A sick kitty

I only ran once this week and I feel kinda bad about it, but not as bad as I though. I came down with the flu on Tuesday and was out of it on Wednesday too. It figured that as soon as I started to feel better Wednesday afternoon, I realized that Zepplin, the cat, had not been feeling well for a few days and he appeared to be getting worse. After he vomited for the 4th time on Wednesday I couldn't take it anymore and I ran him down to the 24 hr clinic. The doctor examined him (and kept calling him a "her") and thought that maybe he had a piece of string or something in his intestines. An x-ray, bloodwork, and a few hundred dollars later we still weren't 100% sure what was wrong. I was given some medicine and was told to bring him back the next day for another set of x-rays. If his intestines looked better, the meds would work on their own. If they didn't, he would need surgery.

Giving him is medicine was something I'd like to forget about as soon as possible, so I'm not going to recap that adventure. Lets just say that between the cat, the hubs and I, two of us were hurt...and that did not include the cat.

Anyway, we took him to a different, nicer vet last night for his follow up x-ray. His intestines did look better, but he was still throwing up and was most likely dehydrated. We decided to leave him there overnight and hook him up to an IV and see how that goes. If he is still vomiting, we'll probably have to do an exploratory surgery today. If not, he'll probably need some more medication, but he'll be on the mend.

So cross your fingers for my little cat!

Some very exciting news!

My little sister, Aliza, is getting married! Her fiance, Nick, is serioulsy one of the coolest guys ever and I'm really happy for them. September 20 will be here before we know it!

In other news that would normally be the highlight of my weekend if my sister wasn't running around getting engaged (!), the weather here has just been absolutely gorgeous lately! I've been outside as much as possible, trying to enjoy it before the temps reach 95+ and things get miserable. Spring in Albuquerque doesn't seem to last too long, but when it's here, it's something to enjoy.

The hubs and I went on a 9.5 mile bike ride this morning with a really awesome friend of ours...brought the camera but totally forgot to take pictures! I'm kicking myself now! It was a nice, easy ride and the perfect start to an Easter Sunday.

Only three more weekends left in tax season and I can go back to a nice, 40 hour, 5 days per week work schedule...I'm seriously counting down to that. Unfortunately, my mom couldn't hold me in for an extra 4 days and my birthday, which is finally on a Saturday this year, will be spent in the office doing tax returns. Luckily things are going well there and I really don't mind having to work.

Have a happy Easter everyone!

UGH

Yesterday was a rough day. It was the first time in about 2 weeks that I just really, honestly did not feel like going for my run. I was tired, cranky, hungry and just about every other bad thing you can think of. I went to my mom's house in Taylor Ranch, managed to spend some time hanging out and further delaying my run there, and then I finally set out into what I thought would be a cold, windy evening. Windy? Yes. Cold? Not so much...and the long sleeve shirt I decided to wear just added to my bad mood.

I did learn an important lesson though...when "hungry" is one of those nasty things you're feeling, running is probably not a good idea until you've gotten something in your stomach. I stupidly ignored my 4.00 ritual of eating a banana, which is the perfect snack before my run that is usually an hour and a half later. About 15 minutes into my run, my stomach was not agreeing with me...and about 5 minutes after that, it pretty much jumped outside my body and yelled "Hey, you wanna stop or you wanna puke?" I made it to the 25 minute mark and just could not run those last 4 minutes. I walked for three minutes, and then somehow I was able to bust out an extra 4 minutes of running. Needless to say, I was miserable by the time I got back to my mom's house. It figures that my sister and her boyfriend would be there when I got back too...and that he'd ask how far I went. Dumbly I checked my Nike+ and it said 2.57 miles...in 30 minutes. He kinda gave me a look like "wow, you're slow" but hey...it's not like it's breaking news. And anyway, he's turning out to be a pretty cool dude, so I'll let this one slide. :)

As for happier news...my hubby decided that we need a GPS watch since we both run (although he thinks marathoners are nuts) and bike. Even after my nasty, yucky day yesterday, I was absolutely thrilled when I got home to see the FedEx box sitting in front of my door! According to the hubby, the Garmin 201 (no, it's not the top notch one...but then again, I'm not a top-notch runner so don't knock lower-end stuff) has been charged and has acquired a GPS signal for the first time...and it will be taken out for my "long" run tomorrow morning. 5 minutes running/1 minute walking...I am moving up in the world!

Motivation

I was browsing through the Runner's World website today and came across a request for readers to submit little blurbs on what motivates them to get out and run. They asked specific questions, which I won't bother to post here because I think they all point towards the same question: What motivates you to get out there, day after day, and run?

