Oh Everest, My Everest

This morning was fun. It was my first mandatory early morning run and I won't see the last one until sometime in December. I think part of my brain is missing. I signed up for this, willing, knowing that it would continue for a month and a half after the marathon is over. Whatever! I didn't need that part of my brain anyway.

Of course, this morning also brought me to that point where I felt this incredible urge to cry and or hurl and I used most of my mental energy to keep myself from whining and ignore how embarrassingly out of breath I was. We only ran a mile and a half, but I was playing the game just to get to a mile and then when I got there, I had to wrap my head around possibly doing two. I knew three would be impossible at that speed, but the PT test that we were missing was only two, so I had that much going for me. Luckily, when I verbalized my misery as unwussily as possible, we decided together that one more lap would be decent, making it 1.5 in total. Oh the relief.

Then I did push-ups and sit-ups to sort of make it a diagnostic PT test. I got passing numbers, better on the push-ups than sit-ups. My hip flexors kill. I also stupidly forgot to stretch afterward, which is making them scream bloody murder.

I'm still kind of nervous about Wednesday, though, because that's when I join the group instead of just running around having fun with my nice new friend. Then of course there will be lots of boys who run a lot faster than me and I will inevitably be trying not to hurl all morning, while also trying to remember how to be in formation.

Now I realize I probably still have to do short runs outside of this, especially if we're only doing 1-2 miles at a time. Of course, at least now I know I'm out of the woods as far as not running at all during the week. Even 3 short 1- to 2-milers is a lot better than nothing. And that's something!

I also saw a small group of Marines running by on the road as cadet-friend and I were headed into the Bagel Place for me to have my first real bagel since NYC. (Yum!) (Wait, tangent: Somebody should tell Lenders and that other store brand that bagel-shaped bread does not equal bagel. Bagels have hard shells from being boiled in water before baking! You'd think more people would notice.) One of these days, I'm going to be out there with them, running like the wind. I wonder how many times my all-out, gutsy PT will make me puke before then.

This is a fun, twisted game.

Labels: Army ROTC, bagel, PT, pukie the clown, short run