Sunday, September 13, 2009

Running makes me a headcase

Today I ran the longest I've run in about 8 or 9 years, and it felt awesome. Actually, the run itself- especially the last 2 miles- felt painful, but the accomplishment felt awesome :) I did 16 miles and was determined to have a good run after last week's disaster (more on that later). I feel like I've just been basically waiting to get injured, and am finally thinking "Hey, I'm gonna do it this time!!" Such a cool feeling. I went out this morning ready to kick some butt b/c I was still pissed about last week's bad run and mentally I needed a good one today. I'm such a headcase when it comes to running- seriously, Nick confirms that all the time too. I just overthink things and get freaked out or doubt myself. But he rode his bike the 1st half of the run with me which majorly helped, so that I wasn't thinking the whole time "Crap, this is a long run. I'm probably gonna get tired. I'm probably not gonna make it. This is super boring." His company made a huge difference, and also that I ate something before I ran today. I know it's stupid to go out without anything in my stomach, but I NEVER eat before my morning runs. Not even before half marathons. But I'm seeing that's not an option with this long of distance. Also just got my convenient little 10-oz. bottle that wraps around my hand with velcro, so I don't even have to stop to get drinks. Super nifty, although I feel somewhat like a toolbag running with it.

So I'm 49 days away, and really thinking I'm finally gonna do my first marathon! I'm also excited b/c I can send out my World Vision letters now. I felt bad asking people to donate if I was maybe going to not be able to run the race, but I feel like I can finally send out letters for support. I have 2 really cool running books about marathons that I've been reading that keep me inspired- "I'm running to win" and "What I talk about when I talk about running". Just a little more and I'll stop with the running stuff. Last week I went out for 15 miles, and had my first not-so-successful long run. LOL it kind of makes me laugh :) I was at about 1:40 into the run, and I was getting physically worn out since I hadn't eaten, and I had mentally defeated myself. So I stopped to get a drink at a fountain, and then started walking instead of running :/ Nick had planned to come meet me and ride the last half hour with me, and he found me 2 minutes into my walking. So I started back up after about 2 more minutes, and still felt exhausted. Then at 1:54, I was basically shuffling my feet, and I got caught on a crack in the sidewalk and fell. Not just tripped, but hardcore fell. Scratched up my shoulder and the face of my watch. And I was so tired that the fall didn't even hurt or embarass me- that's how tired I was. I walked for a few minutes and ended up running the last 10 minutes, and so I got 14 miles instead of 15. But I was so mad at myself about how things went, that I needed some redemption this week.

Haven't done a whole lot else with my goals. But I did have my family over for dinner this week, and was so excited b/c Poppi stayed to visit with us til 10pm, which is super rare :) And, I made my first cheesecake! I like to think that was a huge accomplishment, but now realize that they're not that hard. I met with out financial guy about my 403B and tried understand what exactly happens, but that stuff is like a totally foreign concept to me. I really feel like a total moron when it comes to investment stuff. But things are better than they were before with my retirement, so that task is marked off. That's it for now!!! Tomorrow's Monday, and I'm gonna have to deal with a fight that broke out during Bingo between 2 sisters- one who's 80, the other 92. No joke- one was leaving mad and went up and apparently started punching on the other one. Not my normal issues as a healthcare activity director for the elderly.