The Art of Compromise

When I am motivated - as I was last year at this time - I am an early morning runner. A set your alarm an hour earlier and just get it done runner. A "I like to drink after work and sometimes AT work so I can't run in the afternoon" runner. There were exceptions, of course. Random bits of motivation that come fluttering in and are impossible to ignore. You have to seize those because they are rare (at least to me).

Last year I actually did a lot of my running on my lunch breaks too, because it was kind of the best of all worlds - didn't have to wake up early AND I could have a beer at the end of the day with my boss and coworkers.

But this year, it is all SO very different. I can tell in just the first week of this silly plan, and there are several reasons for it. The first reason it's different is that I have ZERO motivation to run on my own. None. Nothing. Billy is the one - it was his idea and he's the driving force. He's doing abs and arms and back and chest and and and and workouts BEFORE we go run. When he asks me to join, I'm like "meh. There are things going on in the interwebs that are very important and I can't miss right now." Another reason it's SO different this year is because I'm doing this as a team. This is good (see above motivating factor) but it means that I can't run on my lunch break. Nope - for the most part we are very much trying to do this together.

I love it, I do. It's much better this way BUT also...just...different. Take this Sunday morning, for example, when the alarm went off at 5:30. The night before I had insisted that we run in the morning. I'm a morning runner. It's what I do. It's cooler. And then it's just DONE and you don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day. (At this point, Billy says something like, "Bullshit, Ash. you just like to drink rum drinks on the beach on Sunday afternoons." Well, duh.) I'm getting off track - ANYWAY, Billy has no problem running in the afternoons. In fact, he would prefer to do our long runs on Sunday afternoons because 1) YOU CAN SLEEP IN ON A SUNDAY! (novel idea, eh?) and 2) well, there really is no other reason. So, when I got my way (which I usually do) and the alarm went off at 5:30 on Sunday so we could go run 10 miles, what do you think happened?

I told him to shut the damn thing off and that we would run later. I was tired! I had tossed and turned all night! I just DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT, ALRIGHT?! He was displeased because he had opted against his second Steinlager Saturday night in preparation for our a.m. jaunt. Displeased though he was, I think he was tired at 5:30 too and just decided to roll with it. And we ran in the afternoon.

AND IT WAS GLORIOUS!!! No, really. Like, who knew running with your spouse for 8.6 miles at 6 pm on a Sunday evening could be so fantastic?! It was by far the best run both of us have had since we started. Totally amazing and wonderful run. And the BEST part?! There was still wine waiting for us when it was over ;)

So, the moral of the story is: Billy was right.

HAHAHAHAHA!!! No, no, no, no...that can't be it. It must be Compromise. Yes, that's the moral! (You see, because I decided on Sundays we could move our long run to the evening because he already does everything else my way because it is the most correct way)

**A Note**
I just read through this thing and realized it's basically all about balancing my wine schedule and my running schedule. We're such lushes.


Wine?


WINE!


(this was right after the marathon last year)





Hope you are having a lovely week! Happy Hour - I mean, Happy Runnning!

Run Pretty, Now!

Anyone get Runners World Magazine?

Anyone see this?



An entire cover story on frickin running in skirts - colorful ones! And tall socks! Frills and lace and ruching - oh my!

But...remember when I talked about running skirts here?

And when I talked about running pretty here and here?

THAT WAS LAST YEAR, RUNNER'S WORLD!!!

Pfffttt...I was so ahead of my time.

Chrome Wheeled, Fuel Injected & Steppin' Out Over The Line

If Pheidippides was alive today, he wouldn't have this problem.

Shoot, he didn't have this problem even when he was alive, because running from Marathon killed him. He didn't need to tell people about it afterwards. I suppose I don't really need to either but it would sure be fun, wouldn't it?

The last post I wrote was me whining in November. One month and ten days before M-Day. What happened after November 2, 2010? Welp, I quit whining and kept running. Billy came home, MuM and DadE came out to support me in my endeavors...and I finished the 2010 Honolulu Marathon in 3:54:56.* And then I got a tattoo to commemorate my tremendous feat.

And I swore, swore that I would never EVER do that to my body again. I can't remember pain worse than those last 6 miles. It jacked me up - mentally and physically. I took one whole month from running - and then another. I tried to run, and it still hurt. Friends of mine that had also run the marathon were back on their feet and happy as clams, and I couldn't run a 1/2 mile. So...I started going to physical therapy. After 2 different therapists and 4 months of being lazy and gaining weight (remember this? Today, I am right where I was. It must be my happy place), it was determined that my right hip was tilted incorrectly - a common ailment among female runners. It sucks, though. It took me 6 full months to recover from the marathon. Why on earth would I do that again?

Peer Pressure!

Or rather, coercing, conjoling, and persuading by my husband. He wants to run the marathon in December, and I guess misery loves company. Mostly, I think he just got me drunk and convinced me that running 26 miles again would be fun. Silly man. What are we thinking? We started last Thursday. We did a long run (which is 7.8 miles now) on Monday and were on the track - THE TRACK!!!! - yesterday.

As much as I'd like to deny it, it's happening again. And this nutter can't help but thinking in blog posts along the miles. Thoughts would show up like:

"Self! You could write about why you quit writing because it was just too much extra stuff to do and then you felt guilty about not doing it in so long and then the marathon was over and, and, and, you need to offer the people an explaination!"

"Self! You could write about how much better track work outs are with a buddy"

"Self! It would be so FUN!"

Tonight Billy is working, so I ran 30 minutes by myself. And at the very end of my run, the most amazing running song of all time came on my iPod shuffle. I started thinking about it. And how I could put a link to the song on the blog! And how awesome it would be! But then...I came home. I started thinking about how much extra work it would be to start again. So I said, "SELF!!! If you can fold all this laundry and still feel like you need to write, then you need to go write." Here I am.

Here's the song:


That's some motivational shit right there.

It might rip the bones from my back, be a death trap, a suicide rap...but baby, I was born to run.


*officially, my time was 4:00:08. Don't get me started. I stopped my watch for puking and nature stops so MY time wins. I usually don't tell people about being 8 seconds over 4 hours when they ask. But as always and ever, I'm all about full disclosure here