Monday, May 26, 2008

Still no decision

In my quest to determine whether I can run the half marathon next week, I decided to attempt a 10 mile run on Saturday (and notice I said "can" and not "should"). Bree and Sandy were running hills so I took myself off to the Lafayette-Moraga Trail, bright and early in the morning. Actually not so bright; it was cloudy and cold and gloomy. I had brought my iPod with me so I could keep myself from getting bored but decided at the last minute that I'd rather have peace and quiet.

The plan was to run to about 4 miles, turn around, run back to the 2 mile marker, reverse and run to the 3 mile mark, then run it in home. Or limp or hobble, depending on the situation. I carried my cell phone as a just-in-case, feeling uncertain and a bit paranoid about the condition of my knee and not even knowing if I would have to call someone for a ride. I slowly ran along and when I got to 4 miles I decided to continue, see how my knee felt on the couple of hills leading to the 5 mile mark. It was still cool and cloudy and perfect conditions for running.

I turned around at 5 miles, happy to be heading back. I've been having some stomach issues and I was looking forward to stopping at the Lafayette Senior Center, the one place along the route with bathrooms. Unfortunately they were locked up when I got there. Darn, no choice but to continue running.

I wasn't drinking very much and it wasn't too surprising when I got to just about 9-2/3 miles and I bonked. Very strange, my legs just decided to stop running. My brain would be thinking "run run run" and my legs would be moving in a walk. I ate a couple of sports beans and firmly told my legs to get a move on and was able to run the last little bit. My knee was sore, but nowhere near as bad it was in Nashville or even after some recent shorter runs.

I was tired, cold and drippy and so what better idea than to pick up bagels, lox and cream cheese and head over to my mom's for breakfast. I only had a dry shirt with me, and the damp shorts I was wearing, so she gave me a blanket to wrap myself in while we ate and chatted. I should have showered there, saved myself water! Next time I'll remember to bring clean clothes and shampoo.

Sunday morning was another gloomy cold start and Bree and I intended to get our ride in no matter what. I was feeling tired and under the weather and thought riding to the Peet's in Danville would be a perfect ride. Just too short. We rode into Alamo and turned around before our normal turnaround, meaning we wouldn't be riding the 25+ miles we had intended. We did stop at Peet's since I was out of coffee. I bought a pound and had them put it in 2 half pound bags and we each stuck a bag in the back pocket of our jackets. I also got a cup of coffee and sipped some of it before we went on our merry way.

It must have been that extra half pound weight because we were really dragging the last 6 or 7 miles and we had been speedy before we stopped. Unfortunately the biggest hill was ahead of us and I swear, we were only going 5 mph. We were happy to make it back home with no mishaps and no flats. I decided that riding without our usual big headwind was a vast improvement.

Sunday afternoon I headed back to my mom's house. I helped her with her paperwork for a couple of hours, helped set up an cabinet contraption she had bought and then took her out for sushi. Since my stomach was still upset I now have leftover sushi for dinner tonight. Yum.

This morning I met Pam for our usual short short Monday run. Since we both had today off of work we had switched the run to the morning to get it out of the way. I had some little thoughts of maybe running an additional distance but thought better of it when I was actually out there. We got in our 3+ miles and were happy to call it a day.
So what's up with this weather, hmm? It's Memorial Day weekend and it's cloudy/overcast, cool to cold, windy as heck. I know I shouldn't be complaining because we'll get some crushing heat soon, but c'mon. I don't need to be paying for heat when it's late spring, I don't need to be running with long sleeves or cycling with long pants and a jacket. I did not enjoy my time working in the yard after my run today. I should be sitting with my back door open, smelling the fabulous jasmine or peonies in my yard.
Or outside fixing my fence.

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