Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Looking On The Bright Side.

Yesterday I had a shocker. So soon after having such a great speed session, I had the worst that I've had in a long time. Yep, it was warmer than it had been last week but not that warm. And I'd done a pretty good run the day before - 11k at 5:30 pace. There was really no reason I could think of as to why I was running so badly.

The set was longer reps than we've been doing. It was 1000m, 500m recovery, 1500m, 500m recovery, 2000m, 500m recovery, 1000m. The first k felt okay - 4:42. The 1500m felt okay too but my pace was off - 7:35 when I was trying for around 6:50-7:00. The 2000m felt awful and my legs didn't want to go - 10:45. What the?!! And the last 1k rep was 5:15. Running back to the car park was so hard and I was starting to feel nauseated but that was from the effort and heat wasn't it?

Nope - lucky me I'd caught a tummy bug. I went up and had breakfast with Jenny like we always do after the Tuesday session and those eggs and coffee just did not sit well. But I managed to make it home before the volcano erupted. By lunchtime I was feeling a little better so I tried some dry toast and tea. It ended up in the same place as my breakfast.

But as awful as I felt I was relieved that there was a good reason for me running so badly. After all, that's what everything relates back to, doesn't it. And on a positive note, that extra weight that I'd mentioned in the last post has disappeared plus more so I'm heading into Christmas with a weight deficit.

I've found that blog-writing has done something strange to me. I'm actually looking for the positive sides of not so positive situations which is making me a happier person. Case in point - on Monday I went to have coffee with one of my oldest (in duration not in actual age) friends. I brought her Christmas present with me and decided to take a couple of the cupcakes that I'd made on Sunday for her and her receptionist.

I carry the cupcakes in takeaway containers and never put a lid on - I don't want to mess the icing up and, because my seat covers are a bit furry, I never have much trouble with the containers moving around much. But this time I had Chris's present as well and put my cupcakes on the nice shiny wrapping. So you can guess what happened when I turned a sharp corner.

Years ago I would have gotten upset that my beautiful cupcakes had been mashed but because I'm looking more on the bright side, I just couldn't help but laugh. And I laughed all the way to Chris's. I must have looked like a half-crazed loonie - driving along, bursting into random fits of giggles.

And when I got to the coffee shop (a bit late, sorry Chris) I took photos of the mashed cakes and the icing that was everywhere. I took the cakes up and presented them to Chris and showed her the 'before' shot so she and receptionist, Jane could have a laugh too.

Before


Maybe I should have slowed more before I took the corner - but at least the dog enjoyed it.

So here's a little challenge - the next couple of weeks can sometimes be the most stressful in the year. There will be things that happen which threaten your equilibrium. I'd like to hear from anyone who manages to put a positive spin on an awkward situation or who's been able to laugh when they could have done the opposite. You'll be surprised at how good you'll feel.

14 comments:

  1. Well, one way to look at it is that there was one lucky dog! Hope the tummy is better.

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  2. It's amazing what a difference it makes when you make the effort to find the positive in even the most difficult situations. Great reminder... and as always, a good story for a giggle. :)

    Yuck to the tummy bug! I hope you're feeling all better.

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  3. I will be doing exactly this--when we share a house in Key West for a week with none other than hurricane MIL. It'll be so pathetic it will be laughable.
    Yummy cupcakes--lucky dog!
    I hope the volcano is done erupting.

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  4. I will keep this in mind.
    When I had to go home for my shoes today - I stopped and got an extra cup of coffee on the way back to work. A real bonus!
    Glad you are feeling better.

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  5. Ok, not that I hate you or anything ;), but how can you go from being a bit overweight and then 3 days later be a bit underweight?? Please sell me your secret - I KNOW it's isn't Christmas cookies, cuz I'm having the opposite effect. Of course, I didn't have the stomach bug, but I did have a cold and didn't eat much (other than Christmas cookies) for several days. Well, I'm glad that the weight went in the right direction :). And love how you laughed at the cupcakes - not much you can do once they're on the floor anyway, huh? I was getting my lawnmower fixed a couple years ago and came out of the parking lot when someone cut me off and I had to slam on the breaks. Lawnmower went right out the back of my window (yes, the window was up and yes it shattered into a million pieces). I just laughed in the middle of the intersection. I mean....what else can you do?

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  6. I mean "Brakes" - sorry. Must be all that sugar from the cookies ;).

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  7. Oh Jill. That lawnmower incident - you would have had every right to be cranky, upset, incensed! Good on you for laughing.

    I guess I wasn't actually overweight but I like to keep my weight in a small range up or down (comes from letting it really blow out when I was a teenager). So if it's up a kilo I'm careful till it comes down but to be below means that I can relax a little.

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  8. ha ha, I saw pics of this on fb. Good for you for laughing. lucky dog!! I would have been licking the seats too. I love this. So important for me to remember when I'm freaking out on my kids about something stupid. :)

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  9. lucky pooch! seriously, those cupcakes look so delish, i woulda eaten them smushed or not...lol!

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  10. I wish I was that dog in those photos...

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  11. I have a saying (my kids are tired of hearing it): Perception is a product of perspective.
    Telling from the dog, the cupcakes still tasted just as great! I hope you friend enjoyed them!

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  12. I agree! Glad things are going well for you! And I'm sure the cupcakes still tasted delicious...

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  13. I find that average to bad runs always follow great runs. I guess that's why they call it recovery.

    Those cupcakes look delicious! Especially the before pic :-)

    BTW, I never got you address to send you the mp3 player you won. Assuming you want it, email me at halen21@sutv.com, or let me know if you don't still want it. Thanks.

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  14. The dog is a real gourmet. Lucky him.
    Good runs and bad runs are part of the routine and sometimes it is difficult to understand the reason.

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