reality check

For those of you who think I am completely barking mad, allow me to share with you the level of my insanity.

Today promised to be one of the nicest days of the week and, due to schedule constrictions/negotiations and my preference to run early in the day, especially a long run, I decided to run EARLY this morning. As in, woke up at 4:30 a.m. aiming to run a very ambitious 12 miles.

Now this is only 1 mile more than my furthest run so far. This didn't seem out of the realm of possibility. Emilie warned me I might hit the "wall" going so bleeding early in the morning but I felt confident that, being the morning person I am (read: have been forced to become) along with the added incentive of running without so much traffic, I would be fine.

Enter in some crucial long distance running lessons...

1. If you wake at 4:30 a.m. feeling nauseated after a restless night with a crying baby and some difficulty breathing, best to ignore the alarm when it attempts to remind you of your lofty goals. Especially if you feel like you might get the runs.

2. If you want to exercise the day before a big run, best to lay off the lunges. (I swear it wasn't that many and they rarely make me sore, but, HELLO! to the exception.)

3. If you plan a 2 hour run, for heaven's sake, eat more the night before.

I didn't do the extra loop that would have made the trek 12 miles. Let's be honest, I almost didn't finish the entire 9 miles of the modified course. I ended up tired, queasy, deficient on oxygen and with an overall sense that I just couldn't keep running. I probably walked (yes, WALKED) about 1.5 miles as it was. And I'm not sure why I am writing this in the form of True Confessions, except to say that I had a huge reality check as I kept my tired body in motion back to my car.

I may have run slower, I may have struggled, the hills might as well have been Mt. Kilimanjaro, I may have walked, I may have fallen short of my goal... But, hello Suzanne, you still did a 9 mile course! You still got aerobic exercise for 2 hours! You learned valuable lessons and proved to yourself that you are an athlete- one who knows how to listen to her body, stop when it says stop, modify when needed and praise it for its hard work instead of beating it with a stick of perfectionism. Plus... this morning's run made me appreciate how happy and able bodied I feel most of the rest of the time when I'm running...

And I was able to return home in time for Sandi to get to work and shower in a time frame acceptable to the sweat-phobic Ella.