Long Run Dread, Deadlines, Neglect, Decay, and Redemption!!

Friday night, looking at 14 miles the next morning. Skipped run on Friday morning, hit with long run dread.  Had not had that at all since before Boston.  Worried that it was a bad sign, but you can't overly worry about feelings that arrive unexpected.  You just deal with them and take the best actions.

Re-potted the cutting from the rubber tree plant (which is now much taller than the original plant)

Plant from Cutting (note original plant in background)

Original Plant

I bought the original plant shortly after moving to Dallas and before getting married.  It is a special plant to me.
The cutting has gotten huge.   Jenny's dad bought this nice big new pot for me.  I also took  another cutting and started it growing:

I need to spend some time working on the original plant.

Saturday  (16.62 mi 02:21 08:28 pace)
morning - the run went great.  I did 16.6 miles.  I figured out the problem.  It wasn't long run dread but "medium long run dread" - it's a feeling where you've been climbing up and each run is getting better, faster, or farther.  Then all of the sudden you have to do a run , which is still pretty long but seemingly nothing special.  That was today's run.  But, it did turn out special.  There are no ordinary moments and no ordinary runs.  It all adds up and everything has meaning.

I spent some time looking for the bathroom leak, that had been very slowly happening, just enough to ruin the tile grout, cause some mildew on the moulding and drywall, and ruin part of the vanity.  The original problem leak was thought to have been plugged over a year ago.  So, I fixed some drywall (my first ever attempt at that, replaced the mildewed molding, and repainted the bathroom.  But the leak was still there and the mildew came back and I could feel the moisture.  I talked to the plumber that was out to fix the shower and he gave me some ideas but basically told me that plumbers fix leaks, they don't find leaks.  So, I looked and looked, and ripped out some rotting stuff.

 I tore out the ruined section of drywall:

Then ripped out the ruined section of the vanity so I could peak underneath for signs of a leak:

I became overwhelmed and stopped and thought about what to do over a beer before I cut open the drywall from the garage side.

 But, this problem had gone on too long, neglect which led to decay and would only get worse.  Sometimes problems go away on their own.   This one wasn't one of them.  It was time to stop being overwhelmed and just fix the problem.  There are people who can do this I thought, I just need to find one.

I called the plumber's office who gave me the number of a guy that specializes in finding leaks, Dave from "iFindLeaks".

So, he narrowed it down using infrared camera, a pressure gauge, and some intuitive problem solving - it reminded me of the process I go through at work to find bugs which are hiding somewhere between the hardware and software, could be either place.

So, next, made an appointment to have a contractor come out to write up an estimate to put the bathroom back in shape.  Get it done and taken care of.

Sunday - (7.46 mi 01:05 08:41 pace)
did my follow up run from Saturday's long run.  A little bit over 7 miles along Trinity Blvd on the grassy portion which I used to avoid, but now makes somewhat of an "off road" trail.  It actually feels pretty good.  Maybe feels a little slow at first but then I forget about it and the pace gets easy and feels natural.

When Jenny was at work, ran out to Home Depot and bought some outdoor plants and some new mulch to fix up some spots in the backyard, a tomato plant for the upside down pot, and a Poinsettia for the outdoor table to make it look nicer.  I bribed the boys to help me carry stuff out back, weed, and plant.  Oh, and also bought a replacement stone for one missing from one of the small retaining walls.

Monday morning no running.  Did boot camp with some awesome sprints in the evening.

Tuesday - (7.57 mi 01:05 08:32 pace)
ran with Jenny, Lisa, and Chris.  Kind of disjointed 400m repeats because we were all sort of doing our own pace.  I ended up doing 7 due to miscounting.  Here's the splits for the all over the place intervals:

1. 6:31
2. 6:35
3. 6:40
4. 6:54
5. 7:05
6. 5:20
7. 5:47

Wednesday - (7.62 miles, 1:05:24, 8:35 average)
Met Raj at the track.  I declined on the 4th mile repeat, realizing that the 400m repeats weren't nothing yesterday, especially with a couple of them being all out.
Paces for the three, 1600m repeats that I did do:

1. 6:22
2. 6:18
3. 6:14

Nov 30th has been looming over my head with another work deadline.  Sort of hanging over my head since just before Thanksgiving when I could feel the pressure building.  But I worked at it, little by little which made me more productive and I delegated out some of the work which really made a huge difference.

Well, things don't always work out in the end, but it sure helps when we spend less time worrying and more time doing, even if just a little bit at a time.  So, maybe at the end of all of this there is redemption.  The long run dread becomes just a memory, the damage gets fixed, the decay cleaned up and hopefully we learn to not neglect the things that need attention.

And to make sure I end this entry on a positive note, here is Sammy enjoying a good dog's life (also, there's a little bit of Barbie in the background if you look closely)
:

Sammy Enjoying the Day