Choppy Seas

It’s my last weekend before my trip. I’m pretty anxious, to be perfectly honest. My preparation is going well, I’d say. So far, I’ve packed most of the clothes I need. I have to work on getting my running clothes and my carry-on packed. That’s about it… It’s pretty sad how you can basically pack all of your life into a few suitcases.

Last night was entertaining. I picked up Will in town and we headed over to Addy’s house. What was supposed to be a big party turned out to really just be a few of us sitting around and watching TV. The good news was that Brandon and Gwen stopped by. It was great to see them, especially since Gwen leaves for school today. Those were just two more people that I wanted to see before I left. All in all, it was a pretty laid back night. It was good to chill with William as well. We had grown apart a lot in the last school year, but I’m glad it’s still chill when we hang out. He’s a good kid.

Today was pretty low-key. I cleaned up at Addy’s and then came home, did some errands, and had some lunch. So far, this afternoon, I’ve been cleaning my room some more and running. I had been thinking about doing a time trial this weekend and so I thought I might as well do it today. I had a few goals and I don’t know how many of them I’m really going to be able to tackle in the next few days. The first was to run under 4:30 for the mile (previous best of 4:39), also under 17:00 for 5k (current best 17:31). So, today I warmed up with a few really easy miles (8:00 mile pace) and headed over to the track. I decided to go for the mile today and then maybe the 5k on Sunday or Monday, if I have time. I did a few striders and then toed off. I ran a pretty even pace, but was behind from the beginning. I was pretty disappointed with my time at the end (4:42) and so I decided to just count it as an interval and jog it off and run an 800m. Again, it also felt pretty slow; I didn’t get the exact time but I think it was around 2:20.

So, it looks like that is one goal I’m going to have to wait three months to try again. I really doubt I’m going to do any fast running in Quito at 10,000 feet above sea level. But hey, this gives me something to look forward to; I’ve never run indoor track and here’s a chance to make my mark.

Still, I need to remind myself sometimes to have perspective. Four months ago, I was on crutches. Three months ago, I could run no longer than five minutes. I guess I’m being a little hard on myself.