I Have Broken Through

Not much to say other than that....Did 10 miles this weekend at a decent 8:44 pace. Felt great!!! I am back in the game!

...that is until the 5 miles at 8:25 we are supposed to do tomorrow morning....Gina, I should start apologizing now for holding you back...

Best New Song

Seriously, if you see a crazy lady running and pumping her fists in the air it is just me listening to the Foo Fighters song The Pretender. It rocks.

Slump

Is it that time of year or what? I have read at least 4 other blog entries on the site about slumps. I have attributed mine to sick kids, being trapped in the house, allergies, you name it! I know I used to love this running thing. I used to talk about it all the time. So much so my husband keeps telling me when the boys are in school I should work at a running store so he doesn't have to hear about it all the time! I know that feeling will come back....I just hope it happens soon. I miss the satisfaction of a good run. I am trying not to be too neurotic about my training plan and listen to my body if it is telling me to take a break, but it's hard. Maybe I am having a mini identity crisis....if I don't love running, what defines me? (That sounds like such cheese, sorry!!!)

When I had kids 4+ years ago I began defining myself completely as a mother to my children, I lost something when I did that. About 3 years ago when I started running it was life changing to define myself as a runner and not a mother. I think the rub comes when I just give myself that one label (whether it is mother or runner). So I guess the hard work it using this slump to re-prioritize and re-define. Of course running is part of that, but I know it isn't the whole....

As a side note, I have to publicly apologize to Angie for the pity party I threw for myself while I was on the phone with her last week. Seriously, she just had a baby and I was crying about feeling fat and not getting enough sleep! Making me laugh right now...

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

Allison and I ran the Cherry Blossom. It was frustratingly crowded and I would have liked to have run it faster but I was tired at the end so I don't know how realistic I am being. But Haines Point was a traffic nightmare! I am looking forward to some less populated races coming up. I was hoping to do the GW Parkway Classic but Pacers said it is sold out! Man! I know lots of SMR racers are doing that one and I am sorry to miss it! Anyway, here are our times:

Allison: 1:28:54, 8:54 pace, 200/883 age group (22.7%)
Elizabeth: 1:26:06, 8:37 pace, 243/1262 age group (19.3%)

Cross Country Trails

I talked about this run in the other post but a funny story....Has anyone seen the movie Juno? In the movie to show the passing of time they show a high school cross country team in their yellow singlets running past in different seasons. So let me set the scene of this run...I was running the cross country trails of my alma mater. These trails are through forest so you just see the trail in front of you and then woods all around. But the trails loop through the forest so while you only see your trail, there are others all around you. As I am running through this I keep seeing groups of 4-6 cross country team members in blue singlets running in the distant woods. I would be just running and then they would be there again for a second and then disappear. Hard to explain but it was hilarious!

The other conversation I was having in my head during this run went something like this:

Elizabeth passes a student,
"I wonder if they think I am a college student?"
"I still look like I am 20, right?"
"No, I probably look older to them."
"But I was a student just a couple years ago."
"Wait, no, I graduated almost 10 years ago."
"I am so old."
"Where have the years gone?"

End of run....

National Half Marathon

Gina ran the National Half Marathon like a super star...here are the results:

1:50:38, 8:27 pace, 26/172 in age group (15.1%)

GO GINA!!!

Travels...

Running is hard enough at home but when I am out of town it definitely takes extra effort. First I was at my dad's house outside of Asheville, NC for a week and then visiting friends in Chattanooga, TN for a week. I am not the kind of person that just goes with the flow.....I am neurotic about my running schedule. (This is a confession, I am not bragging!) I have found a nice 5-6 mile loop at near my dad's house that is relatively flat to run. So for the week I was there I managed one tempo, one easy, and one long run in that location. It is beautiful, dirt road, mountain view, fields, streams, cows....an enjoyable change of scenery.

Next Chattanooga: hills are an issue here as well. Ran once from a friends house while she watched one of the boys and the other one napped at another friend's house (oh yeah, husband is at home). Ran for about 3 miles on a highway I had driven on probably a thousand times and thought was mostly flat. WRONG!!! It was like a roller coaster. I decided my life is more important than a run on a highway with a speed limit of 55, no sidewalk, and consistant rolling hills. So I decided to run on some cross country trails. Ran there a little longer than expected (wrong turns, bad signage) but all in all I survived the run.

Needing to do a long run that weekend a friend's husband and I decided to do a 10.2 mile trail race. Background - I have never raced or even run trails......gulp. But I mean it is only 10.2 miles, I have done that many times, shouldn't be too hard, right? Maybe I will just slow my time a little....like a 9 or 9:30 minute mile. Famous last words! I finished in 2:00:46. Seriously. 11:51 minute miles. I didn't think the race would ever be over....There were crazy steep places you had to walk, the "Rock Garden" which I didn't think would ever end, and all the while no mile markers letting you know how far until it was over. But I finally finished. I won't underestimate trail running any more!

Now how am I going to rebuild my broken spirit??