What a weekend! It seemed as though it would be another lonely one on Friday night, as it is without the kids lately, but it definitely turned into an enjoyable one. Thursday night’s physio went well with the injured area hurting less and less. She even gave me a war wound with a bruise from one of the needles! My next appointment isn’t for 2 weeks, but I can make an earlier one if I need it.
Friday morning I woke up tired again and decided not to run. I took FD#1 out for a walk instead. Friday night was spent doing the abandoned mother ironing…feeling sorry for myself. When the kids were younger I relished the weekends to myself as I really needed time away from them to head back into the following fortnight. Now, times have changed and when I’m without them it just makes me realise how lonely my life is and how much who I am and what I do is structured around their lives. I know this is all at a time when my role is changing in their lives and they are becoming much more independent and I will need to learn to fill the void. I guess, at the moment, this is why I am running!
Saturday morning turned into a bit of a sleep in as of late Friday night. I’d organised with BGal to go running through King’s Park from 9am as she was desperate for a morning where she didn’t have to get up early and be somewhere! I can definitely relate to that, and as the day was forecasted to in the high 20s, and there is quite a bit of shade through the park, I thought it was the perfect excuse to join her. This is only the 2nd time I’ve run with her. The first time I was too slow and at the back of the pack to chat; this time I had her all to myself. This is great for me to be able to ask questions and gain insight from such an experienced ultra runner, especially as she only came to the sport in 2007. It gives me hope that with a few years perseverance I might be capable of bigger things. It’s not like there are thousands of people wanting to run further and further.
The funniest discussion we had was about weight and cup size…I was carrying my new hydration pack liquefied to the max. I thought it was good to start practicing carrying extra weight, and all the fluids came to about 4kgs. With extra food, headlamp, poles and clothing I think my pack on race day will be well over 6kgs so I need to get used to carrying extra weight. BGal was talking about how much packs do slow your per km pace down and then that conversation turned to excess body kgs as well. I told her I wanted to lose another 5 kgs so I didn’t have to carry it around with me (and thinking now that would be the weight of my pack also). I complained about my ample D cup and bemoaned the fact that my body seemed to be changing, but they didn’t seem to be shrinking. BGal gave me hope that they will shrink, but maybe over much more time as she was more amply endowed than she currently is. Thank god…as I think as I get thinner people will start to gossip about their authenticity if they don’t get smaller!
It did start to get warm as we ran, and by about 14km I really started to slow BGal down but she was more than happy as she had a 3 hour run the next day. Oh, if only I was at that point. I managed to push on for another while and ended up plopping down on the lovely lush grass in the shade, with 15.5kms under my belt. At 1hr42min not at a cracking pace, but I think I am giving up on worrying about time, and I was a pack horse running in the sand. I just want longevity on my feet! I couldn’t have gone much more then but was happy with my effort as it was right on track for my program and my leg didn’t hurt (well any worse anyway). If I can keep it where it is at the moment, although not 100%, if it stays stable where it is I might just pull this off!
A quick stretch and I flew home and showered and headed out for my massage. I was 10 minutes late. I am in a sticky spot with this as I obviously need massage, and my body deserves it, but financially things are quite strained and I can’t afford to pay heaps for the luxury. I went to a new person, suggested by a friend as she was reasonably priced at $35 for a half hour. She had very strong fingers, but she seemed only intent on seeking out the knots and “poking” them deeply. Not my idea of how to work knots out of muscles with my previous experience of massage, and my own efforts at practicing on friends and other. My idea is to work the knot through the muscle in a lengthening fashion…not to just poke and role and prod the knot to torture me! I am not going back to her again. And 30 minutes was definitely not long enough, and I asked her to do my glutes and hip flexors and she never went near them. So I am still in search of a masseuse, and preferably one who actually maybe exercises themselves occasionally!
Saturday afternoon was spent with a friend I don’t get to see nearly often enough, HGal. It was good to see her again and catch up on gossip. When she left and the evening was approaching I was scouring the DVD shelf trying to choose something I hadn’t seen in order to distract myself while doing more ironing. I had a call from MGal asking if I wanted to go out that night for a casual drink and maybe a meal with a few friends! Yeah, I’d been rescued from another night of domestic futility. I quickly got dressed and MGirl arrived home to get ready to go out to an 18th that was just around the corner. I had a nice low key night, had a drink and some nice Indian food and was home again by 11.30pm feeling like a grown up. I was concerned that I’d get home before MGirl, such is the rager that I am, but by the time I got home she’d been home for 2 hours and was busy with uni work. She’d left the party at 9.30pm as she only knew the birthday girl and had all the homework looming in the back of her mind and decided to come home and get some of it done.
Sunday morning I was up at 6amand out of the house 45 minutes later on my way to see MGal (IM) and catch up with her since she got home from her epic efforts in Ironman NZ. I am so proud of her; training for IM racing is a part time job in itself, and with her shift work and the busyness of her life…it is an awesome accomplishment. As we pedaled along to our coffee destination, the happiness in her voice was so apparent and contagious; I wish the power in her legs was as well. I am enjoying the bike riding lately, but a once a week casual ride is nothing like proper cycling and I wasn’t good at keeping up. It was really fun, even though the coffee was ghastly; but I was delusional to think I could’ve cycled up to MGirl’s baseball game later that morning. The 35km we did was plenty, and I kept asking for short cuts on the way home. I like the fact that this weekly cycle is burning more calories and turning my legs over without impact stress; over time I will become more cycle-fit. Talk even turned to an IM comeback for me after the Death Race…surely I’d need another goal to focus on MGal reasoned! Who knows…one mammoth goal at a time, but it did get me thinking I must admit.
Sunday late-morning was spent sitting in the sun watching MGirl’s baseball semi-final, which they won and go into the grand final next week. Perhaps she’ll get to play then…but that’s another story! On the way home from baseball FD#1 and I diverted past the dog beach and for 30 minutes she screamed up and down the sand, in and over the waves. I was annoyed I hadn’t thought to bring my bathers, as the ocean was flat and warm and so inviting. I went it as far as I could; we never really get much time for the beach which is a shame.
I am starting to like Monday’s now as I can sleep in an extra 30 minutes. As CBoy is at frisbee, I can run at nights and don’t have to get up quite so early. I had a coffee and was on the floor stretching while watching more news of the Japanese earthquake. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tragedy on this scale in my lifetime before. These things really make me take stock of my own life and realise how fortunate I am, how lucky; and I further resolve to whinge a little less!
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