Wishy-Washy

Boy, have I been slacking lately. No post since JANUARY 14 and today is WHAT - March 1st? That cannot be possible. Where have I been?

Mostly, I've been whining a lot about a lot of things - good to be consistent don't you think. For starters, one of my employees broke her ankle on Christmas Eve and was unable to return to work until February 16 - do you know how long that is? Somewheres around 7 weeks and this is an employee who does a great deal of work and that ONLY I know how to do. So in addition to my own job, I had to do hers. This was very stressful and really set me back quite a bit.

So that's really my excuse - I am sticking to it. Well, that and the fact that my life was so boring and work oriented, who would have time to deal with writing a blog of any consequence?

I had a very long story to tell regarding my Citibank Mastercard and it was so long and convoluted that I decided to postpone that for a time. Needless to say, that is one card that will be cut up and replaced very soon.

The actual point of my post for today regards a 10 mile trail run that I did yesterday. Yesterday's temps were not to get out of the low 30s and when the race started it was 20-something. If you know me at all, you know I hate the cold.

I also lost last weekend as I had to be out of town for work. I had to be in Orlando - I know you're wondering how that could be a bad thing. Consider this - 70 degrees outside (yes!) and me stuck inside for the majority of time and no bike (can you feel my pain?) Not to mention, the inability to get my personal things done last weekend - but I digress.

So, I decided that I wouldn't do this race. I needed to catch up on my life.... and my training.

I barely found the time to go pick up my race packet. I had to scoot out of work in the morning to go pick it up. I looked at my workout for Saturday and it indicated 1:30 run with lots of hills - gee, wouldn't a 10 mile trail run fit that bill? Too bad I'm not going to do it. Besides I want to sleep in on Satuday.

I ran into one of my friends at packet pickup. The guy who gave me stuff said he would see me at the race - yes, but I'm not going to go. I need to sleep and it's going to be too cold. My friend told me she was going to probably drop out around the 5 mile mark due to nagging hamstring injury. Well, maybe I could just do that. Do the race as a training run and drop off at 5 miles - oh, and the race doesn't even start until 10:00 - I can sleep in AND maybe the temps will be better at that time.

So, now I have changed course. My friend and I made arrangements to ride together to the race, sort of stay together on the course and drop off at 5 miles.

First of all, it was cold and I couldn't wait for the race to start so that I could get myself warmed up. Once it started, everyone ran by us and we appeared to be bringing up the rear. I really hate to be last, but if you drop out, you DNF and no one really knows you were last.

I started to feel pretty good and had an opportunity to pass a guy - so I did, leaving my friend behind. I picked up a little more speed and kept on trucking along. I felt pretty good at the 5 mile mark and decided to give it a go. I passed a few more people along the way and knew I would not be last - so I finished the race.

So I went from blowing off the race to doing only half the race to finishing the race. If you were my friend, would you believe anything that I said?

Actually, as I ran I began to think about the fact that I would be attempting my first half Iron distance in July - would I quit during the run because I was tired or it was too hard? I would hope not, so I used this race as preparation for the mental challenge of a half. I know, it's not even close, but given my initial plan for the race, it would work. So that's what kept me going - the fact that I hate when I quit. It's like having a bad hangover - you can't really do anything to change the awful predicament you have gotten yourself into - so rather than feel the pain of the next day, I opted to feel the pain of completing the race and the absolute HIGH that you get when the race is over. I guess that is what keeps us all going!