Day 46: Tempo Pace

As you know, I decided to skip Monday's run in exchange for a cross-training bout of weight training, to let me leg rest up, as it was still bothering me off and on. Tuesday was supposed to be another cross-training day, but instead I went to my parent's house so we, along with Carla, my sister Lola, my grandmother and my Tanti Annie & Uncle Serge, could stuff and send the invitations to the 7th Annual Summer Hope Benefit (for more information visit: www.summerhope.org!). It was a difficult call whether or not to skip the Tuesday workout, but the fact that I left the stamps at my apartment in Ronkonkoma, sealed the deal for me, since Carla and I would have to go back there, drink a bottle of wine, watch Wedding Crashers and stamp 700-plus envelopes for the mailing. Wednesday, was a Tempo Training Run Day, where you run outside your comfort zone for 5 minutes, walk for 1 minute and repeat three times. Again, somewhat unfortunately, I had been staying up every night until 2 am reading "In the Woods" trying to figure out what the hell happened to Katy Devlin and wondering if the secrets buried deep in Detective Ryan's head about the disappearance of his two childhood friends would ever be unlocked! Like everything I do, this book completely consumed my life. You could imagine my displeasure, when I got home from work, promptly read one hundred pages and fell asleep at 6 pm until the next morning. No problem, I thought: Thursday was a Rest day, I would just switch them. Thursday I would run the Tempo Workout, a nice way to see if I was back on the mend or not.

I decided to run this out at the gym, figuring that the treadmill had a little forgiveness to it than the hard cement, and it might be easier on my legs. I was amped up to head there immediately afterwork. First, I'd have to hunker down and finish the last 50 pages of "In the Woods" for fear that I could have a brain aneurysm or get hit by a car at ANY MOMENT and would never know what happened in Kncoknaree Woods. When the book was over and I was completely and utterly annihilated by it's conclusion, I received a shocking text from Michelle My Work Wife:

Michelle: Are you napping?
A pretty spot on assumption: Eddie: Nope... Why are you obsessed with me?
Michelle: Wanna see the 6:45 Orphan? We would have to go right now.
Eddie: YES! What an unexpected treat!?!?!? Where? When? How? Tell me everything!
Michelle: Come here now. I'll drive.
Eddie: OK. I'm gonna wear my gym clothes. Don't judge me.

I knew that if I didn't go see Orphan fully prepared for the gym, the likelihood of me getting there was slimmer than anyone in that movie receiving an Academy Award. The thing is... I love movies about creepy kids. The Bad Seed? Yes! The Omen? "It's all for you, Damien!" The Good Son? A-MAZ-ING. I had been trying to bribe and/or beg any of my friends to see the movie since it came out, but I was shot down by everyone from Carla ("Yeah... I don't think I'm gonna do that.") to my horror-buff buddy Corey ("Nay for me - Don't fel like seeing another Good Son"). Another Good Son? IN MY DREAMS!

I wasn't expecting to see it until the hallow depths of paid cable snatched it up, by which point, I would've forgotten all about it. I had even been reduced to reading a spoiler-ific riff on the movie on EW.com. I certainly wasn't expecting this from Michelle My Work Wife, who rarely went to the movies, and even more rarely (now that she's preggo with twins) stays awake past 7 pm. Apparently, the idea was all her husband Adam's, who wanted to go surfing, but didn't want to leave Michelle to the inevitable siren call of the couch. I should be insulted, I think, that when Adam needed a babysitter for his wife, he immediately thought of me, only 1.2 miles away, with nothing to do. But, hey, I can't fault the guy for knowing me - and well, I got to see Orphan! Double score.

It was, of course, completely ludicrous, but unlike the rapper, not trying for any kind of prestige, like a recurring gig on Law & Order: SVU. I think the writers (and Producer Leonardo DiCaprio? Random.) thought that by luring award/indy movie bait like Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard, the movie would gain a pedigree all on its own. Unfortunately, that was immediately counterbalanced by the scene in which a little girl beats a nun to death with a hammer. It was mindless, stupid fun, but as Michelle noted, every subsequent scene got more and more ridiculous.

After the movie, I ran home real quick for some, uhh, digestive business, and still managed to head back to the gym. I did a massive stretch (I love stretching now. Stretching's my favorite!) and decided to run 3 five minute 6.0's on the treadmill to complete my tempo training.

Unfortunately, I was only able to complete two until my leg started acting up again, and the difference between pushing myself and injuring myself got blurred once more. I thought this was a good start back onto the wagon. We'll see.


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