Snail? Slug? Turtle?

I have been bothered lately by my running speed. Or clear lack thereof. I am slower than ever, it seems. These past two weeks I ran my 4 mile loop in times (in order) of 39:50; 38:55; 38:22; and 38:37. Ugh. I have been diligently trying to get under 38:xx. I have a short segment that I run as a warm up, then after that, pick up my pace. I barter with myself the entire run.

“If I get to here, I can slow down.”

“Still feeling good, so instead I’ll go to here.”

“It’s downhill for a while now so I’ll go to here.”

“I’m almost home. I might as well finish at this pace.”

This morning was beautiful. Mid-60s for temps, dry air. I did not run yesterday, so was feeling rested. I so wanted to beat my 38:22 time. The problem is, usually when I really want to beat a time I end up doing just the opposite – finishing slower.

Not today. Today I ran a screamin’ (for me) 37:22. Or 9:21/mile pace.

I know, still slow, but for me, for this summer, that’s doggone good. All the training for the half-marathons has really slowed me down (I know, that’s because I don’t do any speed work). And now, with autumn on the way, and at least one 5K on the horizon, I want to work on picking up my pace.

Did I mention I’ll be thankful when this half-marathon is over? Three more training runs. Sweet!

Runnning and Random Thoughts

I’ve been a slightly frustrated runner lately. I’m tired of the focus on distance for the upcoming half-marathon and am more than ready to just go back to my regular, devil-may-care runs of any distance I desire.

That said, I am also excited about the half and will feel quite accomplished, I’m sure, for having done two of these in one summer.

Anyway, to ease some of the frustration I’ve taken to picking up the pace during my morning runs. Granted, I am still a slow runner, but over the course of this week I’ve shaved 1:30 off my four-mile run.

After the half, we will do a 5K – the St. Michael's Day Dash, which I did last year and enjoyed, and then possibly a 10K in October, though we are still not quite committed to that one.

In the meantime, on Monday, the single gal ventures back to the classroom to start an MBA program. I am excited about this upcoming challenge. At least, I say that now. Let’s see how I feel after class on Monday.

And finally - random thoughts for the weekend:

• Scab is an unpleasant word and having a scab the size of the one from my recent stumble while running is just wrong.
• If I could be anywhere else this weekend I would be on one of the Great Lakes kayaking.
• I can't even get my head around conquering the weeds that have taken over part of my backyard.

Blue Sunday

H went back to school today. The picture is exactly how I feel. This is her third year leaving in the fall so you'd think I would be used to it, but no.

Small Miracle

Tuesday evening the girls and I went to the Muny. M had a band gig and we wanted to see the musical, “Hairspray.” The weather was decent for St. Louis, as it has been all summer (until now, that is, when it is approaching 100 degrees). We had a picnic, watched the band, and enjoyed the musical.

Walking out, we cut across some large spans of lawn to get to the car. While we were walking, I reaching in my purse for my keys and noticed I had dropped something. I picked it up and kept walking.

The next day, I reached in my purse for my pen and it was gone. I was heartbroken. This was not just any pen.

When my former boss retired, he gave me this pen. This is close to 10 years ago. It’s a beautiful, red Cross pen. When he gave it to me he mentioned “the fire within.” I used this pen all through grad school, so it has written and edited plenty of stories. It’s the primary pen I used when working on my novel. I use it in my day-to-day job as well. It has passed through many purses, backpacks, and messenger bags; been with me on most of both my business and personal trips; signed legal documents, taxes, and so much more.

I am a person who hates to be possessed by possessions, but gosh, this one upset me. There was just so much of my personal history tied in with this stunning pen.

Thursday evening I came home and the pen was on the table with a note from H. “I hope you like your surprise.” She was at her dad’s so I called her.

“How did you get it back?”

“I went to Forest Park after work and found it.”

Me, completely stunned, “No you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did. I knew the line we had walked and the trees we walked between. I was worried that if they had mowed it would be trashed, but they hadn’t. It took me about five minutes.”

Seriously – who does something like this? Makes a trek like she did. “I knew how much it meant to you,” she said, “so I at least wanted to try to find it and I did.”

Wow. How absolutely awesome. All of a sudden, it was about the pen, but also about so much more. About me realizing that there are people in the world who understand what is important to others and who will go to lengths to make sure they show them. People who are willing to be generous and giving and perhaps even more importantly, take time to do something for someone else just to make that other person happy.

And amazingly enough, this simple, single gal is the proud momma of one of those people. That is probably the best gift of all – realizing that not just anyone did this for me, but that my own child did because she understood. How cool is that?

12 Miler

On Sunday we did a 12 mile run as part of the training for our Lewis & Clark Half-Marathon.

Ugh.

Let’s just say, the run did not settle well with me. My gut. My head. I was sweaty and chilled and nauseous. It was nasty and took a nap for my body to finally settle down and relax.

This has never happened to me before and I’ve been running for years. I believe I was plenty hydrated as I drank water throughout the run. And the first half of the run it was in the uppers 60s. It was either cloudy or we were in the shade, so I don’t think I was overheated. But for some reason, the aftermath was hard on me.

I can’t think of anything different than I’d done in the past other than I did take ibuprofen in the morning and when I ran I used Gu. Am thinking that maybe that combination did me no favors?

The route we ran, however, was awesome. We started at a small parking lot in St. Peters, crossed the Missouri River, and ran to and around Creve Coeur Lake Park, then back to our starting location. It was a gorgeous run that included crossing a bridge, circling under, passing fields of prairie grasses and watering holes filled with lilies. The route through Creve Coeur Lake Park took us off the main trail for a bit and carried us down a path heavy with trees and shade where we managed to pick up our pace a bit.

It was definitely a run I’d do again and hope to do soon.

Nine Plus

Friday, July 31, M and I hit the nine-month mark. Not bad for a single gal, eh?

Hitting the milestone got me thinking back to all the firsts, fun times, flinches, and other various marks in the path on this journey. There is not one time that largely outweighs the other because each stop along the way has had its own grace and its own memory.

When I started writing this blog I had huge commitment issues and only promised to write for a month. The day I started, I didn’t have M in my life and the journey was going to be solo. Within a month that changed, and the journey has become more and more intertwined with him, and I am nothing but happy about that.

My crystal ball doesn’t let me see into the future (thank goodness), and I certainly cannot predict what will happen. All I know is that for this day – and for every day for the past nine plus months – I have been and continue to be a very happy, joy-filled gal.