I know I just posted about having a busy weekend, and it was, and truly this week is so busy I’m not really sure what to do. So, I really shouldn’t be blogging, but I feel like I owe you, my fellow runner readers, a real recap of my Saturday Run from Hell…or “in Hell”. Not only that, but I’m feeling the need for a “procrastination break”. So…here we go.

I arrived in Arizona at about 8:30 pm on Friday. I had gotten about 2 hours of sleep the night before, so I was exhausted. I got to bed about 10:30 and set my alarm for 4:45 am. I needed to get in my 10 miles and with the AZ heat (and weird humidity) I wanted to be done sooner rather than later.

My alarm went off at 4:45. I heard it. I looked at it. And then I felt the pounding in my head. It was horrible. So, I snoozed my alarm…and continued to snooze it until 6:00 am. Finally, I rolled out of bed, got dressed, headed downstairs and found the Advil in my brother’s cupboards. I know ibuprofen is not the best idea before a run, but I was DYING! I ate a little, pulled my water bottles out of the fridge (thanks to my sweet niece who had filled them up the night before), put my energy chews in a ziplock and was ready to go.

I left the house and it was sprinkling ever so slightly. It’s been rather raining in Gilbert over the past few weeks, so the humidity was out of control. Combine that with 85 degrees at 6:15 am and I was less than thrilled. I started out slowly, hoping the sprinkling and clouds would continue through the entire 10 miles. Of course, they didn’t.

The hard thing with running in Arizona (okay, one of the many, many hard things) is that I am so familiar with the area and the streets and everything is on a mile grid system, so I know exactly where I am and how far I’ve run at any given moment. I had no idea just what a mind game my running has been so far. It is a game I have been winning, for the most part. On Saturday, I wasn’t just just playing a tough game. I was playing a losing game. It was my body versus my mind and with no strategy, my mind had won before I even left the house.

I got out the door late. I knew I had to be back and ready to head out the door with my sister-in-law and kids by about 8:30. Already, the odds were stacked against me. And then you change all of my circumstances. I was running on streets instead of up the canyon on a trail. I’m used to doing pretty good up and downhill stretches. I look forward to the down hill because it’s the second half of my long runs. No downhill on Saturday. Just some gentle slopes now and then. And the streets stretch forever. The asphalt was hot. The humidity made it so my feet (even with Sport Shield on them) were rubbing horribly. My head was still hurting. I couldn’t seem to get hydrated enough, so I kept drinking, but then I had had too much water.

The battle in my head began at about 2.5 miles into my run. Here’s how it played out:

Body: “Seriously, you cannot be giving up. You have run 13 miles. 10 is no big deal.”
Mind: “Yes, but it’s hot. It’s humid. Your feet are killing you.”
Body: “My feet aren’t hurting that badly. What’s one more blister?”
Mind: “You are only 3 miles into this and already you have had half of your water.”
Body: “So, I’ll be plenty hydrated for the rest of the run.”
Mind: “You took that Advil, but your head is still pounding.”
Body: “You do have one there…my head is killing me.”

I begin to walk.

Mind: “What if you end up passing out? You didn’t bring your cell phone with you.”
Body: “I’ve never passed out in my life. I think I’d stop before I got to that point.”
Mind: “I don’t know. You’re not exercising very much sense right now.”
Body: “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Mind: “You told Shelley you would be back by about 7 am. What if she starts to worry?”
Body: “She is a bit of a worrier. I’d hate to make her worry.”

I turn around and head back to the house.

Mind: “That’s right. See, now doesn’t that feel better?”
Body: “Yes, it does.”

And that’s how 10 miles turned into 6.5.

So…this week we are going to do a little more street running to prepare for our 15 miles this weekend. We are going to sacrifice blogging, the “Eclipse” release party tonight, socializing and other enjoyable experiences to get enough sleep. We are going to continue to lay off the Diet Coke and make sure that we drink plenty of water. And we are going to make sure that we make good food choices.

While I don’t love running, I do love the feeling of a good run and I have been missing it. I think that, as long as I can stick to the plan, this weekends 15 miler should be great…and if not, at least I’ll have some good company.

The playlist was my 13 mile list with one change…I added in U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday”.

Yes. Twelve.

I did a much better job with my preparations this week. I didn’t get all of my midweek mileage in, but I got the majority in. I did hill work outs. I cross trained. I made good food choices last night. Actually, if I’m being completely honest, I didn’t have anything to do with my food choices last night. The dinner that was made for me was full of good carbs, so it made for some good energy this morning. I turned down a movie invitation so that I could get to bed at a decent hour…which was pretty early considering what time I needed to be out the door this morning. And I remembered to fill all of my water bottles and put them in the fridge.