I'm still trying to find an answer to that...it's a much harder question than it sounds off the bat. I guess my main motivator is that I want to run a marathon...and I can't even begin to tell you why I want to do that, so we won't go there today. I just know that in 7 months and 1 day I will be getting up at the crack of dawn to run 26.2 miles, and that's an insane amount of miles. Considering that I run about 2.5 miles right now (yes, in 30 minutes, I realize how slow I am) I know I have a long way to go, and by skipping any of my runs will really hurt that.

But the marathon aside, I'm actually starting to like running. I know, it's crazy and if you've known me for more than a couple of months, you can pull yourself off the ground and stop laughing...it's true. It's hard and I hurt when I go. Finding a place to change my clothes after work, battling the wind, rain or snow, or wondering what new muscle I'm going to discover each night is not so fun. But the feeling I get when I realize that I'm about to start my last running interval and the past 25 minutes have flown by is great. And when the day is over and I'm getting into bed, I can feel my body relax and I know I've done something that's hard - maybe not hard for other people, but hard for me.

It's Even More Official...

On October 19, 2008, hopefully sometime before 2:00 pm, I will be a marathoner.

I just registered. I don't know whether to cry, throw up, or call the hospital in Denver and let them know I'm coming.

It's official

I run slower than most people walk.

But I'm okay with that.

Annnd I'm Back!

Wow, talk about a Debbie Downer! Last week totally sucked...It was really one of the worst weeks I've had, ever. I had a lot of "Can I really do this?" and "God, I really suck, WTF was I thinking?" but then came Saturday morning. I had the most amazing run of my short running life.

My running group is for beginners - people who have never run before. Even though I tried to train on my own for several months before joining, I fit in perfect here. I was really worried for this week's "long" run because I had such a hard time during the week. I know for some people running for 4 minutes straight is nothing...for me, it's the feat of a lifetime. Add only a 2 minute walk break and I was seriously contemplating just giving up. Saturday came before I knew it and I had to have a heart-to-heart with myself just to get out of bed. I managed to get up, get dressed and out the door...It was amazingly cold outside! Even still, I found myself meeting up with the rest of In Motion at 9 am. We got started and that first running interval was long, but I made it. I kept reminding myself to go slow...there's no need to race through it. Before I knew it, it was over...and then the next one was over, and the next, and the next. By the time we got to the last running interval, I was doing good. I was tired and sore, but I didn't feel like I was going to die. I had hooked up my Nike+ system that morning, and as the last running interval started, I hit my power song ("Never Gonna Stop" by Rob Zombie...yes, I'm that big a dork) and I got through it.

I felt so good, so proud. I was one of the last ones coming in, but I did it...I ran everything I was supposed to run!

My first race - a 5k - is coming up in a little over a month. I'm nervous for it because as much as I don't care about being dead last during our training runs, I don't want to be dead last for the race. Eh, but someone's gotta do it...I just keep telling myself "A'int no shame in being slow." At least I'm out there...that's a lot more than most can say.

Second thoughts

I'm really starting to doubt myself, and I don' t know what hurts worse...the second guessing or the fact that I really may not be able to do this. I'm not going to give up, at least not right away, but it sure is getting hard to keep pushing myself. I keep telling myself that I can do it...all it takes is one foot in front of the other (literally I guess) but it's getting so hard, and I'm not even to the "hard" part yet. I know, considering all that I've been through injury-wise that no one would blame me for throwing in the towel.



Someone on the nest asked me today "Honestly, why do you even want to run a marathon when you say that you hate running?" I really can't answer that question. I think that "hate" is too strong a word, but I am having an extremely hard time. This is just something that I want - and I can't think of a single thing that I want more out of life right now. When I envision crossing the finish line the emotions that take over me are insane and I keep telling myself that if thinking about finishing the race is enough to put tears in my eyes, surely the actual, real life finish will be even more earth moving. And even though I don't love running yet (I say "yet" with hope) I love the feeling I have when I'm done. I'm sore, and I hurt, and I cough for a couple of hours...but I feel absolutely amazing. And somewhere in my screwed up head, that feeling of amazement is going to be multiplied by millions the day of October 19 when I cross the finish line, whether it be on my feet with my arms in the air, or if I'm crawling and pulling my poor, tired body in.





***PS: To read a really good marathon recap, see Mrs50%'s blog, linked on the right. Thanks to her, my motivation has been renewed tonight.