Accepting the Cloud

It has been only two hours since I got up and I'm already planning my nap. I cozy up on the couch with my favorite fuzzy blanket and switch on the TV. I flip through my list of shows on Netflix, decide nothing sounds appealing, and turn it off. Snuggling down under the covers, I decide to skip the TV and go straight to the napping part. It's like being sick with a cold, except I don't feel better for long.

We took a quick trip to Whiskeytown to try and dry me out. It helped for about a day.

Not much has changed with me physically. I'm still suffering and sleeping a lot. Every day, I'm thankful that my current work gig (yay, housewife) allows me to rest when I need it. I don't have to adhere to a strict schedule and have enough mindless tasks that my mind doesn't have to be cloud-free in order to feel like my day was productive.

My only good day this week was this one.

I'm accepting my current diminished state, especially as it relates to my running. As a runner, it's easy to focus exclusively on race paces and times, but there's so much more to it than that. What initially drew me to running was the peace and the time with the sound of my breath and footsteps outside, not my speed. While I'm taking this (hopefully) brief hiatus from structured competitive running and racing, I'm trying to focus my efforts on the reasons I fell in love with running. I still need to keep reminding myself of this fact.

Luckily, I have some wonderful running buddies who don't mind disappearing with me into the forest on rainy days.  Girl time with two of my favorite ladies was exactly what I needed last weekend. We spent the day with the tall trees of Prairie Creek and had our own trail ladies’ spa day complete with a mud bath, foot soak, squeaky clean pores, and long chats about boys. I need more trail days just like this one.

James Irvine-Miner's Ridge loop

My friends are the best.

As luck would have it, Matt's weekend coincided with my breaking point. We made a quick trip inland to Redding, but we both learned that their springtime with flowering trees doesn't help me any either.

Since our focus of the trip was relaxing and tapering, we didn't run much. We had some Dairy Queen, took a yoga class, got a massage, and went to dinner with our trail buddy Mark and his wife. It still felt weird to travel with such a light running schedule, but I soldiered through it, medicating with Dairy Queen Blizzards.

Our big running goal was a Strava segment in a small park near our hotel. It took two tries to finally cover the correct route through the tangled web of trails, but Matt came out victorious and snatched the course record.

Meanwhile, I mostly ran at an easy pace, picking it up when I felt like it. My best run of the week was four miles in the drizzle at a 7:50 pace. It's nice to know my legs still know how to run fast.

Tomorrow is the club's Foggy Bottom race where I'm signed up for the 10 mile run. I've run this race in all kinds of weather and haven't missed it since I joined the running club. I love this race in all of its foul-weather-and-flooded-road glory. I spent this week tapering, hoping that a lighter mileage week would let me recover enough to race well.

Race day forecast. Can't get much better than that! ;)

As I'm typing this, my vision is blurring the screen and I've got a sinus headache so bad that my teeth hurt so obviously that didn't work. I'm really bummed that I haven't improved much. Every ten minutes or so, I change my mind about race day: Run the 10 mile easy. Race the 4 mile hard. Race the 4 mile easy. Volunteer instead. I hate that I'm so riddled with indecision when it comes to this area of my life. I'm so used to having a plan and a goal that I'm a bit lost without one. Luckily, Lanore is feeling about as well as I am, so we've agreed to start the race together and go slow if we need it.

Maybe all this rain will provide some relief......