Small Detour

H and I have been on edge since her cycle went biserk. We both have our own ways of dealing with the endless amount of uncertainties that is a part of the TTC process, but for the most part we both enjoy blowing off some steam by running. After I had a minor meltdown this morning when all the fertility monitoring gadgets indicated that H was still ovulating, I started out the day on H's bad side. On the way into work, we spent the entire time in silence. With all the tension of the situation, we just needed to hit the road.

H wasn't all that interested in running, but she humored me. So, we laced up the shoes for the second time this week, grabbed the Ga*rmin (GPS) watch, and headed out toward our usual route. H was "implying" that she was bored with running the same course, but then balked when I suggested an alternative. I guess I should mention that our unspoken agreement after our last insemination was that we would continue exercising, but just be sure that H takes it easy. My solution? If we go running, H is required to wear the heart rate monitor at all times and ease off if her heart rate exceeds 145 bpm (this is me pretending that I wear the pants in the family). The Ga*rmin lets you set alerts if you exceed certain zones, so I enabled the alert so we would know when her heart rate was getting too high. H was fine with this until she realized that all it took to set the alarm off was a hill. So, while H was back there cursing the Ga*rmin ("Oh, shut the fuck up!), I changed our course.

Our usual course has a "fork" in the trail where you can head towards the main road or wind through the residential developments. If you head downhill towards the main road, there is only one way back and that UP! It's a good 2 miles before you loop back off the main road and have to make the "dreaded" turn up our version of "heartbreak hill". Since the Ga*rmin was beeping at H on every hill, I thought I would be helpful and bypass the "evil" hill and go around. I figured if we just ran to the next main street, we could find our way back without too much trouble. In theory that was a good idea. But my little detour added another 2 miles and one very long, steep hill. H is convinced I just wanted the extra miles. Should I tell her that I planned for a 4 mile run before we even started? Yeah, no...I might have to sleep on the couch with the dogs! But, H is tired now, curled up with Bandito on the other end of the couch, quiet, not irritated and watching "So You Thin*k You Can Danc*e".