Waiting to Exhale

...and inhale... and to just breathe, damnit!  As we are tapering down our mileage for the marathon, I was supposed to run 16 miles today.  I got up dutifully at 6:30 to meet my training group at 7 a.m. in Griffith Park as usual.

I left in a hurry out of fear that my cats would run out of the house (Coco somehow got out yesterday, and the one good thing about my not calling the gardener to trim the crazy oats in our front yard was that it prevented her from quickly running away from me) with my fuel belt, cell phone, wallet, hat and a pair of flip-flops in hand only to realize that once I shut the door, I didn't have my car keys.  So, after a few failed attempts of calling John, I finally went into the backyard and knocked on our bedroom window to wake him up to get my keys.

But I digress.  I finally got to Griffith Park around 7:15 and listened to the experiences of those who ran the Pasadena Marathon last week. Kudos!  Our coaches, Jeanne and Bert, gave us our route for the day - down to the Ranger Station, Hill Loop in reverse, back down to Travel Town, and then on to Mineral Wells.  Lynnette and I did our usual 5 minute walk warm-up, but as we started to run, I could feel the tightness in my chest - yup, an asthma attack.  Since it's been kinda cold the last few days, I've been trying to take preventative measures with my regular inhaler, inhaler steroids, and allergy medicine, but it still wasn't enough for today.  And it's such a strange feeling to know that my legs, arms, feet and everything else could run for 16 miles relatively easily, but my lungs were just not having it today. 

So instead of our usual 9/1, it was more like - 7/2, then fire hydrant to fire hydrant during the hill loop, 9/1 on the decline, then 7/2 until I started hacking, then 5/3, then walking because I seriously thought my lungs were going to leap out of my chest.  We wound up only doing 7.6 miles today, but I thought better safe than sorry, especially with the marathon only 2 weeks away.

Thanks for reading and thank you also to Sharon Omi and Ken Narasaki for their generous donation.  I'm so happy that you all helped me to reach my goal of $1000, but if you would like to donate more, feel free to - as a token of appreciation, the American Heart Association gives us a windbreaker if we raise $2,000 by June 30, and I wouldn't mind getting one!  ; - )

xoxo
Rona