Streak Over

I suppose I should post something, since I know readers are SO EAGER to know whether I continued my streak after day 56.  (Kidding, I know you’re NOT THAT EAGER).

Truth is, day 56 was my last day of this running streak.  And I consider that an improvement in my minor OCD.  I didn’t HAVE TO end it on a number that ends with a 5 or a zero. 

Many things contributed to my decision to end this streak.  These are some that I can remember now.

1. I chaperoned my 4th grader’s field trip in the morning of day 57, thus couldn’t run in the morning, and I am a morning runner.
2. I worked that afternoon/evening, and it was cold and windy when I returned home well, WELL after sunset.
3. I felt there was no real reason to continue this streak since originally I had planned to run through January 1st.  Then I changed it to January 31st.  After that I changed it to 50 days.  At day 56, I simply thought, why?
4. I was beginning to lose the joy of running, thinking that I HAD TO RUN.  I don’t want to HAVE TO RUN.  I just want to run.
5. I felt it was time to move on to other goals:  1) my Tides to Towers run, 2) my absurd 1 mile of burpees, 3) and lastly, training for Twin Peaks 50 Miler (which entails at least 3 50k’s over the next several months).
6. And finally, I want to run for the joy of it, when I feel like it.  Not because I have to.  I feel like I accomplished what I needed to in this streak.  I proved to myself that I could run consecutive days without injury.  And really, that is most important to me.  NON-INJURY.

Thanks so much for following!  And for your encouragement.  I really, really couldn’t have done it without the readers of my blog.

Thanks again

The past few days I have let the body rest.  And I have been working (working as in earning money) – which I dearly need. 

Feeling a Fall

After scampering around town to get chores done before a long work day this afternoon, I drove to the local trails at Aliso/Wood Canyons.  And oh, what a joy to feel my feet hit the dirt.

Rarely do I record my falls anymore because they are usually tame.  And falls are so far and few between.  I used to keep count of my falls.  I doubt anyone has read this blog long enough to remember that.  Today though I must report that I fell.  I tripped on a silly little rock on Aliso Creek Trail.  And I didn’t notice that I was falling until I was past the point of saving it.  For those of you who have fallen on runs, you can probably relate to this.  For those of you who haven’t, hopefully you can too.  Lots goes through my mind during the split second before I eat dirt.  They aren’t actually thoughts though.  They are feelings that convey thoughts to my mind.

In the beginning, “There was the Word,” No, that’s not what I’m trying to convey.  When I began running and fell, I used to think/feel first off, “I can’t believe I’m falling!!”  I remember my first fall (on the road no less, before sunrise), I thought/felt, “”Whose gonna call the ambulance?” 

Things have changed.  I no longer think/feel, “I can’t believe I’m falling!”  Today when I fell on Aliso Creek Trail, I thought/felt, “Spread out the impact!”  The worst thing I can do falling, is to land on one point, say my knee or wrist.  I’ve watched my oldest son practice falling in taekwondo for years, and the thing that I’ve noticed is this:  they fall with a full body impact, whether they’re falling backward, forward, or on their sides.  It looks like it hurts.  But those boys/girls just pop up right afterward. 

Likewise today, I hit the ground making impact with my two hands and one knee simultaneously, with the other knee quickly hitting afterward.  And wouldn’t you know it.  I popped right up, just like my boy’s taekwondo lessons.

That was a great start to my run.  Really!  So I took off onto, you guessed it, Meadows Trail, onward to Mentally Sensitive, even though I had little time to make it back home, shower and head off to work. 

Mentally Sensitive of course, was a chore.  But what a lovely cool-weathered chore it was.  I didn’t need to stop running, nor did I need a rest.  I wore a low profile shoe, which I haven’t worn in a while.  It felt like I ran in slippers.  The skies were so dark and gloomy I couldn’t even see Saddleback Mountains.  The scenery was eerie, yet serene.   

I pushed myself a bit, just a bit, with time so limited.  And I ran across to “Top of the World” wanting to call hubby (because it’s pretty much tradition to call hubby when I reach The Top of the World – I did it the first time, and pretty much every time after that).  Today though I ran onward – first to beat the rain, and second to get home in time to shower and get ready for work.

Approaching the top of Mentally Sensitive:

Rain began to fall as I ran down West Ridge Trail to connect my loop.  I could hardly feel the rain as it fell down, though I could see it plenty.  Thing was, the rain drenched my clothing so much that I began to grow quite cold.  Finally at Mathis Trail, I took off my drenched long sleeves, and put on the rain jacket that I’ve been packing all along.  I stopped to strike a pose.  Then, not fifteen minutes later, the rain stopped!

