Week 2, Day 14 (revisited)

Last night I had a dream that I decided I wasn’t going to run today. Then I was driving home when all of a sudden, a monster storm broke out and a pyroclastic flow started rushing down the mountain towards me. I abandoned my car, ran into the open garage of a nearby house and waited until all hell stopped breaking loose. When the flow stopped, I walked back to the road and looked out over the valley to see the sky pitch black with at least six tornadoes wreaking havoc on the countryside below me. It was one of the most terrifying things I’ve seen in a dream. There's a Native American legend where (basically) if you see the dead man walking in a (multiple vortice) tornado, it means you're going to die. Totally not freaked out at all.

I know the dream was brought on by the insane volcanic eruption in Chile last Friday. I heard about it last night and became concerned because my cousin is on a big bike trek in that area, and he hasn’t updated his travel blog journal since the 30th (two days before the eruption). I’m going to have my mom call my aunt today; hopefully somebody’s heard from him.

So I woke up in a weird mood. Not to mention I was nervous about today’s run because (since last night) I have been suffering from what I now refer to as a V.C. Andrews-related G.I. upset. (I knew Petals on the Wind was going to be a bad read, but I checked it out of the library anyway. STUPID.) As I’ve mentioned, there are no port-o-potties over by the track, so if worse came to worst, I would literally be shit out of luck.

...moving on...

My knees have been on the verge of bothering me lately, so I made sure to have my flax seed smoothie for breakfast this morning. Pre-run I had a handful of almonds and raisins (mostly so I could take some acidophilus). For lunch I had some minestrone soup. I’m not feeling very well, and I don’t have much of an appetite. Bleh.

When I got down to the track, it was a lovely 53°F, overcast with a bit of wind coming in from the West. I was a little chilly in my tank top, but I knew I’d warm up once I got to the running intervals.

Today went very well. The heaviness is gone, and I felt pretty damn good. Usually by the third run I feel like I want to die, but today it wasn’t too bad. When I got to the fourth run, I felt amazing, like I could keep running forever. I left the track feeling very accomplished and happy. I went home and did my lower body workout and now I’m getting ready to go to the library. I’ve got to drop Tank off at my sister’s on the way, so I can head back over there to watch TV. She’s got cable ---> Versus -----> Hockey!!!! Western Conference finals. I’m so excited/nervous. Let’s go, Red Wings! (Yes, I’ve got my lucky red shirt on. Still haven’t washed it.)

See you on Saturday.

P.S. It started raining as I was walking back to my car. Perfect timing!