Jabba the Hutt Had Feelings

Hello, Friends!

I apologize for the delay, but I've been busy this week with work and hunting down wedding guests to hand out their invitations. Living the life of a summons server isn't easy, even when it is for good news! Also, this week has been insanely busy, to the point where Tuesday and Wednesday feel like a Monday.

Anyway, here's this past week's update:

Monday Practice

Note to self: more word spacing!

I was impressed with how well I did considering various factors that took place prior to the practice. First, it's a Monday we're talking about, so there's always that chance of insanity. Add being unable to sleep thanks to a neighboring drunk dude who was singing the songs of his people...at 2AM+.

Also, my office was busier than a hair salon during prom season. I had to leave later than usual and rush to my calligraphy group class. Once there I had to change outfits during a bathroom break, finish my class, and be thankful that my running pants were black as I accidentally shared black ink with my thigh (and floor).

After that I rushed to the track, while stopping quickly to eat a bit of junk food because I had no time for lunch. To my surprise, I didn't pass out, puke, or died on the track, but I was unable to run for part of the laps. In fact, I barely survived the drills. After that, I just went home to eat and pass out asleep.

Wednesday Practice

Given my stellar performance on Monday, I made sure to be well fed, rested, and focused. I tried one of those running gummies. It was strawberry flavored, and I had grape Gatorade, so that took me back to my elementary school days when we had plenty of kool-aid and candy. I also had a meeting with the LLS event coordinator, and she was very helpful with my fundraising planning, and we got to brainstorm intensely (hellooooo fundraising parties!). I did well too. My body responded gracefully to the exercise, and it felt great.

Saturday Practice

I was so scared of not waking up with enough time to have a quick breakfast and prep for the practice, that I woke up at 3:30 AM (after several previous brain alarms). One small coffee and half a toast, and I was ready to go! I was able to make it to the track on time, and with all the pertinent belongings from the get-go (Notice the impact of coffee). Once there we had a team gathering to get the running agenda, and a pep talk. It was one of the board member's 10th(!) birthday (it's a cancer survivor thing), and he gave a heartfelt message thanking us for what we're doing. He was emotional, the coaches were emotional, and the team was emotional. Our collective response turned into the verbal version of a group hug, which was very sweet.

The scheduled run was to do 6 miles in a bit over 50 min. Sounds easy, right? Think again. I kept the pace for most of the run, which included the epic return of Yuckie Boo Boo as it poured when we started running. I had to run right behind the [new] coach since I can barely see in the dark, which guaranteed that I stomped on every puddle in our way. Every single one.

Being me and having my brain, I processed the pep talk a bit later once I stepped on the first puddle, cursed in my mind, and thought of Joelle for a second. I got a bit emotional (since I can't wait for her to start celebrating her birthdays), and my sniffles caught the attention of a team mate. I don't know how he saw my tears, but he side-padded my shoulder and told me "your friend will be OK, believe me. I'm on my 2nd birthday, and look at me here!". This didn't help hold back tears, but his follow-up joke made my crying stop. (Thank you for that!)

I kept the pace for most of the run, until I started running out of air, and that pain came back to haunt me. My breathing pattern had changed from the one I learned in Yoga, to the one I do when I've had asthma attacks. Turns out that when you don't breathe right your muscles find out and they protest.

I had to slow down when we made it to the oasis, and that's when things went south. I lost my breathing pattern, my running pattern, and I slowed down my group. That last mile was a sad one, as I saw everyone running further away from me, and had the coach run back and forth between the group and me. Jabba the Hutt. After that we had a group "lesson" about FAQ's and training info. The LLS team has done a great job so far! (Thanks, y'all!)

By the time I waved at them to keep going, I started walking fast and the coach came after me. He had to instruct me to run at a very slow pace for me to at least finish. That slow pace added 2 extra minutes of shame. It felt like I was trying to run while carrying

NOT a pro like them.

On a side note, I've had conversations with family and friends about my pace, and although my gals are telling me that I'm doing great, some dudes are teasing about how I should do at least 7-8 min. To those folks who bug me about this:
I am NOT an African pro marathon runner. I have short legs. Chill out.

That's it for last week!
Ciao,
B.