Archives for May 3, 2006

Okay, I know that I may not be fast as some of the people reading this, but for the purpose of getting ready for my marathon I will be chanting this ad nauseam in the coming weeks. Today’s run was awesome; it reinforced my affirmation.

I was more than ready to get outside today, due to having missed my run yesterday. I sunk my headphones deep into my ears, and started my running music playing. I had it pick up were it had ended the last time I ran with music. The song grabbed me right from the first few beats; I took off faster than usual, without caring about what my pace would be. I just let the music play enjoying the breeze blowing, and the sun shinning. A few songs later I looked at my pace. It was still fast but I still felt good. I thought, “So what if I tire out later.”

As I ran, I contemplated how long to run. I missed my 5-mile run yesterday and was supposed to run 5 miles today. Together, that would be 10 miles. I wasn’t about to do that. About 2 1/2 miles out, I hesitated for a fraction of a second. I wasn’t ready to turn around yet. On I ran, still going at a fast pace. 4 miles out, I was ready the turn back. I hit the restroom, ate a few gummy bears (they were leftovers from Sunday’s long run), and stretched before starting back.
I switched it up a bit on the way back. Instead of staying up on the main trail, I ran along the water on the well-worn paths that the mountain bikes have made. I followed the narrow paths, moving side to side and following the path up and down the little mounds of dirt. I returned to the main trail for the last two miles. Finishing just in front of the side entrance to my work, I exclaimed “YES!” Looking at the GPS to see an 8.13-mile run in 1:06:02. D@mn, I’m fast; that’s 8:07 minutes/mile!

Some days are days when I just NEED to go running. I need to put on my headphones, block out the world, and just let my feet take me away for a while. It makes it all better. These days, when I just need to run, are often the days when I can’t.

Yesterday was that sort of day. The day was not going well and it just kept on like that all day long. I wrote, “ARRGH” in an email to show my frustration. I have a strong conviction that email is a form of self-expression, that the recipients of your email judge you by how it comes across, and that each email should be carefully crafted and edited so that there are no misunderstandings. I was showing how extreme my frustration was the only why I could at the time. In my defense, there were only a “couple” of people on the distribution. My workday was only the beginning.

After leaving later than usual, I sat in traffic for nearly an hour. Arriving at YaYa’s daycare at 5:58 p.m., I narrowly escaped paying the $10 fee for being late to get my child. I skipped my stop at home, and went straight to BoBo’s baseball game. They were losing (1:2), and managed to turn it around for a 14:4 win. I arrived home to find my dinner had dried out in the crock-pot (I knew that I should have added a bit more water). BoBo had a commercial assignment that still needed me to assist in editing and transferring the film to a VHS tape/DVD so that he could turn it in today. A bit irritated that homework assignments for kids today require a bit too much parent involvement, I surrendered the rest of my evening.

There would be no running outside or on the “mill”. By the time I finished up, it was 9:30 p.m. I warmed up all of the leftovers I could find and served it to the kids. I ate tortilla chips and salsa, washed the dishes, and headed up to bed with my protocol in hand. I sat in my bed reviewing the document AGAIN for any typos or inconsistencies. Needless to say, I had no problem falling asleep.