Praying for a Cloud

I managed to hammer out about 4.5 miles this morning. It would have been a 5 mile run if I hadn't stopped a couple of times to walk. At 7:30 am it looked beautiful outside. A cool overcast morning which led me to decide that an attempt at a run was in order. I dropped the kids off at school and by 8:15 am when I finally was out the door to run the clouds were breaking up. Ugh.

The run started out great. My calves felt good, no screaming at all. I wasn't woried about my pace and didn't feel any nagging urge to hurry myself up. At about 1.75 miles the heat was starting to get to me. Seriously, I should have refilled my half-empty water bottle. What was I thinking? I was running into the sun at this point and there was absolutely no breeze. At the 2.5 mile turn around point I got my second wind, a breeze had picked up and I was feeling good again. It didn't last long. At about the end of 3 miles I felt sick. The sun was to my back but it the heat was beating through my shirt and my back was burning. I also started to feel sick to my stomach and really wishing that I had not already finished my water. I walked for about half a mile more and had crazy thoughts running through my head. I prayed for just a cloud to block the cloud, any breeze at all. Mostly I just wished for water. I wondered how crazy I would look in my near heat-stroke madness walking up to someone's front door and asking for water. Even the water surrounding a sprinkler head looked appealing. My stomach, head and skin started to feel a little better and I figured I wasn't going to get home any faster walking so I started to jog.

I live amongst a golf course and remembered that there is a bathroom for the golf course right off the road. I figured, if it was unlocked, I could at least fill my water bottle from the sink. Even nasty water sounded great, refreshing, beautiful at this point. I hobbled over toward the bathroom and there was the most wonderful sight: a cooler full of water. The water was even cold. I guzzled some down and within a few minutes I felt like running. I finished my 5 mile journey. I am spent but I feel accomplished. I also feel wiser in knowing not to underestimate the amount of water I need.

For the past two hours the storms have been rolling through. Maybe my cloud prayer was answered, just a little later than I would have liked.

Well Darn It!

Went to sleep last night with a ache in my throat. I woke up this morning feeling sick. Decided not to train. Now, at the end of the day I am feeling better but also regretting my laziness and feeling blah. I hate regret. My logic this morning was to miss one day so that I didn't get too sick and end up out of commission for a week. This logic would probably make more sense if I had stayed home and rested. As the mom to a 3 and 5 year old, rest is not generally an option.

We took road trip to a nearby lake. Hopefully in the morning I will wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go, otherwise I just be adding to my regret.









Thankfully, these amazing pictures of my family will make the day and my decisions worthwhile..for now.

Pain in the Calves

My running is suffering at this point. I was out for about 6 weeks with a lower leg injury, thanks to falling off my bike, and I just haven't been able to get my legs back. I ran 3 miles this morning but at about a mile in my calves were screaming at me. Okay, I have to admit, 3 miles is my standard run. I can run this distance without too much effort, usually, but I feel spent/accomplished when I am finished. I need to increase my mileage so that 3 is just the tip of the iceberg.

I'm also dealing with another, purely mental, problem. I always (I mean always) feel like my training is rushed. For example, this morning I had absolutely no obligations, commitments, plans beyond running. Still, while I am out there I feel this constant nag that I need to hurry up. It isn't the need to increase my speed but rather to just be finished with the workout. Legitimately there are times when I do have to be someplace and I need to cram as much into the time I have but I hold this feeling over for all my workout. When I think about it, I don't feel this weird pressure on my Sunday swim practice. It is a full hour dedicated to coached swimming and I love it. The worst part about feeling like I am always is a hurry is that once I am finished I wish I had done more. Today I just yelled at myself. I felt the urge/push to be done and literally yelled at myself, "Shut up, you don't have anywhere to be, you don't have to rush!" It seemed to help.

I suppose I need to work on loosening up my calves. I'm not sure how to do that at this point. I will stretch and make a conscious effort to work on them. I'd like to run at least 5 miles next weekend. Here's hoping.

"When your body screams, tell it to shut up"

The Objective

My Goal: To complete a Triathlon.

Ultimate Goal: Make training and racing a consistent "hobby".

I found this quote today and it pretty much sums up how I feel and why I am motivated.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt
"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910