A Run to Lighten the Mood

I have been feeling the blahs, time change, PMD (Post Marathon Depression), let down from missing my goal, much shorter days and lack of sun, cold, the approaching holiday season, whatever it is and even give it the name SAD but it's been affecting me. But this weekend is proof I must be recovered from my marathon because the paces for my 10 miler on Saturday were definitely faster than I expected. Especially considering that Friday night I went out for a couple of drinks, that turned into a few more than a couple, leading to going to a party with a couple of my friends and then crashing at a friends place, going to bed around 4:30 and waking up around 7:30…or some such nonsense like that. Anyway, it was a late night and when my friend dropped me back at my car around 10, I decided I was just going to run short Saturday and do the longer 10 miler that I planned on Sunday. I then got home, changed into running clothes and made my way out the door, having had just a bit of water and nothing to eat…as I started out, the weather was cooler, (high 30s) but not terrible, I was even out in just tights which is abnormal for me in those temps. I ran around my neighborhood and kept adding on bits here and there that managed to create a 10 mile loop by the time I headed home, although there was always an option to cut it shorter if I had needed to. When I finished, had an average of 8:30 for my paces and the entire run had been at what was meant to be an easy pace.

Mile 1: 8:49
Mile 2: 8:17
Mile 3: 8:31
Mile 4: 8:29
Mile 5: 8:26
Mile 6: 8:33
Mile 7: 8:19
Mile 8: 8:31
Mile 9: 8:27
Mile 10: 8:27

Faster than the “race” I bandited just 2 weeks before and actually pretty consistent too, at least for me. Sunday I did do an easy 4 miler at 8:58 pace, even though my plan had had me off on Sunday, so I ran a total of 5 days last week. I have another 5 days of running planned for this week as well and maybe I’ll increase back up to 6 the week after. I think my plan for running 2006 miles this year is shot though. I’m already over on the mileage for that plan and I don’t really see any weeks I want to cut and I actually think I just want to add in mileage so I'm going to be well over 2000 miles this year. My highest year ever. Maybe I’m being too conservative on the getting my mileage to 30-35 for average, maybe I’m better on the 35-40…better mileage for weight loss anyway I think. And after eating poorly again all weekend I’m once again up in weight…sigh…you win some you lose some I guess...after this week I'm really going to focus on eating better till Christmas though. And get that weight down!!

It was a fun weekend though. The party and all that was a good time. Had some fun chatting with the friend I hadn’t seen in a while and he has always intrigued me, probably because his best time was a 2:45 marathon…he has a knee issue and doesn’t fun fulls anymore, but will go up to a half with no problem…I aspire to fastness like that!! OK, not a reality for me, but it’s fun to know people that can do that. Also had a chat with my roomie on Saturday about the evening of last Tuesday and the setup…she actually told me that if I had interest in J, she didn’t care if I wanted to pursue him over E since E wasn’t of interest to me (and I think that was because of something I had said about J) and I asked about the ex though and she thinks that J may be over her. Well, I told her that I figured if he had interest in me, he would contact her about getting a hold of me, but she thinks that J is shy so we decided it’d be fun to get together again with them on Friday. Our thought was having them come to our place and we’d order pizza and watch a movie and maybe after that go out for Karaoke cause apparently the guys like going out and doing that…so yesterday she tells me she has talked to J and he’s game for doing that on Friday, but was wondering about my having such a short trip home. I’ll be heading down there on Wednesday afternoon and won’t come back till later afternoon on Friday, and over Christmas I’ll be home the 23rd through the 26th, so plenty of time spent with the family in the next couple of months. When I go home on a weekend I’m usually only there Friday evening through Sunday anyway, so this will actually almost be a bit longer trip anyway. We shall see what might or might not happen with J though. I find him interesting, and attractive, but I don’t think I care if I pursue anything there…same with my friend that is a 2:45er…there might be a bit of something there as well, but not sure I want to pursue that…Another friend wants me to meet a guy she knows, and we'll see if something happens that brings he and I together, I just don’t think I’m game for dating. And I’ve been feeling this way for a long time. I’ve been single for too long, the idea of being attached and/or having to “report” to someone, that’s the way I see dating/relationships, just isn’t that appealing. I like my freedom, I just like having people to hang out with on occasion when I want to do something fun!!