Cryfest cure: dip Oreos in Bailey's

What a week. Let's talk about the emotional rollercoaster of life I've experienced since last Monday.

Let's begin with the lowlights so we can appreciate the highlights:

-Adam had a terrible injection site reaction on Tuesday night.  He started to feel achy, weird, and had a crazy spell of chills in the middle of the night.  His body actually felt cool to the touch.  This has happened a few times before, but it is a shocking reminder of how unpredictable MS and its' medications can be.

-Our oldest dog Josie has had countless accidents in the house this week and I'm fairly certain she is clueless to her bowel movements.  Poor pup. Getting old sucks.

-I hung up my apron at Williams-Sonoma for the last time after 8 years.  I had no idea that quitting a job could bring me to tears.  Multiple times.  As I was leaving the store for the last time, I was so choked up that I could barely speak.  As soon as I got in my car, I started sobbing.  Who cries over voluntarily leaving a job? I blame my coworkers--many of them ridiculously kind and ferociously loyal.

Thank goodness there were more highlights than lowlights:

-28 easy breezy miles this week AND I finished August with only 5 fewer miles than marathon March. Woot!

-I finished an article series for HalfMarathons.net about charity racing.  Guess who is freshly inspired to consider the idea of racing for charity??

-Dinner with good friends on Friday night and dinner with my family tonight makes me feel complete. I'm lucky to have awesome people in my life.

-After the cryfest in the parking lot last night, I drove home and began to remedy the situation.  Adam was out with friends so I crawled into the bathtub, fired up the jacuzzi jets, drank wine, and finished a fabulous book.  Later, I shamelessly ate a grilled cheese and dipped Oreos in Bailey's.  Sometimes a little gluttony soothes the pain.

-I am anticipating the good stuff of starting a new job on Tuesday: better hours, better pay, and a better commute.  Crossing my fingers that I made the right choice.

She was my hetero-running-futuristic-stranger crush.

Oh my.  I didn't know that I was still capable of having runner's high runs.  I thought I was destined for the that-didn't-hurt-so-it-must-be-good kind of runs.  Like my 13.5 miler not too long ago, I just assumed that it was really good when I trotted along at a decent pace without much effort.

But yesterday, I was head-in-the-clouds euphoric.

Admittedly, the first 3/4 mile was not all roses and puppies, but the other 6.25 miles were bliss.  I took advantage of the low (re: 30%) humidity and shady Greenway.  It was still warm, but I felt really comfortable.  I liken the summer's humidity to training inside a centrifuge.  So I felt very free yesterday to just breathe.  Aaaahhh...

I was running at a tempo pace for most of the run averaging an 8:01 pace overall.  I wasn't lollygagging, but somehow I still felt as though I was just enjoying the moment.  There was a fleeting moment of me thinking I should just run until I felt like stopping.  But being grossly under prepared for a long run (no fanny pack of water/gels), I decided that would just be silly.

I embraced the euphoria.  I kept my eyes away from the ground and soaked in the scenery.  I listened to the world's cheesiest mix on my iPod.  I stopped hugging the right side tight and actually veered towards the center lane.  I know, I know, really living on the edge stuff.... 

As I was walking to my car as I finished, there was a runner (I could just tell) about to begin her run.  She was about 20ish years older than me and I was immediately struck by how I idolized her.  She looked confident, calm, and wryly smiled at me when we passed each other.  Her running clothes screamed "I care enough about my appearance, but I don't obsess".  Her physique suggested that she was ridiculously in shape, but she wasn't afraid to eat a donut or have an extra glass of wine. 

She was my hetero-running-futuristic-stranger crush. 

As if I needed a another reason to keep this a lifelong habit....  However, fresh inspiration never hurt.  She has no idea that she inspired me.  There are plenty of 'strangers' on the Loop that probably have no idea they've inspired me.  I feel like inspiration is a pay it forward kind of thing--I can only hope that sprinkle a little inspirational dust wherever I go.

Run like you escaped from the loony bin

Friday, 9:30pm, J. Alexander's: Eating slices of filet mignon dipped in bernaise sauce.  Sipping an Oregon pinot. 

Friday, 10:00pm, J. Alexander's: Eating a ridiculous dessert called 'Powerful Stuff' (ice cream, Oreos, Snickers, caramel, assorted calories). Sipping a glass of Bailey's.



Friday, 11:45pm, home: Fall asleep full and tired.

****************************************************************************

Saturday, 9:15am, home: Wake up.  Contemplate running.

Saturday, 9:17am, home: Decide running=good.  Text Jeff to meet me at the Greenway at 10:15.

Saturday, 10:20am, Greenway: Begin a 10 mile run with Jeff.

Jeff is not a regular runner.  But he managed to run/walk 10 miles in a pretty decent time.  And honestly, had it been cooler, he probably would have not had much issue.  But it was pretty warm and I was glad to be rockin' the fanny pack of water.  It came in quite handy.

I ran over 11 miles.  I was circling back and forth when he was taking walk breaks.  My Garmin map probably looks a little bananas.  So I will post his map instead.


We took a little side detour just before the 7 mile mark to get water at the park.  My body was kind of confused that we were doing all this resting.  Once we got to the final mile on the Greenway, I busted out a sub 8 mile like a gleeful kid at the playground.  I am pretty sure that anyone passing me by thought I was escaping the loony bin because I was soaked in sweat and smiling ear to ear.

