Weekend Roud-up

Let's see . . . where did I leave off? Thursday? Maybe? Yes, I do believe it was Thursday. My (adjusted) schedule called for a cross-training day on Thursday; thus, I completed 45 minutes on the rowing machine, covering 7,655 meters in that time (resistance: level 6 of 10); then I tackled 15 minutes of medicine ball core work. Now, the workout in and of itself isn't really that impressive . . . but what was HUGE was the fact that my maimed arm allowed me to complete that much of an arm-based workout. The last time I took on the rowing machine, I was only able to complete 15 minutes before my pain/discomfort level grew high enough that I was forced to quit. Hooray for a full 45 minutes of rowing!

Moving on . . . Friday called for 7 miles with 5 of them at marathon pace. Now, going into this run, I really thought that it would be "easy." I was all like, "puh-lease! Give me a real challenge! Enough of these sissy workouts!" Um, note to self . . . be careful what you wish for! I don't know what was wrong with me, but I seriously struggled through the entire thing and just BARELY got through it. But I did it. And as horrible a run as it was, I was elated that I fought my way through the (many) rough spots and got 'er done.

My splits for the run looked like this:

Mile-1 (easy): 9:49
Mile-2 (MP): 8:57
Mile-3 (MP): 9:02
Mile-4 (MP): 9:02
Mile-5 (MP): 9:02
Mile-6 (MP): 8:57
Mile-7 (easy): 9:49

Oh, and I should mention this for Chris. As if I wasn't suffering enough on this run, one of the gym employees came over and started wiping down the front of my treadmill while I was still on it!! I was so stunned, I didn't even know how to react! Why do these gym employees not get that a) that is seriously annoying/kind of dangerous, and b) it is counterproductive! I'm just going to sweat all over it again after you finish wiping it down! In fact, if I could have willed myself to sweat more, I would have (don't think I didn't try)! Ah well. It's not like I pay $95 a month to use their facilities without disturbance or anything! Oh wait . . .

Saturday, I ended up working from 10 a.m. until 6:15 p.m., essentially babysitting contract attorneys who were doing a document review in our office. This was frustrating, seeing as how the first-year who was supposed to be doing it told me I needed to cover for her because she was attending an "unlimited bloody Mary and mimosa brunch" for her friend's birthday. Oh, so you get paid $165,000 a year to overindulge in mimosas on the weekends, eh? I mean, c'mon . . . at least LIE if your excuse is that weak! These "millennials" are REALLY freaking me out, y'all! At least I made some extra OT, I guess.

Anyway, around 4:00 p.m., I spoke to Wilson and he reminded me that we had a Rangers game to attend at 7:00 p.m. Oops--I had totally forgotten about it! Suddenly, I realized my "long run eve" food options were going to be VERY limited. We got to the game and I was, of course, STARVING. I grabbed a Blue Moon (just one, I promise!) and some waffle fries to split with Wilson, figuring it would hold me over until I could make myself some pasta back at home. But, you guys . . . my stomach was HOWLING in hunger. I made it to the second intermission before I gave up and made Wilson grab me a hot dog. Weak, I know. I figured I'd still be hungry enough to eat a little pasta once we got home, considering marathon training has turned me into a human vacuum cleaner . . . but, of course, we got home and I realized that, for the first time ever, I was NOT AT ALL hungry. Uh oh . . . lack of proper fueling and/or hydration, much?

I went to sleep after watching some hoops, and woke up around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning feeling rather ravenous. I grabbed myself a granola bar, thinking it would be enough to get me up and out the door, but it just wasn't the case. I was still hungry. So I grabbed another cup of coffee and made some steel cut oats (with raisins!) for Wilson and I. I figured I'd let my breakfast digest while picking out some new podcasts, and then take off on my long run by 11:00 a.m. Well, it didn't take long for my stomach to let me know it was NOT down with that plan. I suppose it must have been the stadium food I'd consumed the night before, but my stomach was seriously so messed up, I just knew running at that point was NOT a good idea.

I caught up on some blog reading, watched some more hoops and finally decided to take some tums and nap for a bit. I, of course, assumed I'd wake up and my digestive problems would have magically fixed themselves (riiiight). Unfortunately, that's not so much what happened. I half-slept for about 45 minutes and woke up to find that my gut was still totally, completely pissed off. I decided I had no choice but to get out there and give it a shot. I just prayed I wouldn't lose anything out of either end in the process (TMI, I know)!

I grabbed my handheld water bottle, stuffed the attached pocket with sports beans . . . and off I went. The weather was awesome--mid-50s and partly sunny. It really felt like Spring, which of course meant the sidewalks were overflowing with people. Now, in case you've forgotten, I don't actually LIKE people. But still, my spirits were high and my stomach seemed to be cooperating. Life was good.

The first 5 miles flew by without a hitch. Just as I hit the 5-mile point, I decided to slow for a sports bean/water break. While I was chewing, I randomly decided to try the water fountain where I'd stopped . . . and, miracle of all miracles, it WORKED! The park fountains had been turned back on!! This was good news indeed. I decided to ditch my handheld bottle under a tree and continued on my merry way, ready to take on two 2-mile inner loops of the park. I started to fatigue a bit again just before mile-9, but told myself I just had to make it back to the area I'd ditched my handheld at, and then I could grab some more sports beans.

I dragged myself along, and FINALLY spotted the tree I needed. I slowed to grab my bottle . . . but it wasn't where I'd left it. WTF? Where the heck did I leave it? I could have SWORN it was right next to that tree right there. But no. My bottle was gone. And gone along with it were my remaining sports beans. I just couldn't believe it. Who would do such a thing?! I spent a good five minutes searching the vicinity, really wanting to believe that my handheld bottle hadn't been swiped . . . and that I was just forgetting where I had left it. But alas, I finally had to give up and carry on without my bottle or beans.

Luckily, I was so pissed off that someone had stolen my bottle, I didn't even NEED the sports beans. My adrenaline level sky-rocketed, and it was more than enough to carry me through the last 3 miles of the run. Okay, now seriously, who the hell does that? I'll tell you who . . . the punk ass kids loitering in the park, whose parents couldn't care less about where they are and/or what they're doing/who they're disturbing! The one thing I am seriously grateful for is that I didn't have my keys zipped into the pocket on my bottle. I almost always throw my keys in there, and for some reason, I held onto my keys yesterday. I can only imagine what type of ruckus would have ensued had I not been able to get back into my building after finishing up the run! I was NOT a happy camper!

At any rate, here are the numbers from my run:

12.01 miles in 1:53:42

Mile-1: 9:31
Mile-2: 9:23
Mile-3: 9:29
Mile-4: 9:32
Mile-5: 9:37
Mile-6: 9:39
Mile-7: 9:39
Mile-8: 9:25
Mile-9: 9:34
Mile-10: 9:29
Mile-11: 8:55 (where did that come from?!)
Mile-12: 9:28
Last .01: 5:40 pace ("allegedly," but uh yeah . . . probably not so much)

I'm actually very impressed with how even my splits were (even if they were a bit too fast), with the exception of mile-11. That never happens!

By the time I got home yesterday, I was BEYOND drained and exhausted, but I grabbed Wilson and we took a walk along the Brooklyn Promenade so that I could cool my legs down a bit. It was so lovely in the sun! When we got back home, I celebrated making it through my run by taking a long, hot shower and then indulging in some chips and guacamole while watching basketball. It was blissful!

Hope you all had fabulous weekends!