I have (had?) it. Hence the weeks of exhaustion and low spirits, I assume. I’m doing my best to be on the mend, but this was not what I’d had in mind for Labor Day weekend and the weeks that followed 
This set the gigantic blog lag in motion, because I’ve been too zombie-like to blog (or do much else, really).
The lag snowballed, of cours, because I can’t seem to finish this long recap post from the past while. But, the fact is, those brunch recaps can wait. I ran a 5k yesterday!
The only other race I’ve run in a long time was on July 4, and I hit my goal right on the nose. I had hoped to take a whole 10 minutes off my time in yesterday’s race, (sounds like a lot, but that first time was just superslow!) between that race and this one, but it ended up being only 2 minutes.
I’m mostly happy with my time, even though it’s still so slow that most health bloggers wouldn’t even admit they ran it. This race was all in grass and mud, and nearly all up hill. (Seriously. And the last .75 was straight uphill. Up. Hill. In the mud.) I only walked for 30 seconds, which was way better than the last race I ran, and my average pace was a minute faster than last time.
(The hill, from the top. I made WB walk back with me so I could show him and try to get a photo which, of course, does it no justice.)
But did I set my goal too high? Am I stuck comparing myself to runners who are a few years younger than I and who work from home (if they work at all)? I can’t schedule my runs on a whim, I can’t guarantee I’ll be home at any certain time, my legs are tired after a long day in heels, and I can hardly guess what my mood will be like (though that is at least evening out now that I’ve been in my new job for a month). I can’t even rely on healthy convenience foods to get me through the tougher weeks because they’re either gluten-filled or $12 for each TV dinner.
I think I could have met my goal if I had been able to train harder, but there’s only so much of me to go around. Commuting, working 8-5, working at my “side hustles”*, and having a life (you know, things like Wonderful Boyfriend and family obligations) all have to be factored into my plan…when I’m really sticking to my training schedule, I’m lucky to have 20 minutes at the end of the night with WB before my eyes snap shut.
It’s a lot to think about. Balance isn’t easy to find, but looking for it is an important learning process. I’ve been here before, and each time I find a better solution. For now, my answer is sleep
A note to dream on:
The race swag Delicious.
*I tutor and do some sporadic web design-type work on the side, nothing big anymore but it all takes time.