There’s a very good reason why I don’t go out, or stay up very late on Friday nights. It’s a reason most people don’t understand. Actually, I should say a reason most non-runners don’t understand. And a reason most runners will likely understand…
the Saturday morning long run.
This past weekend, my dad came into town for Father’s Day with us kicking off the festivities on Friday night. My sister and I took him to see his favorite Dodgers lose to play the San Francisco Giants. Seeing as my father is a huuuuge Dodgers fan, I just had to go with supporting the winning opposing team. Actually I grew up as a Giants fan and whenever they play the Dodgers, I become one again. Kind of my own form of rebellion.
And what a game it was!
The Dodgers scored first but the Giants came back with a grand slam made by Buster Posey and they didn’t let up. Eh, LA scored a few more times, but the Giants eventually won. Yay! Sorry, not sorry, Dad.
Most of the time I couldn’t stop looking at Bryan Cranston and Benjamin Bratt who were here to cheer on the Dodgers (Cranston) and Giants (Bratt), respectively. No, I wasn’t sitting by them. And no they weren’t there together. Well, they were, but they were with their beautiful wives. I actually found them as I used my binoculars to survey the crowd looking for celebrities. Normally, I don’t get star struck because I’ve seen plenty of celebs, but c’mon, Cranston. There were a few other celebs around as well…
The Simpsons:
Lance Bass:
And of course, my eye candy who was finally displayed on the giant screen along with Benjamin Bratt. They both looked real good. Baseball game? What baseball game?
Going into the weekend I was fully aware of how my running and training time might be affected. But I still planned on heading out first thing early Saturday morning for my long trail run. Before heading out to the game, I made sure I got my clothes and gear ready. But as Friday night went on, the game ran late, which meant I got to bed very late, and therefore, my Saturday morning long trail run plans got derailed.
However, just because I wasn’t able to run as long as I needed to didn’t mean I couldn’t run at all. As runners we have to make adjustments when special occasions, and other events come into the picture. That’s just how it is.
Knowing Saturday and Sunday were going to be just as busy, my long run did not happen at all. Luckily, I was able to run 4.61 miles on Saturday…
and another 4.45 miles on Sunday where I ran into Mark Wahlberg. We chatted a bit. I wished him Happy Father’s Day, and we toasted to my awesomely hot sweaty run. Cheers!
I could’ve just said, forget it, this weekend is too busy and exhausting for my run. Besides, my left knee has been feeling a little off, so I could’ve easily blown off this whole weekend run thing entirely. But, I knew I would’ve felt miserable if I did. I just kept telling myself something is better than nothing.
If you find yourself in a similar situation this helped me:
– Make it a priority to run, the first moment you can, before the rest of the day gets away from you.
– Get your running clothes and shoes ready so they’ll stare at you wondering why you haven’t put them on and taken them outside. I made sure my running clothes I set aside the night before didn’t go to waste. Since I was able to see them (and they see me), I knew they were there waiting for the moment I woke up.
– Imagine how grumpy you will feel if you don’t run at least a little bit. And then imagine, how grumpy you’ll make other people feel when you don’t feel awesomely invigorated from your run. No matter how short it is.
– And ,if you’re just not feeling any running, call it a weekend of cross training and let it go. Recharge those batteries so you’re revved up for the upcoming week.
As much I would’ve loved being on the mountain this past weekend, it was a great weekend spent with my dad. It’s a blessing to be around those you love. Our time here is short and tomorrows are never guaranteed. Of course, I’m already planning for this upcoming Saturday trail run. And, you can bet I’ll be going to bed early on Friday night.
Thanks for reading and Happy Running!