Sunday summary

I know that Sunday is technically the first day of the week, but it seems a little like the end of the week to me, seeing as how it is the end of the weekend, and also that's how my running calendar treats it. So, a few thoughts before the brand new week officially begins....

·I am ready to run again! I think I am, anyway. My legs feel fine, my quads were not tired or sore at all when I was skiing today, and the bitter cold weather has moderated to just cold. So I have my Garmin charging up, and I'll be sure to lay out running clothes tonight so there won't be any delays in the morning.

·It's a good thing that I will be running again, since I feel like I have plumped up like a holiday turkey, between the taper fueling and various party foods I've been consuming this week (despite really, really trying to be "good"). Yesterday was probably the peak day, with my book club meeting, featuring smothered chicken (that means gravy), biscuits, cornbread and honey, various pre-dinner snacks, and a Christmas cookie exchange (which included liberal cookie consumption). Also, I couldn't keep my hands out of this evil stuff, made by me to replicate "manna," one of the foods featured in our book. Biblically, manna was the food miraculously provided for the Israelites in the wilderness during their flight from Egypt; it is also defined as spiritual nourishment of divine origin. In The Secret Life of Bees, manna is described as various seeds mixed with honey and baked to divine perfection. So what I did to create my version, was melt a little butter in a saucepan and stir in sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, sesame seeds and whole almonds. Then I poured in a bunch of honey and heated it all up for a while. I spread it on a parchment-covered baking sheet (which I sprayed with non-stick spray), then baked it at 350 degrees until the nuts and seeds toasted a little. I put it out on the back porch to cool and then broke it into pieces when it was cold. Mmmmmm....

·The above paragraph is why I need to be running again!

·I am pretty sure, almost positive, that the marathon will be my last race of 2009. It is an appropriate end to the year, there aren't that many other runs out there anyway, and I don't want to put a damper on my year of PR's by doing a race that I might not be quite ready for. Why am I even mentioning this? I skipped the Jingle Bell Run 5K today (never signed up for it) to go skiing, and the only thing left is the 12K's of Christmas next Sunday. I am in need of a 12K PR...which is exactly why I do not need to do this now. Nuff said.

·I am, however, starting to think about the races of 2010. I need to find a balance between doing some of the things I "always" do, adding in some new stuff (one or two marathons), and still keeping up the rest of my life. (That part is important, and I don't always pay enough attention to it.) I did, on a whim, sign up for the inaugural Portland Half Marathon on 10/10/10 (in conjunction with the Portland Marathon). I had been toying with whether I should do the marathon or check out the new half, and I was lured into signing up today by a $25 discount that is only good until December 14. I luckily had my credit card handy. (After I registered I took the credit card back downstairs and put it into my purse, so I wouldn't be lured into more registrations tonight!)

·I need to go back through my running calendar and add up my mileage for this year. I think I set a goal of 1600 miles, threw that goal out in the spring (because I was not on track to make it), started wondering whether my high mileage weeks this fall might put me back on track, then of course had a very low mileage week this week (considering that the marathon fell during the previous week, based on the above-stated rule about Sundays). The only thing that has been interfering with adding up the totals is that there are a few weeks without my distance recorded. I think it is mainly when I was in England. I have the data in my Garmin records, I just have to dig it out. That should be a fun project sitting at the computer....

·I still have moments of euphoria about the marathon. It was such a positive experience, fun and not horribly painful, with a result that was better than I ever expected! I would like to brag about it more, but I try to keep myself restrained. In fact, there are lots of people I know who don't even know that I ran a marathon a week ago. It's a little weird to bring it up out of the blue.... I wore my race shirt to the Y every day this week, and nobody even asked about it! (Not that I ask random people about their race shirts, but I think I might if it was for a race that just happened!)

·I have not done any Christmas shopping yet. And don't have any firm plans about when, where, or what I am going to do about this. (See above, re: keeping up with the rest of my life.)

·However, I am always like this about Christmas shopping! I am sure it will all work itself out eventually....