Apparently as we age, we develop psychic abilities. From my last sentence in the last entry… “just to get through the busy weekend ahead”, my father was able to figure out it meant I was coming over for his birthday! For the life of me I don’t know how, I have a busy weekend every weekend. So the surprise fizzled but the weekend didn’t. I flew out late Friday night (though I was loathe to get on a plane again…I only got home two weeks ago) and arrived in Sydney at 6am. I hate the ‘red eye’ flight as I don’t sleep on planes well as I can’t get comfortable and I wasn’t looking forward to knowing I’d lose a night’s sleep.
As luck would have it, the plane ride was awesome. Normally I secretly wish for some cute tall man to sit next to me, but that never happens. So the next best thing on a flight that was about 97% full was to have a full row of 3 seats to myself! I was sitting by the window waiting while the plane loaded and expecting at least one person to sit next to me. People came and people went to different seats. As we were buckling up for take-off I realised that the unthinkable had happened and I was left with my very own row! As soon as the seat belt sign was off I put my little head down and fell asleep for over 3 hours. I did feel guilty as I watched others squashed in upright trying to sleep…but only for a moment as I drifted off to sleep.
Landing at 6am and catching the train out to my sister’s place; by lunch time we were on the road for a 3 hour drive north for the birthday celebrations. It was a stinking hot day, 43 degrees. The car conked out due to an electrical problem, but roadside assistance managed to convince the car’s computer it didn’t have a problem at all and we were again on our way. I had a really nice weekend, with an overnight at Dad’s and another 3 hour trip back to Sydney at Sunday lunch time. By 8pm that night I was back on the plane to Perth and home sweet home.
I didn’t feel too bad after the packed weekend, but I decided Monday would be a day off instead of trying to run tired. Then I could back up runs on Tuesday and Wednesday; something I don’t normally do and something I need to do. My program until the race has back to back runs on Friday and Saturday and so far I’ve not been able to do them. With Monday marking the start of week 3 I am not too concerned, but thought this week would be a good chance to ‘get it done’. Coming from a cross-training background with triathlons, I have it in my head that if I do the same exercise day after day that it is bad for my body! The more ultra-runners I speak to, the more they have shown me that running on consecutive days isn’t actually going to kill me!
Tuesday I was up at 5.30am with MGirl, my pace bunny, and we headed off for a 6km loop. It still isn’t easy and I’m not even running very far; but at least I was able to start off at a fairly quick pace…only slowing us down later as I couldn’t keep up with MGirl. She backed off to my pace, and I was happy when we came in at under 6 min/km pace. At least I was getting a little faster.
Wednesday I headed out solo over the same route. Ironically when I ran it in the opposite direction it was 100m shorter than running it the way we did on Tuesday. Weird? I was happy to maintain almost the same pace as the day before, even without my pace bunny I only backed off slightly.
Thursday was weights day, so I did hit the snooze button a couple of times at 5.30am and closed my eyes. I wonder how long I can maintain waking at this time. It’s the delay between the alarm and when my feet hit the floor. If I allow myself too long, then it is oh so easy to stay put. Though now, I feel like I am ‘on the clock’, and other than if I am sick or injured, I really have no time to be tired or not bothered. It’s like when I’m running and it seems hard; I can stop, it’s just a choice…or I can keep going; that is also a choice. The same with getting out of bed when you’re tired, it all comes down to choice. No one is making me get up, or sleep in. As I type this I think about how much I am enjoying using the gym, strong lean muscles is what I am after. And as I raise my arms over my head to stretch, my triceps go out in sympathy for their efforts. At least my quads aren’t too bad today, even with the squats.
This morning was another run. MGirl wanted to come, but opted out when I woke her. She gets so much exercise and training in with baseball and netball and the times she runs with me…I envy her being able to sleep in. When Uni starts in two weeks her leisure time is over, so I figure she deserves to sleep…for now. As I ran along this morning, although tired, I felt really good. It wasn’t until the last km that I started to slow. I could see a definite improvement from this time last week and I clocked in at just over 33 mins for 6 kms; 5:45 pace and running better. Tomorrow is another run and as we are on a total fire ban I suspect that includes running in the hills and I will have to stay somewhere local. I might go into the marathon club and run from there around the river; that should give me the 11km I need for tomorrow.
I am proud of myself this week. I finally feel like I am getting into a rhythm and my legs are holding out. It may turn out that the 6 weeks off running (over our holiday) was just what my legs needed. Although I am disappointed my total kms have dropped since pre-holiday, I will pick up those distances in time and with no injury. I have been diligently icing my legs and stretching when and where I can. I would still love to be fitting in so much more, like time on the yoga ball and doing crunches…but there is only so much you can fit into a day, a week, a life! And I think I am doing a good job with my life. I ride to work in the mornings on my scooter, smiling from ear to ear. I feel quite lucky at this time in my life, I finally recognise that over the last 12 months I’ve been the happiest I’ve ever been…as a grown up that is! I guess that’s why life gives you the downs, so the ups are so much for memorable!
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