Tracking

I was in a hurry to finish my 14 miler this morning because I had a big date with the laptop.  I was in a rush to track friends running the Houston marathon. 

The friend I was most interested in following was making his second serious sub-3 attempt.  Crazy fast!!  Though of course I know, all running speeds are relative.  Anyway, this guy tried in Chicago this year, with crappy weather, and slowed the second half, missing his goal by just a little.

Well, this morning we had unseasonably warm temps for our 14 miles here.  I was excited for the break that we've had for about a week now.  Today I actually just wore shorts and short sleeves.  Awesome fun for me running 14.  Not so awesome for people running 26.2 and even further south!

I was happy to see his finish -- 3:00:11.  I worry he'll be disappointed, but it was a PR for him and less than 15 seconds slower than he wanted...  Crazy impressive in the first place, but even more so given the warm temps, the humidity, and oh, the icing on the cake, rain.  Ugh!  I'm so proud of him for working so hard and digging so deep. 

So we got to step back this week, which was nice.  14 miles.  Smooth sailing all the way, though my "problem toe" is going back to its normal bad self.  This toe has bothered me for something like 7 years.  No idea why.  Middle toe on my right foot.  Seems to blister easily at the very top.  And after my 5k PR in the fall, the toenail turned black.  That shocked me, because I was running long runs at the time and had no problems with losing any toenails.  But running a 5k at a hard effort did it in.  Anyway, the blackish toenail has been hanging on.  It's just been discolored and mildly tender to the touch for about 4 months now. 

Well, after today's run was the first time it actually really hurt.  Oh well, just more of an inconvenience than anything.  I'll take a funky toe over any real pain any day!

Oh, meant to vent about one other irritating thing.

I mentioned before that I got plane tickets for Christmas from my husband.  He'd booked through Amerian Express travel.  This is for our spring trip -- Dallas to Pittsburgh to Boston to Dallas.  And we're still planning to purchase Boston to Italy and back to Pittsburgh, then Dallas.  Well, our Pittsburgh to Boston flight has been shifting in time since it was purchased.  5 mins later, 5 mins earlier, etc.

Well, yesterday AmEx travel called my husband to say the first leg of the Pittsburgh to Boston trip was being delayed so we'd miss our connection to Boston.  So they wanted to put us on a later flight, but that won't work since we're going to Boston the day before the marathon and I want plenty of time for expo and carbs and sleep.  AmEx was going to look at other choices for us and get back in touch with us.

So I've mentioned before too that my husband works on Sundays and has to get up very early (4:15).  It works well for me, since I get up at 5ish for my Sunday long runs.  It's actually easier for me to get up when I know he's up too. 

Last night one of my best running friends had a party for her husband's 40th.  We went out for dinner, which is rare for us on a Sat night -- I like eating the same stuff before a long run, and we both like to go to bed early.  But we went to the dinner and had an awesome time.  Hubby left early to get to bed, I stayed to enjoy dessert and socialize more, knowing I could nap today if necessary.  I got home around 10:30 and went straight to bed.

Hubby's cell phone rang at almost midnight, waking us both from a dead sleep, and at least putting my heart in my throat.  No good comes from a phone call in the middle of the night anymore (when I was younger there used to be amusing drunk dials, but now that I'm older, it only means bad news).

Surprise!  It was Am Ex travel with some other flight options.  I was incredulous!  I kept telling him to call them back tomorrow.  He was almost incoherent because he was so disoriented and sleepy.  He was trying to get off the phone.  He asked her if she knew what time it was.  He asked her where she was, and she said India.  He said, well, I'm in the middle of the US and it's midnight here and so I'm going to have to call you back.

WTF???  I mean, if our flight were in less than 24 hours, I would not only understand a midnight phone call, I'd appreciate it.  But our flight is more than 2 months away!!!  WTF??????? 

So I see a nap in my future, now that I'm almost done tracking my final friend in Houston.