Monday, April 9, 2018

Eugene Half Training: Week 3


I need to order more compression socks. Someone remind me of that later when you read this, pretty please. I have the screen open - but I'm also home alone with a toddler who is very busy - so I am prone to forget things.


This 3rd week was hard. Not because of the running, but real life stuff going on that I may or may not blog about later. It definitely made this week a challenge, but I feel like I am pretty happy with how it all went - even though I did skip a planned run.

First, let's do some exciting things and some venting! The exciting thing... my training partner is growing up. Sure, she turned 2 a couple of months ago, but we weren't in any rush to flip her around. But she decided to get tall, resulting in her car seat turning around and now I have a co-pilot when running AND driving! Isn't she adorable? Yes, yes she is!

And now the venting. Remember last week I think it was and my leg was hurting really bad and I could hardly walk? Well .... I think I may have found part of the reason why. I'm not sharing a photo of my leg because who wants to see that? I can tell you that my right leg is covered in bruises. I counted five at one point. Work is having a remodel of our floor, meaning 4 of us are sharing an office the size that one person would use anywhere else. Two of us share this tiny corner desk. It is so not ergonomically correct. I can barely move by the end of my short 4 hour work day. You may notice that if I ever want to actually do work with papers I have to move my keyboard away so I have some surface other than my lap - because yes, I do use my lap a lot, too. I have no options. To get out of this desk I have to back up, turn the chair and try to not bump into anyone or anything in the process. I took two days off of work and my leg felt so much better! After 4 hours today? Yeah, it wasn't super happy. So perhaps my thought of this disaster of a work situation creating my problem isn't so far off. If you have met me in person you know I am not tall, but apparently my short legs are too long for this corner.


So my first run happened, and I was hurting. Why? See that whole paragraph and photo above! But I wanted to do my best and maybe run it off. Yeah, well, it was alright. I really can't even remember how far I ran at this point. I know it was nice weather, I was in my favorite shoes - Adidas Boost - they feel like running on marshmallows! And I had my best running buddy with me. Because she stayed awake for our entire run through a school neighborhood she was rewarded with time at the playground. She felt pretty darn special, so that made it all worth it!



The next run was quite spontaneous. Doing it wasn't spontaneous, but I left the house with my water, my partner and a stroller, without really knowing where I was going and how far I would run. I ended up parking at a church and I noticed a sign directing me to a park I've never visited. So I figured why not check it out?

The run took me through some vineyards, farm land, flowers, and by tons of animals. Horses, goats, sheep, dogs, chickens, cats, birds... it was awesome! And my co-pilot would have loved it if she didn't fall asleep before we had even gone a mile! I made it to the park, which also had a small playground that she missed out on. It was along the South Umpqua River, so I did pull over to take a gander and enjoy all the peace and quiet. I hope to have more fun, unplanned runs like this. It was so nice to have a change of scenery!

And then the final run - the long run. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I was so stressed and tired at points that I nearly deleted my entire Facebook and blog. I just didn't want anything to do with anything. I just wanted sleep. And dark. And quiet. So when it was my turn to run I wasn't sure I had any energy at all to pull it off.

I started at my now normal neighborhood grade school location. I have a nice mile warm up route where I start out hard with hills. I like to just hit that and be done! I cranked up Jesus Christ Superstar from the live show, hoping it would give me a jolt. Ha, yeah, it didn't. So back to my play list I went and I just kept trying. I wasn't even sure I'd make it a mile. But then I was running down a hill and saw River, my dog friend, and I am pretty sure she smiled at me. That was apparently the boost I needed! From then on I was determined to enjoy my run. I covered two different neighborhoods on opposite sides of the river - the river that triggers my vertigo every time. This also took me to two different grade schools... and going to my old one is always fun, plus it has water fountains! Eight miles later I was done and rejuvenated. I came home to good news and it was like all the stress was washed away. Hallelujah!

So look at that, a dreaded run ended up too easy and enjoyable. WHAT?!?!

Okay, I'm going to go order those socks now. But still, if you made it this far, please remind me because I seriously can't be trusted to remember ANYTHING!

Race Countdown: 19 days 15 hours 46 minutes

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