My usual routine is work, come home and nap, do whatever I’m going to do in the evening. Most of the time I run a few days a week, with my long runs being on Saturday mornings. This week, though,  I’m doing a fitness assessment on the weekend so I can’t do my long run as usual.  So my kind running buddy came with me and we did our 29k run. I was not happy about running that distance. I was tired after a busy week at work, I was sore and generally weary.  But we went out, running buddy being very patient (all the while chuckling to himself) at my whinging and complaining.
We ran east (we usually run more west in our city), and headed through a number of neighborhoods — there were the up and coming gentrifying neighborhoods, the ones with the ‘edge’ to them, the Italians,  Chinatown, edging on the bad part of town and then BAM the trendy areas where we usually run. Running in a city gives me an interesting picture on who those people are, how they live and what the different cultures of any given neighborhood are really like.  I run races in other cities for that very reason: exposure as a visitor in a way that one does not get by seeing the sights or visiting museums.
As we ran I realized that, unlike my usual routine (this run was anything but usual), I didn’t start from a bathroom-offering location. So we first ran to a gas station. But the washroom was closed. Down  the street we go to the second one. Same thing. Across the street was a third: open this time. BUT, the bowl of the toilet was almost full (clear water, lets not be gross). So I test it out: it’s not draining. I’m a handy independent woman, who was getting desperate by this time so I grabbed the plunger and started plunging. This barely rescued the toilet from flooding but didn’t unstop it. At this point I washed my hands and w went on search for #4. This one was a coffee shop with a very long bathroom lineup. So down the road we were running. At this point we passed a Safeway and I knew I could find one there. Relief was at hand, 5 bathrooms + one plunging experience later.
The rest of the evening was running running running. A beautiful sunset made it all worthwhile and I felt strong and healthy.  I must say, I may not be much of a morning person, I definitely prefer to run or workout in the mornings. Thankfully I made it through, sometimes on sheer stubbornness, but I made it. The sushi reward at the end, and the great company through the run, made it all worthwhile.
The one drawback of running so long after work is that it’s difficult to get enough sleep. To recover from a long run, I usually have a nap plus a night’s sleep, and feel much better the next day. Friday hurt and was a bad day for many reasons but I can’t help but think that such a long run didn’t help.  After work, I began the testing for a friend of mine. It was fun, she’s a good coach! 😀 And the painful part of this weekend will be the no coffee. no chocolate. no alcohol.