Cowboy Hazel

I'm usually not one to complain about the weather, but this little bout of rain has really gotten to me. First of all, I want it to be snow and not rain. It has snowed for a total of about three-and-a-half minutes so far this year here in the city and that's just not okay with me. On top of that, this rain keeps screwing up my plans...

Actually, I'm going to back up in the story a bit here. A couple days ago, a friend of mine who lives in Trenton called and asked if he could crash here Wednesday (last) night. He was seeing some show in the city with a friend and they were going to stay in Brooklyn but plans fell through, etc. I said, "Sure, no problem, but I have to wake up at 4:30 to run Thursday morning so I won't be much of a host." He said that was fine that they would just get here after the show, probably 10 or 10:30. At eleven o'clock last night, I get a text from him saying that they're gonna grab a bite to eat then be up here. WTF? I wrote back, "Ok," and decided that this would be my good deed for the week and I wouldn't let myself get annoyed. Well, about a half hour later, while I'm sitting in my recliner in the living room reading and waiting for them to show up, I accidentally fall asleep. My phone was in my bedroom and so I didn't hear it when he finally called.

My alarm clock went off at 4:20 and I was still on my chair. I ran into the bedroom to hit snooze and then remembered about my friend. I look at my cell phone, see the missed calls and listen to the voice mail. Apparently they ended up driving back to Trenton. I felt really bad at first, but then, the more I thought about it, I realized it wasn't really my fault. Then, right after listening to that, Sarah called and said that it was pouring on the west side and asked, "How hardcore are you feeling? You feel like running 10 miles in the freezing rain?" Considering that I'd only slept four hours (and that in a chair), I decided to wimp out and go back to sleep.

So, instead I did 7 miles over my lunch break down to NYRR and back (I took the long way) to pick up my bib for Saturday's race. This was the first time I've ever actually "ran an errand." I felt very proficient in my use of time... The run itself wasn't anything to get too excited about though. I am still so unbelievably sore. I don't know what's going on – I didn't feel half this bad the day after my marathon! I'm starting to worry that something is seriously wrong with my left foot – the outside metatarsal has been getting progressively worse for over a week. And, besides that, I'm just really lacking energy and just generally sore all over. I feel like I got beat up. Needless to say, I'm taking tomorrow off. But, still, I'm nervous about this weekend.

Saturday, I have the NYRR Holiday 4 Miler then Sunday, I'm doing the Jingle Bell 5K for Arthritis in Brooklyn. (By the way, if you want to help out the cause, here's a link to do so.) I've never run back to back races before and I'm not sure exactly how it will work. I was thinking of doing a second run Saturday afternoon to loosen up my muscles, but am not sure if that's a good idea or not. Any suggestions? I'm pretty sure I will do a long slow run Sunday afternoon though. I'm thinking part of this week's soreness could be because I took this Monday off after Sunday's race. Anyway, my official goals are 24:20 (6:05 pace) for Saturday and 18:35 (5:59 pace) for Sunday. That might be too ambitious, but I'm going to throw them out there anyway. We'll see what happens.