Friday, August 28, 2009

A Legit Unscheduled Rest Day

Soooooo....

It seems like I'm holding things together here with duct tape and bailing wire*. On the schedule this morning was an 11 mile medium long run. I was out the door and ready to start at 6:20. There was only one problem..... At least today it was physical.....

After yesterday's run I was *absolutely WIPED OUT* the rest of the day. I kind of chalked it up to the hard workout and running in VO2Max for 16 minutes. But evidently something else was a brewin' inside. And it was going to let itself out this morning. I was laced up ready to go and was just waiting for the Garmin to lock onto all of its satellites when I started to get "that feeling" in the old GI tract. Fortunately, since I'm an old fart I know what's coming next after getting "that feeling". And there weren't going to be any "facilities" other than cat holes and I didn't bring any *ahem* "paper" with me. I knew one thing - if I didn't hoof it back home pretty quickly, I would have a real "situation" on my hands. So, I hopped back in the car and did the 5 minute drive back home. There were a couple of dicey points, but a with little cheek squeeze and thinking about how appropos a recent blog from lindsay was, I managed to make it back home before the eruption. Since then it's kind of been like a volcano. You know, after the main explosion there are a few minor eruptions before the volcano goes back to sleep. Well, shall we say I'm just waiting for the minor eruptions to subside.

Now this is the type of unscheduled rest day I can deal with. Physical things are going to happen. There's not much that we can do about them (well, maybe I could have avoided the Curry Ramen at lunch yesterday). It's the mental things that we can and need to control. Especially when dealing with things like a marathon. As Yogi Berra put it so succinctly, "Baseball is 90% mental -- the other half is physical." It's no different at mile 19.

So, I'm going to spend some time today trying to get the stomach back into shape. I *need* to get my 17 miler in tomorrow morning. And I *have got to*be in shape for Saturday night - can you say "FUNK!" Yea BABEE!!! George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic! Long before today's crop of rappers and hip hop artists (heck - even before Rick James) the Grandfather of Funk was getting it on! Check out this YouTube clip - Keep in mind - this video is from 1976!!!! Here's another one - also from 1976 kids! I can hardly wait! I'm hoping that this becomes one of Clinton's typical 3 hour Funk-Fests!

*Oh - and it occurred to me that I'm showing my age with this saying. My father grew up during the Great Depression and always took great pride in being able to repair things rather than buying something new. So as long as he could tape is back togther or use wire coat hangers to hold it toghether, we were good to go. Hence the saying - "Dad, that wheelbarrow is held together with duct tape and bailing wire! Let's go buy a new one!"

8 comments:

  1. We've all been there, not a pleasant experience. Well, get rested up and knock out those 17 miles tomorrow!

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  2. Bowels can make a run totally miserable. Good job on rushing back home.

    All the best on the 17 miler!

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  3. Oh my! I call these the "clinchers". I have to admit, this blog made me laugh out loud. We've all been there. :)

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  4. I got the GI issues pretty much all during my first marathon training. They seem to be under control now. I agree, the mental issues are so much more difficult than the physical. (See my Wednesday Medium Long Run Failure this week.)

    You get to see P-Funk??? I am sooooo jealous. We need the funk! Gotta have that funk! Awwww we need the funk! (Have fun!!!)

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  5. I'm blaming everything on the heat!!!!

    Have dun at GC this weekend.

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  6. I HATE when that happens-- YOu are lucky-- I've been hit with that "feeling" while on a run where there wasn't a pot for miles-- there is nothing worse!

    Have fun at the concert-- I saw George Clinton in College-- Gotta have that funk!

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  7. OMG - I went to an "urban" high school in the South, which meant George Clinton was a demi-god to both the black and the white kids. I can't hear "Flashlight" or "Give Up the Funk" without groovin' like the old days. You are one lucky duck, Glenn! (Earlier digestive issues aside.)

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  8. hey, no shame in wide open pit stops! jk, i TOTALLY feel ya. if the butt says no, the legs don't go!

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