Two weeks!?!?!

Yeah, I suck. I know this.

Some random thoughts during a trip to Memphis this week...

1) I am incapable of staying awake on planes. Maybe it's the hum of the engines or the fact that there is absolutely nothing I can do but sit there and relax. Whatever it is, my window seat and I love some good 'ole plane sleep.

2) I am often disappointed with food at "fancy" restaurants. Perhaps my palate isn't sophisticated enough to fully appreciate what I am eating or, as I often experience with haircuts/colors, if I am going to pay a lot for a meal, I guess I expect to be delightfully surprised with the deliciousness of it all. Maybe my expectations are too high but most of the time I would have been just as happy with a $6 vegetable plate at Carvers.

3) I love coffee. I generally don't feel right in the morning if I haven't had a cup and lately have found myself craving it all day long...I think mostly because it's so freakin' chilly outside the last thing I want to do is throw something cold down my throat. The funny thing is, I can never seem to completely finish a full cup of coffee. Whether it be one cup or several because the waitress keeps coming by topping-off my half-drunk brew, I never ever make it to the bottom of a cup of coffee.

4) I really enjoy business travel. I love flying on airplanes and renting cars and sleeping in hotel beds and eating out at different restaurants and seeing cities I wouldn't normally visit...all on someone else's dime. I also enjoy the independence of it all. I like driving around in a strange place and having to find my way around. There are definitely some parts that drive me insane like the time between landing and the point in which you actually deplane...or the people that still don't know about the shoe/laptop removal & hold on to your boarding pass rules in the security line, but for the most part, I travel just enough to keep it fresh and exciting.

5) I am fascinated by people that have lived in the same city all their lives. It's not like I've lived all over the world (only Pensacola, Atlanta, Hilton Head [very briefly] and Denver) but I have at least gotten out of my comfort zone a bit and seen a little of what else is out there. I bring this up because, while in Memphis, several of the people I was with have lived in Memphis their entire lives. So I was thinking, okay, they most know this city like the back of their hands, right? But the funny thing was, the restaurant we went to was the first time any of them had been to it (and it was my 2nd time!). Even the area of town we went to, a couple of them hadn't been to in over 20 years! This completely fascinated me.

Charles and I ran 17 miles yesterday and for the first time in all this training mess, I understand just what I have gotten myself into and to be completely honest, I'm a little freaked out. The 14-mile run was hard, really hard but I had had the flu two days before the run so I wasn't completely hydrated and knew it was going to be difficult. 100% healthy this weekend, I was looking forward to the 16 miler. About 8 or so miles in I was feeling great as the course was much less hilly than what we have been running (although, one of the few hills we had to tackle was a MONSTER...absolutely the hardest hill we've run yet) and the only discomfort I was feeling was a pulling in the arch of my right foot. No cramps, no knee pain, well hydrated, etc. Even up to mile 13 or 14 I was feeling decent; a little tired especially in the leg area but mostly just ready to get it done and over with. By the last water stop with about a mile or two to go, I was to the point where when I stopped, my legs had a tremendously difficult time getting started up again and I feared if I stopped again I wouldn't be able to continue. Everything about my body wanted me to stop but I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep going. This was the first time I truly understood how mental the rest of the mileage is going to be. I was thinking of everything I could to keep my legs moving...the fact that I was healthy this week, that I didn't have very much further to go, that it will be really cool to say I've run 16 miles (we actually ended up running 17 miles because we didn't pay enough attention to the map and turned around about a 1/2 mile later than we should have), that I am blessed to have a healthy body and am able to run this distance, that I had a yummy calzone waiting for me at home, etc. Anything I could think of to keep me going. When I finished I was too tired to feel good about the run or enjoy the fact that I had just completed the longest run of my life. Immediately my legs started tightening up and by the time we made it home, both Charles and I were so sore we had to hobble out of the car and up the stairs to the couch. Sounds like fun, eh?

Today I feel great...I woke up this morning and wasn't even sore. Now, I am very proud to say I completed the run and I'm very excited about the fact that next Saturday is a low-mileage run in anticipation of the 20-miler we'll complete weekend after next. I can't imagine having to run another 9 miles on top of what I did yesterday but I am just going to have to trust my mind and body that I can do it and trust the training that it has prepared me for the 26.2 miles. I am still excited, anxious, and pleased with my progress but I will definitely be happy when I am on the other side of this damn thing.

Between the running and the fact that work is extremely busy and mentally draining at the moment, I imagine the infrequent posting will continue for at least a little while longer. I apologize as it drives me crazy when the blogs I check regularly aren't updated frequently enough but sometimes you're just a little busy actually living your life to sit down and write about it.