Y’all, it’s Slump City over here and I’m the one who’s slumping in a chair (bonus points to you if you caught the quasi-Friends reference to Chandler in sitting in a chair.) I got some news about 2 weeks ago that rocked my world, and once again, running got put on the back burner.

I’m not going share much here since it’s not my story, but when a loved one’s health is potentially in jeopardy and that loved one is your only living parent, it’s difficult to process and function. I know most of us will go through this at one point or another, but it just hits extra hard since I lost my dad as a teenager. Thankfully, everything is okay for now and we will follow up in six months.

On top of that, Baxter also had a bit of a rough patch the past few weeks. We adjusted his medications last week and he’s responding well. I think I’ve said it here before, but my vet is military and he doesn’t pull any punches. He’s firm and strict (and also has a heart for animals.) I have no doubt he will tell us when it’s time and since Baxter is doing well outside of the episodes, we will stick with our current protocol of keeping him as comfortable as possible as long as is reasonable. In other words, I’m not looking for additional opinions on the matter.

Oh! And because those two things weren’t enough, I spent last weekend with a stye in my eye. Cool. It was more annoying than anything else, especially since I couldn’t wear contacts. I don’t know about you, but I CANNOT run in my glasses or prescription sunglasses, and my vision is too terrible to not wear anything. So, there went another long run (I did, however, still get two workouts in over the weekend.)

So, I think you know where this is going. Between the veneers/not eating, feeling unsafe running in my neighborhood, the health scare, and an epileptic cat, my running has suffered. I’m still getting all of my of shorter (3-5 mile) runs in regularly, but my long runs are seriously lacking. I have to get it together, like, yesterday, because the marathon is 10.5 weeks away.

If the outcome of my mom’s health scare had been negative, we wouldn’t be going on this trip at all and I would postpone until next year. Some people consider running to be their therapy, but me? I struggle to get out of bed, much less run or do exercise of any kind when I’m really struggling with my mood. I mean, logically I know I’ll feel so much better, but mentally? I just can’t. Not to mention, I don’t eat when I’m stressed, and not eating means rough runs (and no, no real weight loss either.)

While I’m ‘behind’ on long runs, I’m thankful for the two spring half marathons and the mileage I put in then, so I’m not attempting to go from zero to one hundred in a matter of weeks. But, it is ‘do-or-die’ time and I don’t want to die. The next few weeks will be critical in terms of getting it together, but I think I’ve still got this.

Realistically, I only have about eight weeks left to get long runs in (because there is a two week ‘taper’ at the end.) If I can pull off 10 miles this weekend, I think I’ll still be in good enough shape. I mean, if ever I was going to fall off the training wagon, I’d rather it be towards the beginning. It’s much easier to miss the 6-10 mile runs vs. the all important 15-20 mile runs.

Also, I’m not trying to BQ or anything like that (I’m so far off, it’s not even funny.) I’ve had a few comments over the years along the lines of ‘why bother?’ since I’m not exactly the fastest runner on the planet. I guess the answer deserves a post of its own, but mostly it’s because I want to do it for myself, and make myself proud. I can still do that, even if I stumbled a bit in June and July.

I should also note that I’ve taken some steps to rectify the situation. I caved and joined a gym in my area so that I would have a safe place to run on days I work from home or can’t make it to my favorite running trail. I hate running on a treadmill, but it has its place in training and it’s a great fallback when I can’t get outside. It’s really hard to make excuses when there’s a 24 hour gym right down the street, which is exactly why I joined.

I ended up joining Planet Fitness because the price was right and I could not say ‘no’ to the hydro-massage chairs. I did some research after I signed up (Ha! Probably would have been better before) and had a brief moment of panic, as it seems  a lot of people are not satisfied with PF. However, most of the complaints were from people either looking to perform Olympic lifting moves (uh, I can barely make use of the 15-20 pound weights in my garage, so I won’t be doing any clean and jerks with a 300 pound barbell anytime soon) or who didn’t understand the fees and cancellation policies. The employee who signed me up was crystal-clear about the fees, down to the exact date they would be charged and the cancellation policy was also explained. It’s also in the written contract, so I’m guessing most of these people didn’t bother to actually read what they were signing.

I’ve been six times in the last two weeks and it’s always been pleasant (though, going between 4:00 pm – 8:30 pm is not nearly as pleasant.) It’s never been crowded (in all fairness, don’t go during peak hours) and in fact is usually nearly empty. The gym also appears to be hyper-clean (for a gym) and I have yet to see weird or bad behavior from patrons or employees. I’ll report back if there’s any bad-news-bears business going down, but so far I’m happy and I’m looking forward to my first personal training appointment tonight.

So, that’s where I’m at right now. I’m down, but I’m not out yet and I still have 11 weeks to right this ship and that’s the plan I have right now. Congratulations if you got through this, and sorry about the lack of pictures. Maybe next time? HA!