Keep on keepin' on...

Week 11

Total Miles:  21.29

Long Run:  9 miles

This week sucked.  Yes, last week’s blog was about how awesome running was, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah.  Well, I must have jinxed myself because this week was just terrible.

Honestly, the first 2 runs of the week weren’t that bad.  The nice weather held off through Tuesday, so the 5 miles to the lake and back were actually pleasant.  Wednesday was a bit warmer, but I managed to get through it.  Thursday though… sigh.  Well, it was the worst run I’ve had in months.   We were doing  the hill by the cemetery when I started to feel a little icky.  My stomach was knotted up and it was so humid out, I was having troubles getting my breathing right.  I had just gotten to the peak of the hill when I felt like I was going to throw up.  And that is what I did.  Well, sort of.  I yakked up the water I had consumed and then dry-heaved.  It was awful.

The question then became, what to do?  I hadn’t gotten to mile 2, so should I just turn around and head home?  Walk?  I was so mad at myself that I just wanted to scream.  Tim tried offering suggestions, but I was too frustrated to listen.  I decided to keep running, albeit, super slow.  When we got to the lake entrance, I knew there was no way I would make it back up that hill if we went down it, so we turned around and headed back.   Tim was having a hard time because of his legs, I was frustrated, and it was just a mess!  Needless to say, it wasn’t the best way to start a work day.    

After the not so hot run on Thursday, the very thought of running 9 miles was just daunting.  Making me even less inclined to go was the fact that I wouldn’t be running with Leah & Jaime this week because of schedules, etc.  Tim had 13 to run, so when he got up to get started, I argued with myself for a good 10 minutes.  Seriously, how is it that one crap run can just take me back to the “I don’t wanna” stage in the process?  Will I ever get past that?   It feels like for every step forward, I go two steps back!  Grrr.  Anyway, I managed to get up and run, but it was the longest 9 miles ever.  Tim is great to run with for encouragement , etc., but I really missed Leah and Jaime.  Unlike super runner Tim, they are doing all this for the first time just like me, so we have similar thoughts, complaints.  With Tim, I feel I’m just extra whiny or something.  I will say this though, that last sweaty mile would not have gotten done had it not been for him encouraging me. 

So, I can’t lie and say that the ol’ confidence isn’t shaken a bit.  I’m not looking forward to logging any miles this week.  But I will.  I just got to keep on keepin' on. 

Side Note:

One of the scheduling issues that I had with the ladies this week was that Jaime participated in the True Grit 5k Challenge with her son, Landon and her Mom, Esther.  It was a rainy, wet course and little Landon got 2nd place!  Awesome! 

Quotes and Inspiration:

The miles don’t go away; they patiently wait for us to run them. –Quote on I <3 to run Facebook page. 

Tim shared this video with me last week and it made me cry a bit.  I can't fathom the hunger and the pressure Olympic athletes feel, but I think this video shows what true determination is all about and how awesome it is to have supporters.