Eat Drink Run Woman

It’s time for a bit of belt-tightening in the EDRW household.  Unfortunately not literally; despite my best intentions a few pounds have crept on to my frame.  No, I’m talking about our standard of living.  As I’m sure you’re well aware, the economy sucks right now (in fact, I spied it bogarting the port-o-potties at my last race).  And tough times calls for drastic measures.

Although we’re self-employed, my darling and I are in great financial shape.  Our only debt is our mortgage, and considering we live in a teensy hovel built in 1906, the monthly payment is more than reasonable.  We’ve both suffered through lean times as we’ve built our respective businesses, and that frugality has stayed with us.  But given today’s uncertainty, we know we could do better.

Our race schedule was the first to suffer the chopping block.  While we’re still running the Ghost of Seattle Marathon this weekend and the Christmas Marathon on Dec. 21, we’ve decided to forego the 12Ks of Christmas on Dec. 14.  It’s a great race (I ran it last year), but I figure if we’re not actually racing it, why shell out $35-$40/person just for another t-shirt?  I’ve also nixed the Whidbey Marathon on March 29.  I originally thought I’d run it as a training run for Boston (I figured the hills would prepare me for the famed Newton hills), but I’ve decided the $70/person could be better spent elsewhere.  Sure, we could probably coax our friends into letting us stay at their condo by the race start, but we’d still rack up additional expenses in travel and food.

We have a couple of big ticket races already on the agenda for 2009 — the Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge in January and Boston in April — so we may end up staying local for the rest of the year.  I’d love to run New York, or at the very least pick up a couple of other states than Washington, but we’ll have to see if our budget allows.

Unfortunately the cuts don’t end with our race schedule.

Long-time readers know of my problem; I just gots to have me some cute clothes!  This year I’ve been particularly indulgent: 4 short-sleeved shirts, five pairs of shorts, two pairs of capris, two running skirts, a rain jacket and a hat.  I swear — I spend more on workout gear than I do on regular clothes.

All good things must come to an end; so too must my rampant spending.  So for the next 14 months (until Jan. 1, 2010), I am to buy NO MORE WORKOUT CLOTHES other than bare necessities such as shoes and socks (and perhaps something to commemorate the Goofy Challenge, but only ONE thing.  Oh, and there’s NO WAY I’m leaving Beantown without an Image Impact jacket.  And maybe a hat.  But that’s all; I SWEAR!)

Things sure have been quiet in EDRW land.  I WISH I could say it’s because I’ve been out earning Marathon Maniac stars by the dozen, but today was the first time I ran since October 25.

Remember that deal with the devil?  Apparently he wasn’t quite through calling in his chips.  After running almost 20 miles over three days (including a particularly speedy 6.5-mile run at an 8:35 average pace), I awoke last Sunday morning with yet another sore throat and skin that hurt to the touch.  It was so bad I canceled Monday’s cook date and skipped the gym for an entire week.  But the worse thing was how my running suffered.  As of Oct. 25 I was just 13 miles shy of a 100-mile month — my lowest for almost a year.

I wasn’t too concerned in the beginning of the week; I assumed I’d be well enough to get in a couple of runs by the end.  My darling and I had booked a room at the Willows Lodge for our dinner at the Herbfarm, and we planned on getting in a run along the Sammamish River Trail before getting ready for dinner.  However, by Tuesday my cold had settled into my chest and I spent several sleepless nights hacking away.  It was clear my 100-mile month wasn’t going to materialize, and I feared my coughing would jeopardize our romantic dinner.

Hoping to stave off a coughing fit, I turned to my neighborhood pharmacist.  He was a bit taken aback when I asked him for recommendations for cough suppressants that could be taken with wine, but I explained to him we’d be dining at the Herbfarm and abstinence was NOT an option.  While he researched alternatives, his assistant jokingly said she always heard the best thing was a shot of whisky with some lemon and honey.  Not being a huge fan of whisky, I decided to see what the pharmacist said.  As long as I took the suppressant a couple of hours before imbibing I’d be fine, he promised.  I grabbed a package of Mucinex and a couple packs of cough drops and headed out.

Before I regale you with tales of our evening’s woe, some background is in order.  (Warning — the following is not for the faint of stomach).

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