Running off the Stress

      2 Comments on Running off the Stress

Argh. Work is still stressful. After my loooong working weekend, I skipped my Monday intervals. Then I skipped my Tuesday easy 3-miler. I had planned to run three on Wednesday, but I forgot to set my alarm. That was day number FOUR of no running. As it turns out, I get really cranky when I don’t run. Ask my husband. 😛 I was an A #1 bitch when I got home Wednesday night, and then I found out that I had to take JJ to a hockey skills skate in Woodhaven for $10. I pissed and moaned about it, since Wednesday was supposed to be my night to make cookies for the fair. Still, because I’m a good hockey mom, I took him, with the intent to run 5 miles while he was on the ice.  Great plan, except…the skate was actually in Taylor, five miles up the road, and it cost $15.  Argh!!

I managed to get him there and get him on the ice with a minute to spare.  I decided I was going to do my 5 mile run, despite the fact that I now had less time. My plan was to run all five at race pace, which for me right now is about a 9:50 or so. I’m probably kidding myself if I think I’m going to run 13 miles in August at that pace, but a girl has to have goals, right? 😉

At any rate, 5 miles x a little less than 10 minutes per mile, subtracted from the 50 minutes that JJ would be on the ice = about a minute to spare. “Cutting it close” seems to be my middle name. 😛

The skate was in Taylor, which is one city I’ve never run in. I decided to run to the Heritage Park. The park has nice paths, which were very busy with walkers at that time, as well as baseball and soccer fields. Besides that, the park also has a neat little “pseudo-village” of historical  buildings and homes, many of which were moved there from other places in the city. The whole park seems to have started when they moved an old church from about 2 miles down the road, back in about 1994. They’ve been doing weddings in that church ever since, and I remember wishing I could’ve gotten married there. It didn’t work out, but when I ran by it Wednesday night, it made me really long for some beautiful wedding pictures at the church.

 

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And that’s just the back, lol!  The sunset was just gorgeous.

 

 

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One interesting thing that I saw was a group of signs, more than two dozen of them, each one with a year and the name of the city from around the world on it.

 

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I was really perplexed, but I knew that if I just posted it on social media, someone would have an answer. And someone did! Taylor, Michigan is the home of the Junior League World Series, and those signs show the winning teams for each year since it began, which I think was 1980. I don’t know much about baseball, but I guess it’s a pretty big deal! Kind of neat to see them…once I knew what they were!

It was challenging to keep with my sub-10 pace, because it was getting a bit warm, but I am nothing if not determined! I had to run past my car and then turn around, since I didn’t do an out and back, and I was pretty much guessing on how far I was running. I was really ready to be done by the time I finished, but I did it!

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I even had enough time to spare to grab a Gatorade for JJ at the concession stand before he got off the ice. I would’ve thought that being at a rink that we rarely visit would ensure that I wouldn’t run into anyone, but of course, it was the day that I came back to the rink all hot and sweaty and gross that I saw a bunch of hockey friends I haven’t seen in a while. Ha! 😉  I will admit, I actually did feel better after that hard run.  It still surprises me how much I dislike being a “sloth” now that I’m used to regular exercise, and how much a lack of exercise can negatively affect my mood.  (Must take a moment to marvel at how the lazy girl of my youth has changed…)

By the time we got home and got dinner done, there was no way I was going to be able to make the oatmeal cookies for the fair. Since it had been my husband’s idea to take JJ to the skill skate, I told him it would be his responsibility to make the cookies on Thursday morning.  He made them, but I learned that my idea of a good-sized oatmeal cookie, and my husband’s idea, are fairly different.

 

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That cookie is bigger than three hockey pucks, and almost as big as JJ’s head. ;). My husband did make some smaller ones, but none of them are what you would call a normal-sized cookie.  The important part is that they tasted good, and I was able to find four to use as entries for the fair, so hopefully they’ll do well! I suppose that if I win, I’ll technically have to share the the prize money with my husband. All three dollars of it. 😉  The cookies are actually really, really good…

 

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I’ll share the recipe soon!

Besides the cookies, I of course entered my jams, and I also entered a jar of salsa. The kids and I entered pictures as well, and I had a pleasant little surprise when I went to pick up our pictures, which I printed at the Walmart one-hour photo lab, and looked at the envelope.

 

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That made me smile. If you’re not familiar with county fair contests, I’ll let you in on a little secret: it’s a lot of politics and who you know!  But having a random stranger at the photo lab compliment my pictures made me feel pretty good. 🙂

Last night, JJ and I ran a mile together, and his goal was to beat his last mile time, which was 11:12. Last night was a really tough run for him, but he did it!

 

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Hey, one second faster than the last time is still faster. 🙂   I was a very proud mama. 🙂 And he was very excited at the ice cream and chocolate bar I let them have as a reward. 😉

I’ll be working again this weekend, but hopefully it won’t be quite as stressful.  I sure am looking forward to when this project is done, although that won’t mean the end of my stress. I didn’t weigh myself at all this week, which is really unusual for me, but I really feel like I’m not doing myself any good in stepping on the scale each week and seeing the numbers not go down.  It just adds to my stress, and I really don’t need any extra stress right now.  Don’t get me wrong–I’m not giving up! I’m still doing what I’m supposed to be doing, I’m just not going to be so focused on the scale.   Which in itself is kind of stressful. 😉

I hope everyone has a great, healthy weekend. I’ll see you next week!

2 thoughts on “Running off the Stress

  1. Melissa @ Faster In Water

    That church is beautiful! It reminds me of the little country church I grew up going to.

    Those 5 miles rocked! Running in a new area is great. New things to see = distraction from the discomfort of a fast speed!

    Good luck at the fair, I’m always impressed at how well you do/how talented you are!

    Reply

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