Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, last Saturday, I put on my new Polar RS300X and foot pod and set out for a run. I was sick, and had been for a week. But hey, eventually you gotta just get moving again. I was supposed to run 10 miles. But between the new running electronics (Happy Birthday to me!) and new shoes and being sick, I thought maybe I'd stop at 6. Or perhaps 8.  Oh yeah, did I mention the Achilles' tendon blisters I had going on? Those also had me thinking my long run would be shorter than planned.

And then I concocted this crazy plan. See, John and I approach our weekends completely different. He is that person who would love to lounge in bed until 11, and then lounge around the house in pajamas until 2 or 3. Heck, maybe never even get dressed most Saturdays.  Me? If I'm still in bed at 7 I have this inner "get up, Sis! Daylight's a wastin'!" blaring in my head. Dad, Grandpa...who knows. One of them, or both of them!  I just don't do sleeping in well. And then once I'm up I don't like just sitting around the house all day. Truth be told it's because it's more and more opportunity for messes to be created. But I tell myself it's because I have itchy feet. Which is also true. Sometimes I wonder how John and I ever hooked up to begin with. We are so different in so many ways-our approach to the weekends is just one of them!

So my plan. When I'm running I hate out and backs. And circuits. Really I like to just run and run and and run and stop. I don't like having to turn around and go back the way I came or trying to plan a circuit that's going to be the right amount of miles. So I found myself running by the babies' cemetery and my watch said I was just hitting 7 miles. And the park we like to take the dog off leash at, and then lounge at the river, was ONLY 4.5 more miles. 10 mile long run...11.5 mile long run...no big deal considering the race I'm training for is 13.1 so I had some miles to build still.

I called John and told him I would be at the park in about an hour and could he and the girls {and the dog} come pick me up? And maybe we should go from there to the river like we had talked about maybe doing.  So he said sure, and I hung up. I assumed he would get there and have tossed a few camp chairs in the back and a hodgepodge of towels and hopefully something sort of like a swimsuit that I could change into.

I got to the entrance of the park 4.5 miles later and I was dying. My left knee was not doing well and I think I have irritated my right Achilles-not just the blistering but the actual tendon. Probably shouldn't have been putting so many miles on brand new shoes. Live and learn. Oh, and by the way-4.5 miles was just to the entrance. The park itself was 2 miles in. Yeah. So I spent the next 2 miles looking behind my shoulder waiting {hoping} for John to show up in his orange chariot to rescue me. Didn't happen. I limped my way in to the bathroom near the off leash area and then walked back to where we were to meet. No orange HHR. Check my watch. 13.6 miles and nearly 2 hours since I had last talked to him and told him I was 20 minutes out. I was getting worried!

He finally showed up. And bless his heart! I am always getting on him about his lack of spontaneity. I love to be spontaneous. In fact, if I plan too far ahead I have too much time to dwell on things and tend to stress out. He's the opposite. Spring something on him and you're likely to get a grumpy gus until he figures out it's not so bad. 

So John showed up with ice for my knee-3 ice packs, in fact. Fresh chocolate milk to drink (I don't do well with fueling before my runs and afterward I cannot stomach solid food for awhile), a Peach AdvoCare bar and a protein bar. And water. Lots and lots of water bottles and Spark and ice. And lunch. He made us all sandwiches and packed kettlecorn and grapes and cucumbers and cookies and the girls' water bottles and sun screen and swim suits and towels and goggles and sand buckets and our camp chairs with the foot rest and my iPad. The only thing missing for me was a pair of sandals to walk to the river with but that was no big deal. He totally blew me away by his last minute planning! He doesn't surprise me like that very often and it just really touched me. The girls had a blast, he actually swam in the river with them! I stood in it up to my knee when the first ice pack wore off-felt really nice on my hot feet and sore knee. The dog eventually decided that she wasn't going to melt if the water touched her. And we almost had the whole river bank to ourselves! I think we spent 5 hours or more there. It was just a lovely Saturday afternoon. And my evil plan to get the family out of the house without any complaints worked, and then some! I even got some wicked tape tan lines by the end of the day!

John has been so supportive of my running, even when I hurt myself or it's probably inconvenient for him. He's adjusted his work schedule most the summer so I could run in the morning. He hasn't begrudged the Saturday mornings when he wakes up and finds me long gone. He's been very encouraging and supportive while I've been training for the Oregon Half Marathon next month. I hope next year he'll run it with me! He and Keira and I are doing a mud run on the 31st and then I have Scharae and him signed up for the Color Vibe run here in Salem in October. Plus he did a Survivor Mud Run up in Seattle with Jason in June. I think he needs the novelty runs to keep him going. I know he might never find the release and sense of accomplishment I have found with running, and that's ok. I'm just grateful for the support. I feel so strong and alive and in power over my body-it's a great feeling!