Tired vs. Hungry

There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep. -- Homer

Time seems to have warped on me. All that extra time I talked about in a previous blog post? It didn't last long. It ended up being taken up with one thing:

Being tired.

Training for a half marathon doesn't necessarily make you faster, nor will it necessarily make you thinner. It won't necessarily make you look younger, either.

But it will make you tired.

It's the kind of tired where you are sitting in front of your dinner in the evening, and suddenly realize that you could join those tired kids you keep seeing on the internet who have face-planted right into their mashed potatoes.

It's the kind of tired where you keep finding your pyjama pants on the kitchen floor, and you don't know how they got there, nor do you care.

It's the kind of tired where you force yourself to get up at 5:00am, even on the weekends, because you know that it's going to be a heck of a lot of work to get back into the habit if you don't.

So, the few minutes I might have spent knitting during the week have dissolved into a blur. I get home, make and eat dinner, then get down on the yoga mat to do some exercises and stretches before I go upstairs and go to bed. I dare not knit. I've said it time and time again: friends don't let tired friends knit.

It's a long weekend here this weekend. Not surprisingly, having a long weekend has been great for me... but I haven't been knitting as much as I'd hoped. On Saturday, I made some banana oat cakes to have for snacks this week at work. I've started making them with avocado instead of butter. I also use muffin liners for a quicker baking time and so that I wouldn't have to fuss about trying to cut them into squares:

After that, we went out for lunch and then went kayaking in and around the harbour. We saw sea lions and lots of little fish swimming beneath us. I don't have any photos, though: I'm too paranoid about dropping my electronics into the salt water, even if they are in a "water tight" pouch. Suffice to say that it was a beautiful way to get some fresh air, sun, and exercise. I wanted to come home and knit afterwards, but I think I got a bit too much sun and ended up sleeping for an hour on the couch and was groggy for the rest of the evening. Heh.

Yesterday morning, I woke up early and had some pre-run fuel (peanut butter on toast and a banana), and then did a few little chores while I waited for it to digest. I decided to soak the military bag I wrote about in my last post in some diluted vinegar, because it seems to have a developed a mouldy, musty smell. Then, I went out ran 17 kilometres (10.5 miles). I came home, sat down on my yoga mat to stretch out my hips, and to eat my post-run porridge (which is so yummy, it's worth eating whether you run or not). And, as much as running makes you tired, it makes you hungry ALL THE TIME, which means I eat a snack every 30 minutes for the next two or three hours. By noon, I was so sleepy that I decided to eat a larger lunch so that I could take a long nap without being woken up by a growling stomach. It's not easy to be in the middle of a war between your weariness and your hunger.

Admittedly, the weariness is possibly another excuse to procrastinate. I mean, I could be knitting right now, but I chose to write this blogpost. And in the middle of writing this blogpost, I went looking for the link for the porridge recipe above on my Pinterest, during which I decided to reorganize my Pinterest boards (because alphabetizing things is important).

And I won't tell you how many YouTube videos I've watched this week while lying on the couch after work. I've seen more singing dog videos than I care to admit.

I will add, however, that this weariness I'm feeling is nothing compared to what you feel when you are struggling with chronic or terminal illness... which is why I am training for this half marathon in the first place. More info on that here.

Luckily, the hubby had the great idea of downloading Season 5 of Downtown Abbey the other day, so last night, I FINALLY sat my butt down, put my feet up, and actually did some knitting. My bolero is getting closed to being finished. If I give myself a couple of hours today, I might actually finish it. I'll sit out on the deck next to my military bag as it dries in the sunshine and get a few rounds in.

But I might need a nap this afternoon first... after I eat some cream cheese and blueberries on a homemade roll with my cinnamon latte. I might actually be able to stay awake long enough to eat it all. And the hubby made the rolls this time, because I was too tired (and grumpy) to make them myself:

41 days until my half marathon. Wake me up when it's time.