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November 07, 2005
Mental Victories and Defeats
This weekend, A. and I went to New York to visit his parents and attend his uncle's 70th birthday party. And I ran on both Saturday and Sunday, even accomplishing a speed workout on Saturday. This is quite the mental victory for me, since we're always so busy on these family trips and end up staying up way too late talking and exchanging the tsismis ("gossip" in Tagalog, the language of the Philippines) that we've saved up since the last time we were all together. This trip was no different; I just refused to compromise on the fact that I had to get my run in both days. So I was pretty happy about that.
When we go to New York, A. and I always leave Boston late--around 8:00 PM--in order to avoid all traffic. This way, the trip generally takes 3-3.5 hours, rather 4-4.5 hours (and yes, we drive a little fast). Because A. had a meeting in downtown Boston until 9:30 PM, we didn't leave until then, so we didn't get to New York until around 12:30 PM. But my mother-in-law had just returned from the Philippines that evening, so it felt like the middle of the day to her. So we all stayed up until 3:00 AM or so, hearing all about her travels and the family members that still live outside Manila. By the time we crawled into bed, I promised myself that I would be up and running before noon. We had plans to meet up with A.'s brother and his family in Manhattan, so I had to have my run done for the day before we had to leave.
Surprisingly enough, A. and I woke up around 8:30 AM, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It's funny how sometimes a late night can just kill me the next day and sometimes I can just roll with it. I was lucky that this was one of those roll-with-it days. I jogged over to Cunningham Park in Queens and ran loops on the grass around the park. It was pretty busy with lots of little boys playing baseball, soccer, and football and their apparent legions of fans watching. It's such a wonderful and, at the same time, sobering thing that youth sports have become so serious--but that's another topic for another day.
I ran 5-4-3-2-1 hard with recoveries of 3-2:30-2-1 in between. And it felt hard. I think that I may have been going a little harder than I intended since I felt under pressure to finish this workout as quickly as possible and wanted to get in as much mileage possible in the time allotted so that A. and I could devote ourselves to a fun, relaxing day in the city. I am enjoying the fact, however, that a hard workout just feels hard because I'm challenging myself and not because I'm so out of shape and not used to running fast. I am feeling more and more like I've got my legs under me again. I ran just over 53 minutes for about 6.5 miles.
On Sunday, I had really wanted to get a long run in (about 8-9 miles for me, right now), but there was just no time. After staying up until midnight or so on Saturday night, my sleep deprivation definitely caught up with me, so I just slogged through 4 miles and tried to be contented with getting out the door at all. We had stayed up to watch "The Interpreter" with my father-in-law (my mother-in-law tried valiantly to stay awake, but she was no match for the jet lag). It was incredibly interesting to watch this movie with him since it is set in the UN and he used to work there, first as an assistant to the Philippine ambassador and then for the UN directly as an investigator for many years.
This morning I meant to get back on schedule by doing my long run today, but I was still feeling ridiculously tired and I needed to get to school to meet with my advisor. So I ran a 3-mile loop around the Chestnut Hill reservoir and promised myself that I'd get my long run tomorrow. I will, I will!
Unfortunately, I was in New York all weekend and was unable to get to any of the marathon festivities--I had hoped that our schedule would allow us to see the photo exhibit, go to the expo, and see the marathon itself, but it was a no-go on any of it. Oh well. I was able to see the beginning of the women's race through the first 10 miles before I had to get ready to go to A.'s uncle's party. I was impressed with my father-in-law who chose the women's winner from the very beginning!
OK, I should really be in bed, so off I go!
Posted by Megan at November 7, 2005 10:26 PM
Comments
It sounds like you had a great time with your family. And I learned how to spell tsismis! Cool, my mom will be so proud. :)
Posted by: Leilani at November 10, 2005 09:29 AM