Tired

I haven't the creative juices this morning to string together any witty repartee because my job has sucked the life out of me.  I picked up some extra hours this week which left me with only one day off and a couple particulary long shifts, back to back.  Over the last two days I've worked 26 hours.  The day before that I did my normal 8 and today I have a measly 8 hours to grind out.  So all in all, I will have worked 42 hours in 4 days time.  I think the total for the 7-day week is 58 hours. 

I used to do this almost every week when I was in my 20's.  I worked two jobs and typically worked 19-20 days in a row every month without a day off, most of those days being 12-14 hour days.  Ah, youth....

Hopefully I won't be having to pick up many extra hours in the future because thankfully my hubby has found a full-time job.  Work has been kind of patchy for over a year now and we've really been struggling financially.  It could have been so much worse, I know.  There are thousands of people out there who are losing everything, but it sure wasn't fun every month stressing about how we were gonna pay the mortgage.  But we paid it.  Every month.  So now, I think we can start to breathe a bit easier and Momma can get back to doing what she does best - taking care of her family.

And sleeping.

Spring Fever

Aside from being desperate for warmer temperatures and drier days, I *really* need some better weather.  I am positively twitching in my yearning to get outside and run.  I've been doing all my runs and workouts at the gym which is lovely in that I have that option, but for some reason this year running on the treadmill for longer than about 30 minutes makes me very stabby. 

Last year when I was just starting to run, I'd slog through 60-75 minutes on the treadmill, gasping for breath and mentally willing my legs to keep turning over.  Whether it's a sign of progress in my ability or a decline in my level of patience, I don't know, but I just can't handle the treadmill for very long anymore.  Which means I'm not getting as many miles as I'd like in.  I've been bailing off the treadmill and switching to the elliptical after a few miles and that has helped.  I really do love the elliptical and try to tell myself that at least it's a similar motion to running and better than doing nothing.

I should point out that I'm kind of a big wimp when it comes to running in less-than-decent weather.  I don't readily head out in the pouring rain to run, or if there's wind, or if it's too cold.  (Ironic since I'll plow through mud and awful terrain and whatever weather there happens to be on a race day.)  There have been several days when I totally could have run, probably rather comfortably, if I'd just sucked it up and gone.  

I'm getting to the point though that I *really* want and need to be doing longer runs.  I'm dying to get out and RUN.  I miss running on the trails and roads around here.  

And my list of To-Do races is growing at an alarming rate.   So far I have a 5K in both April and May, a 1/2 marathon in May, a mud run and 1/2 marathon in June and a 15k and a 1/2 marathon in September.  Haven't lined anything up for July or August yet.  Those are busy months to begin with but I'm sure I'll find something.  I know there are races around here during those months, I just haven't nailed down the dates yet.   But you can be sure I will!

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In the March Runner's World magazine, there are a bunch of quotes from Dean Karnazes. My favorite was his response when asked "Doesn't running hurt?"  His reply?  "It does if you're doing it right."