I woke up feeling super grumpy today - despite the fact that it's the first day of spring, and it felt more like summer - beautiful warm breezes and blue skies.
It was just one of those days, and everyone's whining and demands requests were amplified tenfold, and I felt like the Grinch, ready to scream about the "noise, noise, noise, noise!!!!"
Thankfully they made me laugh a few times, too - Dante, when I told him he could write on our weekly calendar what he wanted to have for dinner Sunday night, and he wrote "makincheese," leading me to believe that he thinks it's called "Mac IN cheese." I’m also still laughing about one of his journal entries from a few weeks ago: “Today is Monday. Yesterday was Sunday. Tomorrow will be Tuesday.” Thrilling narrative, isn’t it?
And Gabe was talking about someone he knows who wears braces, and commented very casually "yeah, I don't think I'm going to want to wear those when I'm older." As if it's an accessory he can choose whether or not to sport.
Carmine cracks me up almost every time I turn around, but his latest adorable thing is that he refers to Gabe as "Gee Dah-Dah," and he also refers to Dante as "Gee Dah-Dah." He spends plenty of time with both of them separately, but I guess he finds it easier to have a combo name. He does the same thing with Scott and I, referring to us both as "Mommy Daddy." At least I have top billing!
It was a day with a lot of ups and downs, though, despite the funnies and the gorgeous weather.
I don't say this often - almost never, in fact - but this morning when I woke up and thought about the fact that I had to go for a run, I cringed. It was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. Shocking, right?
I wasn't even staring down a crazy workout, either. Since I put in a pretty intense effort in New Bedford, I planned on a nice easy recovery run today - something I'd normally welcome, particularly in the midst of marathon training, when 'easy runs' are few and far between.
And the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Warm, but slightly overcast, so it wouldn't get too hot.
You'd think I would have been at least mildly excited to get out there and get some miles in. But you'd be wrong.
Once again, marathon training has sucked the joy out of my running. Or so I thought.
Then I forced myself outside, turned on my Garmin and my iPod, and got moving.
The first mile felt awfully creaky and awkward.
The second mile felt less creaky and awkward, but I was still just kind of getting through it, and not enjoying it.
Then I turned the corner and headed along the ocean, and along the stretch of road that I'll be running as I finish up the .2 of 26.2 miles in just a few weeks, and as I looked over at where the finish line will be, I felt a rush of excitement, thinking about all the emotions that will be racing through my mind as I finally cross that finish line - the first among them being pure joy.
Oh yeah. There IS a reason I'm doing this.
Suddenly my stride seemed quicker, my legs felt lighter, and so did my heart.
Suddenly I found myself wishing that it wasn't an easy recovery run. I wanted to run further and faster.
I didn't feel discouraged and depressed anymore - I felt anxious and excited. I'm so ready. I want to run this race!
I still have one more 20-miler to complete this weekend, and several more track workouts and tempo runs, but I feel pretty sure that they're just the icing on the cake.
The real work is done, and I'll put it all into practice very soon. Not soon enough, but very soon.
We had a day like that yesterday... it wasn't nice out though, it was rainy and we were stuck indoors. So far, today is a bit better. SO glad you had a nice recovery run and remembered why you run!!
Posted by: Laura | March 21, 2012 at 03:12 PM