See Diva Run

Love can make people do crazy things, especially the love of running. In fact, non-runners think just about everything we runners do is crazy. I followed up my 8 mile run Thursday with 2 3.5 mile runs Friday. I was planning to run Saturday, but I worked from midnight until 8:30 Saturday morning, then slept until 2:30 in the afternoon. I was still tired when I woke up, and decided to skip my run. I was still tired today, and slept in until after 9:00. When I woke up the sun was shining brightly, but the temperature was hovering around 30 degrees. I had a leisurely breakfast and a cup of tea, and hoped things would warm up a bit. The temperature was 33 when I headed out the door, but the sun was bright. I wore a long sleeved tech shirt, gloves and a hat, but opted not to wear a jacket. I chose a loop that has a half mile stretch where you have to run in the road because there is no shoulder. I was about 50 feet from the spot where the shoulder resumes when I had to run off the road to avoid a jeep that was speeding toward me. The ground was rough, and I tripped and went sliding across the rocks and gravel, ripping my favorite running pants. When I landed I felt a strange popping sensation in my hamstring. At first the pain in my hamstring was so intense, all I could do was lay there. Finally I rolled over and sat up. I sat there for quite a while, feeling depressed because I wanted to keep running. I finally got up and started limping toward home, which was nearly a mile away. After a few hundred feet, I started jogging slowly. It hurt, but so did walking. When I got home I found that a big chunk of my SOS scar was missing, but the hole wasn’t nearly as big as last time. I worked the sore places over with the stick, took 2 ibuprofen, and avoided sitting. A few hours later I was out running again. By then the temperature was up to 40 degrees. My hamstring wasn’t bothering me, but I was feeling a little anxious and ran slower than usual, finishing 3.5 miles at a 10:19 pace.

I went out for 3 more miles at sunset. I ran to the lake and ran down the dock to enjoy the sunset. I have enjoyed many sunsets on the dock, watching the geese drift gracefully across the surface of the lake. It’s funny how the sun sets every night, but we seldom take the time to enjoy it. Each time I watch a sunset from the dock, I swear that I will do it more often, but life always seems to get in the way. Eventually I got so cold that I had to run home to warm up. My leg feels fine except for the part that is missing. I feel wonderfully relaxed from the running, fresh air and beautiful sunset.

I ended up running more than 10 miles today, even though I spent much of the day working. I’m sure the neighbors think I’m crazy for going out so many times each day. They may be right, I may be crazy, but at least I get plenty of fresh air and exercise!

Dear friends, including the ones I haven’t met yet. Since it is Thanksgiving, I want to thank you for your friendship and moral support. Whether we’ve met through Nike+, message boards, blogs or in “real life” I appreciate the inspiration and conversation.

Speaking of friends, I can’t let Thanksgiving pass without expressing my thanks for another year with my “best friend”. She is a real diamond.

In 2003 she snagged a corn cob from Thanksgiving dinner from our garbage can and swallowed it. It got stuck in her intestine and very nearly killed her. We spent a very scary holiday weekend waiting for the vet to figure out what was wrong and then waiting to see if she survived the surgery. It cost me thousands of dollars to save her and it was worth every penny. A friend asked why I didn’t just buy another dog. At that point I’d already lost my grandparents, my parents and a sister. If I could have saved any of them with money, I would have mortgaged everything I own. Since then, every day with her has been a precious gift, and since this was our 11th Thanksgiving, it is a gift I know won’t last forever. I am also thankful for garbage cans that you step on to open, because she has not been able to figure that out.

On the weight loss front, I’m thankful that I slept in until 10:00 this morning, and by the time my bladder was empty, the scale said 139.0. That is a memory I’m going to treasure, because after the orgy of eating this afternoon and evening, I won’t be seeing that number again for at least a week!

I’m thankful for the color blue, especially the bright blue of a cloudless sky when the sun is bright and the air is cold, and the darker blue of the Cascade Mountains that dominate the local landscape capped with fresh, white snow. I’m also thankful for the color green including the dark green of evergreen trees and the bright emerald green of fields of grass. I’m thankful for 8 fabulous miles on the Centennial Trail this afternoon where I was surrounded by numerous shades of blue and green. The air was cold and clear and the sun was bright. It only takes a few days of “Northwest gray” to sharpen your senses to the magic of a sunny day. Most of all I’m thankful that I’m at a point in life where I can go out for an 8 mile run as if I were going out for a walk around the block.

I’d also like to express my gratitude to Costco for providing all of the delicious food we consumed today, including a raspberry chipotle pork tenderloin, Reser’s mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, and frozen asparagus. Diva’s don’t cook, but we do heat things up. Not only do we put things in the microwave and the oven, we also throw in extra chipotle, and add cayenne to the sweet potatoes (awesome!). Costco also provided the pumpkin pie, which I did not eat for breakfast this year because pumpkin can be “fast acting” and I knew I would be running 8 miles. I did eat the pie as soon as I got home.

