Friday, September 11, 2009

Highest Highs and Lowest Lows

Ya gotta love running, it's so much like life....it's a roller coaster ride that can take you to the highest hills, then throw you down into valleys that make your stomach turn, then pick you back up into euphoria again...

Ended last week's running with a whopping eight mile run. It was spectacular to make it in a decent time, run with good friends, and accomplish it without getting hurt. Top of the hill moment...

Monday (Labor Day) the whole family headed to downtown Ft Worth for the Fort Worth Running Club Labor Day run. We'd had a good weekend with family for a family reunion, were rested, ate pretty well, so was thinking we were in good shape. We picked up the sitter at 6:10am, and headed into Cowtown. Parking was easier than expected...so far, so good. Kiddo ran with our friends' kiddos in the 1K and got a fantastic trophy for his accomplishment....I ran with him as a warm up, all's lookin' good, but GEEZ it's humid and gettin' hot fast. Decided that this morning I'd try a shot of GU before the race started (since it was only 3 miles) to see how I felt with it. Gun goes off, and off we go. K ran in front of me, as he was nervous and didn't want me to make him any more anxious. I ran with partner Kristi and her munchkin, who runs most 5K's with us, she's AMAZING. Right out of the gate, I can tell my body is not wanting to shift gears. We get to mile 1, and Kristi is ahead of me, keeping up with her munchkin...and I'm dragging behind. I'm feeling a little nauseous (which I normally don't feel), could it be the GU? I plug through to mile 2, and as we pass it, my body decides it is DONE, no more. I ignore said signals and keep plugging away, one foot in front of the other. Then we hit the levy we have to go UP AND OVER....that means straight up a hill....uuuuuugh..... By the time I hit mile 3, I'm ready to throw in the towel, I am hurting at an all new high level--absolutely no energy, can't catch my breath, major muscle fatigue. The cool thing with this race is that it starts and ends at Montgomery Plaza, which is the old Montgomery Ward building that was saved from destruction and turned into shopping with luxury condos above them. There is a huge tunnel through the building, so it makes for a spectacular finish. I can't seem to get the speed up to plow through...and pretty much plod through because I have to....pretty uneventful. Kristi finished ahead of me, K behind me. Found our times later that afternoon...a miserable 36:59....UGH!

I've dissected the race to the nth degree, being that I am my own worst enemy. But good thing is I can say I learned alot from it. Didn't eat right the night before or the morning of, GU doesn't seem like a match for me, took the GU at the wrong time, was worried about my kiddo and the sitter (who was more than competent!!), was carrying too much crap in my hands....yada, yada, yada.....

So I had scheduled another 5K for the following Thursday evening. It was the Freedom Run in downtown Dallas, supporting our local policemen and repercussions of 9/11, which is too close to home for us. Decided that as I wanted to set myself up for success, I would listen to my body. After sparring at tae kwon do Wednesday night, I walked straight next door to the italian place and had a salad and decent portion of spaghetti marinara (the good real kind, made by real Italians, not the cheap American sugar sauce) while my body was still in burn mode and I was sweating like a fountain. Yes, I know I'm supposed to be on veggies and protein, but if I'm running, I have GOT to have some carbs in my system--I've already proven to myself that none and running can't work. Did not do boot camp Thursday morning, decided to rest. Ate decent all day Thursday on my dr diet. As I headed downtown, had a small snack. After an hour and a half in the traffic, as well as fighting rain, found a spot to park and headed for the race.

Good news for this race was that because of the rain, it cooled off significantly! I joked with the sitter when I picked him up from school, what were the odds of it cooling down 10 degrees in the next two hours....be careful what you wish for, it cooled off TWENTY degrees but a constant stream of rain was the tradeoff...which I will take! I ended up meeting up with my friend Tammy in the lineup, and we ran it together....you just can't beat running with a friend!

Best news is that my time was down BIG time....35:38!

Tomorrow, we run NINE miles with our training group. WOW, nine miles.....I'm not thinking about it yet....I'll just do what I do best in the morning, put one foot in front of the other, and keep running with the highs and lows...

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