Saturday: Long Run and Suicide Watch

I was up at 5:20 AM this morning to get to the park to run. I had made plans with Marshall to meet at 6:00 AM to get in 6 miles before meeting with the main group at 7:00 AM. This morning it was seriously cold. Now when it is less that 40 degrees outside, I get reckless with my dress. I just can't pull it all together. I worry that I will be too hot, and then I worry that I will be too cold. So I leave this house in some seriously ridiculous ensembles. I just wish I had the wherewithall to take a picture of myself before the run, so you could see just how far I take my weather worries. No, I totally retract that statement. It is so ridiculous that it should remain between myself and the other poor souls who show up in the wee hours of the morning to run in the dark in sub forty degree weather.

Today, I arrived at the park in one of Elliott's camo-hunting hats complete with ear flaps, thinsulate, gortex, and a faux fur lining. I also wore a wind wall vest from Northface (a very useful item of clothing, if you are interested) and a wind-cutting turtleneck from Nike. I also wore my fleece ski gloves. THEN, I inexplicably wore a pair of thin running capris also from Nike. They are quite tiny and have absolutely no insulation. It was like being naked on my lower half. When I got out of the car, I asked Fraz if I looked "hot", to which he replied "in an Elmer Fudd kind of way". Why will Fraz be so funny?

I MEANT TEMPERATURE-WISE, NOT LIKE PARIS HILTON. Anyway, I ran a mile with Fraz then found Marshall, and we ran six more. By the time I finished my 7 miles, I was sweltering on top. My head was pouring sweat and my chest was soaked. I was carrying my gloves and wondering what planet I was from. My lower half, however, was an icecicle. The front of my thighs and calves were numb and my bottom felt like two blocks of ice.

I am going to do some reading about dressing for the cold this week. There must be some researched advice out there. Must be.

After I finished my 7 miles, Marshall and I met up with the 7:00 AM group and tacked on ten more miles. I was able to drop a few clothes in the car and complete the final ten at a more comfortable temperature. All told, it was 16ish or 17ish miles at a fast clip. I am pleased with long runs. I am not as sore tonight as I was last week, so I take that to be a great sign.

Also, my nutrition was better this morning: I had a smoothie and a cup of gold bar and some green tea before my run today, so I had plenty of fuel.

Now, when I got home, Elliott and I traded off with Ivan. He went to bike and I took care of Ivan. While I was getting Ivan's baby quiches ready to toast, (and I mean that my back was turned for all of one solid minute) Ivan climbed onto the kitchen stool and fell off backwards. I mean, I turned around and saw his little body hit the ground and bend like Gumby. It was terrifying. I wasn't sure whether to call 911 or pick him up. Anyway, he started sobbing and moving, and so I picked him up, and he is all right but for a nasty bruise on his hip and two bumps on his head.

This afternoon, as I was putting new sheets on the bed, I was shaking out the top sheet to put on the bed and Ivan crawled under the sheet and onto the bed before I saw him, he then leapt into the air as if on a trampoline, lost his balance and hit the floor. It all happened in less than a second. Again, I had a milli-second of indecision of whether or not to call 911, and then Ivan started sobbing, and I picked him up, and I am clearly going to have to mattress the walls at Sloan Manor. Or maybe the answer is that I cannot do one shred of housework or prepare any healthy food. I can only follow Ivan with no more that one inch of separation and feed Ivan whatever I can lay hands on without removing my eyes from him. Maybe this is my new strategy.

Finally, my pictures for today are the new rugs I purchased for Sloan Manor. We now have a dining room rug, a foyer run (picture is with a ladder than is inexplicably lying in the floor), a den rug (which I forgot to photograph), and a new bedroom rug. Note that my dining room is in a shamble, two different dining room curtains. I love the green ones (which are new), but do they go with the rug. I am hanging both temporarily while think on which is best.