Archives for May 2006

Early this morning I hopped on the scale for the first time since my car accident. Whoa! What happened?! I am up MANY pounds from my, already far more than I want, baseline weight. I swear that I have been exercising.

I had hopes that I would go into this marathon a bit lighter, but no luck. My body just will not shed the pounds when I am pounding the pavement. I have experienced this from my 9 prior marathons. I am going to have to log my calories in the coming weeks. I just cannot go into this marathon heavier than my baseline. I refuse to do that. Ugh! My stomach aches just thinking about it. Perhaps it’s a pre-menstrual thing.

Well today is a scheduled rest day and I wish it wasn’t. I am anxious. I need more alone time than I have been getting. I need to listen to my iPod and run away for a while. I will rest though; I?ll be a good girl.

It feels good to get back in the swing of things again. I’m a bit off schedule, but my training is heading in the right direction. Today I braved some speed work. While I was a bit worried that Yassos would push my back into spasms again, I thought that mile repeats was just the workout for today.

I programmed my GPS watch to allow for a 1-mile warm-up, followed by four 1-mile repeats with 1/4-mile rests in between. I began my first repeat too fast. I didn’t want Yasso pace; I was shooting for a slower pace. I thought I’d start with just under 8:15/mile and then speed up by 5 seconds/mile with each interval. That was easier thought, than accomplished. After the 1st mile, I was running into a strong headwind. I barely hit my goal. The wind continued and I was realizing that this was hard. Perhaps Yassos would have been a better plan; I know that pace well, and I am accustomed to the shorter time period of each interval.

After I turned around things were much easier. I didn’t get the final splits from the watch yet, but every time I glanced at the pace it was registered well under 8:00/mile. Today’s run turned out to be a confidence building run – the run that helps me to know that I didn’t really LOSE fitness after all. I’m getting back up to speed.

I was asked to lead the Prayer of the Faithful for my Uncle’s funeral mass on Tuesday. Although I’ve come a long way in the past many years, I reminded my Aunt of my nervous giggling during my Grandparent’s 50th Anniversary Mass (over 10 years ago). It was not a small gathering. Our family events are huge with much representation of the clergy (as one of my Uncle’s is a preist). I giggled for 5 minutes straight during a simple 4-line prayer. Embarrassing! I figured they learned there lesson.

This time around, I wanted to do it right. I picked up my lines from my Cousin the night before at the wake. I read it – quietly, and out loud. I never felt quite ready though.

The morning of the event, my Dad called. He reported that he was in too much (physical) pain to attend the service. He would not be coming. I was disappointed and tried to remain neutral so that the rest of my day would to alright.

I went for a short (not so quick) run.

My run was mechanical, awkward, but effective. It cut into my beautifying time but helped me to get past it all. I finished the run ready to face the rest of the family and the inevitable questions regarding my Dad.

Later:
My presentation went well. No giggling and my one mistake went virtually un-noticed.
Ah, redeption.

“For those who could not be here today…We pray to the Lord”
Lord, hear our prayer.

As usual, the day started out pain-free. I decided that I would wait to see how my back felt before I took the morning dose of Ibuprofen. That was a big mistake. The day quickly got moving and before I knew it I was late to BoBo’s game. I had only eaten the last of YaYa’s breakfast sandwich (about 2 bites worth) and my non-fat latte. With no time to eat, I rushed out the door with YaYa in tow.

Before long I was hungry and in PAIN. My mistake was sitting down. So I stood next to my husband and watched the other team tie it up from a 3-0 score in the top of the 6th inning. Now I am hungry, in pain, and a bit stressed. I began eating sunflower seeds to ease my stress and my hunger (at least a bit).

BoBo’s team recovered, scoring 2 runs, and holding them in the 7th inning.

BoBo asked to go with a teammate to the mall after the game was over. YaYa had gone to the Giants game with his Aunt and Uncle. This meant that I was free to go running without having to worry about when I would be back. Here’s the dilemma. I knew that I could quickly take care of my hunger, but I wasn’t so sure about the pain. I had run 3 miles without hurting yesterday, but in the evening I was pretty uncomfortable. I took my ibuprofen, waited an hour and then began my run preparations. I got a bit carried away. I loaded up my fuel-belt with 36 ounces of cytomax (16 oz), mint water (20 oz), GU (3 packs), and 1 of those electrolyte tablets. I was more than ready.

I drove to the trail and began running. The little pain that I had went away. Running made me feel “normal” again. How far should I run? I had all the time in the world, and plenty of fuel, but my head was telling me to use some caution. My legs were also sending a message. They were acting like I hadn’t run in months (instead of a mere 6 days). In 51 minutes time I drained all of my fluids, ran 6 miles, and managed to make my back feel normal again.

Back at the house, I popped in my earphones and turned on my iPod for some house cleaning. If I am going to have a clean house for Mother’s Day, I’ll have to clean it myself. It wasn’t bad either; no husband or kids to get in the way. I even kicked the dog out for an hour or so too.