Great Expectations

"Expectations" being the key word in that title. I expected to run my Grand Old Day 8K yesterday; I bailed. I expected to get up early this morning to being my summer of kick-ass half-marathon training; I bailed. I expected to finish that last sentence with "marathon training," but over the course of the past few weeks I've bailed on that, too.

I've decided a marathon just may be adding too much to the roster for this year. The past month wiped me out physically, mentally, emotionally. Plus, I only squeezed in about 3 or 4 runs during the whole month of May and I feel like I have lost some of my base. I need to have a manageable goal in front of me that allows me to build fitness this summer, and I think a half is the way to go. I figure I'll train for the Aug. 11 half and, if all goes well, maybe I'll be so excited that I'll continue my training and sign up for the originally intended Oct. 13 Whistle Stop Marathon. We'll see. I'm happy with what I've already done and if I have to say I ran 13.1 miles rather than 26.2, I'm OK with that. (I've also started wondering, when did I get to the point when I started sneezing at 13 miles?! That's a lot of distance! If that's "all" I do, that's still more than I ever thought possible.)

As for yesterday's race, I was BEAT. My knees are really hurting from moving/painting/etc. over the past week and, combined with yesterday's rain, I figured it wasn't a smart idea to test my limits. Oh well.

Finally, to recap where I've been the past few weeks, all I'll say is that the home-buying process was designed by the devil himself, and the next time I have to move, I will sell my body if it means coming up with enough money to pay professionals to do the dirty work for me. But, it's over, we're moved, and I could not be more excited to get back to my normal life.