Tunnel Vision on Work

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Do you ever have so much work to do you're almost scared to get started? That's the situation I find  myself in this morning (and why I'm choosing to blog right now).  I have so many articles to write, phone calls to return, meetings to coordinate and general catching up to do with friends and family that I don't know which way is up.

I'm trying to avoid my natural tendency which is to knock out all the little stuff before hitting the bigger projects. The little stuff can wait--the big stuff needs my attention. (But I do so love the feeling of accomplishment that comes from crossing 10 things off a to-do list in the first hour because BAM! BAM! BAM!--I just peeled right through them).

With all the work, I'm still going to fit in a 9 AM yoga class. The thigh muscles remain a wee bit tight and an hour of  forced stretching would probably do them good. 

I forgot to mention the massage I had the day before the race. My friend and I splurged at an upscale resort and had an hour-long massage and access to the whirlpool, sauna, steam bath, and relaxation lounge. The upsetting news is that I failed my massage. At one point Jenny was working on my shoulder and I said, "That hurts a little."

"I'm not surprised," she said. "I've been working on it and keep trying to get it to release but your body is defying gravity. It won't let go."

She had me play dead (She literally said to me, "Play dead.") and that helped momentarily but then I tensed it up again. 

The massage was from heaven but unless I receive them a couple times a week, I just don't know that they do much good. All it takes is one day back to tense up again. I think I was almost as relaxed just standing on the beach and staring at the water.  As my friend said, "The beach cures everything."

Here's wishing you many relaxing waves in life.

I Did It!

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Ha ha! I did it! I ran 13.1 miles without stopping. Many thanks to my friend Trisha who left me the Forest Gump voicemail the morning of the race that said, "Ruuuuun, Deeee-nnnna, Ruuuuuuunnnn!"

I'm disappointed in my pace, but happy at finishing. I think I went so slow because I was concerned about tiring and so kept telling myself to "pace yourself, pace yourself." Looking back, I wasn't winded at all during the run and could have run harder.

As it stands, I finished in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 12 seconds which is 9:52/mile.  I finished 107th in my age group but have no idea what that means as I don't know how many women were entered in my age group (hopefully at least 108).

It was a "brisk" 25 degrees at 8 AM when we began. I was concerned about keeping warm and overdressed with 3 shirts where two would have been adequate. The amount of throw-away clothes on the race course was amazing. People just toss aside hats, gloves, shirts, and jackets as they warm up. The race committee collects all the toss-aways and presents a huge pile to the Salvation Army. I myself tossed away a pair of gloves at 5 miles and the socks I was wearing over my gloves at mile 12.

Lots of people stood on the sidelines or outside their homes, cheering us on. This gave me a huge mental boost.  There was also a band at mile 3 and 10 and the beat really pumped runners up and kept us running.

I saw a guy running in a gorilla suit and people running in shorts and jog bra (brrr!). My favorite experience was when I was running behind a guy who was wearing a Santa hat. We passed a family on the side of the road and a 4-year-old boy raised two chubby fists in the air and yelled, "Run, Santa!"

I feel good. My left leg is throbbing but it always throbs after a run. Blair was here cheering me on and shot some video of me in the home stretch. I'll post pictures (assuming I don't look too horrid) once we return home.

I want to do it again next year, but train to run a 9-minute pace. I don't know if I'll ever get to marathon level. I think I could have hung in to mile 15 or 16 but that's a good 10+ miles short of the finish.  A marathon involves a lot of mental dedication. My neighbor Royce pulled up with a hamstring in mile 5 and still toughed his way through to complete the full 26.2.  Amazing.

So it's been a good weekend. The villa we're staying in is stunning and right on the beach. We went for a 4-mile run the day we got here and yes--I need to live in the million dollar mansions on the beach.  I'll put Blair on that.

I want to say many heartfelt thanks to all of you who have encouraged me--either through posting on this blog, e-mailing me, or calling me. You all have been patient with my probably interesting-only-to-me running posts and knowing everyone was pulling for me really did make it easier to run. So, thank you. And you are hereby released from running duty until June/July of 2007 when we'll fire it up again.

It's 8:18 PM and my friends, I am off to bed. See you back home tomorrow.

Dena

All That & A Bag of Chips

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  • 2 sets winter pajamas
  • 3 pair jogging shorts
  • 2 pair jogging pants
  • 3 sweatshirts
  • 2 long-sleeved t-shirts
  • 5 regular t-shirts
  • 1 running jacket
  • 6 headbands
  • 1 flannel hat
  • 8 pair socks
  • 4 bras
  • 5 pair underwear
  • 1 pair jeans
  • 2 belts
  • 3 sweaters
  • 1 swimsuit
  • 4 packs of GU
  • 1 pair running shoes
  • chapstick, contact solution, straight iron, birth control pills, lipgloss, hairdryer, Advil, books, laptop, umbrella, pens, business cards, cell phone, cash

Lock 'n load, baby. This runner is ready to roll.