Purple Lips

This is not a fitness blog, so I try not to focus too much time on my running pursuits.  Honestly, this is a non-themed blog; it's a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-write-about-whatever type of blog.  It's an odd mish mash of whatever I'm thinking type of blog.  But, it's a blog about me (me, me, glorious, neurotic me!) and therefore sometimes I must talk about running.  Even if it doesn't particularly interest anyone.

As it stands, I have about four weeks until I line up at the starting line of the Disney World Marathon.  I have low(ish) expectations for the race because I really don't want to be disappointed at the end.  Even though I'm trying my best to not set myself up for failure, I'm still feeling awfully discouraged right now.

I thought, obviously errantly, that things (mainly the long runs) would get easier over time.  I suppose they have, slightly, but not to the point I so imagined.  Given my high endurance level, I assumed I'd be able to run longer miles, albeit more slowly, without falling apart.  Unfortunately, my legs, as thick and sturdy as they are, cannot compete with my cardiovascular endurance.  Every long run is a challenge.  Long runs in the freezing cold are even more of a challenge.

Today, we set out to run 16 miles.  We made it 13 miles before my hip, which I tweaked in Body Combat on Tuesday, and Craig's knee had both spoken loudly, telling us enough is enough. It's disheartening to not meet the goal you've set for yourself.  It's demoralizing and does nothing to boost your confidence level.  It makes you wonder what you were smoking when you decided running a marathon was a good idea.  It makes you wish you hadn't paid $288 dollars for two marathon entries and booked three non-refundable airplane flights.

Because we fully intended to run 16 miles, we ran from our car, which we parked near the Mt. Vernon trail, 8 miles out; we then turned around, fully anticipating that our last strides would be completed right back where we started.  Obviously, that didn't happen.  And the resulting three mile walk back to our car happened to be one of the coldest, most painful and unpleasant walks of my life. The whipping wind from earlier in the week had subsided for the most part, but the cloudy skies, cold temperatures and random scattering of snow flurries made for a chilly morning.   I normally under dress when running because I warm up quickly; as a rule they suggest dressing for 25 degrees warmer than the temperature outside.   I was dressed perfectly for running, but once we stopped, I realized all too quickly that I was very under dressed for walking.  By the time we reached our car, my teeth were chattering, my fingers and toes were ice blocks and my lips were a lovely shade of purple.  If only we had some cash (or even our debit card) on hand.  Our walk took us through charming Old Town Alexandria and right by a Starbucks.  Oh, what I would have given for a hot drink to warm up me up for the remainder of the walk.

Lesson learned.  Always run with $$.

I suppose it can't be easy all the time.  What's life without a few challenges to make you wiser and stronger?

Thank you for letting me vent a bit.

Happy Friday!

Oh, and Happy Birthday to my mom!  She deserves a blog shout out; mostly because she's awesome, but also because I didn't call her.  Because I'm a terrible daughter like that .  :)