After getting thoroughly soaked in some classic northwest weather last night, I was skeptical of a weather report that called for sun today. It was foggy this morning, but by lunch time it had burned off enough to reveal clouds with a few patches of blue. When I saw that the sun was shining on the lake I knew that my lunch break would involve a 30 minute run. I decided to take a tour of the lake, even though it is a hilly route. As I ran past the dock on the far side of the lake, it looked very inviting. I continued on through the park, made my turnaround and headed back to the lake. This time I answered the call of the dock. The lake was high from yesterday’s rain, so I knew I had to be careful, or my feet would get wet. I jumped over the spot that sinks, and landed in duck poop. It was everywhere, and it was slick. I have already entertained my doctor with many funny stories about how I got hurt running, so I didn’t want to add duck poop to the list. I was happy to be back on stable ground. By the time I got home, I had 3.75 miles in.

This afternoon I left work promptly at 4:00 to take a tour of the neighborhood. It was only meant to be a 3 mile run, but the sun was shining, so I stretched it into 3.5 by taking the trail that runs through the greenbelt. It is hilly, but I went the direction that is more steeply downhill than up. It meant walking up a steep hill to get home, but it was totally worth it. I’m going to make this the return path for all runs that come from that direction. Since I wasn’t soaked to the bone, I celebrated with my favorite non-alcoholic recovery drink, and didn’t have anything stronger than decaf green tea. I didn’t eat anything particularly fun, either. I’m saving myself for Thursday, and the traditional pumpkin pie for breakfast! I hear that some people wait until after dinner to eat their pumpkin pie, but I’m often too full to enjoy it.

The forecast calls for sun again tomorrow, but if I need to take a rest day so I think I’ll go for a walk instead.

A few years ago a local television show lobbied the state senate to make Louie, Louie the state song. Instead, the legislature opted to make Louie, Louie the official rock song of the State of Washington. I think they were a bit hasty. Guns n Roses “November Rain” would have been a much better choice. November is the rainiest month of the year in Puget Sound. By Thanksgiving, I’m usually checking the Alaska Airlines web site for good deals to just about anywhere else. This year the rain was late in arriving, but it is here now. It feels like November. In addition to rain, November brings the end of daylight savings time. It is dark by 5pm. None of this is inspires me to run. I bought my treadmill in November, 2005, because I knew I wouldn’t go outside often enough to maintain my fitness level (or my weight!) I’m usually pretty content to run on the treadmill, but lately, I crave the sensation of solid ground under my feet. I’ve also been suffering from plantar fasciitis, so today I decided to split my miles between 2 runs. I ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill at lunch, and then another 3.5 miles around the neighborhood in the “Cold November Rain” this evening. I got completely drenched, but I loved every minute of it. I hope my gear is dry enough to go again tomorrow!

On the weightloss front, I weighed in at 141 this morning. I weighed that 2 days into the challenge, too, but then the scale started moving in the wrong direction. I celebrated this evening with sugar free hot cocoa (only 25 calories!) which I then completely ruined by loading it up with Irish Cream! Yum! At least I ate a sensible dinner

I am such a procrastinator, and today was a perfect example. First, I procrastinated getting up by laying in bed until almost 10:00 this morning. I had some dental work done last night, and ended up taking an Advil PM that hit me hard. I was still pretty much out of it when I got up. It was a classic November morning here in the northwest with steady rain and temperatures in the 40s. Though I’d spent my 2.5 hours in the dentists chair daydreaming about running today, I was having trouble motivating myself to get out the door. Knowing that I would never get anything done if I booted up the laptop, I opted to turn on the television instead. Oh yeah, that did nothing to get my butt in gear. I sat on the couch watching Ninja Warrior for a couple of hours. At 1:00 I noticed that the weather was starting to clear up, so I went upstairs and changed into my running clothes. By the time I got to the trail there was actually a little blue sky to be seen, and sun was breaking through. My original plan was to run out 5 miles, but I felt good so I went a little past the 5.5 mile marker before turning around. The trip out was great, but about a mile into the return trip the sky started getting dark, and the wind whipped up. I thought for sure that the rain would return before I made it back to the car, but it held off until after I’d driven home. How nice that the rain procrastinates, too!

Things are looking bad for me in the weight loss challenge. I weighed in at 142 this morning, and when I got home from my run, I was hungry. I’ve been eating everything I could find since then, and I chased it down with 2 shots of Bailey’s. Oh well, I can always serve as the bad example! I’ve been feeling overly tired for weeks. I think I’m not getting enough sleep, and that may be interfering with the weight loss. I should go to bed earlier, but did I mention that I tend to procrastinate?