summer since he was a freshman in high school and he is getting ready to go to college now. I told him that he is finally old enough that I won't get a call telling me that I am ruining the youth on our long runs. He joked around that he shot his wad for his senior cross country season on that one long run!
We did our loop in just over 1:30, but we did slow down a few times to check and see if our plan was OK. That's OK with me, when I can do this course between 1:30 and 1:32 I feel like I'm in good shape, not just physically, but mentally as well. The hill on this course is a real ball-buster and then once you get off it, there is a four mile rolling stretch back to the cars. It's straight ahead and it feels like you can see where you're going forever but it isn't getting any closer. Mentally that final stretch is hard for me. I've had lots of bad runs on this route, especially physically, but when I can do it, I know that I'm getting there. In other words, lots of things are starting to look rosy again.
We hung out for a while, stretching and drinking water. I went to the gym and did my cross-training hour, half an hour on the elliptical and half an hour on the bike. I stretched some more because parts of my legs are feeling particularly tight. I lifted afterward, not that many meatheads were in the weight area, and the ones who were there were the nice ones. My quads felt beat when I tried to do squats. I was only doing the bar on the Smith machine, but I could barely do them because my quads were shot. This is a big indication that it is time for a massage (Tuesday). I took an ice bath when I got home. I don't know if it is really helping me all that much becuase the ice melts after about five minutes, but I am convinced that doing this is part of what is helping my Sunday feel better.
My brother, the prodigal son, is coming home today to have another celebration. We're going to a steakhouse that I won a gift certificate to in a race. They'll all eat steak, my brother will probably get the biggest one on the menu, and I'll have some kind of salad. The gift certificate will barely make a dent into the bill, but it expires soon. We have to live it up some tonight, so there might be a little too much to drink on all of our parts, but we need to celebrate all of the good that we have. P wanted to give our mom a gift certificate to a spa, but I have not had the time nor the energy to go around and find one. She can live with us telling her that we are giving it to her. Personally, I don't know if she really wants it, but he has his heart set on it. She has indicated that she really does not want somebody touching her that much and I know that she does not want a pedicure! Whatever, I'll go along some with him.
OK, I've been writing enough for now, but I am just so excited about feeling good that I want to write more than when I feel like crap. When you feel like crap, it kind of sucks to rehash your crappy day and who really wants to read all that whining, assuming there is anyone out there reading this.
Posted by Blondie at August 20, 2005 12:59 PM