My Emotional RollerCoaster Weekend

What I did on my weekend.

1) I tried running on Friday while on a mega-dose of Ibuprofen. I made it 6 miles but still felt my knee.

2) Because Friday went so well I decided to run with the OKC marathon training group on Saturday. They were only doing 12 miles so I figured what the heck. I mega-dosed on Ibuprofen again. It was an out and back route and I did the "good" thing and turned around early. Turns out it was not early enough. I made it 7 miles before the sharp, real pain hit. OMG! It hurt so bad. I had no choice but to run/walk/limp the last 3 miles.

3) I was actually happy that I had done a long run. Made me feel whole again. Knee pain be damned. In some weird way I needed that long run to get my head on right. After that run I made a decision not to run again for 2 more weeks and I actually was OK with it!

4) All that changed when I woke up Sunday morning. I had the insatiable urge to run just a few miles that morning. I had these wonderful memories of how great it was to run down the middle of Broadway early on Sunday morning when there is no traffic. How quiet and peaceful it seems. So I laced up my shoes and hit the road for an easy 3 mile run. I made it 1 mile. Once again it hurt REALLY bad, I almost couldn't walk home.

5) That bad run out-did all the good, long run vibes and I was in a pissy mood for most of Sunday. Still not convinced that I was unable to run, I went to the gym to see if I could run on a treadmill. They are softer right? I made it 1/4 mile before I stopped almost in tears. Not sure if it was the pain or the absolute frustration I was feeling.

6) Totally disgusted with myself and wanting to seriously punish myself for being injured, I hit the pool. I swam....and swam....and swam...and swam some more. Motivated by shear self-hatred, I wanted it to hurt and hurt bad! Before I knew it I had gone 3/4 of a mile. I figured I had nothing better to do so I did that last 1/4 mile just so I could say I'd swam a full mile. I've never swam that far before. It was also the first time I got lost in my thoughts while swimming. I am usually so wrapped up in watching my swimming form and style that I don't get lost in thought like I do when running. This time I was able to think about all kinds of things which makes the laps go much faster.

8) I have a confession to make. I was so desperate on Sunday that I hit the supplement wall of the drug store. I wanted that 'magic' pill that would make my knee better quickly. I wanted that 'miracle' pill that defies all scientific principles but people are sure works to cure everything. I despise those commercials and I know that all you are really buying is expensive urine but on Sunday I didn't care! I wanted something and I wanted it NOW! I bought some glucosamine and chondroitin supplement that I read about on Runner's World. No clear studies show that these have any impact on joint pain but millions of people swear they do! When desperate, go with the crowds baby! To hell with science! I'm so ashamed of myself. I feel like a huge hypocrite. I'll just add that to the list of my flaws.

7) Still not feeling that I had suffered enough, I decided to begin my morning core workouts again on Monday. I am lucky that I have a friend from work who works out every morning and always ends with a tough core routine. I knew he'd be there on Monday morning so I surprised him. As expected, he killed my stomach and sides so that I had trouble sitting up all day at work.

So that was my weekend. 6 miles on Friday, 10 miles on Saturday, 1 mile run and 1 mile swim on Sunday, and a core workout on Monday morning.

Oklahoma got hit with an ice storm Monday afternoon so they closed the base and I had to come home early. Darn! Then it got worse last night so they kept the base closed today and I had to work from home all day. Darn darn!! Yea, it's a rough job I know.

I worked on my laptop all day which absolutely sucks when dealing with schedules! Dual monitors are a must when looking at Gantt charts! I suppose this is how the cavemen did schedules so I tried to imagine I was "roughing it". Maybe I'll try to do a spreadsheet on that 'paper' stuff tomorrow. I hear they used to use that stuff in the old days.

After a tough day of Predecessors and Start-to-Start's, I had enough and ventured out into the icebox formerly known as Oklahoma. I needed to swim out some more frustrations. I did another mile tonight. 32 freakin' laps of that stupid pool. I can't lift my arms above my head right now but I am feeling like I've almost got all the bad feelings beat out of me. I think I can get through 2 weeks of not running if I keep up the swimming and the core work.

And just to brighten your day there's this


Thanks for listening

I'm going to steal this from Sarah and Jen but.....
Today I love: Hosting a teleconference wearing Spongebob pajamas!