uh-oh

I was mistaken, only 17 more weeks to go.

My run today turned out ok. I got up early and set out with my husband, left him after a mile and a half or so (he was going to work) and continued with the dog. Dawn was breaking then and though it wasn't the most spectacular showing, it was definitely above average. There were very few people out; we had the scene to ourselves. After another mile or so, I decided that, yeah, maybe I could go a little faster, so I did a 15 min 'tempo' effort. I hesitate to claim the pace as tempo but, unless my dog has gotten considerably faster, the fact that he was able to keep up without breaking into another gait shows that I've gotten slower. I'd stopped taking him on tempo runs because it wasn't a comfortable pace for him, but now it is! Ah, well. I'm amazed that I could hold it for fifteen minutes. The last time I tried a tempo run, it was about three weeks ago: I went for ten minutes and my heart felt a little raw afterwards. This time it was fine. My legs were a bit sore, but the novelty and excitement of running fast(er) was compensation enough.

I'd thought I ran for about 75 minutes. But I think it might have been closer to 65...I checked when we left the house, but we walked for a bit and I forgot to check at the beginning of the run. Actually, I think I checked when we were about to leave, and then we had to put on shoes, get the dog ready, etc, etc, etc....LOL

We also ran a bit on those semi-derelict roads near the War Museum. I don't know why I like running through places that look abandoned! the thrill? Am I tapping into some exploration urge? It's weird, I get so worked up when I see someone inching onto the wrong side of the path, but neglect a road for a few decades, leave a bunch of rusting fencing/barbed wire/vehicles/who knows what strewn all over the place, and I'll blithely pick my way around that. Maybe I have some sort of post-apocalyptic gene waiting to be activated. The area around LeBreton flats isn't as junked up as other areas I've run through, but it's still deserted and strangely attractive. I also like seeing the fields (lawns?) gone to seed. Anything abandoned. And, yeah, I've got a somewhat mean-looking dog with me, but I went through stuff like that alone, before I got him. I don't know why running in this sort of terrain feeds my soul, but it does.

Resolution #546: post-recovery drink. I took an iron pill too, but the drink is something that I concocted and consumed for the first time this weekend: milk, whey powder, and molasses. It tastes surprisingly good. And it's pretty cheap; I got the whey powder from a bulk bin at a health food store. It's just whey powder, not a fancy mix with added flavours and sugar or whatever, so I was trying to dress it up with vanilla, almond extract, etc...molasses works far better. And it has some iron in it too.

Resolution #547: whole wheat. Yeah, man...I also realized today that maybe I'm feeling a bit better because somehow I'm not hitting the mini-wheats anymore. Once again, I've drifted off them. I think it happened before the weekend. How hard is it to pour a bowl and eat it? Well, a few times, it's been tough: I pour a bowl, lose my appetite, and then come the next morning, I see that there's plenty of fruit around and I eat that instead because I totally forget about the mini-wheats. A few days later, I feel better, and then remember. It's temporary, very selective amnesia. This is a good time to confess that this applies to my new food log too. Another confession: if I dump a bunch of fruit on top of the mini-wheats, that makes it a whole lot better. I have to hide them. It's not a taste thing, it's a visual thing. I think looking at them stresses me out. It's at times like this that I remember that I was a very picky eater as a child. LOL

Back to the food log--I see that I inadvertantly quit the mini-wheats on Thurs. I've been eating wheat in other things, so that's not so bad.

Maybe I don't need to eat whole wheat every day. The tests are still a long way off; I was told to eat wheat, but I don't think my NP is expecting me to royally trash myself over it. I'll eat a bowl today and have an easier run tomorrow, and then lay off the stuff tomorrow in prep for a harder run on Wednesday. I'll see if that works. At the very least, I have to stick to the hard-easy principle. My last three runs have been 5-6-6.5ish miles. 25 min is just not fun! I can't get anywhere interesting with that.

Well, I've proscrastinated enough. Back to chemistry.