Tapering and deleting 'just'

The training that began in June will end in eleven days. We ran about ten and a half miles Saturday, and that will be our longest run until our 13.1 on December 6th. It was a very focused run, void of the usual chit chat and instead the brief spurts of conversation were about race day planning. I know what I will wear race day. I know what I will eat the night before and morning of. I have my water breaks planned out along the course. I know where the uphill and downhill portions of the course are. I even know where our cheering sections will be. Now we taper: do some easy runs, stretch, hydrate, and mostly wait.

I may be making a lot out of running a half marathon. After all, I keep telling myself, it's just a half. When I talk with people about race day, I usually have to correct them, "No, I'm just running the half."

Then I think that this time last year, I was struggling to walk 8 miles, and here I am about to run 13. Two years ago walking 3 miles seemed like an eternity. So what I need to do is take the "just" out of my vocabulary. I need to rest up over the next week and enjoy my 13 mile run. Then I need to celebrate.

Our newest crazy endeavor...

So, to be just a bit more counter culture (we are hardly counter culture as we would probably die if someone took away my blackberry and his iPhone), Jonathan has unplugged our tv. There is a long story including an argument in there, but pretty much we were spending too much time vegging out in front of the tube - and we don't even have cable. So in an act of emotion, the tv was unplugged Tuesday night, and it hasn't been plugged back in. We at first thought we might plug it in again last night to watch The Office, then thought "I wonder how long we can pull this off?" Thankfully I didn't miss the TV that much last night because I spent a good bit of the evening preparing dinner, taking a long shower after my run and talking to a friend on the phone. Maybe going sans television will help with the ADD I posted about last week.

Just as a point of full disclosure, I am totally the one in the household who watches too much tv. I often don't care what I'm watching, I just need to zone out. So this experiment will help me find other ways to relax besides turning off my brain completely.

In addition to making me interact more with reality, the no tv rule has helped me look at unnecessary electricity usage. The following things are plugged into electrical outlets currently at my apartment: living room lamp, office lamp, alarm clock in bedroom, cell phone charger, stereo in bedroom, and refrigerator. Really the only thing that needs to remain plugged in is the fridge. Okay, assignment for the weekend is to unplug everything else...and engage in fun activities with my husband that do not involve tv watching.

Megan's self-diagnosed Adult ADD

So I'm in the mental health profession (kind of...) and I know a bit about diagnosing behavioral health disorders.  I opted out of the actual class in my MSW program where you learn how to diagnose, because I did not want to be made to actually use that information at work one day.  Ignorance is bliss, as they say!  So, I think I am going to self diagnose myself with Adult ADD.  (Just not to freak anyone out, I do not think this is clinical or anything, and I do have great respect for adults who do truly have clinical ADD.  This is my attempt to be funny, and I do not want in anyway to seem disrespectful or flippant about a real disorder.)  That said, here is my evidence:

1. My home: When I do the whole home making thing, I try to make a list and stick to it.  However, without a doubt every time I clean my apartment, I am half way through with the dishes when I think that I really do need to clean the litter box, so I do that, and then it reminds me to clean the bathroom.  On the way from the cat's bathroom to our bathroom I realize that laundry really should get done, so I throw a load in the washer located in our creepy basement.  As I return the extra quarters to our little quarter holder on our dresser, I think that I need to reorganize the top of the dresser.  So I have half-clean dishes, half-clean bathrooms, a load in the washer that I will inevitably forget until I head to bed, and an organized dresser.

2. My work: Do not even get me started!  If I did not have my crackberry, I would get fired.  I have my hands is a trillion projects and they barely get completed.  It's not that I get tired of them or give up on them, I literally will be typing an email and think that I really should get a start on a report.  Halfway through the report I remember the ten people I need to call.  Halfway through my call list, I think of some random thought that makes me start writing the agenda for my team supervision meeting.  I do pride myself on getting projects and reports completed on time with high quality, but I feel like I run myself ragged in the process.

3. My play:  I have about three half finished baby blankets currently in my living room.  I blame this on the fecundity of my Sunday school class and office mates, though - not on my adult ADD.  Another piece of evidence, and the initial inspiration for this post, is the lack of skin on my knees currently.  I was running this morning with Becky - we had headed out to do a test run of the half marathon course - and I was watching my steps quite closely.  Then I heard a train, and what do I do?  I turn my head to look for the train, even though it really doesn't matter where the train is because it does not impact my life.  Not too seconds after turning my head I am plummeting to the ground, looking like a complete idiot.  Now I have two skinned knees and a little less pride.

I eagerly await advice on how to overcome this disorder without the use of stimulants : )

Yay!

More running updates

I know all I do is write about running/training for the half marathon. I have had two good weeks of running and felt the need to share! Two Saturdays ago, we ran 8 miles, our longest run yet, and it went really well. We ran through Overton Park and the Vollintine-Evergreen neighborhood, chatting about the economy, the election, real estate, dog breeds, etc. Last Saturday we ran 6 miles, and we went an hour running without any walk breaks - the longest I have ever gone in a single stretch. We took a different route this time, heading downtown, and then turning South. I'm not sure if Becky had this thought as we continued going southward, but I definitely thought, "You know, Barry, I'm not sure I want to be in South Memphis at 6am the day after Halloween...." Our unusual route made sense, though, as we turned onto a street with large, old homes and Barry gave us a short history of Memphis during the Civil War and the ghosts that allegedly haunt the old homes. So I got 6 miles under my belt and a history lesson all before most people wake up on Saturdays. The best part about Saturday's run was that I felt great through the whole thing - no pains, no heavy breathing, no 'why on earth did I get up at 5:15am to do this???' I ended Saturday's run thinking, "I might actually turn into a runner after all."

Next week I am responsible for running 6 miles on my own since I'll be out of town. I need to call my sister-in-law this week and see if she wants to run with me. I still do not have the mental capacity to run for an hour by myself! Then the following week we run 10 miles. I might treat myself to a pedicure for running 10 miles...