Are we there yet?

Is it too soon to start getting tired of this?  I'd like to say that after I run my half, I'm going to sign up for a full marathon. I'd LIKE to say that.  What typically runs through my head though is, "I can't wait for this crap to be over so I can get back to drinking high calorie beer, eating pizza and watching multiple episodes of Lost every night."  Of course there are the different runs that make me feel differently.  Tuesday was a good example of that.  I started out the run with my normal mile warm-up. My second mile was mostly running, but at a very slow pace.  But -dang- the third mile was FAST!  I think I kicked it up to a 13 minute mile baby! HAHAHA!

In all seriousness, when I have a good run like that I think I can do anything. I can run a full marathon. Maybe I can ride long miles on a bike.  Maybe I can....nahhhh...pizza, beer and movies for me please! 

And that leads me to Saturday's run.  It sucked. There really aren't any other words for it.  It was hard, it hurt, I was tired, it hurt, I was hungry, it hurt, and I was frustrated.  Did I mention it hurt?  Stupid shins.  My coach thinks I need new shoes again.  I keep hearing that I can run in my shoes for 300-400 miles.  I can't possibly have run that far. 

OH, and guess what else?  My new watch that I bought?  Yeah, didn't work on my Saturday run. I have to call India to figure out what's wrong with it.  Great.  Stupid thing wouldn't turn on.  I figured out how to reset the thing, but it wouldn't turn back on after that.  So now I have a very expensive, mint green, piece of plastic. 

Anywhoo, I digress.  I can't tell you enough how sucky Saturday's run was.  Chipper Jen wasn't very chipper.  I wasn't very chipper.  There is this one area by Lake Norman where the houses are gorgeous and the cars are expensive.  I usually like to run through that area and think what it would be like to live in those houses.  Saturday, however, the internal dialogue was more like, "Stupid rich people.  They can probably lay in their expensive beds watching their expensive tv's and lose weight.  They probably have expensive machines working their muscles without having to get out of bed.  HA, their maids are probably working out for them so they don't have to. I mean, like that rich woman really does her OWN laundry.  Puhleeze!  And who the heck drives a car out the garage, down one side of the street, and then down the other street into the other entrance of the SAME STUPID GARAGE.  MAN THIS HURTS!"  Yup, that was my internal dialogue. Not pretty, and not very motivational. 

Coach Jackie says, "Some days are diamonds, some days are dogs."  Sage advice Jackie, sage advice.  Jackie also enjoys peeing in the woods and then telling us he did that to get a good reaction out of us.  He'll say, "just thought you'd want to know."  His favorite thing is to let us know that he's not going to make it to the restaurant we eat at after our Saturday run before he has to pee. He usually stops at another restaurant on the way, and then announces it when he meets back up with us.  Oh, and did I mention his annoying habit of running quickly between us?  Yeah, here I am thinking I've got a good pace going and he takes off like a bat out of hell to catch up to the next person and then runs back to me not even out of breath.  Grrr...knock it off!  AND, he eats a half gallon of ice cream EVERY DAY.  Are you kidding me?  He runs a marathon and eats ice cream every day.  I haven't lost a single pound and I'm eating healthier than I have in a long time. 

So, that's how my week has been. Among other frustrations that are more personal that probably didn't help along the way, it's been a crap week.  And yet, have no fear.  I will continue to run.  I will continue to raise the money I need to meet the minimum requirement to run.  I will keep going.  I'm not happy about it this week, but I ain't stoppin'.  No way, no how. 

Just keep running, just keep running...just keep running, running, running!!!  And maybe after I'm done, I'll sign up for a full.  Ya just never know.

Speaking of money, I'm still over $1,000 from my goal.  I need help.  If you haven't had a chance to donate yet, will you please consider giving five dollars? Maybe ten dollars?  I have to raise $2,500 to run in the race. 

You can donate here:  http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/kiawah11/lmaurerakv