9.86 miles run today (15.88 km)

Muhahahaha!

Running and Crying

I’m just a tiny bit OCD, not officially diagnosed and not medicated (for OCD anyway ), but I really think that I have some minor components.  One of the components is rearing its head in my streak.  Just as it has in the past with my mileage numbers.  For example, I like runs that end in even numbers.  I also prefer whole numbers.  But if not, I’d prefer the percent be divisible by a quarter.  For example, 10 miles is better than 9.87.  Likewise, 10.25, 10.50 or 10.75 miles I much prefer than say, to 10.45 miles.  These mileages are not a must for me, just preferences.  BUT I have been known to run around the parking lot in order to get such numbers on the garmin. 

Now, with this running streak, I oddly feel like I can’t end it unless I’ve completed a number of days that is divisible by 5 or 10.  Like today.  Today I completed 55 consecutive days of running.  Now, I can quit the streak.  If I run tomorrow, I won’t want to quit this streak.  I will want to keep on running until I complete day 60.  Then I can quit.

Usually, I laugh at these sort of things about myself.

Not so today.  My runs the past few days haven’t been doing their job in the mental health category. 

This afternoon, I went and let myself think while running and had a little crying episode, which I cannot do.  I cannot run and cry at the same time.  I know this. I’ve cried while running before and learned that when crying I can’t breathe well.  Today I thought I might hyperventilate and pass out right there on the highway after running the gorgeous beaches.  So I got myself straight right away.  How did I do that?  I stopped thinking.

I am okay.  And things will get better.  Life is hard, which is one of the reasons I run – not to make it harder, but to make it easier.  Besides, I have more to smile for than not; I have so many things to be grateful for!

Yesterday was my middle baby’s birthday.  He turned ten – Happy Birthday Dare-Bear.  

Miles run today:  4.44 (yesterday 1.13) Taking it easy.  Which is A-OK.

This afternoon’s run:

The Road to Santiago

Most of my runs are good runs.  No; more than that – they are joyful runs.  Sometimes (rarely) I have magical runs that seem effortless.  Sometimes (rarely) I have runs that seem hellish.  Today, day 53 of my running streak was pretty much hellish.  With about 6 miles remaining I wanted more than anything to stop and WALK home.  Or better yet, phone my husband for a ride.  Thing was, there was no way for him to drive a car to me.  And I couldn’t walk because time was fleeting and I needed to pick up our two youngest boys from school.

For today’s run, I set out to explore more of the run for my epic adventure, Tom Fangrow’s “Tides to Towers” Run (a run from Doheny Beach to Santiago Peak).  I went into this morning’s run a little cocky, thinking that two days of short runs would give me enough rest to keep me running strong.  Such is with the sport of running (& all sports, and all things in life in fact), I had another thing coming!

The run began strong as I ran toward Arroyo Trabuco Trail.  Overall, this portion of “Tides to Towers” is not extremely technical terrain, nor is it steep.  It’s a bit more difficult than the first segment which covers Doheny Beach along San Juan Creek to Trabuco Creek.  But overall, today’s run wasn’t any tougher than my normal runs.  In fact, it should have been a lot easier than a typical run on my regular trails.

BUT, this run did cover the out-and-back route that included the Las Flores Trail Marathon that did me in some time ago – the race where I took the coveted DFL, the race that I thought I’d run again some day, merely for vengeance.  LOL.  Not after today! It was about the point that I passed the race’s entrance onto Arroyo Trabuco that I really began to weaken.  Perhaps my fatigue was exasperated by the memory of Las Flores.  Then when I passed the Las Flores’s marathon turnaround point, energy seeped out of me like a leaking tire.  I was pooped!

About a mile in, running adjacent to the golf course headed toward Arroyo Trabuco (& the Crown Valley Parkway underpass):

Posing above golf course, Santiago Peak in distance:

I love this part of the trail, reminds me of being a little girl.  The house I grew up in had this feathery blooming plant in the furthest part of the backyard, growing like a jungle:

Though I’m tiring, the moments I can escape to The Now, I can enjoy beauty like this:

On the way back, I found myself counting creek crossings.  I stared down my garmin.  Actually, I didn’t want to do that, so I wouldn’t allow myself to look at the garmin until at least two songs had fully played on my ipod.  I tripped twice, but thankfully didn’t fall.  Then I tripped and kicked my other leg.  It hurt.  LOL.  I fell into the creek TWICE and got my feet wet.  When I reached the Oso underpass, I whispered, “Thank God.”  Then the run to the Crown Valley underpass seemed like it would never arrive.  When I finally caught its giant pillars in sight, I felt a grand relief. 

