Baton woes

A Baton, according to Merriam-Webster is: a hollow cylinder carried by each member of a relay team and passed to the succeeding runner
A Baton, according to Helen, is the bane of my existence. Allow me to back track a little. When I was younger I used to have this terrible habit of dropping things and not realizing I did it. It's how I lost a couple of wallets. So now that I'm older and compulsive I've tried to make up for that and am constantly checking to make sure I have all my belongings. Of course I also carry a purse now so I won't have to worry about dropping something accidentally and not realizing it. This translates into hating to have things in my hands when I'm running. It throws off my entire sense of balance and all I can do is think about whatever I'm holding. Which is why during Beach to Bay I dropped the baton, not once, not twice, but FIVE times. I have a bruise to show for it. The last time it bounced up, hit my shin and I stopped, let out a loud expletive (sorry parents reading this) stomped over to the baton and walked for about 100 steps in disgust. If I was about 5 years younger I would have sat on the curb and had a fit. As it was I threw a pretty big fit anyway.
I did manage to finish in less than 48 minutes which was all I hoped for. Of course if I could have kept up my awesome pace for the whole time I would have finished in closer to 40 minutes, but I'll take 48 for this slow going time in my running phase.
I am glad I did the run though. It was nice to be in a big mix of runners, crossing a finish line, having someone hand you six medals (yes, I got all the medals for my team and none of them were at the finish festivities, so I have yet to hand those out) and just be in a race environment. It was good for my soles (haha, get it, soles?)
I do however feel like I'm back on track. Having someone to run with is very helpful. I've peer pressured Marissa Villa, one my friends and co-workers (yes, we're friends too--sorry that's an inside joke) into running the half marathon in the fall. I think it probably scares her more than I know, but I've promised I'll be there every step of the way for her. We did our first run together today. 3 miles in about 36 minutes. Not bad considering we were doing 3-2 intervals and I had to walk an extra time because I felt like the humidity was suffocating me.
In truth I thought about giving up running for a while. I spent 5 days at home in New Mexico during which I played tennis with my sister and had a really good time. I was sore in all the right places the next morning and though "hmmm, maybe I could join a tennis league, swim and do my cardio boxing this summer and forget running." Of course I'm already committed to helping two marathon teams (and I'm no quitter) and I've promised my friend I'd get her to the finish line. I can't let her down.
I'm doing this for her, right? In actuality I feel like Marissa's doing something great for me. Getting me back on the roads and enjoying it. Even if I am breathing harder than I'd like to :)

Making up is hard to do

Have you ever run into an old friend? Someone you used to be close to and you lost contact and it's been years since you've spoken. Maybe you go have coffee, you struggle for topics of conversation, it's awkward. And then maybe you try again. This time might not be so awkward you share stories about your life remember friends of old. That's if your lucky. If your unlucky it continues to be awkward and you can never rebuild that friendship. Fact is you've moved on, grown apart and have very different lives. That's sort of the place I'm at with running. I feel like we were estranged for a few months and forgot about each other. Forgot the feel of hitting the road together, the conversations we had, the problems we solved in our hours together. Right now it's awkward (meaning I find myself huffing and puffing and hating it). I can keep going to have coffee with my old friend or I can move on.
I'm determined not to move on. We have a big date coming up soon. The Beach to Bay relay marathon. There's always something great about races. The camaraderie with other runners, the rush you get from being in an organized race, the feeling of belonging. I'm hoping that this date will give me and Running the bump we need to become good friends again. Here's to hoping!

To the beach and beyond

I've been having some trouble finding my rhythm since I got sick in February and was knocked off my running routine for three weeks. Now it's MAY and I still haven't been able to get out on the roads more than two days a week. I almost don't even look forward to my runs because instead of being "easy" I find myself struggling to find a groove and three miles seem like FOREVER.
I was hoping a run on Town Lake a couple of weeks ago would jump start my feet. Help me find my groove. But I've only run three times since then. Sigh.
I do however, only have three weeks until the Beach to Bay relay marathon. Which means I need to get up to the 4 miles so that the humidity and heat are the only thing I'm left dealing with, not the dread of 4 miles.
There's also this little matter of the Rock n Roll Marathon. I still haven't decided which event I want to run. The OCD, over-achiever, competitive side of me wants to run the whole 26.2. The sane, remembers that it may be 89 degrees, wants to set a P.R. side of me thinks I should run the half marathon. I could drop 10 pounds and run a 2:15 half marathon. Just writing 2:15 makes me think "hmm, maybe that could be the thing for me.
But for now I just keep looking at the marathon website, pulling up the route, looking at the registration page and imagining what I'll think in November once I'm in a corral ready to cross the start line.