Monday Blues

Oh, Mondays. This is probably the worst case of the "Mondays" I've had in quite a few weeks. Usually I don't mind Mondays; sometimes I'm glad to see my fitness center friends and co-workers and share stories of the weekend, and it's usually not too hard to wake up on Mondays when I've had a restful weekend. Tuesdays are when the freshness of the week has already worn off and the reality sinks in that the end of the week is still far away. But today....uggh.

I woke up with the worst allergies I've had in a long time. I normally don't have problems this time of year; September is when my allergies come on strong. This morning I had the full deal: sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, and a throat so raw and red I could barely swallow. My stomach was hurting, I think from the pizza we ate last night. And I'm just thoroughly exhausted.

My morning coffee didn't even do the trick. For the first half of my day at work, I felt like I was walking around in a clogged up daze...that feeling of taking too much cold medicine, except I hadn't taken any.

Last night, as the clock was pushing midnight, I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep without much luck, and I started thinking about the mini. It's THIS week. Saturday. I started running through all of the logistics...what time I needed to wake up on Saturday, how early we needed to leave the house, trying to remember to take some Tums and ibuprofen just as preventatives, what would I wear if it rained?? But the forecast is predicting clear skies....but it's still 6 days away, so they could be wrong... Somehow I finally fell asleep and dreamt that I finished the mini with a great time. This morning on my fuzzy drive to work, I started to re-live my panicked thoughts about the mini. Then I thought, I am as prepared as I could be for this. Why am I so worried? I've completed all of my long runs, I remained disciplined and stuck to the outlined training schedule only with slight modifications. I'm giving myself adequate rest time before the mini with only 2 short runs on the agenda this week. I've been running longer distances and faster times than I have in my whole life. Still better yet, I've already run the full 13.1 miles and finished in a satisfying time.

To sum up my mood, I don't feel mentally or physically equipped to run a mini-marathon this Saturday. I think going to bed around 9:00 tonight and knowing that I have my week's schedule under control (thanks to knocking out plenty of tasks today) should help me feel more settled and centered. Chalk it up to a Monday?

My question of the day is: Which one creates more pressure? Trying to complete a mini when you have never run that distance before? Or trying to beat a certain time when you well-surpassed your goal on the first one? Today, I'm not sure.