you win some, you don't finish some

all i had to do was not have that 1st glass of wine.

all i had to do was not have that 2nd glass of wine.

all i (hic) had to do was (hic) not have that 3rd glass of wine.

all i (hic) had to do was what are you lookin' at.

yes, it was 10k race day today. how did i prepare? well i had a nice dinner at my friend's house the evening before. we had a simply lovely time. kids all played quietly, men all watched rugby quietly, women all joked loudly and made fun of the rugby and then talked about the french rugby players as if our husbands weren't in the room.

but we were home a bit early, so i thought "hey no problem!" i downed a pill and a big glass of water, and then went to bed. i had the intention not to throw up all night. then i had the intention to get to the race on time. i have had the intention for weeks to do the race in 1:05.
ha
ha
ha
ha ha ha ha ha ha!

oh boy.

it was actually quite fine, i was just a little tired, as could be seen from the state of the hair i forgot to brush before pony-tailing. was i ever a cutie!

i was a little slower than i'd hoped i'd be on the day, but i did make it around to the 4k mark happily enough.

then there was the hill.

up we went.

we kept going up.

and up.

still kept going up, passing angels as we did. i finally decide about .2 mile later that i'm done running uphill because i like me a lot. so i get passed by a few people, no biggie. more and more people are doing as i do, because did i mention it was a steeeeeeep hill. almost evil in nature, if i believed in evil anymore. let's say i prefer not-so-steep hills. i'd like to attract some more flatness in my life.

FINALLY! THE TOP! and i think "wa hey! time to make up some time!" and i'm jogging my little heart out, always one step away from wiping-out big time. the only way i could go faster was on a sled, which would have been fun. i was going so fast having so much fun that i forgot i have that knee thing. that knee thing that i really should stop attracting. well, i get to the bottom, passing all those lovely people who passed me on the way up. ha HA! take that! yeah, i saw ya!

another 2k, and we have a marginal incline again. well, i am done with inclines, says me. so i walk a bit. then i hear a 'pop'. "hmmm. that's an odd pain-accompanied noise for my knee to make!" but i thought little of it until i start to pick up the pace again. the knee haaaaates that. so i slow to an i-could-walk-faster jog. i can maintain this for about another .2 mile.

then the tummy goes. yes, that would be the wine making its way through my bottom region. OR someone is pounding me in the gut, please would they stop that. so i walk so as not to have a shoulda-worna-diaper-incident. another .1 mile and instead of 'pop', my knee goes "TAKE THAT YOU COW!!!!" well that just wasn't very nice at all. people are slowing, asking "are you okay?" and thank you to the person who offered to walk with me, but i really was okay apart from the busted knee. i told her to go on and finish her race, and i hobbled up to the 7k mark.

it was another 1k i had to walk before i was back near the exit point. i reflected. i didn't feel bad. in fact, i felt pretty good! what had i wanted out of today? i just wanted a fun day where i had a run. did i have to finish in order to make the day a success? no. my good god but there was some magnificent scenery at this place. it was a country park, and although it wasn't in the middle of nowhere, it was a neighbour to something that was. so i just enjoyed my walk back to the finish area, loving that i still had a pretty fantastic day, even though i didn't finish. the course is two laps of a route. i did the first lap in 40 minutes, probably would have done it in less if there was no hill, but i'm happy enough.

my friend's husband, who i hadn't met before but he'd said "go holly!" earlier in the race, was there, and i said "you must be mark! i'm holly, and i'm done!" so he and my friend's mother and what i think was my friend's daughter's (also running) boyfriend waited for my friend together. i had a fun time with them.

what does any of this have to do with law of attraction?

well, old holly, let's call her holly: BLOA (before law-of-attraction) would have really been upset about the not-finishing issue. holly:ALOA had a really nice day.

also, on the drive home, i noticed i'm starting to get in the habit of segment intending because i was thinking how much my husband would be happy enough for me when i got home. not only did he understand, but later he helped make dinner! woo hoo! i love my new life. and i think it's only going to get better.

i know it's only going to get better.

but in future, i think i'll be attracting only flat courses for racing on.

and fewer race-eve glasses of wine. . .