Kirkland Half-Marathon… Sort Of
This morning I was supposed to run the Kirkland Half-Marathon. I registered for it because it was incredibly local (the course passes less than a mile from my house) and because I wanted a second chance to run a good, fast half this spring after Mercer Island. (It was better than expected, but still not as good as I’d been originally hoping for.) So Kirkland it was. I ran the course a couple of weeks ago as my weekly long run, and was happy to see that the really nasty hills were mostly in the first half of the race, and that the course itself wasn’t as disastrously hilly as it could have been. Overall, I was feeling pretty good about it. Heck, even last night as I crawled into bed way too late, I was excited about getting up and running this morning.
Then the alarm went off, and I woke up. The gross and crampy feeling I’ve been having for the past couple of days was at an all-time high and had me feeling like total and complete ass. I got out of bed anyway, took some Tylenol and ate breakfast. I got dressed and went through my morning like I was going to run anyway. I checked the weather and got dressed, hoping that as I got up and got moving the drugs would kick in and I would start feeling better.
I didn’t. When I got in the car to leave, I felt just as crappy as I did when I rolled out of bed. Heck, sitting in the cold car seat made me feel even worse. I sat in the driveway and pondered my options. I could turn around, go back to bed and get up in an hour or so to watch the race, or I could head over to the start / finish area, stand around in the cold and wet for an hour, then run for two and a half hours while feeling like crap. I really, really didn’t want to bag out of the run entirely, but I felt really, really awful. If it had been a shorter race - like a 5K or even a 10K - I would have sucked it up and gone. But 13.1 miles? Two and a half hours? Would running make me feel better? Or would it just be awful?
In the end I couldn’t quite wrap my brain around doing that much running while feeling that bad, so I didn’t. I went home. I went back to bed for an hour, and then I headed over to where the race course passed near my house to cheer for those who actually did show up to run. I felt a little better when I got back out of bed, but I knew I’d made the right decision. Plus, the runners were all glad to see someone on the course supporting them. I wound up stationed at the end of 2 solid miles of climbing - a really big hill followed by a long, steady hill - and a lot of people were very glad to see a friendly face. The course was through mostly residential area early on a Sunday morning, so crowd support was certainly at a minimum (I was the only person on that particular stretch of road that I could see, aside from the aid station just down the street). I stood out there for a solid hour and clapped and cheered and encouraged, and even high fived a few people as they passed by. I saw Betsy fly by absolutely killing the hills, and I saw people who already looked surprisingly bad for only being 5.5 miles into the race.
While I feel a little lazy overall (I had a light training week in preparation for the race, and then spend today sitting on my behind instead of running 13 miles), I feel like I made the right choice this morning. I can always run the race next year, and there were people on the course that needed me standing on the sidelines cheering more than they needed me running alongside them. I can run races anytime, and I’m glad I took the time to sit this one out.
No commentsSettled
After 3 1/2 months of living here, I’m down to one box that still needs to be unpacked. One box. If I actually unpack it this weekend (which I fully intend to do, but considering it’s 12:30 on a Saturday and I’m still in my PJs… well, we’ll see what happens) then that will be a new “time to fully unpacked” record. (Previous record: 8 months. Previous average: never.) I’ve still got a few picture frames that I need to figure out where I want to hang up, but in my defense I haven’t found a place to hang those in approximately 4 years, so let’s just say I’m not too worried about it.
Susan’s been writing about all of the various forms of choreography that are necessary for navigating life in the big city without getting trampled, and as I’ve been reading those entries two thoughts have been going through my brain: “She’s absolutely dead on” and “Wow, I don’t miss any of that.” Sure, I live in the suburbs out here, but even when I go downtown the sheer number of people is nothing compared to Chicago. Walking down the sidewalk isn’t like driving down the freeway. You don’t need to fight for position while waiting for the light to change to you can get across the crosswalk in the right direction rather than get blocked from it. There are no sardine-packed buses to take to work, no jam-packed el trains to shove your way on and off. Seattle is a much smaller city than Chicago with a noticeably lower population density and I have to say: I really, really like it that way.
