You Win Some You Lose Some...

 

My water bottles were filled, my running clothes were waiting for me, and I had a plan. I went to bed and my alarm was set. I was ready to go as soon as the alarm went off!

Well the alarm rang and I woke up in a funk and a fog. I couldn’t get moving, I felt tired and my legs felt heavy. The original plan I had to run in a certain area, went out the window. I decided to get a few things done on my "to do" list, thinking it would inspire me to get going. I finally pushed myself out the door but as soon as I got moving I knew it wasn't going to be good. I was moving slower than usual and my legs were shot!

I got to the 1.10 miles mark, the corner of Dayton Street and Plumtree Road, and I already felt beat up at that point. If I turned right, the run would continue, if I turned left I could walk home and be done with it. I decided to turn right and dig deep to see what I could do this morning. Up and down some hills, in and out of the sun beating on me, in and out of neighborhoods and I was back to my house at mile 7. I refilled my water bottles and said to myself I could do this. But I decided to change locations. I headed to the park where I run often hoping it would be shaded and inspire me. I continued to push but during mile 10 I walked more than I ran and by 10.25 miles I knew I was done and had nothing left. I was supposed to do 15 this morning but I figured the 10.25 wasn't too bad since I was ready to quit at mile 1.10 miles.

I reached out to my coach to tell her about this horrific run. She told me to put it behind me and in the words of Coach Belichick, "We are on to Monday". This new week will be a clean slate to try it again! If you can see the awful times of my 10 miles, my average was 1 -2 minutes slower than normal. I had nothing in me! Moving on!!

So let's focus on some good things that happened this week. I started my new job. One week down. I am the Assistant Athletic Director for External Operations in the athletic department of a local college. Part of my job is being the oversight for certain athletic teams. I was giving four teams to work with, women's tennis, men's lacrosse, cross country/track & field, and women's triathlon!! Yes I am excited! 

Other things to be happy about. To the left is a picture of my very first marathon medal. It is a Tiffany Necklace, they were a sponsor of  

the race and when we crossed the finish line we were given a small Tiffany Blue Box wrapped in a white bow! I love this necklace and wore it every day for years. It reminded me of who I was and what I could accomplish. Well four years ago I was playing around with my neighbors dog and she jumped up on me and the necklace broke. I put it in a box and forgot all about it until I was packing to move. I recently brought it to a jeweler to be fixed and it is back around my neck! 

Something else to be happy about...Recently I received two medals in the mail to celebrate some accomplishments, completing two virtual challenges. During this time of Covid races, like so many other things, have been canceled. Race companies have been offering the competitive runners, cyclist, and triathletes virtual races or challenges to keep us going and focused. No these virtual events are not the same as the real thing but it helps pass the time. You can also earn some fun bling along the way. 

The first virtual challenge I did was a run around the 11 Finger Lakes of New York. I started this before I left New York. Although this challenge was virtual, complete 408. 2 miles, I have actually biked around 3 1/2 of the actual finger lakes in my lifetime. Someday I will go back and do more, but for now I completed this challenge in 6 weeks by biking and running.

Once I finished the finger lakes I went on to run and bike through the state of Massachusetts, a total of 262 miles. I completed this virtual challenge on Saturday, 27 days after I started. Similar to the finger lakes challenge I have actually biked through almost all of Massachusetts in 1997, 194 miles for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, The Pan-Mass Challenge. So two virtual challenges and the summer isn't even over...what will I do next? Tomorrow is a new day...Embrace It!!

Medal from the Finger Lakes Challenge! 

Medal from the Run Across Massachusetts