I am thinking that all these hot, wine-dehydrated, stressed-out summer runs will equate into a pretty killer fall.  I'm excited about running *fast*.  This *fast* thing is relative person to person, but I'd be happy if I could be faster than last fall.  Might have to cool it on the Bearnaise sauce and Captain Crunch........ugh, whatever....

Two reasons to break out the champagne

Adam and I are generally lucky people.  I definitely do my fair share of whining, but in reality, we have it pretty good.  We have supportive family & friends, yummy food on the table, a pretty nice roof over our heads, and aside from Adam's MS, we have no major daily health issues.  So I am pretty pleased that we are able to celebrate twice this month!

1. Adam passed his state licensed optician exam!

2. I am starting a new job with better pay, better hours, and better commute in just over a week!
Yay!

My running has been pretty great this past week and I am hoping that my mileage for the month is only second to March--when I raced my last marathon.  I have been better about listening to my body lately and pushing hard when I feel great and going slower when I am achy and tired.  It's a novel concept, I know.

That glorious fall running is just around the corner.  There is always a short period of time that I can squeeze in an after work run before the darkness thing becomes an issue.  But I really cannot complain, because winter running actually is really quite awesome in Atlanta.  I think I might have put on full pants (instead of capris) once last year.  I'd gladly trade my hydration pack for a long sleeved shirt!

Cashing in good karma points

I feel physically drained.  But in a good way.  I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight.  In fact, I probably could fall asleep right now and not wake up until tomorrow morning.  Given that it isn't even 7pm though, I will restrain myself from crawling into bed before I've even had dinner.

Hopefully today was the last of the 4:30am wake-up calls for a long, long time.  I consider myself to  be a morning person, but prefer to wake up with the sun.  Not hours before.  Mad props to those people that can either A) exist on just a few hours of sleep or B) be disciplined enough to go to sleep early enough to wake up refreshed at 4:30am. 

After working and leaving at a reasonable hour (why do I still feel guilty about this?), I came home to relax for a short while.  Then I got on the treadmill and got so wrapped up in finishing a movie that my 4 miler turned into 7 miles.  Sweet!

3 days of running in a row coupled with physical work days beginning at 4:30am have left me pooped though!  I actually kind of enjoy feeling this way when I don't have anything pressing to do.  I mean, the house needs cleaning, but it'll be dirty and waiting for me tomorrow too. 

Tomorrow I am going to dinner with a dear friend/former coworker.  I have the weekend off.  11 miles in the books already and it's only Tuesday.  A customer of mine brought me a cake yesterday because he was appreciative that I always make him a cup of coffee when he comes in.  Guess I cashed in some of those good karma points.  Better keep paying it forward to build up my karma points bank.

My fuzzy running buddy (pic)

Since our youngest dog, Torrance, has shown her impressive running skills while escaping from the yard, I thought I'd try her again on another run this morning.

Here's the latest damage after capturing her last week:


I've determined through trial and error that my normal 7 mile run is a bit too long for her.  So when I was thinking about just doing 4 this morning after my 13.5 on Friday, I figured it wouldn't be too much.

Wrong.

She was great the first mile, pulling on the leash and gleefully running ahead of me while we clocked an 8:00 minute mile.  The second mile was pretty decent and the leash began to slack.  By the middle of the third mile, she began to lose steam.  She started to run behind me and our pace definitely slowed. 

By the last mile, she was pretty much being pulled.  We stopped and started. And stopped and started.  It was pretty humid out this morning and my Garmin was having issues because my arm was so sweaty.  I have no idea what our final mile split was because of the technical difficulties.  All I know is that it was no where near as fast as our first 2.

We'll try again when the weather gets cooler.  It felt nicer this morning, but I think she'll do better in October when I might contemplate wearing capris instead of shorts. 

Dude, whatever gets you through the long runs

I have been a terrible blogger.  And a terrible blog reader.  I haven't had a day off since last Saturday and I've been filling the time doing everything away from the laptop.  In fact, I just realized tonight that it probably has been almost a week since I have looked at the interwebs from an actual computer and not just my phone.  Doh!

But the good news is that I have been running. And making some major life decisions.  The life decisions will be for another post, but soon, I promise! As for the running, I definitely feel great after today's random 13.5 miler.

I actually took advantage of the cooler (re: low 80's) temperatures and headed outside to the Greenway this morning.  I contemplated going the first time I woke up at 6am, but decided to sleep another couple hours and go when it was light out.  Yes, I am one of those annoying people that can pretty much fall asleep anytime, anywhere.

I wore my sexy fanny pack/water bottle holster and that was a smart decision.  After each gulp throughout my run, I actually managed to feel the residual effects for at least a few tenths of a mile.  Cool. 

The last 3 miles were kind of iffy.  My feet were sore, I was hot, and I felt like I was done sorting out my thoughts.  But I dug deep and managed to power through those final miles.  Plus, I did this cheesy thing where I was imagining various Loopsters waiting for me to high five them as I ran by.  It gave me some sort of accountability knowing that someone was waiting for me to pass them by.  Probably sounds a slightly bananas, but you know, whatever gets you through the long run...