Heck, even the suburbs are closer. When I lived in the ‘burbs in Chicago I was 30 miles from downtown. 30 miles that took me close to an hour to cover, even in light traffic. Now? I’m 15 miles from downtown, 3 of which are taken up by going across a lake. In light traffic I can get downtown in 20 minutes, making going in to the city for a show or dinner much, much less of a project than it ever was in Chicago.
Are there things I miss about Chicago? Yes there are. I miss the city itself. I miss Portillo’s and Giordano’s. I miss being able to walk past the Hancock or the Sears Tower or Wrigley Field. However, being around all of those people all of the time? Was just making me cranky. Taking 4 hours to run 3 errands because I was at the mercy of the CTA? Also very cranky making. Being out here, away from that super-crowded super-busy environment has been wonderful. I’m glad I lived in the city while I had the chance, because it was a great experience, but now? I’m just as glad to be out of it, in a place with hills and mountains and lakes and woods and, more importantly: open space and peace and quiet.
2 commentsFriday Evening Memos
To: The Weather
That thing you did today? With the sunny and the warm and the SO SO PRETTY? Do it again. And again. As often as you like. Especially on weekends. Please and thank you.
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To: The Gap
From the bottom of my ample-bottomed heart, thank you for making shorts that not only fit over my bizarrely massive thighs, but do so in a way that is comfortable and totally appropriate for public viewing. Thank you, also, for not being afraid to charge me as much as you want for them, because you’ll know that I’ll be so thrilled to find shorts that don’t make me look like a beached whale that I’ll a) pretty much pay anything for them and b) will even pay anything for multiple pairs of them. That part was less than awesome, but not having to wear jeans all summer definitely has something to be said for it.
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To: The Dude Sitting At The Next Table At Lunch
OK, so you want to tell your friend about your Lasik surgery. Great. I’m glad to hear that it went well, but do you really need to elaborate on the whole eyeball sucking aspect of it? Some of us are TRYING TO EAT HERE. Ew. Shudder. Also: ew.
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To: The Boy
Thank you for allowing, nay encouraging, me to take your car out for a ride in the sun today. It was everything I’d hoped it would be and your car is still in one piece. Keeping my fingers crossed for more sun tomorrow :-) I promise that if it’s nice out, your baby will not languish in the garage undriven and unloved.
No commentsSuper Lazy
Yesterday was not a particularly good day. It wasn’t a particularly bad day, but a bunch of things that have been bothering me and hiding just under the surface (*ahem*worksucks*ahem*) finally got to me and I spent the day in a funk. I left work early so I could pick up a package for The Boy and because I had absolutely nothing to do, and then once I got home I putzed about on the internets for a while and took a 2 hour nap. This was after sleeping in that morning, and I went to bed as soon as I could last night. What can I say? When I get stressed and in a funk, I like to sleep. A lot. Because sleep is good.
Actually, when I went to bed last night, my intention was to watch The Daily Show while I fell asleep (I was amazed I stayed up long enough to see Top Chef in its entirety), but since we don’t have a tv mount to hang the TV from so I could watch it while lying in bed (instead of having to sit up! oh no!), I opted to just go straight to sleep. I should totally have The Boy work on that, though. If there was a TV screen in the ceiling that I could watch without having to sit up in bed? And control with my mind instead of having to find the remote? That would be awesome. Heck, I might never get out of bed….
No commentsPhone Tag, Part 2
This week finds me once again playing phone tag with the vet. Dippy’s bowels continue to be irritable and our plan to get her down to a medication dose every 2-3 days is not going well. When she misses a day… well, let’s just say we end up with a variety of things to clean up. So it’s back to the drawing board with the vet, figuring out if we need to do more tests or change her medication or if she’s just going to have to have a daily dose of the ‘roids for the rest of her life. (She’s on prednisone to help the inflammation she’s got going on, and we’ve been trying different dosages and combinations with liquid Pepcid. Good times for everyone.)
I hope we can figure this out soon. Partially because I feel bad that she’s clearly not feeling well, and partly because I’m afraid we’re going to have to stick her into a kitty drug rehab program since she’ll be all ‘roided out. (Plus, I’m sort of ready to be done with cleaning up various cat byproducts, you know?) Hopefully I’ll get to actually talk to the vet tomorrow and we can come up with a plan.
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