Dishing About My Sunday
I’m now on my third dose of Extra Strength Tylenol. The pills are not so much for tightening muscles but some pretty nasty abrasions from where my bra rubbed me raw. Chafing is common for me, but this time I really “topped” myself.
I got up at 4:15, lubed up, dressed and made tea and toast I would not eat. Around 5 I headed out. The memories conjured up earlier in the week made me realize that I could just as easily run in my immediate neighborhood, as I’d done in NC, until dawn, and feel slightly safer. So I set my Timex to stopwatch mode at the edge of my driveway, hit start and began a series of .6 loops. It’s a little hilly, but at that hour quite doable. After the first loop, I looked at my watch under a street lamp. 3:33. Huh? No way I just ran a half-mile that fast. Next loop I did the same and this one said 10:53? What the--?! I ran another set, and my watch told me I’d just done two miles in 23+ minutes. No way.
I ran inside to use the bathroom and this time got a clearer look at my watch. It read 1 hour, 25 minutes. Then it dawned on me. Unable to see the stopwatch in the darkness, I’d forgotten to erase my last timed run. I’d also forgotten what that run had timed in on. So I had no choice but to start all over and credit myself for time spent. Just what that credit became depended on my mood during different stages of the day.
I reached the Miramar Lake entrance (Mile 4) just as pitch blackness was peeling away. There also were several cars already parked and voices up ahead. Hooray. With no marine layer that morning, the sun and heat rose quickly as I ran to the gate and back to the entrance (Mile 12). I was feeling sluggish and took a gel before starting back. Lots of runners and walkers who’d already passed me offered encouragement, which I gladly accepted. By the time I got back to the fence at the turnaround point (Mile 16), I could not face another lap around that lake and decided instead to run up a dirt path to Miramar Overlook Park. Then I got to the big hill just before it and immediately questioned my decision. I was spent. No matter what mental games I played, I could not get my legs to turn over quick enough to constitute running. So I stopped my watch and walked to the park’s water fountain, where I downed an e-gel.
Knowing I had only 4 miles to go got me to the next “water station” at Lakeview Park, where I downed another electrolyte capsule. The rolling hills soon ended and I finally reached the foot of a big hill a couple of blocks from my home and stopped my watch. Adding 20 minutes from earlier, my time of 3:40 confirmed this upcoming marathon will likely be among my slowest. And that’s even if I ran 21 today, which is quite possible since my calculations were confusing.
I followed up the big run by eating some exotic dishes cooked up by celebrity chef Dave Lieberman, who has a show on The Food Network. Gilbert and I went to his demonstration as part of a Macy’s School of Cooking program. It was great fun to watch him whip up penne with pink vodka sauce, a spicy carrot soup and -- just for San Diego -- two dishes featuring chicken livers and some unmentionable part of a lamb. Were I not still famished from the morning run, I would have passed on both. But it’s amazing how tasty dandelion greens on chicken guts can be when you put your mind to it. If I could, I would have asked for seconds.
I got up at 4:15, lubed up, dressed and made tea and toast I would not eat. Around 5 I headed out. The memories conjured up earlier in the week made me realize that I could just as easily run in my immediate neighborhood, as I’d done in NC, until dawn, and feel slightly safer. So I set my Timex to stopwatch mode at the edge of my driveway, hit start and began a series of .6 loops. It’s a little hilly, but at that hour quite doable. After the first loop, I looked at my watch under a street lamp. 3:33. Huh? No way I just ran a half-mile that fast. Next loop I did the same and this one said 10:53? What the--?! I ran another set, and my watch told me I’d just done two miles in 23+ minutes. No way.
I ran inside to use the bathroom and this time got a clearer look at my watch. It read 1 hour, 25 minutes. Then it dawned on me. Unable to see the stopwatch in the darkness, I’d forgotten to erase my last timed run. I’d also forgotten what that run had timed in on. So I had no choice but to start all over and credit myself for time spent. Just what that credit became depended on my mood during different stages of the day.
I reached the Miramar Lake entrance (Mile 4) just as pitch blackness was peeling away. There also were several cars already parked and voices up ahead. Hooray. With no marine layer that morning, the sun and heat rose quickly as I ran to the gate and back to the entrance (Mile 12). I was feeling sluggish and took a gel before starting back. Lots of runners and walkers who’d already passed me offered encouragement, which I gladly accepted. By the time I got back to the fence at the turnaround point (Mile 16), I could not face another lap around that lake and decided instead to run up a dirt path to Miramar Overlook Park. Then I got to the big hill just before it and immediately questioned my decision. I was spent. No matter what mental games I played, I could not get my legs to turn over quick enough to constitute running. So I stopped my watch and walked to the park’s water fountain, where I downed an e-gel.
Knowing I had only 4 miles to go got me to the next “water station” at Lakeview Park, where I downed another electrolyte capsule. The rolling hills soon ended and I finally reached the foot of a big hill a couple of blocks from my home and stopped my watch. Adding 20 minutes from earlier, my time of 3:40 confirmed this upcoming marathon will likely be among my slowest. And that’s even if I ran 21 today, which is quite possible since my calculations were confusing.
I followed up the big run by eating some exotic dishes cooked up by celebrity chef Dave Lieberman, who has a show on The Food Network. Gilbert and I went to his demonstration as part of a Macy’s School of Cooking program. It was great fun to watch him whip up penne with pink vodka sauce, a spicy carrot soup and -- just for San Diego -- two dishes featuring chicken livers and some unmentionable part of a lamb. Were I not still famished from the morning run, I would have passed on both. But it’s amazing how tasty dandelion greens on chicken guts can be when you put your mind to it. If I could, I would have asked for seconds.
