Biting the proverbial bullet

Today was one of those days. You know, when you feel like dragging yourself up a flight of stairs is a true effort and there should be a cupcake (with peach frosting, specifically from Babycakes) waiting at the top as a reward. Or maybe that's just me.

Mmm, chocolate-peach babycakes cupcake

With the double marathon thing coming up in less than 5 weeks, I had to go running. But that was really the last thing I could conceive of doing. Even after a 20oz iced coffee (that actually made me even more tired...yes I know I should probably lay off the caffeine thing. But it tastes sooo goood).

So when I got home, I promptly hit the couch for a *quick* snooze. It was magical, all 40 minutes of it. I was actually running in my dream. Not from zombies or even for the bus. Just running. Yet when I woke up, physical activity was still less than desirable. Conclusion: couch too comfy.

Nope, not my couch. But isn't it awesome?!
For those who want it...now: Link

Since I knew I had to bite the bullet sooner or later, and I wanted to catch the sunset too, I took a few bites of a Black Cherry Almond Clif bar, downed a glass of water and made suggestive eye contact with my running shoes. Still no spark. Much like when my Garmin tries to get GPS signal on a cloudy day.

It was really the perfect evening, I could hardly complain. But don't get me wrong, there was all kinds of complaining going on in my head as I took off.

I feel like I go through an emotional and physical roller coaster during a run, irrespective of distance. There are moments when I could punch somebody, or everybody for that matter, and then there are moments when I just want to remain forever and ever in a newly acquired state of bliss.

The marathon.

Here is how it went down today:
(note - I did not actually talk to myself out loud. It was tempting though)

Mile 1 - so this is really happening?! @#$%^&*!
Mile 1.5 - when will this be over?
Mile 2 - I feel (and probably look) like an elephant.
Mile 2.5 - that double marathon in 4.5 weeks is a funny concept.
Mile 3 - left, right, left, ri - oh look a bird!
Mile 4 - Okay, maybe I can do this....
Mile 6 - This is pretty awesome. Ooh, that random street looks like so much fun. Detour!
Mile 7 - Lala -lalalala-lala-lala
Mile 8 - Step aside, old pedestrian lady 'cause I'm flying' like a madwoman (but am not very coordinated)
Mile 8.5 - I don't want to go home yet. Detour!
Mile 9 - Weeeee! I'm done. But now my arms feel like they're missing out on the action.

So I headed to the gym for a quick date with some free weights and threw in some fun on the leg press machine for good measure. (I'm not sure why but I absolutely love that thing. It's just so...comfy)

The morale of my rambling is that in most cases, I have the greatest running adventures when I least feel like going, to begin with. That's true for yoga classes, too. When I feel like I could hardly hold a downward dog and I am so not motivated to get to class - I pretty much always have the best time ever.

So, in general, I like to blindly throw myself into workout situations that seem least desirable - because somewhere inside that head of mine something is reassuring me that it's going to be a blast.