"Too Much is Never Enough" -- Billy Idol

I'm not exactly sure what Billy Idol was referring to in those telling lyrics, but I'm 100% certain it was not running.

First - let me apologize to my readers! It's been an entire week since my last post. I know that you are probably thinking I have given up. This is certainly all together possible, as it's happened in the past. I've often proclaimed aloud to anyone who'd listen things like: "I'm doing a triathlon - who's in?" or "Hey - Let's all do the Eugene Marathon". 'Tis true, tis true (Dickens language influence there).

Well - You will be shocked to know that I am still running. I've had a commitment every day after work this past week and have therefore had no time to blog.

I will say, however, that the running is getting more difficult. I had a nice long run last Sunday (too long) and rested on Monday (NICE!). On Tuesday, I ran for 2.5 miles, outdoors, with my friend Tia and felt very sluggish and realized that my running honeymoon is indeed over. My body is beginning to lash out against me for the two weeks of pounding the pavement (or treadmill) and isn't going to play nice anymore.

During my Tuesday jaunt with Tia, I heard from body parts that have for the most part remained quiet: My knees, Shins, lower back, even the bottom of my right foot! My lungs also voiced their mal-content by taking in decidedly less air and making me gasp for breath the entire time. Perhaps I was running faster than normal (Tia is a lightening bolt compared to me) and I just couldn't settle into a rhythm, but I think it was my body's way of asking me to slow down the training and stop treating it like a "baby treats a diaper" (Steve Murray's line - hey gotta sight your sources!).

SO, rest I did. On Wednesday, I took the day off. Thursday, I did 30 minutes on the treadmill. The misery continued. Achy Knees, shins burning, back aching, and foot feeling like I'd hit it with a hammer. I made it through the run. Just under three miles. The good news is that the pain doesn't really linger. It goes away once I've stopped and stretched, so I think it's just the normal aches and pains of ligaments trying to repair themselves after waking from a long, long, decade long, sleep.

Friday, my intention was to cross train. Do a little weightlifting, you know, no impact exercising. Dammit if those treadmills didn't stare me down the moment I stepped into the gym. Plagued with guilt (I'm not sure why I felt guilt, but I did), I found myself running within minutes. I suppose, in theory, I felt a compulsion towards pushing through the pain and forcing my ligaments to get stronger. I allowed myself a considerable amount of leeway, sure, but nonetheless, it was another one of those "why am I doing this???" red-beet-faced runs. I only held on for about 25 minutes. I then did a quick shoulder workout and was on my way. In the end, I was glad to have done it because do you know that my knee actually felt better than before and I had much less back pain? Well there you have it. Now you know. A little bit (and I do mean a teeny bit!) of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone can actually help, not hinder!

Saturday, as it turned out, was a rest day. I scheduled myself to work out, but my dog decided to eat a lethal amount of chocolate, which caused Greg and I to rearrange our day around getting him as quickly as possible to the "puppy doctor" (Emelyn speak) and not let him to succumb to the grueling demise of chocolate toxicity. I should note that it's the second time THIS WEEK that this has happened. I then needed to get about 100 things ready for Emelyn's birthday party, which is much more important than a pesky marathon training schedule. Plus, Emelyn expended more than enough energy for both of us at her party. Picture 16 (yes sixteen of them - and their parents!) 2-ish year olds taking over a gymnastics studio. They jumped and ran around until they exhausted themselves. And then, they ate pizza and cake. And so did I.

I actually give credit to the success of my run today to Emelyn's party. There are few better options for carbo-loading than the birthday-party-fare of small children. Pizza, chips, guacamole, cake, juice boxes, raisins. I know some off you out there (mother) are gasping at the menu, but rest assured, as per usual, it was mostly organic and healthful varieties of said menu choices. Well, but, I mean some things (cake) are just meant to be bad for you. Were there a cake that's good for me out there, I'd be in trouble. Cake would be on the top (or would it be the bottom?) of my food pyramid. You may think I'm joking, but go ahead and ask any of my co-workers: do I, or do I not schedule my month's appointments around the ever-so-scrumptious "cake-day"? (Once a month, KVAL buys a cake that lists all of the employees who had a birthday that month. Everyone gathers in the conference room to eat aforementioned cake. Let's just say Cake Day is my favorite day of the month.)

My point is that I ate a lot of carbs (ok - in the form of cake, but I had a piece of pizza, too) at Emelyn's party and I believe it helped my run this afternoon. 30 minutes of (wait for it........) mostly running. I ran three miles, only a smidgen of it walking. You should know that before I went to run, Emelyn had a play-date with Raechel, my good friend Lilla's daughter. Lilla was asking me how the training's going, so of course I was complaining about all of my aches and pains and how I am seriously doomed and perhaps may never walk again. She brought to light a small piece of information that I had forgotten: In Dawn Dais' beginner's marathon guide book, she mentions the third week being very difficult. The first two weeks are relatively easy, and the third comes out of nowhere to attack you mentally and physically. This helped me to put into perspective that it's not ME - it's that nasty third week! I was MEANT to have a crappy week! I CAN do this! The evil third week is history.

So - You decide, reader, if it was the cake (and pizza) from Emelyn's birthday party, or the close of the 3rd week that contributed to my good run today. I'm not taking sides, as it's anyone's guess. I do know myself, though, and I often play victim to that "mind over matter" mantra and if I had in my head that I was supposed to have a sucky week last week, and now it's over and onto the 4th week, then, well, it's time to get back to running!!!!! Not to discount my favorite food group (cake), though. Most of my wants to believe that it was the cake that pulled me through those three miles.


I hope to post more this week! As far as A Tale of Two Cities is concerned, let's just say I've started the book. I'm on page 30. It's slow-going.... My pledge is to read more this week! It's more difficult than the running!!! More on it later.

Cheers!