Sometimes, The Runs Are Crappy

Yes, they sure are.  And yesterday was a particularly stellar example of such a run. :/

My weekend started out pretty poorly.  I’d already spent four days that week training sales managers and was ready for some rest and relaxation.  Instead, I got home Friday night to discover three things:

• My husband’s employer did not accept my marriage certificate and 2012 tax return as proof of our marriage, and would require me to get a certified tax statement from the IRS if I want to remain covered under his health insurance. I guess they figure the IRS is the best source of knowledge for the validity of my 17-year marriage. </sarcasm>
• My husband received a jury questionnaire form.  For Federal jury duty.  That’s awesome.
• I discovered about half an hour after I arrived home, tired and ready for the long week to be over with, that I had left my purse at work…40 miles away.

 

So, instead of relaxing on the couch, the boys and I hurried through dinner and then drove back to my office to get my purse, which I clearly could not be without all weekend.  I had to take them with me since my husband was working. They were so sweet about it, never complaining even though they were in the car for well over an hour, that I decided I would give them a special treat.  Because Sanders ice cream rocks! 🙂

 

 

I finally got to bed around 11pm, and I was up and ready for my husband to get home between 7:30 and 8am Saturday morning so I could get my nine-mile run in before taking DS#2 to a hockey tryout.  I wanted to run somewhere other than my neighborhood for a run that long, so I decided to make the long drive to the Lower Huron Metropark and run from the top of the park into the city of Belleville. (I love new routes, especially those that take me into real live towns!)

With that kind of a drive, I knew I’d have to be out the door as soon as my husband got home to get my run finished, have an hour to recuperate, and then get to the tryout on time.  Only…my husband had to work late and didn’t get home until 9:30am. By the time I got out to Lower Huron and started running, it was 10am.  I knew it would take me a minimum of an hour and 40 minutes to run 9 miles, and I also knew I had to be home by noon to get changed and out the door to have DS#2 on the ice by 1:15pm.  This would leave me without any decompression time after my run, which, unfortunately, has been a common theme for me as of late.  So, by the time I started the run, I was already stressed without having taken a single step. 🙁

It was raining when I started, and I hate running in the rain.  (I’ve mentioned enough times on my blog that I am a priss who hates to get wet.)   The rain stopped after about a mile, but it was still humid and damp, and already 70 degrees.  I had to run the first two at an easy pace, then 5 at race pace (9:55), and the last two easy.

My first two were okay, but by the time I started mile 3 at race pace, I was dragging.  I held on as long as I could, and tried to enjoy the route.  It was along a pretty busy road with sometimes no shoulder and sometimes just a small shoulder, so I spent a lot of time trying to steer clear of traffic.  I’d never actually been on this stretch of road before, and it was nice to see the new scenery.  There was a nice view of Belleville Lake for quite a while.

 

 

Belleville is a pretty old town, and I passed a lot of neat old homes on my run.  My degree is in history, and I toyed with getting a Master’s in Historic Preservation for a while, so old homes always suck me in.  On this trip, though, one in particular stood out.

 

 

Isn’t that an amazing home?!  (Normally I wouldn’t put up a picture of a home on my blog, but this one is obviously abandoned, so I figure no one will care.) I love the cupola and even the vines that are so overgrown they cover the windows!   I was fascinated by this home, and I really want to do some research to see if I can find out the history.  It always breaks my heart to see such beautiful historic architecture being so neglected. 🙁  I really hope that someone buys this someday and restores it–what a treasure!!

Not long after passing that home, I found myself in downtown Belleville.  It’s been about 20 years since I’ve been there!  I used to work in a small sales office right on Main Street, but it’s been so long since I’ve been down that way, I got a bit turned around and had a hard time figuring out what my course was.  I ended up taking a wrong turn, and eventually I just turned around and hoped I’d find Savage Road, which I knew would put me back on course.  By this time, I was having a hard time breathing and my legs just felt so heavy and sore.  I was right at mile 4.5 when I turned around, exactly half-way through my run, and suddenly, I just couldn’t do it anymore.  My brain didn’t want to stop, but my body had other plans.  I found myself walking at 4.5 miles, and though I was frustrated with myself, I took a moment to take a drink of water that I’d brought with me and try to recuperate.  I was so frustrated with myself for not being able to maintain race pace. 🙁

I started up again fairly quickly, but the damage was done.  I wanted so badly to make that 5th mile a 9:55, and I really busted my ass for it, but even though I probably averaged somewhere between an 8 and 9 minute mile for the last half mile, I just couldn’t do it. My pace for that mile was a paltry 10:15.

I was able to run the last two miles at race pace and even a little faster, but not only did it take every ounce of energy I had, I also ended up with a damn rock in my shoe from that stupid soft shoulder. 🙁  At about mile 6.5, my phone rang–it was DS#2, wanting to know how much longer I’d be.  Poor thing…he caught me at the worst possible moment, and I’m ashamed to say I yelled at him and pretty much hung up on him.   Definitely not a mother-of-the-year moment there. 🙁

After that, I trudged on until I got to the end of my “race pace” miles at mile 7, but when I finished with that, I was just done–mentally and physically.  I stopped my watch and sat down on some stranger’s lawn, muttering curses under my breath.

 

 

I did take a moment to get the stupid rock out of my shoe.

 

 

Who knew something so small could make a person so miserable?

I took the time to call DS#2 and apologize, and, being a kid, he’d already gotten over it. 😉  At that point, he just wanted to know if he could have some lunch, lol!

I sat on the ground for about 5 minutes and then very slowly jogged back to the car, which was actually a quarter mile farther than the nine miles I was supposed to run.  I hopped in my car and hurried back down the road to get the two pictures you saw above with my real camera, and then I rushed home, took the fastest shower ever, shoved both kids in the car, and got to the rink at 1:10pm.  While I may not have been on time to leisurely get DS#2 ready, I’m an experienced enough hockey mom that I was able to have him dressed in full gear and heading out onto the ice by 1:15.  😉

I really struggled mentally with the disappointment of my run yesterday, but I’m trying to just put it behind me and move on.  My family reunion is next weekend, so I’ve got a lot of fun to look forward to.  I’ve actually signed up for a 10k next Saturday that I’m rather excited about, since it’s in conjunction with a street fair that much of my family will be attending.  Unfortunately, I’ll still have to run another 4 miles in addition to the 10k, since I have to log 10 miles that day per my training plan.  However, I’ve decided that, since it’s 3.8 miles from my sister’s house to the race start, I’ll just drop my kids off with her and then run to the starting line.  😉

Thanks for reading about my tough run this weekend–I hope that, whatever you chose to do this weekend, you had much better success than me!  😀