June Follies: Races, Sad News and Goose Eggs
This weekend was something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, I raced in the National Race for the Cure, doing decently for someone whose hamstring is tender after a mile and who hasn’t done a short race in more than two years. I was upper-middle-of-the-pack once more, and that’s all I ask for as my running slowly but surely revs up for marathon training.
On the other hand, I got news from my best college buddy that her mother had died. More on that later since something like this deserves its own space, but all I can say for now is that my friend’s doing well.
The weekend started on a bit shaky—IP and I had one of our rare fights, but met after work (actually, we left work early to work everything out) and made up by sharing by talking and sharing sushi. Fighting is never fun, but the end result is that we walk away from the struggles a bit stronger and with a clearer view of who we each are, and what we are to one another.
The race, preceded as it was by the news of my friend’s mother, was something of an afterthought for me. While it was definitely fun to line up for a worthy cause, it was a bit anticlimactic after the excitement of New York. There were more people here—an estimated 45,000—but there’s a difference between tackling 26.2 miles over the course of five hours and finishing up a 5K in less than 30 minutes. I used to get nervous before 5Ks, but Saturday’s was different: perhaps it was because IP was there with me almost up until the horn went off, but I felt pretty relaxed and nonchalant about the whole thing. That’s not to say I wouldn’t do it again—I would, and my co-workers and I hope to form a company team next year—but it’s to say that perhaps New York has ruined me (which is a good thing, in my opinion!). I saw IP waiting for me as I approached the finish line, and I waved and called out his name to no avail. However, we suspect that he actually captured a picture of me this time around—it’s from a distance, and of course I wasn’t the focus, but it looks like me all the same. It was fun, though, to sneak up on him after I finished as he still searched the crowds for me. A brunch with a co-worker and her friends afterwards proved to be entertaining, and I made my way back home to IP (he didn’t join in on the brunch) to go and do another hour of cardio (Arc trainer, of course—yes, I am insane, why do you ask?).
I paid for that extra hour of cardio, though, by being sleepy, kind of grumpy and prone to excessive yawning come Sunday afternoon. When IP suggested that we skip the gym for a nap, I readily agreed.
To mark an official end to the weekend, my forehead decided to make its acquaintance with my towel rod, resulting in a tender goose egg gracing my looks this morning. No one has noticed it until I point it out, but I still know it’s there, giggling maniacally at what it’s caused—I just need one more bump to complete the hip demon look that I so obviously want to sport. I was denied a cold compress from the health facility at my building (told to go to the store to buy one, which I had already tried—they didn’t have any) because I am a dirty contractor who doesn’t deserve to experience the benefits of good and sound health because I am a parasite, apparently—never mind that they award the contracts, not me, and never mind that I am not technically asking for treatment, I just wanted to see if they had anything I could press to my forehead.
More later as I try to keep my water bottle cold for my forehead.
