Blood, Sweat, and Tears - almost literally!

As I've mentioned before, I am working with a running coach. And as I've mentioned before it's going super well. I'm loving it, and I am finding it very beneficial to me on top of my training. He manages my schedule for me on a weekly basis, based on my reports of how I feel following a workout or other circumstances. After each run, I upload my Garmin report to Garmin Connect and send him a detailed email of my run, including everything from how I felt to how much I sweated. He provides trainng feedback, congratuatlions when it goes well and encouragement and support when it doesn't. Like i said, it's working. The text below is from my email I sent him this morning. I began it with a note to get a cup of coffee and a snack, cause it was a story.

Let’s do the run portion of this post first. But before I get into my email to him, let me go back to Tuesday. On a scale of 1 to 10, Tuesday's run was a 10. My schedule was a 10 mile run at marathon pace plus 30 seconds. The run was dead on. I was kicking butt and taking names! Ok, now on to the email. Today's schedule was 12 at the same pace, and it was tougher than Tuesday. I was feeling some fatigue and not very fluid. After a couple of miles, I did loosen up and started feeling better. I was able to get on pace and managed it fairly well. We were going to run 7 then Chris was going to come for the last 5. We held the pace steady and huffed and puffed our way back to the car. We made the turn to go toward where we had parked, and Terri asked, what’s our mileage? I looked down, the Garmin was blank. I think it might have died for good this time. I knew where we were so we kept going and finished the first 7. I don’t feel like we slipped off our pace any. Chris had his Garmin for the second half, and we ended up pretty well on pace the last 5, On a scale of 1-10, I was at a 10 on Tuesday, easily, but today was probably a 6. It wasn’t an easy run, but I’m proud of my perseverance.

Let me add that my Garmin has been dying for weeks, maybe months. It's been doing some strange things, so this was not a surprise, and really almost funny. Terri and I joked that we should have a service for it because it has been with me a long time. It's been a good Garmin. So, I'll be making a new investment probably today. Garmin update: looks like it still might have a life, or two if I am hopeful. It's on and has power. CPR might have worked!

Anyway, back to the story.

Now the fun part of the run. First, we thought we were being stalked in the first 2 miles, but luckily it turned out we weren’t. It’s creepy when a car approaches you slowly, passes you and the turns around. I told Terri if he pulls up next to us and stops, we are running into the highway. Turns out he was looking for a house, cause he parked, got out and went in. Not to mention, there was a creepy old guy on a bike at 5 a.m. too. And he was not a cyclist. So, we meet Chris later, and probably 2 miles from being done, so we are at a very tired 10 miles. It’s daylight at this point, and we are easily visible. A car is coming toward us, and Chris was moving over to where we were pretty much single file on the edge of the street. This guy was not moving over though. As we protested his complete ignorance of us being there, he was motioning for us to move. He came within inches of hitting Chris. I think I yelled something, probably ugly, and we all stop, amazed, and look back at him. And he is turning around! I immediately got mad. It’s funny how when I’m angry I am not afraid at all! So he pulls up next to us and for about 3 -5 minutes, yells at us for being wrong. Says we should go run in a park. He was not going to cross the double yellow lines, etc. I did not stand there and take it. I yelled back, and a lot. I’m ashamed at how I acted, really, but I was SO mad at the ignorance of this man and his complete disregard for human safety and how willing he was to hit one of us to avoid crossing the double yellow line. No wonder Mississippi is the fattest state. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as mad as I was this morning, but I was beyond. I called him some names, and told him to go, to mind his own business and leave us. He drove along beside us for about a block or so. I realized my yelling was doing no good. I shouldn’t have even started, but when my life and my friend’s lives are in danger because of his stupidity, I got fired up. About a half mile or mile later, I had to stop and walk because my blood pressure was sky high and it was making me feel bad. My quick burst of adrenaline had just as quickly left me. I’m still mad and embarrassed by my behavior, mostly because I stooped to his level. But that’s how runners and cyclists get killed – because someone wants to prove their point on the road and not move.

I have apologized to Chris and Terri for my behavior, and thought long and hard about how I reacted, but it still doesn't take away that runners and cyclists are easy targets for those out there who don't see it as important to give us a small piece of the road. In their eyes, we are wrong. Not only should I have not acted how I did because it wasn't going to solve anything, I shouldn't have acted that way because he could have reacted differently himself. So, lesson learned, you can't fix stupid. Next time, I'll do my best to keep moving and pick my battles.

So, a good, hard fought, 12 mile run today. 28 miles of 42 completed for this week. Up next, 14 with friends! I will be avoiding traffic on Saturday also.