Friday, July 10, 2015

No Excuses

Today I think I had all of the excuses to NOT get in my long run.

I haven't been sleeping well (I think 5 of the last 6 nights I have ended up on the floor trying to get more comfortable for at least part of the night) - thanks Fibromyalgia! Well, last night around 3:30am, I heard Walt crying. He sleeps in his crate every night in the living room (unless Ryan is out of town) and has since we rescued him about 2 years ago. He normally doesn't have an issue, so when he started whining I knew he had to go outside. Thankfully Ryan heard the cries and offered to take him out (we live in a condo, on the second floor, so when Walt needs to go to the bathroom one of us has to walk him).

Once Ryan came back inside with Walt I figured he might sit out in the living room with him for a minute or so before putting him back in "his house" (what we call his crate) before coming back to bed. Well, I was wrong because Ryan must have had a soft spot in his heart (and I didn't have the energy to fight it) because he let Walt come in bed with us for the rest of the morning.

I don't sleep well in the first place, so add a wiener dog in the bed and it is down right bad news beaver tails. I don't think Ryan or I really fell back asleep after Walt joined the party.

Then... around 6:30am I was pondering getting up to go start my long run before Ryan left for work and it happened... Walt started throwing up... All over my leg, the comforter, our quilt, etc... NOT what I wanted to deal with (I have such a bad gage reflex that I am TERRIBLE when it comes to puke). I try cleaning everything as best as I could and then we decide we will have to make a trip to the laundromat once Ryan gets off work this afternoon.

If you thought things couldn't get worse, my stomach decided to revolt against me so I had to delay my run until after Ryan left for work. Thankfully the forecast wasn't looking terrible, so running from 8:30am-11:30am definitely could have been worse.

As I was getting ready to leave I got a text from my mom that a family member had been diagnosed with breast cancer. We knew it was a possibility, but had been praying for the "all clear" results. Unfortunately that is just not the way life rolls sometimes.

Honestly, it just felt like the day was CRAPTASTIC and maybe I should just grab a blanket from the closet (since ours were in the bathtub) and try to just go back to bed and forget everything that had already happened. Obviously we all have our own crap going on in our lives, but instead of wallowing in mine, I decided I NEEDED to run.

Running is my outlet. Running is my "me" time. Running is when I get a chance to think and pray over what's going on in my life. If I waited for things to be perfect I would never get off the couch.

I threw on my running clothes, walked Walt (who seemed fine after he expelled whatever was upsetting his stomach all over me and our bedding), filled my hydration pack (thank goodness too, by the time got home I had sucked it dry) and decided I would head out for my 18-miler that I originally had planned.

I thought I would break up the 18 miles into three 6 mile chunks - which seemed to work well because that was about when I needed to stop and take my PROBAR BOLT energy chews. I figured I would try and make each segment faster - trying to stay around 9:45/mile for the first 6, 9:15/mile for the middle 6, and 8:45/mile for the last 6.

It actually felt a little cooler out this morning, but I think it was because there was a little break in the humidity (it was only 70% when I started instead of the 80-90% we have been dealing with lately). The bike path was pretty quiet too, which gave me plenty of time to think and pray.

Thankful for the cloud cover and the lower humidity!

I made it to a local park around 6 and a half miles in, so stopped to take some of my chews (and also grab a quick picture). By the way, this is the FIRST TIME I have ever worn my spandex shorts that I normally wear under my Sparkle Athletic skirts by themselves. I was nervous that I would be self conscious the whole time (which I was), but I guess having so much on my mind let me focus on other things than my giggling thighs.

A quick selfie before heading back out to tackle the
last 12 miles of my run

Strawberry PROBAR BOLT chews are my jam!

The next 6 miles were pretty uneventful. The sun started breaking through the clouds, which was nice because we hadn't seen it lately (not sure if you read my Gray Days post earlier this week). Since I was heading west the sun was on my back so it didn't seem to feel too toasty yet either which was much appreciated.

I made it to the beach around mile 13, so stopped for another set of PROBAR BOLT chews (I normally take 5 of the chews every 6 or so miles) and snap a quick picture.

Not a bad spot at all!

The last 5 miles or so were tough. My legs were tired, the temperatures were rising, and I just wanted to be done. Thankfully I still had a little left in my legs to keep the pace around where I was hoping (sometimes I think my negative splits happen because I tell myself the faster I get done the faster I can stop running - so I just try and get it done).

I got home right at 11:30am, which was just under 3 hours after I left. With the two spots for my chews and the traffic lights along my route, it was just about perfect (I think my run time was about 2:45 and my overall time was about 2:55, so 10 minutes between my two stops and probably 10 traffic lights seems about right).

Of course I had to wear my NO EXCUSES Momentum
wrap today... I mean it was PERFECT!

I grabbed a couple quick pictures and then needed to head upstairs to get some electrolytes in me. (I have mentioned it before, but I am quite the salty sweater... like you could probably salt your french fries with the dried salt on my skin when I am done with a run... if you were creepy and into that sort of thing that is.)

Love the new black and gold Run All Day tanks from
Pavement Runner
. (Ryan calls it my WuTang outfit)

18 and DONE!

Sweaty, salty MESS! Time for a shower!

Overall my pace was pretty accurate (my middle 6 were a little slower than I was hoping, but at least I made up for it with a faster first 6 and final 6). With my original plan of 9:45/mile for the first 6, 9:15/mile for the middle 6, and 8:45/mile for the last 6, I should have been at 9:15/mile average and ended with a 9:12/mile average - so I would say it was a success.




Now to enjoy my rest day tomorrow (and pray that things start looking up).

What do you do to make sure excuses don't stand in your way?

3 comments:

Tracy said...

Awesome work! I've been applying the "What You Can When You Can" (better known as #wycwyc) principle into my life more, and tell myself that something is better than nothing. I was exhausted but still had a good Power class tonight!

Anonymous said...

Your times on your last six are so fast..your blog is great, and you look great. You shouldn't becself conscious about wearing anything.

Scarabocchio Girl said...

Wowowow!!! 18 mile!! I think after that run you felt better right?!
I wish I could have done the same yesterday. I had a bad day at work, I wasn't feeling well, big headache...also this morning I had headache but you know what? I needed my long run so I went running!! No excuses also for me :)