Tags
family, friends, life changes, Love Run, mother runner, oiselle, run family, run goals, Ventura Marathon, volee
Today’s workout:
10K on the treadmill with 3 miles @ 7:18 (or something like that… whatever the 7 minute pace is with the seconds in the teens… too lazy to go double check)
10 sets of 5-breath down dogs w/ 10 pushups
10 minutes of foam rolling and stretching
Holy smokes, people! I cannot tell you how I have been completely astounded by the speed at which life changes! I’ve been away from blogland for quite some time now. So, in an effort to catch you (and myself) up with where I last left off, I present to you:
HCR’s LIFE CHANGES, Summer Edition
Since my last post, I PRed in the 10K at the Love Run in Westlake Village with a time of 45:25! There was nothing I did particularly well or in preparation for that race except just go out hard and keep running as fast as I possibly could after not having run for two weeks. The last time I ran prior to that race was the Mountains 2 Beach 26.2, and I had been dealing with a janky quad, so I wasn’t expecting greatness. So that’s it for my recap: I just went out hard and almost puked at the end. And then I ran the mile with my kid.
By the end of the day, I had ticked my way through 14 miles, and my training motivation had hit an all time low. I’m not sure why. Maybe I was burned out or still bummed by my lackluster performance at M2B.
Regardless, summer break was just around the corner. Enter: Life Change Numero Uno.
Mini-me asked for a bike that fit her for her 6th birthday (She’s a little bit on the tall side for her AG), so my fabulous mom took her to the best bike store in the Conejo Valley to pick out a sweet ride. I was super worried that the bike would just sit there in our garage collecting dust since she had only ridden her first bike with training wheels a handful of times (giving up only because she would tip over on people’s driveways–silly, useless training wheels!), but once home, Mini Me begged the husband and I to take her to the park, and look what happened:
Just like that, the kid was cruising all on her own. Man, she’s growing up fast. She is seriously the easiest child in the world. I can literally ask her to do something, and she will do it, no questions asked. I’m pretty lucky.
Life Change #2 concerns Blondie. For Mini Me’s birthday, Blondie wanted to give her something called a Princess Palace Pet, so on a day when the husband was home, I took Blondie to Target so she could pick out her present. Like any parent, I asked her to swear up and down that she would keep it a surprise and not talk about it until after her sister had opened up the gift. But, in true Blondie fashion, the dang Princess Palace Pet was the only thing she wanted to talk about in the days leading up to Mini’s birthday! Apparently, all Blondie wanted for her birthday was a Princess Palace Pet.
Fortunately, my first child brushed it off and confided that her little sister “just doesn’t know any better.” Ha!
This gave me ammo. Mini is secretly competitive, is intrinsically motivated, and thrives off of high-fives, hugs, and affirmation. She’s easy. Blondie, on the other hand, is super competitive and loves a good dangling carrot. So, I offered to buy her a Princess Palace Pet if she swam all the way across the pool on her own. Water safety is HUGE in our family, and she wasn’t motivated to do anything but float in $34/25 min. swim lessons, so this was my Hail Mary to get the kid swimming on her own.
The very next day, she she announced out of nowhere that she was ready to swim across the pool. Granted, she had been tooling around in the spa all winter and spring, so I suppose that was enough for her little legs to grow beastly strong. That kid swam the length of the pool on the first try! I would post a picture, but she is anti-tanline, so we’ll have to settle with the winner’s circle pic.
Look at the pride in those eyes!
Life change #3 concerns friendship. Two of my best friends are leaving me. Coincidentally, they are the only two friends who run with me. Moreso, these two women are true girlfriends. They’re never judgy, they’re always supportive, they’ll question my craziness, and they’re always down for a glass of wine. I am not sure how I am going to handle losing both of them. While one friend’s move is still minutely on the fence (I’m hoping that she stays!), the other friend is the one who I mention most on this blog. I can’t even write about it right now because I can’t handle it. My eyes are welling up as I type.
My Run Bestie is moving to Austin. I am going to miss her so stinking badly. I know it’ll be a good excuse to travel to TX and possibly even run a marathon with her out there, but, man. I’m more of a fewer high-quality girlfriends rather than a sorority girl, so this is devastating for me. There is going to have to be a lot of hanging out before she leaves.
Life change #4 involves running. Every July 4th, I run a local 10K. After I regained the motivation to train hard following the Love Run (I’ll write about this soon), I set a goal in my head that I would finally break 45 minutes. I have completed some quality runs, and I run the course almost every weekend, so I was actually excited to suit up and give it my best shot.
However, things have changed around here. While chatting with the husband about my plan, Mini Me interjected into the conversation with this: “Mommy, can I run it with you?”
“You know, there are no medals, babe.”
“That’s okay, Mommy. I just want to run with you.”
“But, babe, can’t I run with you after?” <–Yes, I am that competitive. But I’m changing. I promise.
“No, Mommy. I’d prefer to run the race with you because I want to practice, and the only way I am going to keep beating the boys is if I keep practicing.”
Seriously. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far…
She makes me so proud. Like, unbelievably proud. And not even because of the running part. My girl wants to spend time with me and she wants to practice racing in order to, of all things, beat the boys. You go, girl!
So, instead of running a 10K PR, I am going to run side-by-side with Mini in our very first 5K race. And I am going to love every single second of it. I’ll probably also take a gazillion pictures every mile, too.
And that, my friends, is how my life is changing. I’m terrified and excited and sad and happy all at the same time. I know that God is good, and I can do hard things, but I sometimes wish there was a timeout button for life.
I am definitely reminded that I need to soak in every sweet moment with my family and friends!
It feels good to get my life out on paper the interwebs again! I no longer feel like I am buried up to my neck in life stuff!
What was your favorite moment from the past week?
What is your current favorite Trader Joe’s product? <–I know, random.
Do you have a good way to carry a phone during a race that doesn’t involve an arm band or a fanny pack?