Monday, September 04, 2006

Exercise Is Fun!

I awoke Saturday morning at 4 a.m., with a nice fat headache, after a fitful night's sleep due to excess worry about a certain relative of mine.

D.C. got the tail end of Ernesto. At 4 a.m. Saturday morning it was Dark. It was Cold. It was Raining. And I had 10 miles on the schedule, which I had upped to 12 because I have a marathon coming up people!! And this crazy schedule I'm on has two stepback weeks between long runs—only the stepback weeks are always 10 miles. That does not sound smart to me. Does it sound smart to you? So I thought I'd make one of those stepback weeks a 12 miler.

Except ... it was Dark. Cold. Raining.

On Friday, I had cleverly bought a rain jacket, cuz it was, you know, raining. It was on sale, marked down from $90 to $28. Score! So I wore that on Saturday, along with my running tights, cuz you know, it was cold.

Except ... it was 65 F. You know what they say: If you're comfy at the start of your run you will soon be too hot.

Bah! What do they know?

Off I drove to the Pentagon, wearing my snazzy new running rain jacket and long tights. Out of about 300 participants, maybe 30 showed up. I was very very cranky. The Other Jen, inexplicably chirpy, inexplicably wanted to run with me, and ended up dragging my sorry ass through the next nine miles. Did I mention I had a headache? I'm pretty sure I spent the entire two plus hours—soaked, and overheated—moaning and bitching. (It's fun running with me!) As usual, one of my fav topics was the weekly e-mail we get from our group leader. This week's e-mail contained a list of "11 mega-marathon mistakes," one of which was this:
Some marathoners actually think that walking during the race will improve their times. ... No one needs to walk during the marathon; we can all learn to run the entire distance—our times will not improve if we train to amble slowly during specific portions of the race.
Which I found to be a very strange thing for a group that encourages the run/walk method to put in its weekly e-mail. Do they actually read the stuff they send out? I dunno, but apparently no one else reads it either, since no one believed me when I was busy pointing out the total inconsistency of that message.

Not that I'm planning on run/walking. Or have anything against it. It got me through my first marathon. I'm just saying: If that's what you advocate, then stand up for it. Already.

Back to the hellish hot wet miserable run. Poor Jen. I feel for her. I didn't even want to run with me.

By mile nine I knew there was no way I was tacking on another two miles. What was I thinking? Ten miles was quite sufficient.

So on Sunday, to punish myself for being so cranky and miserable, I ran four miles. With the same headache. I told myself if running made my head hurt more, I'd stop. It didn't, so I kept going. Slowly.

Which brings us to today. Labor Day. A holiday. But I have my 6:30 a.m. spinning class on Monday morning. So, I woke up at 5:30, checked the center's Web site to make sure they were open. No mention of being CLOSED on Labor Day. I waited 'til 6 a.m., when I called to make triple-diple sure they were open. No one answered, but the message on the answering machine didn't mention that they were CLOSED, either.

Which, of course, they were. Which I found out after I got there.

Sigh.

I thought of running, but hadn't brought anything with me, like a watch or my shuffle or water, or anything.

So I got back in the car, drove to Starbucks, bought a decaf and the paper, and here I am.

The end.

18 comments:

Nancy Toby said...

Decaf? That's the whole problem, right there.

Tammy said...

Woohoo! And there is an honest post. I was feelin' ya the entire way.... 'specially when you got to 'bucks ;)

Anonymous said...

Aha! Headache! Crippling pain! That explains it. The only way I can keep pace with you is if you're felled by some sort of injury or ailment.

See if you can't sprain something this week so I'll have company on the 20-mile run! C'mon! Something small. Pinky toe?

Anonymous said...

Also? My toes are STILL pruney. I had to hop in the shower just to dry off after that run. Stupid Ernesto...

Anonymous said...

Everyone deserves a day off. But I'm with Nancy--decaf???
So, do you want to fit in a run together before the BIG one, or are you scheduled with your group? Let's email:)

MNFirefly said...

I am taking a day off. It's okay if you did too.

Anita said...

I did nothing more than a stroll around the reservoir with my wife today myself so I'm thinking those who actually did their training today are the misfits and not us.

And a decaf? From Starbucks? Sigh. And here I was developing such admiration for you. I am now forced to re-evaluate my original assessment.

And I'm already preparing sympathy cards for those who will be walking with me in the marathon. The whining and complaining they will encounter from mile 18 on is beyond what any mortal need endure. I so relate to what you said on that one!

21st Century Mom said...

Here is the only message you really need for your training -FOLLOW THE PLAN! Yes, 10 mile step backs sound fine. In fact they sound perfect. You are supposed to recover from your long runs. 10 miles is a robust enough recovery run. If you're really worried run the long ones a teeny bit faster than you think you should.

And I have to wonder about that decaf, too. Unless, of course, you were just biding your time before you too a well deserved nap. In that case decaf is okay.

IronWaddler said...

You did a great job out! As far as your coach and the walking during the marathon. It's a preference thing and what works for you. I would never have finished 2 unless I it was by Galloway run:walk. I admire anyone who finishes in anyway and in whatever time becuase of how much training it takes just to get to the start.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with them all on the decaf issue. A little caffeine probably would have gave that headache a nudge out of your head too.

Great job on the run. I have to admit that the email does seem to contradict the method. At least *you* read the emails.

YaYa said...

Did you really run 12 miles? Wow, that is good.

KT said...

Surprise Labor Day closings give me rage. I'm with you.

LBTEPA said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
LBTEPA said...

you talk of compaining as though it's a bad thing.....
as a tea drinker I don't know why you'd pay to buy decaf - isn't caffeine what coffee is for?

LBTEPA said...

BTW as per your request I have posted a half-mara report. have a good day :)

Rae said...

Great job getting the run in in the rain. I can't believe you got up early on Labor Day, you are getting to be so hard core!!

Waterfall said...

Congrats on the rain run. I'm not that hard-core yet ... I head to the gym if it's raining! But that's great that you have a group to run with--it probably makes the miles go by faster, even on the hot, rainy days.

a.maria said...

i seriously am going to start training again for a race.

starting THIS WEEK.

seriously.

no really.

i AM!
and then we can commiserate again! :)