I must have covered new ground, haven’t seen this monument before:

Running back:

15.79 miles run on the road to Santiago Peak today (25.41km).  The IT band is acting up just a tad, so I was diligent in my floor exercises and foam rolling this evening. 

Here’s to better runs!! 

“Don’t just do something. Sit there.”

Going about my chores and errands this morning, I didn’t feel “at ease.”  I felt odd because I’m used to running for hours at a time.  I’m not accustomed  to “having” my mornings.  I give my mornings away for solitude, for  joy, and most importantly, for “The Now.”

I played the “minimum card,” for my running streak yesterday, and I knew that I was going to play the “minimum card” today as well.   Why?  I suppose things, running-wise, have been going too good.  A “rest” before I got too tired seemed the right thing to do for my running streak, for myself.  Therefore, this afternoon about 3 PM, I ran out the front door for a hilly 2.77 miles around the neighborhood. 

Have I ever mentioned that I’m not an afternoon runner?  Well, I’m not an afternoon runner – pretty much hate it.  Though, I do enjoy starting my run in the morning and running into the afternoon. 

SO! What I’ve learned these past couple days, in fact over the whole streak, is that it’s good to mix it up.  It’s not only good to run a couple miles instead of twenty, it’s helpful because it changes up my running pace.  I definitely run a different speed when I’m running twenty miles compared to one mile.  The short runs are also helpful because they remind me that it’s OKAY not to go “all out” with the miles. 

Back in the college, I had a wonderful Professor named Dr. Saint Laurent.  I studied modern art in his class.  And this is what he said to us one day about a popular saying that I had heard all of my life:

“Most people say, ‘Don’t just sit there. Do something.’  How about this instead? ‘Don’t just do something. Sit there’.” 

His words about jolted me out of my seat.  I had always been a “Don’t-just-sit-there-do-something-kind-of-girl.”  Dr. Saint Laurent’s concept was practically foreign to me.  Even when I was “sitting there,” I felt like I should be doing something.  And not only should I be doing something, I should be doing it phenomenally.  If I took a test, an A wasn’t even good enough – an A+ was my desire.  If I started a book, I HAD to finish it (even if I HATED it.)  I could not fathom any reason that I couldn’t hit the ball EVERY TIME it crossed the plate.  A sonata on the piano had to be played perfectly.  And if I messed up, I’d stop and start the piece over FROM THE TOP.  Of course, you might understand why I eventually quit piano, quit guitar, quit softball, quit volleyball, etc., etc. 

After graduation, we had the pleasure of receiving my husband’s grandmother’s baby grand piano. (It was built especially for her when she was a young girl).    And it was with this beautiful piano that takes up a quarter of our living room that I learned to play for fun.  Finally, I didn’t even have to finish a piece.  I could play just part of a piece, my favorite part, and then move onto another song and play a section, or the whole thing, whatever I felt like, JUST FOR FUN.  If I messed up, I might stop to work on the measure, or I’d just keep playing.

Similarly, when I enter a race, I have absolutely no chance at winning.  Yet I have fun.  With this now 52 day running streak, I’m coming back to Dr. Saint Laurent’s notion.  Funny, because I didn’t realize that I left it.  But I did, partially anyway.  I’ve been feeling guilty for years for not being successful as a fiction writer, for not knocking on more doors to get published.  As such, I don’t believe I’ve written fiction for more than a year! Funny how this running streak has opened my eyes in aspects other than running.  But back to running, this streak has  taught me pretty much what Dr. Saint Laurent was trying to say way-back-when.  I don’t have to run double digit miles to have a meaningful run.  And who says that it even has to be “meaningful.”  I can have fun running 1 or 2 or 3 miles too, meaningful or not.   

Oh, and one more thing, Happy Birthday Mom!

Good Side/Bad Side

Just a quick note to say that I indeed continued my running streak today.  I hadn’t originally planned on it.  Now, I've decided not to plan on anything with the streak.  I’ll take it day-by-day, as I should with EVERYTHING.

Besides playing the “minimum card,” and running a little over the minimum requirement (1.14 miles total this afternoon), I did get lots of work done around the house.  But dang it!  I forgot to vacuum the living room rug.

On the good side (or rather hilarious side), I was carded today!!  Yup, pushing 50, and I was asked for i.d. when I purchased a bottle of wine at Trader Joe’s.  I immediately phoned my hubby on my way through the parking lot to tell him.  He laughed and laughed and laughed.

On the bad side, my Photoshop class was cancelled tonight.  Not enough students enrolled.

On the good side, hubby cooked dinner tonight – spaghetti and meat sauce. 

On the bad side, I forgot to do weight training today.  And it was even on my list.

But on the good side, we have held onto the house for yet another month.

Wishing you all the best!!