Survivor

I know. I'm a slacker. No blogging since Friday.

Friday I was feeling kind of blah, you know, the feeling you get when you feel like you're about to get a cold or a flu, but it never really went into full swing. I felt sort of lethargic, but not tired enough to spend all day in bed. I wanted to do my usual Friday night pre-run carb load dinner of something with brown rice and chicken (usually Chinese or Thai cuisine take out) but my husband was a little slow on the uptake and the food never manifested itself into our meal plan. I ended up making oatmeal pancakes with soy protein powder -- not exotic or exciting, but usually a decent back up meal, or so I thought.

Saturday morning we're up at the crack of dark, and I'm still not feeling right. I went about my usual pre-run routine, but my body wasn't cooperating as it usually does. Ugh. I had that rocks-in-the-stomach feeling, the same feeling I get when I carb load with pasta. I just had a gut feeling what I was in for, pun intended. Here's how it all looked:

Activity: Run
Date: 05/09/09 6:15 AM
Distance: 20.35 miles
Time: 4:21:22
Speed: 4.7 mph
Pace: 12' 50 min/mile
Calories: 1943

Not pretty, but I survived.

My m/m average pace is probably closer to 11:45/12:00, not 12:50. I didn't wear my cell phone in an arm band, like I usually do, and put in the pouch on my water belt, and I'm about 99.9% sure that's what screwed up my tracking. I know my stats are far from accurate because I ran the first half with Roberta, who was wearing her Garmin and she would keep me informed about our pace. Around miles 10 ,11 and 12 she said we were running about a 10:50 m/m pace, and my stats showed something like 11:36+. I tried to do a "fine tune" on my GPS per BiM, but it took out too much time, and gave me a 10:00 m/m pace on the last mile of the run, and I wasn't running at that point. (I tried to post out my splits grid here, but BiM won't let me.)

Oh yeah, the run -- I almost forgot to discuss the run. It sucked big time, especially the second half. The entire run I kept scoping out where the next restroom was. It takes a lot for me to say a run sucked, because running is my mental therapy, but there was nothing therapeutic about this particular run. My stomach was doing somersaults. After about mile 16 I started doing a walk/run pattern, as every part of me ached, but I had to finish. When I hit the two mile home stretch, I just decided to walk. It was all about putting in the mileage, anyway, and time was now a moot point. I ended up walking in those last two miles with a guy, Arthur, who was having issues as well. Arthur, who is in theater arts, made an interesting comment, "bad dress rehearsal, great show." I hope that's the case. When we saw the Welcoming Committee, with their pom-poms and cheering, we mustered up something and ran in the last 100 feet, hand in hand - hands held up. I know, I just met the guy two miles ago, but we bonded -- Misery loves company? I dunno. I think it was more like were dragging each other in.

I got in 20 miles, which was two more than I had planned.

I also saw AKA Alice and friends on bikes as we were running. They're training for half marathons, so they decided to bike instead, since they really didn't need to run 20/22 miles that morning. Smart, smart, smart!

After cooling down, visiting with running friends and enjoying the post run picnic, we made our way back home to down a couple of Tylenols, rested up, then got all gussied up to attend an engagement party. The dress I had planned to wear for the party NEEDED heels. I bought the dress and shoes while in Chicago, thinking these would be great for the party, but, of course, I wasn't thinking the party and running 20 miles would happen on the SAME DAY. The heels weren't that high, really, but anything higher than a running shoe heel was too high on that occasion... I was OK, as long as I didn't have to walk more than a few feet. PS, my dress is a dark purple version of the one pictured, just in case you had to know.


Of course, Sunday was Mother's Day. We opted out of the big brunch buffet gala and went to the High Dive down the street instead. My dad even showed up. It was great because I didn't have to get all dressed up, we had mimosas, and I didn't over eat. After breakfast, I visited with my dad at home for a bit, then went back to bed. I spend most of my Mother's Day in bed, sleeping. I'd like to say that it was blissful sleeping, but it was more of the kind of sleep you get when you're sick -- meaning, no matter how much you rest, you still feel tired. (I'm guessing my issues are some sort of flu because my daughter has been feeling ill for the past few days, too, with the exact symptoms.) I really wasn't expecting any gifts, nor did I ask for anything, but my son gave me a couple of pairs of Ininji socks, and my daughter and grandson gave me a little box of chocolates and cologne. The funny thing is that the cologne is something that I would never ever pick out for myself, but my 5 year old grandson selected it. It's actually a nice fragrance.

Monday was all about getting back to sports therapy. I was still sore, but now the big soreness was in my right quad. Other than the warm up on the recumbent bike, everything I did was a struggle. B backed off the routine (thank God!) and no major squats or lunges were involved. It was still tough, though. Profusely sweating is usually not me, but I sweat so much it was kind of embarrassing. Sweat came from places that it normally does not come from. It was ridiculous. I was planning to trek on over to Road Runner Sports after ST, because it's in that neighborhood, but I had to go home and take a shower and put on some clean clothes, then head out to the store. I was pretty gross after ST. *sigh* I hope Wednesday's ST session will be better, and way less sweaty.

I wasn't planning to purchase a new pair of shoes for the marathon, but I had to. I was hoping the test shoes from the Runner's World Wear Test program would work out for me, but, alas, they won't get me through the marathon. I was hooked up with a pair of Adidas Supernova Response Cushion 18 -- coming out sometimes this summer, which will be good for a half marathon distance, not a whole. They need just a little more cushion for my creaky bones and feet. (Rats!) I had to break down and get a new pair of Asics Gel Nimbus 11 (pictured), which are now running smaller than they used to, and I had to get an entire size up from my regular shoe size. I have time to wear them enough to be marathon ready in a couple of weeks.

Under normal circumstances, today would be a run day, intervals on the gym treadmill, but it's not going to happen. I don't have a car since it's in for a tune-up/check-up at the dealership. I'll get out and walk. I already walked from the dealership to my house this morning, which is almost a half mile. I'm still not quite recouped from whatever was ailing me, but I need to get in some sort of movement. The day is still young... sort of.

Friday's song:
A Year Ago - Kenny G


PEACE