small steps, big victories

oy, the work stress is killing me. combine a lot of stuff I can't get into here with nasty driving weather, and I haven't been home before 6:45 once this week. Today, I didn't leave the office until 6:45, and then I got to fight more rain and stupid drivers to get home. It does not make for a relaxed evening when you get home and can feel the stress knots in your neck from being tense on the road for an hour or more (average drive time -- one way -- this week was 1:20).

I did manage to start the day by hopping on my trusty TM (methinks she needs a name, dontcha think?) this morning, for 3 miles, covered in about 31 minutes. That's quite fast, for me at least, especially compared to the 5 mph I've been doing on that thing lately. So I was technically done for the day with the minimum amount of time required to meet my frequency goals. And I could have met Hub for dinner or a movie somewhere after work and it might have been OK.

But since I bailed on two runs earlier this week, my overall mileage is down. Because I of course didn't skip the light 2-mile days -- no, I skipped the 4.0 and 4.5 mile days -- and I was only at about 60 percent of my total for the week. And that's no good for getting me ready for the Cowtown Half in about a month. I think that's been a big issue with my mile 20 meltdown the last few marathons*, the fact that I cheat myself out of about 10-15% of my training runs. Yeah, I get the long runs done, mostly, and I get most of the weekday runs done, but I don't come near to the full amount the plan calls for most of the time. And I pay for it, in that last 10K of those 26.2. So the new plan of action is to get at least 95% of the mileage done on a weekly basis. It may not happen all the time, but I have to strive for it. Again, I keep coming back to the new mantra I stumbled across earlier this week -- "at least I try" (shaddup, Yoda -- it's all I gots right now!)

So I got home after slogging through traffic -- thank goodness I love my car and the radio stations in DFW -- and changed shoes and changed clothes and hopped on the TM. Again. For another 4 miles. A little slower pace than this morning's run -- I brought it up to 5.3 mph and kept it there for the duration. Except for the last mile -- when I got to that point, I hit the increase pace button once every minute. It was nice and easy, and I felt good beginning to end. I watched Hannah Montana and How I Met Your Mother on the DVR, and the iPod sat on the console tracking me but otherwise going unused. I didn't feel like listening to music today, I just wanted to run a bit. It helped. I feel less stressed, and more in control of myself. And my overall mileage for the week is now at 84% instead of 58%. With an extra 2 miles on tomorrow's run, I'll be caught up.

I still hadn't had dinner, and Hub brought home some left-over pizza from MIL's. If I'd gone over there right from work, I'd have ended up eating probably three slices total, plus who knows what else. But instead, I got off the 'mill, had a huge spear of fresh pineapple (YUM!) and ONE slice of pizza. And called it good. Actually, it was really good.

*I still have a hard time referring to the "last few," as in marathons, considering I never really thought I'd get even one done. Pinch me!