Is Today Saturday?

I asked aloud at 5am. I finally got a good, deep 8 hours of sleep, but I could definitely use a few more hours. I was so immersed in R.E.M. that it feels like I slept through Friday and into Saturday. I wish.

These days I don’t wake up dreading the commute to work. Getting up around 5:30am again is the norm to get in a short run or other type of workout. I like my routine. Afterwards, the GF takes the dog for a walk while I make breakfast and start getting lunches together. It’s easier if we’ve done most of the preparation ahead of time – peeled and cut the cucumbers, prepared the salad(s), and divvied up the strawberries. We eat just about the same thing everyday, which makes it a gathering process instead of a foraging process. There is enough variety that we’re not bored, but just recently we had to bust out the cookbooks to get some new ideas. (Note to self: work on the Thai curry sauce – it needs something.) I keep an eye on the clock knowing that I should be eating my eggs and bacon at 6:50am, heading upstairs around 7:00am, and in the shower no later than 7:08am based on the clock in the bathroom. This is my new routine and I like it.

The months of April and May were tough. I was supposed to be at the peak of my training for MMT and then tapering all while job hunting, and subsequently finishing up my last 3 weeks on the job with the job ending the day before MMT. It was a stressful time and my mind was very cluttered.

The new job was an eye opener for me. It took awhile to get used to leaving for work much earlier than I had been, but getting out AT 4:45pm is nice. No matter what I’m working on, I stop and let it wait until the next day. The contract says I come in at 8am, take a lunch from 12:00-:1245pm, and leave at 4:45pm, so that is what I do. Taking a job in the District has additional benefits to the shorter commute, and that is working only a few blocks from my GF’s office. At least two times a week we meet for lunch. We bring our insulated lunch bags and sit in the shade and chat. It has been good for our relationship, and for the first few weeks, I couldn’t help but say that over and over. We have become better communicators overall, which has really helped our bond. After work, I walk a few blocks and wait for her at the bus stop so we can ride home together. It makes the commute enjoyable.

I couldn’t imagine having to commute to/from Columbia, MD every day, where my old company is now located. I like what I’m doing now, and I like the location. If I was miserable in April, I’m sure I’d be worse now, and I’d be asking every morning if it was Saturday yet.

MMT Version 2.0 - a few glitches

I wish I had something more prophetic to say, but to cut to the chase, the race didn't go as planned. In fact, it ended about 25 miles too early after 28 hours on my feet. By that time, 16 people had already finished the race while I was limping into the Edinburg aid station at mile 75.9; over 2 hours after the aid station closed. The results show that I 'dropped' at Moreland, which I should've done, but I gingerly left the aid station 8 minutes before it closed (maybe closer to 5 - my crew wasn't completely honest with me) on very tender feet.

For the second year in a row I was racing the aid station cut off times. I prefer to call it running scared. I didn't know how close I was until I reached 211E for the first time at mile 48. At that point I was 45 minutes slower than I was last year. I was feeling better - physically and mentally - and I knew what to expect, which I thought would work to my advantage on year two, but that didn't seem to matter.

I had trained on the section from 211E the second time up to Edinburg the most, and that's where I performed at my worst. I don't know if it was the darkness or wet conditions that slowed me down, but I failed.

Many will say that covering 75 miles is quite an accomplishment even when 100 is the goal. The section from Moreland to Edinburg was an embarrassing 5:45. No way could I do more, and I wasn't about to, nor was I allowed to.

I don't know if I'll go back for a 3rd year. I'm going to mix up my training for the summer and work on getting in shape. There's running to get in shape and running as training. I need to do the prior before I can do the latter.

And I need to figure out my b*tch feet, too, and why they failed me.. or did I fail them?

I can't move on, move past the race if I keep thinking and talking about it. The best way to get over it is to forget about it and start over, start from scratch, and work on those glitches.