From my Facebook status update that I posted a little while ago:
when did I reach a point in my life when running 16 miles could be preceded by the word(s) “only” or “cutting it short?” And that concludes a 58-mile week. Time for Star Trek IMAX tonight
It was a beautiful morning and parts of my run were much better than others. The plan was to run 20, but my heart just wasn’t in it and I hurt everywhere, from the bottom of my feet on up. I ran to the State Park and out by Saratoga Gaming & Raceway (the Racino) after running a few miles around Skidmore and town with a couple of my teammates for the GMR 200-mile relay I’m doing next month in Vermont.
I passed a bunch of walkers on S. Broadway, who looked like they were participating in some kind of fundraiser event. I also ran past a bunch of bicyclists racing in some other race near Kaydeross Creek. That was around the 14-mile mark when I hurt all over, had no energy left, and knew it was time to call it a day.
When I got back home, the Garmin read 16.11, and that was good enough for me. Sometimes the body reaches a point where it just says, “OK, I’m done.” After clocking in 58.4 miles this week, I reached that point. Not too shabby, especially coming off a 57-mile week last week and an injury week with 21 miles the week before.
I concluded the running portion of my day by soaking up some delicious sun as I lay on the grass telling Jen about my route while she trimmed the hedges in front of our house.
Friday night we had a few friends over for a fun happy hour. We drank “skinny girl” Piña coladas and Skyped in Alex, Cati, Nina, and Nacho for a virtual happy hour and tour of their new home in Michigan. Good times.
Yesterday was a pretty chill day — Jen and I hit the Farmers’ Market, where we ran into a number of people we know; we ran a mile with Anne (then I ran another 5); we went to the Racino with Justin to watch the Preakness and witness history as Rachel Alexandra raced her way to victory as the first filly in 85 years to win the race. Cool to see a female horse beat a bunch of dude horses — something that doesn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon among elite human runners at any distance… except maybe in some ultra-marathons, where women sometimes beat men.
After the Preakness, Alexis joined our motley crew for dinner at the Starting Gate, a new place by the bowling alley, followed by a mean game of bowling at the alley. I nailed a few strikes and a spare, bowling a 138.
