Disappointed

Dude, what a rotten day.  It started with a really awful day at work (have you noticed a pattern lately…believe it or not, it’s still getting worse, leading up to a major project whose first draft is due this Friday).  And it got worse.

But let me back up.  On Saturday, I was by myself at home because my husband took the boys camping with his dad.  I had a 9-mile run on the schedule, but I was feeling oh-so-lazy Saturday morning, and since I had nowhere special to be that day, I slept in until 8am.  I then putzed around the house for an hour before driving to the Metropark to tackle some hills (since my August half has hills, I figured I’d better try to prepare).   It turned out to be the worst run I’ve had in a long time.  Why?

Dude! What was I thinking?!  There’s a reason why you get up super-early in the summer to run!  I was so frickin’ hot and miserable.  My normal “working” heart-rate during a run is 175-185, but when I saw myself hit 230 at one point, I knew I needed to stop.  I ended up stopping 5 times, but even though I stopped the Garmin for those breaks, my pace was still pretty awful.

In case you think running is all glamorous, let me assure you, it’s not.

That was me at my first stop.  I did get a few nice scenery shots, and at one point, there were two deer that crossed the path…with a biker, two walkers, and a dog nearby!

It was so hot and miserable, I stopped at mile 6, 7, and 8–yes, even though I knew I only had a mile to go, I stopped!  I even sat on a bench. 😛 The only thing that got me back to the car at all was knowing that I had a big tumbler of ice water waiting for me.

That was a suggestion from my friend Carrie back when I did my marathon, and let me tell you, it was brilliant!

It may seem ridiculous to think of running in that kind of weather, but with a half-marathon coming up on August 16th, I need to train.  I have had this crazy idea that I might actually beat my best marathon pace, although even I know that the idea of running a personal best in the middle of August is pretty crazy.  I mean, really, who runs a half-marathon in August at all?   Well, as it turns out…a lot of people do.  I went to register for the Running the Vines Half Marathon today (3 days before the first price increase), and discovered this.

🙁  Seriously?  It’s sold out over a month ahead of time?!  I am so bummed, and kind of ticked, too.  This totally blows my chance at the cool medal and wine glass, to say nothing of the official “Thirsty Three” medal hanger.  🙁  I know I should have registered earlier if I was really interested, but I thought I had plenty of time.  I had set a reminder to myself in my Google calendar today to make sure to sign up before the price increase.  I have been checking the site periodically, too, just to make sure I was still good.  I’ve been crazy busy the last few weeks, though (see note above about work), and haven’t checked the site since early July.  My loss, clearly.  I still can’t believe that many people registered for a half-marathon in August!  I immediately registered for the Scrumpy Skeddaddle in October…I figure that one will definitely sell out, with all the people trying to get the “Thirsty Three” swag.  I signed Jamie up, too…because of course, he wants the medal! 😉

So, to keep this from being a total downer post, I do have some positive news to report.

That’s down 2.6 from last week–woo hoo!  I’ll take it.  Now to just sustain it…and get below it…I can’t believe my current goal is to simply get below 120. 🙁  It’s been a long time since I’ve said that.  But, despite my extra weight, I can say that I had a pretty big boost to my ego last Thursday.  It was 25 years ago last month that I graduated from high school, and although we aren’t having a 25-year reunion,  a bunch of us gathered at a local bar to celebrate and reminisce.   If you want to feel good about how you look, even if you’ve gained back 10 of the 85 pounds you’ve lost, go hang out with a bunch of people who haven’t seen you in a while. 😉

That’s me at the bar (wearing my High Tail to Ale shirt–see how much I love my Thirsty Three swag??).  I don’t feel like I look all that great in this pic, but I got so many compliments and comments on how great I looked (and how skinny)…it sure did boost my spirits. 🙂

So all is not awful in my world by any stretch (except for work), but now I’m faced with the decision on what to do about all this effort I’ve put into half-marathon training.  There aren’t exactly a ton of half marathons around these parts in August…and I don’t want to drive that far.  :/  At the same time, I don’t want to waste my training.  I’ve been doing intervals, for God’s sake–do you have any idea how much I hate intervals?!

Ah well…we shall see.  I’ll keep looking and let you know what I find.  Thanks for reading!