I was going to write that it was only 20k. Because 20k is what my base long run usually is. And I have run many, many long runs that were way longer than 20k. But I have run for long enough to know that 20k must be respected - even if you have run it many, many times before. And it needs to be respected even more when your starting temperature is 24C and the humidity is ridiculous.
When I got up on Saturday (at 4:15am after a broken night's sleep) I wasn't excited about running it. When I heard we were running to Bulimba and I knew exactly what hills I'd be having to run, I wasn't excited about it. The only thing that made me take the first few steps was the fact that I had a packet of Red Rock Deli Sweet Potato chips in the cupboard at home. I'd been wanting to try them for ages but every time I'd gone to buy them I'd talked myself out of it but this week I went shopping full of unreasonable PMS hormones that didn't even bother trying to stop me so the chips came home and were stashed at the back of the pantry in my secret food-hiding spot.
The first few kilometres of the run weren't fun. They felt hard and I was convinced that there was going to be a significant amount of pain and walking in the near future. But somewhere along the way it actually started to feel a bit better and even though I can't say it was my best run ever, I can say that I did sing parts of 'Time Warp' out loud for a while. Really wasn't anywhere near as bad as what I was expecting.
Thanks to these two for getting me up and out and keeping me going on Saturday.
So I finished the run feeling actually pretty chuffed with myself. That I'd gotten out of bed in the first place. That I'd changed into running clothes. That I hadn't pulled the pin before leaving home. That I'd taken the first step. That I'd let myself enjoy it. That I'd conquered every hill. Gotta love those endorphins!But the flip-side of those lovely happy hormones is that they sometimes give me the feeling of entitlement. Food entitlement to be precise. I'd run 20k in really shitty conditions when I really hadn't wanted to so I pretty much deserved the entire packet of chips.
The problem with wanting to eat an entire packet of chips is the fact that we currently have a full house and there is NO place where I can go that is safe from prying eyes and thieving fingers. Except the toilet. And even I draw the line at eating in the toilet. So all afternoon I agonised over how I was going to be able to scoff the whole packet without sharing and without seeming like the biggest food-bitch ever. My last resort was to embrace that food-bitch and just blame it on hormones.
Then I found out that Josh and Yui were going to be out for dinner - two down. Luke and Becky were busy playing computer games so that would keep them occupied for a few hours - four down. That just left Iven and Sam and Iven knows that sometimes, to keep his wife happy, it's best to just throw her the packet of chips and quickly walk away. So my ultimate happiness was really down to just one person - Sam.
Sam has been away for a couple of years and I've really, really missed him. He's only been home since a bit before Christmas so we're still in that honeymoon period where I can remember that I really, really did miss him. But on Saturday evening I was kind of wishing that he was back in Melbourne. Just for a few hours. And then I felt mean because it's been so nice having him back at home and what kind of nasty mother wishes that their progeny was 1000s of kilometres away so she can eat a packet of chips without sharing?!
Then he told me that he had a mouth full of ulcers. And while I went into sympathetic, caring mother role there was internal secret rejoicing because the last thing that a person who has a mouth full of ulcers wants is to eat salty, scratchy chips.
So I opened the packet. And had my first taste. And was a little disappointed. They were good but not as amazing as I was expecting. So I offered them around.
So much for not sharing.
