all the way up there?

this weekend i intended to do a short run saturday early evening (because of a little soiree a friend of mine was throwing the night before, and then the long run sunday.

after a lovely brunch with charlotte (remember her, my running buddy from season 1?), something i ate derailed my plan. as i sat on the deck trying to get a few rays, a wave of nausea crept up and attached itself to my person, rendering me listless and blah. no, it was not a hangover. it was that i-ate-something-funky feeling.

the boy came home, took one look at me and said "aweee, you're not feeling well huh?"

no.

"does this mean we can't go to the OTB?"

yes, he meant the off track betting place down the street. it was the belmont yesterday and we had thought to get a little fancy and go play the ponies down the block. okay, i was going to get fancy, perhaps with a little hat action, but in my current state it was all i could do just to go.

we headed down a few avenues and planned out our bets. as we walked in we were hit with "old man smell", a mix of booze, cigarettes and age which i personally equate with my grandfather. perhaps it should be called "tipsy old man smell"...anyway. i digress. we played the ponies and got the hell out of there so i could limp back to the couch and mope, giving myself all sorts of grief that i wasn't running. we did not win any money although we came damn close.

so i certainly couldn't skip today, despite it being not nearly as nice for a run as yesterday and still feeling a little worse for the wear.

i kissed the boy goodbye, so which he sleepily replied "have fun, runny-pants", which i grumblily repeated under my breath. i wanted to sleep in. i did not want to go run, and i certainly was not going to have fun. runny pants indeed.

i opted for the backwards loop first, so that 1) i could take on the long terrible hill while i still had some energy and 2) i could watch out for traffic while i still had the mental capacity to do so. it was an excellent idea until i saw the race coming towards me - there was a 5k in the park that morning, and the runners were headed straight towards me. i swore under my breath and spent the next 10 minutes avoiding a few hundred people racing in addition to the usual park traffic of speedy bikers, roller bladers, and "normal" run walkers. definite video game moment.

i did the first loop rather uneventfully and then turned around and headed in the other direction. i was thirsty. too thirsty. must. get. fuel belt roxie. this is just dumb. i could not wait to get to the water fountain on the far side of the park and when i did i could feel my muscles perk up and i continued on my way.

at this point, approaching the big hill, my legs started feeling a bit like lead, and i got a wee bit dizzy. clearly i am not hydrating enough in this hotness so as i came to a water spot i took a 3-lightpost walk until i got to the water, gulped down a bunch, sprinkled some on my neck and tackled the hill.

i was, at this point, in a foul mood, whining to myself about it not getting any easier, the weather, the fact that i could be in my bed getting some much needed rest, that my hip hurt. pretty much i whined about anything i could think of. a very "runny" looking girl passed me and i glared at her prancing ponytail (my ponytail did *not* feel very prancy). a boy was scootering up the hill while his mom ran beside him. about 2/3rds up the hill he abandoned the scooter with a stomp and a wail. as i very slowly "ran" past them i heard this exchange:

boy: where are we gooooing
mom: look up there
boy: where up there?
mom: look as far as you can see, then look a little farther where those people are
boy (with a whimperish wail): all the way up theeeeeeeere??

i know, little one, i thought, i know just what you mean.

as i kept trucking up the hill, i smiled smuggedly as i passed the perky ponytail girl who had run out of steam. cruel? maybe. but i felt a tortoise-and-the-hare-esque sense of satisfaction.

i made it home, hot and pink faced as ever. i wouldn't say i felt great - my hip was aching and i would certainly have to ice - but i did it, and the time wasn't terrible either. and that was enough for me.

today's mileage: 7.0
time run: 78m
season mileage to date: 43.3