Half post

I have quite a few half posts in me. Farmshare photos taken, but not posted, food cooked, but not blogged about, runs ran, but not reflected on, life happening, but lived rather than written down. All these thoughts on a specific topic that I want to jot down, but just don't seem to have the time to finish. Or rather, I don't seem to be prioritizing to finish.  There have been a lot more priorities of late. And, really, who is this blog for right?  But now I have a second, so I am going to attempt a half post.  

Really. A half post. 

Saturday I did my long run, (and first run of the week....ugh...all you people training & running during all this snow, I applaud you).  Per my handy-dandy marathon training schedule, I had a planned 13 miles on tap. But who does just 13, really?  Just add a .1 to make it a half marathon.  So I did.  Believe me, I am very happy with myself that I ran that far, because it is far.  But really, what made this one all the more triumphant was.....

....it was on a treadmill.

and...

.....started after 9:00pm.

Unfortunately, it had to be on the treadmill because team training was canceled due to the impending storm that never came until 9 at night. (I watched the lighting from the basement window and was *really* glad I listened to my inner wisdom - ok, David -  and didn't run outside.) All day, poor David wasn't feeling well at all, so I wasn't going to leave him for 2+ hours when he really needed rest. I can't say that he got much rest hearing the three of us playing & goofing around.Within the 30 seconds to run down to find more fisher-price little people, both kids were in the bedroom to show Daddy the exciting new discovery of that minute. With that kind of eagerness to show Daddy every lost toy now found when he just needs to get over this cold, clearly, it didn't make sense to hole myself in the basement for 2+ hours during the waking hours even if the kids did have stuff to play with. SO....if I was going to get in a run this week, it had to be on the 'mill after bed time. 

Accepting the TM run, post bed time, missing movie night and finally the "How much is this going to affect our electricity bill?" feelings, I headed down and hopped on.  

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you make the choice to run your long run on the treadmill, here is what worked for me: 

• Divide the run up into chunks.  I did 4 sets of 3s with planned "breaks" bathroom & water breaks in between.
• Take breaks, but get back on. I had two bathroom breaks....and one's own bathroom is WAY better than a race-route porta-john!  Of course, race venues aren't showing Jess Franco flicks during breaks either. Seeing what was on screen, I was shocked to get myself back down to the basement rather than hang out with David. Dang Lena!
• Have water, and snacks near by.  Mine were in a container on the water heater. I drank when thirsty, but snacks I reserved for the 3 mile breaks. My treats.
• Make the snacks tasty.  On a TM run, forget the gu.  Get something you really want to snack on.  Space isn't an issue and this isn't really a practice for the race, so make the snack enjoyable enough so that they are a treat for your breaks.  I really wanted some of those tasty homemade cookies from our last DFMC training, run, but I settled for a clif Z bar and M&Ms...yes, we are still working on the Halloween stash!
• Remember why you are running. I kept thinking about the 2 people I learned about this week that were diagnosed with bladder cancer and breast cancer.  My ego did get in the way a few times, I admit....How cool would it be to say I ran a half mary in my basement?! But shaking that off, this run, was part of the journey to Boston.  
• The journey is the goal.  So worth repeating. For me, for sure.
• The journey is the goal.  And again. 
• The journey is the goal.  

In all honesty, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Some days 2 miles on the TM feel worse. Hopefully having this in my back pocket will make running a 3 or 5 or even 8 on the TM so much easier knowing that I can run a half. And hey, it is done and I got one run in this week. Yay! And even a blog post out of it.

That said.....please, please, please, let this SNOW melt SOON!  Especially before my 15miler in 2 weeks. Please. 

Other half posts still percolating ....Chi Running! Rainbow carrots! Fundraising updates! Hair!  (See the !!!, I am psyching myself up here.)

Till then, be well people.