Running Round-up: The Countdown Is On! Edition

Okay, friends. Here we are: T minus one month to number five-marathon day! Like, holy shit.

My week
I'm gonna level with you. It has not been a great week for running. 

After my encouraging 32 km run two weekends ago, I think I may have jinxed myself. Writing about how I was feeling all "confident" and wishing I could just "run this marathon tomorrow" and get it over with... man, was I ever asking for it. 

After a bit of socializing with friends... and scotch... and lots of it... last Friday night, I stupidly put myself out of commission for the weekend. So when I went to do my 23 km long run on Monday after work I told myself, "It's fine. Take your time." And I did. But the run was still shit. 

I was sooooo mad at myself! After cutting my long run short (only by a little; I ended up running 22.75 km - so close), I got home, grunted something to my husband and immediately retreated to a cold bath - y'know, for the legs - but mostly so I could be totally alone to stew in my own fury... and even though I was literally soaking in cold water, it did very little to stem the white hot rage I was feeling towards myself and my bad choices.

Truth. By: @kyle_j_kranz (via Twitter).

All I could think was: I'd been working so hard these past three-plus months and here I was, putting my training schedule and performance at risk... for a house party?? Fuck that. Somewhere around the 20 km mark my irritability peaked and, in that cold bath, I resolved right then and there to have a dry month, right up to the marathon. No more bad decisions. No more being so stupid. Not with elusive number five on the line.

But because I was so angry, that frustration with myself hung on like the smell of garlic right through the rest of the week and permeated every workout I did: a short 3 km treadmill run on Wednesday, and a resistance training day yesterday. All rage, all the time. So... not great. Only now is the exasperation I've felt all week finally starting to abate. 

Boo on you, Mother Nature

Indoor running due to inclement weather?
Thumbs down. And ugly face.

To top off a crap week, Mother Nature continues to be a downer on the west coast. After a spot of sunshine on Sunday/Monday, it's been nothing but rain and wind - and therefore complete misery. My current running attire is okay for rain, but I've been seriously considering buying all the rain gear, if for nothing else but to encourage the rain to just stop it already. 

On a high note: fundraising update
I didn't mean for this blog post to be all whiny and complainy, so sorry about all that. 

On a positive note, I've been lucky enough to have a few more very generous people throw their money at my campaign in the last few weeks, so I am now up to $2,701 of my $3,500 fundraising goal, which is extremely good news. Woohoo! And thank you so much, again, to all my donors!

Soooo close! Help a girl hit a fundraising goal??

This means I only have $799 (or as a salesperson would probably put it, "Less than $800") to go in my fundraising efforts and geez... wouldn't it be great if I actually hit that $3,500 target? Especially after getting so close?? 

If you haven't yet donated but would still like to, please do so here (at teamdiabetes.ca/goto/fiveorbust). It would mean the world to me - and would be a really great motivational boost after the week I've had beating myself up. 

Until next time
Have a great weekend, friends. Hopefully more cheerful updates to follow, especially with only four weeks to go until the marathon... gasp!

Even this beautiful reprieve from all the wet didn't help me much last week.
Reminder to self: make good choices.