The Disney Marathon (aka “Life Before Kids”)
The other day my husband was going through some old papers and found a little race recap hw wrote about the 2000 Disney Marathon, which we ran together the year we were married. It was fun reading it- I had forgotten that Mickey Mouse himself started the race, that the theme of the race was “Exhilaration at Every Mile,” and the fact that my husband got so excited at mile 25 he began to sprint. Then we reminisced about the rest of that day- after the race we got Subway sandwiches and went back to our hotel where we got in bed, watched an episode of The Sopranos, and then took a long, luxurious nap. At this point we looked at each other and said “You can tell this was before we had kids.” It reminded me of an afternoon from around that same time that still stands out in my mind. In those days I was working in a chiropractor’s office, and I worked every other Saturday morning. Remember how, before kids, it seemed horribly early to have to wake up at 6:30 am on a Saturday? Hahahahahahahaha. Anyway… On this particular Saturday I worked and then did a bunch of errands afterwards. It was a gloomy, rainy day, and I was tired. My last stop was the library whee I randomly chose a murder mystery. Then I went home- my husband was working all day and evening so I was on my own- got out of my cold, wet clothes, got into bed and READ THE ENTIRE BOOK. Even back then, that was a major luxury. I mean, I didn’t have kids but I was an adult, with a grown-up schedule and responsibilities. Being able to spend the entire afternoon in bed reading was a huge treat. Let’s ignore for a moment that two of my fondest memories involve spending an afternoon lazily in bed. This trip down memory lane made me think of Elisabeth’s post last week about how parenting is a 24/7/365 job. No one can prepare you for it- as a matter of fact, when you’re a new parent it’s actually shocking how much of your old life you have to give up. Of course, it’s worth it. I can’t imagine life without my kids. Interestingly, however, the people I know who don’t have kids (like my sister) seem equally happy with their decision to live a child-free life. And, I’m well aware that my days of having kids at home are numbered (four and a half years… I don’t really want to count the days.) I’ll be able to spend all my free afternoons reading in bed if I want to! Strangely, that thought fills me with sadness though- I don’t want to be an empty nester. You just can’t win! For those of you with kids- do you have a special memory that stands out from your pre-kid days? For those without kids- how did you come to that decision? Any regrets, or are you overall happy with your life?
Weekly Rundown- Dodging Bullets
Well, another week! This one had a cutback in running miles, a blogger meetup, and my husband and I have continued our streak of never getting Covid at the same time. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown! Let’s just see how it all went down. Sunday 16 mile trail run! It was a little warmer than I would have liked for this run, but overall it was pretty good. My only issue was, as soon as I finished the run I got very nauseous. The same thing happened to me after my 15 mile run a couple weeks ago. Not sure what’s up with that- I may have to adjust my nutrition. I’ve been using gels which usually work just fine. Maybe I need to switch brands- i’m currently using GUs. Any suggestions? In other news, my husband had been feeling mysteriously fatigued for a couple days and had a slight fever. On Sunday night he took a Covid test which was, of course, positive. SIGH. Monday I did Caroline Girvan’s Iron Series Day #20 AGAIN- I think this is my third or fourth time doing this workout. It’s biceps, triceps, abs and core. I’m not that into all the focused arm work, but the core part is amazing. It’s just a good workout to do the day after a long run. Tuesday Here’s where things got dicey. I did a 3 mile run in the morning and had an alarming pain in my shin. It was probably a 3-4 out of 10 on the pain scale, but it was persistent. I didn’t like the feel of it ONE BIT. In the afternoon I went to the gym for leg day! Good workout, but… By this point I was convinced that at any moment I was going to get Covid, with a bonus shin injury. Then I thought about a book we used to read when my daughter was little. In it, Winnie the Pooh has convinced his friends to go on a picnic, but when they get there everyone is concerned about ominous-looking clouds in the sky. They keep saying it’s going to rain, and finally Winnie the Pooh says “Rain isn’t rain until it falls from the sky in drops. Until then, we might as well have fun.” Well put, Winnie! I resolved to go on with my week as if everything was going to be fine. Wednesday In the morning I went to the gym for push/pull day, and in the afternoon met up with Cari! Even though I felt perfectly fine, we stayed outdoors just to be on the safe side. It was a warm, beautiful day and we sipped iced teas and went for a walk. Fun meetup! Thursday Now I had a decision to make. It should have been a running day, but I wanted to give my shin a rest. I thought about going to the gym for some cross training, but that nagging inner voice said “Don’t go to the gym three days in a row! Think how much easier it would be to stay home and go for a walk instead!” Luckily I’m reading David Goggins’ new book, so I also hear his voice in my head now. In this case, I heard him saying “You want to stay home and do WHAT?!” Sigh. I went to the gym and did the stair climber for 45 minutes. I can’t say I “like” the stair climber (because that would be crazy) but of all the cardio machines, for me it’s the closest thing to running, endorphin-wise. Plus it was a great workout- I put some hard intervals in there, because that’s what you do when you’re on the machines to keep from losing your mind. Thank you, David. Friday The true test! I did a four mile run and my shin felt… completely fine. PHEW. Not only did my shin not hurt, but my glutes felt extra activated from the stair climber the day before, and I was aware of them pushing back with every step. Now I’m considering adding a day of stair climber cross training every week! Saturday Off! My daughter had a band concert the night before and we got home late, so I was glad to have a morning to sleep in (a little, before going to work.) And, it was my husband’s birthday! Luckily he was feeling better and done with his quarantine, so we went out for a nice dinner. Sunday I’m switching my long run back to Wednesday (again.) Sundays and Wednesdays are my days off, and the problem with Sunday is, I always feel my time is limited before I’m expected back home. On Wednesday, after I drop my daughter off, the whole day is mine and I plan to find a new trail to run on. So on tap for today… the gym, once again! I’ll do leg day, since I won’t be doing it on Wednesday. And then… football. Overall it was a pretty great week (thanks to my friends David Goggins and Winnie the Pooh!) If anything, I felt better than normal- maybe because I focused on getting more sleep. I did wear a mask a couple times indoors, like to my daughter’s concert (just in case) but other than that, carried on with my life as usual. My husband has now had Covid twice, and I had it once- and we’ve never gotten it from one another. Yes, this virus is highly contagious! Unless you’re sleeping in the same bed as someone who has it- then you won’t get it. Whatever. Do you feel like you’ve dodged any bullets lately? Chiefs or Bengals? – I like both teams!
