In terms of actual running, that is. This week’s long run was 12 miles, just shy of the half-marathon mark. In terms of fund raising, thanks to the generosity of office mates Hillary Chazen and Faye Pantazopolous, I have just cleared half of my goal – $2,020 down, $1,980 to go! A bit more about how I plan to reach that goal in a moment.
For now though, can I tell you all that for the first time in training, this week was hard? For some reason I was just not feeling it, gang. Oh, I went out and did my runs, but not without quite a bit of whining and complaining, as poor teammate Nandi learned to her chagrin. Thankfully by Saturday’s long run I managed to turn the tide and be in better spirits and have a pretty good run. I’m not entirely sure what the problem was, although I have a few theories:
1. 11 Mile Run Needed More Fuel: Like Jess, I was feeling pretty delirious at the end of last week’s 11 miler. I think this set the tone for the rest of the week and made me cranky and resentful of my workouts. On the 12-miler I carried a banana and ate half of it when I reached the six-mile mark – while messy, it seemed to work!
2. Need More Sleep: This is pretty much a chronic problem of mine – I feel like I want to stay up and spend time with people, or get just one more thing done, or read just a few more pages of my book. This isn’t really too much of a problem in real life, but in marathon life I don’t think it’s quite as reasonable. I’m going to need to train myself to sleep on a more steady schedule.
3. Winter is Depressing: I’ve actually done quite well (probably thanks to all of the exercise) at staving off the winter blues, but this week it caught up with me a little bit. Dodging ice-slicks and breathing frost-laden air just didn’t seem like fun anymore.
What saved the long run and helped me to turn the tide, besides the banana, was that this week was Boston Partners in Education‘s turn to run the water stop! That meant that our Executive Director, Pamela Civins, along with one of our volunteers and our intrepid Americorps Ambassador of Mentoring, Miki Leach, came out to stand next to the Charles River for two hours to hand out water and gummy bears to all of the runners. She also talked briefly about who we are, what we do, and why what the team is doing is so important to our organization. It’s very motivating to have your cause showcased and to have your co-workers come out to show their support. So thanks, folks!
A thank you also is in order to the fine folks at Gaslight! Gaslight is a terrific brasserie in the South End – their bar steak and frites is one of the best I’ve ever had. They have generously donated a $100 gift certificate for two to the special fund raising event I will be hosting on January 31st! You may have already received an email regarding this event – if you haven’t and would like to, please email me at frightfullyclever*at*gmaildotcom and I will send you the details!
With all of the wonderful generous people and local businesses supporting me in this endeavor, how can I stay grouchy? My goal is to stay positive and healthy through April 19th – thank you again to all of you who help me meet that and all of my goals!
Adventures in Food 