The Home Stretch--and Looking For a Fight

I am happy to be in the home stretch for the marathon! Last weekend's 12-miler, my last double-digit run, went very well! I averaged about a 10:30 running pace. I had good company, perfect weather, and a flat road with my the sun on my face and the wind at my back. Does it get any better than that??

This week, I ran 5.6 on Monday morning at a 10:15 pace. Then I got on the dreadmill on Tuesday and Wednesday for a couple of slow, easy miles each time. Tomorrow morning, my running club is meeting for a Turkey Day 5K group run. That should be fun. Then on Saturday, I'm running 8 miles, my last significant distance before the marathon. I plan to take it slow and easy and watch for cars, dogs, holes, uneven pavement, loose gravel---anything that could wreck things one week before the race!

I'm still fighting off a cold or something---I'm headache-y and have a tiny sore throat and a little tickle--- or maybe it's allergies. I'm taking a TON of Vitamin C and my glutamine, which boosts the immune system, too. I'm refusing to drink or eat after my husband or my three kids. Yesterday, my middle child turned 7 and INSISTED we go to GERM CENTRAL---Chuck E Cheese. Yikes! I didn't touch anything or breathe while I was there. I hand sanitized about 82 times. I think I'll be ok. I *even* (don't judge me) called my church nursery director, who had scheduled me to work this coming Sunday, and told her I had a conflict. (Yes, I'm conflicted about getting sick 6 days before my race!!!) I actually kept about 20 one-year-olds last Sunday and they all had runny noses and about half of them spent the hour coughing indiscriminately. Hell--oo? Ever hear of your elbow??? (maybe not)

Another thing I've noticed these last two weeks is I feel a bit.... out of sorts.... mentally. I have been outspoken, unafraid to complain, on the verge of angry, stubborn, and giving people a hard time in general. (Feel sorry for my family right now.) Today I almost ripped a teenager's head off at the YMCA. Some kids were playing dodgeball in the gym where the preschoolers were having their nursery, and as we were leaving a dumba*# beaned my three-year-old in the head with the ball. He could SEE we had to pass through. Could he not WAIT 10 seconds to release the ball? I gave him a "I'm going to rip your arm off and beat you with it" look, while yelling, "WHAT WAS THAT???". And then, for good measure, I gave the YMCA employee the same look. If daggers could shoot out of my eyes, they would be in serious pain right now. He was very apologetic (several times over and over), but the look on my face said it all.

I saw a fellow runner a couple of minutes later, and casually asked her, "Do you ever feel like you are LOOKING FOR A FIGHT???" She, in her running wisdom, said, "Don't worry. It's just TAPER."

Thank goodness. I thought maybe I was becoming a Bad Ass.*

*See what I mean? Taper is making me curse! I never curse!