Last night I dreamt that I was in a race. The woman in front of me started to run, so I started to run. That was when I realized I was carrying my purse! Who runs a race carrying a purse? Someone who is unprepared for her race.
It doesn't take a Ph.D to figure this dream out. The San Francisco Half-marathon is in --Ack!--two weeks and I have too few miles under my water belt. When I signed up for this race back in December, I had visions of six months of speedwork and long slow distance runs punctuated with weight training to get me a PR on this flat and fast course.
Instead, a hip injury sidelined me for months. I'm almost 100% healed and I have been running, but not enough. I've also gained about 8 pounds; how did that happen? I had a 9 mile run a couple of weeks ago--my longest run this year--so I'm resigned to just finishing.
Some people will go to any lengths to get their workout in. I'm not one of them. Pick an excuse: I'm too tired, it's too cold, there's not enough time. But I did get a 10 mile run in this morning, on a beautiful quiet country road. Very few cars, but lots of cattle, a few goats, and even some wild turkeys. The weather was in the low 60s and mostly overcast. As I ran I thought how much I enjoy running--it's so nice to be out in nature. Why do some people say they hate running?
SD dropped me off and I told him to come back in 2.5 hours. He informed me he could walk 10 miles faster than that. Apparently he has more confidence in me than I do, so we agreed he would return for me in 2.25 hours. I ran/walked 7:1, but at mile 4 decided to test myself. I ran for a mile without stopping, seeing if I could do it in 12 minutes. I did it in 11:55, so I recovered for a minute and tried another mile. Did that one in 13:01. Hmmm, must have been the uphill. I stopped to use a bathroom, then fared better at mile 6 - 11:55. Mile 7 was 11:31--that must have been the downhill! I told myself that was enough fartleking around, but came in at 12:06 for mile 8. By then I was tired and just wanted to be done, so I ran the last two miles in 12:59 and 12:49, respectively. Total run time was 2:05.
As promised, SD was waiting for me. He had gone for a 1.5 hour walk on the beach. When we got home he made lemon-ricotta pancakes with real maple syrup. What a great reward for a workout!
I'm feeling better about the upcoming race. I don't expect to PR, but I think I can run it without embarrassing myself too much. I plan to do some mile repeats at the track on Wednesday, and hopefully a 12 miler on Friday, then rest up for the race. I'll let you know how it works out!
