Saturday, May 10, 2008

"I won't be cooking any burgers; I'll be sitting on a stool..."

We had THE BEST WAITRESS at World Famous today. She took our picture, kept our coffee cups full, AND because there were only three in our party, WE GOT A BOOTH! Don't we look comfy?

Kudos to Mik for 1) running 20 miles this morning and 2) working two shifts in her sons' little league snack bars afterward. I hope she got the stool...she deserved it AND ... we all deserve breakfast in bed tomorrow.

And of course...we had mimosas...here's what was left of them...

Me? I just ran my 20, ate, drank, then came home showered, and tried to nap, although after ingesting 3 packets of Gu and the bottomless cup of coffee, my caffeine intake sort of interfered with the napping part...lets just say I rested...so sad.

20 miles is far.

Understatement of the century, huh? So is running 16, 17, or 18...but having done 17-22 miles, I'm ABSOLUTELY confident that we'll be able to run the full marathon. For me, it won't be fast. It won't be pretty, but I'm pretty sure that I, and the rest of my body parts, can do it.

I have conversations with my various parts and appendages as I run. I enjoy how they all feel the need to check-in with me at random times during the long runs, sometimes when I least expect it. One of the things that's kept me entertained are the conversations I have and deals I make with myself. Today's conversations went something like this:

After five miles of running:

Ball of left foot: Hey, I don't want you to forget that I'm workin' for you here...so here's a random sharp pain to remind you that I'm here. Send me some love why don't you...you used to get pedicures somewhat regularly, but for the last 9 months, nada...what's up with that?

Me: OK, left foot. I know you're there and I want to thank you for running over those pebbles back there, but we've just started today, and you can't be acting up yet. Thanks for all your hard work these last 9 months. I stopped getting pedicures because you gave up three toenails last summer, and I could see paying for a full price pedicure which dealt with only 7 nails.

After 7 miles:

Nose: Hey Alice, I know you THOUGHT you were over that cold...but I think I'll still be running down your face for awhile today...just so that you don't forget that even though you breathe through your mouth, I'm still here too.

Me: (to nose) Hey nose, I love ya too, but I wish you'd stop running. It's a huge pain in the ass to keep blowing all your snot into my shirt.

Shortly thereafter:

Ass: Wait a minute, who you callin' a pain in the ass...I'll show you a pain in the ass. How about if I just tighten up for awhile.

Me: (to ass) oh please. It was just an expression...I appreciate the work your doing too, and don't you appreciate being just a little bit tighter now that I've been taking you out running these past weeks?

After 10 miles:

Left quad: Geez, I'm working pretty hard here too...how about some Gu? Are you ready to stop yet? I think I'll just tighten up for awhile so that you remember the effort I put into this.

Me: OK quads (don't want the right one to feel left out...so I address them both) the Gu could be arranged, but no, we're not stopping yet. Seriously though, do you think you could relax just a little? Whenever you tighten up, the hamstrings feel left out, and they start to tighten up as well... We all just need to relax here. We are only 1/2 way there.

After 13 miles

Back: Excuse me...all that sniffling and blowing is really starting to bother me...how about if I just run some random back spasms for awhile. That'd be new...I've never done that before...wheeeee!

Me: ooohhh that hurts. What's your problem back? If you keep this up, we'll have to walk for awhile, then it will take longer to get back and that means we all wait for mimosas...now come on body, let's get it together here... How about if we stretch for a little while...

After 15 miles

All body parts: WTF Alice...we've been at this for over three hours. We think we're done and we're gonna stop running....NOW....

Stomach: Excuse me...those three packets of Gu...I'm pretty much done with those now and I'd like to get rid of the excess...

Me: Aw come-on parts...We still have about five miles...we gotta keep going, think breakfast, think mimosas...

Parts: We don't think so... Not that into it... Just. Want. To. Stop. Now.

Stomach: I'm not talking about stopping...

So, we all walked, and after about a 1/2 mile of walking and trying to convince my body parts to run again...and after finding a restroom, all of us (I'm happy to report) decided that mimosas and breakfast would be a VERY GOOD THING and even though we were all relatively numb and exhausted, everyone decided to cooperate...thank goodness...

Four hours, 15 minutes ...we were all done...longest run of my life...

Ending song of the run today: Jackson Brown - "Running on Empty." I didn't plan it that way...but how appropriate!

Awesomeness to Betty, Mik, Alberta & BBJ (who I hope is OK didn't overdo it too much with the calf muscle) for our great-last-long-run...

Three weeks people...

I think I'm going to LOVE tapering...

Ahhh Mimosas....

Alice

4 comments:

  1. That blog post was too funny. It should be part of the New Balance/hate love commercials. I have been talking to my body parts for many many years.

    When I was younger....I had better arguments and they all tended to listen to me. As I get older, like teenagers, they tend to ignore me more and more....

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  2. Oops...somehow I turned off the open posting option...but it's back on now so you don't have to have an account to make posts or respond.

    By the way...Mike took me to a dive bar in Little Italy called The Waterfront last night...fun place that we would all enjoy.

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  3. Top Ten List of the 22 Mile Run High- Low Lights:
    10. Actually getting used to B.N.s
    9. Realizing that only 4 more miles of pain would have been a marathon.
    8. Hoping the women who was struck by the bicyclist is OK. Run in pairs or single file like Paul says.
    7. Beating the "walker" back to HoPo, even though I had to walk some.
    6. Seeing everybody on the road somewhere during the run.
    5. Trying to convince myself that my calf was only pain and not injury, and keep running the last 20 miles. Truth, my calf started to twinge around the jetty.
    4. Deciding to miss bre-fess with the ladies(bad). Remembered on the way home that I had a massage at 1 p.m.(good)
    3. Having similar thoughts to Dr. Davis-Harris during the run yesterday about aching body parts.
    2. Seeing P.A., Kim, and Jaime waiting on the grass at the end, probably for Dr. Davis-Harris though.
    1. I still thinking about this one.

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  4. This was the funniest blog ever! You have become very creative on this one! - Betty

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