The one thing I did forget was that I needed to wash my “outfit”. Yes, I have an official “long run get up”…from my tank top to my socks. And it was still in the hamper from last week. By the time I got home, it was about 9:00 and so I ran inside “the big house” to get the washer going, only to discover it was in use…oh how I miss the days of living totally alone. However living with my dad and step-mom does have its advantages. I ran upstairs and asked Sharon if she’d mind throwing my laundry in. Of course she said yes.

Oh, and I was heading back to my hole over the garage to go to bed when I realized that the new playlist had not been created, and you all know how I feel about my playlists (do you love how I put that right in passive voice, like it was supposed to create itself?). They are the lifeblood of my runs. My playlist is my guide. It determines when I run, when I walk, when I drink and when I refuel. Amazing, isn’t it? Who knew a playlist could do so much?

Not only had it not been created, but I had a whole shload of songs that I needed to download onto my computer. My darling 19-year-old cousin, Tanya, was at my grandma’s this week with her computer (i.e. her music), so I asked her if she wouldn’t mind making me a cd. You see, I love to run to rap and hip-hop but I don’t actually own a lot of it. I’m not super familiar with which artists I like, so it’s hard to know what to buy. Plus, I’m trying to curb my superfluous spending.

Tanya burned me an entire dvd of songs, in data form, so I am now fully stocked. While I could have easily just put up with the old music, after reading all about how much Cristin loves the Spice Girls and hearing JT’s Summertime about five times this last week on the radio, a song which is now in my possession thanks to Tanya, I just didn’t want to do it. So, I sat down and downloaded about 50 of the 400+ new songs…and a playlist was born, with a “walk” song every fifth, rather than sixth, song since I was going to be working on my uphill game.

Okay…to the run. Apparently, when the majority of what I’ve been doing on my long runs has been downhill, changing things up to do half up and half down adds about 1 minute to my average mile. I was a little discouraged, but part of this whole training process is about me learning how to be okay with setbacks and imperfections, so I managed to let it go about four miles into the run. Of course, it probably didn’t help that the first, oh, four miles of my run were done in the dark. Did I mention that I started my run at 4:45? No? Well, I did. The “friends” were having a joint yard sale starting at 8:00 am and I had yet to take my stuff over or tag it, which meant I had to be done by 7:15 at the latest, so 4:45 it was. Yes…I am insane. I have a hard time dragging my butt out of bed at 6:00 to get to work, but I’ll get up at 4:00 on a Saturday.

Back to the run…I’m sure the fact that I was running in the dark, a bit paranoid about both tripping and being attacked by the crazy man who lurks just off the canyon trail waiting for some idiot runner to come by at 5:00 am, on top of the fact that the first half of my run was uphill, slowed me down just a bit. Evidently, the crazy man had been apprised of my mad fighting skills, so he didn’t mess. And because I was picking up my feet a bit more, there was no tripping either. However, I don’t think I’ll be repeating that again. I mean, I don’t like it when the trail is crowded, but when you are the only person on it, and it’s dark, it’s a bit, well, creepy. I was so glad when I spotted two runners right around mile 4.

Moving on…the run was relatively uneventful…besides the visions of death and dismemberment going on in my head. My callouses are protecting my feet nicely, so I didn’t get a single blister. After testing both Body Glide and Sport Shield (at the recommendation of my friendly running store clerk), I’ve decided that Sport Shield works much better for me, so zero chaffing. I managed to finish off my pina colada energy chews (I really did start gagging at one point) and was able to finish my run with the strawberry ones. That is definitely my favorite flavor, although I plan on using other flavors so that I don’t end up hating them. The new playlist was great…once I actually felt safe enough to put my headphones in. I’m not usually a paranoid person. In fact, it’s probably good that I did feel a little scared this morning since I can be a bit naive when it comes to my safety.

It took me about eight miles to get into any kind of groove (so not fun), but the last four miles were pretty great and I was able to pick up the pace quite a bit. The best part of my run, though, was seeing one of the counselors from my work and his wife, who are also training for St. George when I hit mile 11. Why, you ask? Because, while they were only one mile into their 12 (we are on the same training schedule), I was one mile from being done. It was a great feeling!

No deep thoughts for today. No new insights. Nothing. Apparently, fearing for your life completely eclipses any epiphanies that might have otherwise occurred. Oh well, I’ve got quite a few long runs to come, during which I can epiphanize to my heart’s content. Yes, epiphanize…I like to make up words. Sue me.

Playlist to come…but for now, I’ve got to run (not literally…I think 12 miles is good for one day).