Real Talk Runfessions
Am I speaking for everyone when I say January just flew by? HOW is it the last Friday of the month??? But here we are, and of course I’m joining Marcia in the Runfessional. Last week, Renee published her post “All Aboard the Struggle Bus.” Her honestly really touched me. She said “I really wonder how some people are able to run, work out, go to their job, take care of family/home, blog and have a lot of engagement on social media… I often wonder what is wrong with me? why can’t I just manage it?” Well, Renee, let me tell you what’s really going on over here. I know it’s tempting to always put our best foot forward. Even in a post where I’m being “honest” about my struggles, I’ll still choose the most flattering photo to include, and leave out certain details. So here’s real talk about how I “manage it.” I’ve been doing a pretty good job of finding time to run, work out, take care of my daughter, and go to work. Wait! What was that other thing Renee mentioned? Oh… the house. Well, I can runfess that my house has gone to wrack and ruin. I bragged about getting my Christmas tree down on December 31st, but NEVER FINISHED PUTTING EVERYTHING AWAY. Because I haven’t finished packing them up properly, the Christmas bins are all sitting in front of my closet, so I can’t even get to my clothes and have taken to draping my clean clothes on top on my dresser, where I can at least reach them. I cleaned up the biggest messes from my daughter’s birthday party but never finished because we had our trip to Tampa. There’s still remnants from that event out on the patio- a trampled “Happy Birthday” sign, an extra table with a vinyl tablecloth, and even some empty water bottles. Every time I think I’ll have a big chunk of time to clean everything up, I get bogged down with all the new messes. I feel like I’ve been doing laundry continually since our trip, and of course I never get a break from the meal prep and cleanup. So… I’m definitely not managing that part of my life very well. Some people would refuse to live like this, but I’ve been prioritizing going to the gym and long trail runs over cleaning the house. Let’s move on! Renee also talks about starting over. “How do we remove the memories from our brain? How do we just forget about the times when running wasn’t a struggle? When 5K was the minimum you would run 3 – 6 times a week and then 10K became the new 5K? How do you go from running “fast enough” to belong in a running club to what some people do as a fast walk? It’s hard. I’m sad. ” It IS hard. Over the summer I ran a 5K at the same pace I ran a half marathon three years ago. And when I was 30 I ran a full marathon at that pace. I know… that was a long time ago. But still- my old marathon pace is now my 5K pace? That’s a big slowdown. Next month I’m running a half marathon, the same one I ran three years ago. I’ll be running much slower this time, and I’m trying to accept that. Or maybe I shouldn’t just accept it- maybe I should be doing speedwork. But every time I do speedwork I get injured and end up even slower than before. I’m trying to figure out if there’s a solution, or if I just need to embrace being a slower runner. Even writing that sentence doesn’t feel good though. Let’s talk about walking. I’m still doing Galloway’s Run-Walk-Run method of 4 minute running/30 second walking intervals. I thought I would just do it in the summer when it was so hot, but I’ve continued it because it seems like it’s helping me avoid injuries. And, I’m planning to do a trail 50K in April where walking will be a necessity. So it’s all good! Except… The other day I was out for a 4 mile run. My watch beeped for my 30 second walk interval, so I obediently slowed to a walk. Just then a man (walking) passed me going the other direction and he smiled sympathetically and said “It’s hard to run the whole time, isn’t it?” What??? NO! I COULD run the whole time, I just choose not to! I mean… I’m training for an ultra! I used to never walk! I’ve run marathons without walking! I… Of course I said none of this, because that guy doesn’t really care. It doesn’t matter. But I’ll runfess… his comment hurt. So that’s what’s going on, for real, around here. Anyone else have struggles to share? Are you happy with where your fitness is at? Is your house clean???
Don’t Say Covid
Florida is a weird state. I love the sunshine, the palm trees and the weather in January. But in a lot of ways it’s a strange place to live. Our experience of the pandemic was quite different from other states. We had an initial lockdown in March of 2020 which lasted for eight weeks and then… we pretty much opened everything back up. Yes, people wore masks (although there was a LOT of initial pushback on that) but most places, including restaurants, shopping malls, and bars, were open. Schools were closed from March of 2020 until the end of that school year, but opened again in September. There was a virtual option and in-person classrooms were about 50% full. Masks were strongly encouraged but the schools weren’t allowed to officially mandate them. That was a transitional year, but for quite some time now we’ve been back to “normal.” In addition to our illustrious leader’s “Don’t Say Gay” policy (yes, a bright and shining moment for Floridians! *cringe*) it seems like Florida’s other motto is “Don’t Say Covid.” The day we left for our trip to Tampa, one of my clients told me there’s a new Covid variant, one that’s resistant to the boosters and highly contagious. PERFECT! I was about to attend a large convention with thousands of people- what we used to call a “super spreader” when we used such language. I though about wearing a mask, but no one else was, and besides, my daughter was playing the flute all day in a band full of mask-less kids, so… que sera, sera. Besides, this is the Free State of Florida- we don’t say Covid! You might be able to guess where this is going. On Friday of last week- five days after we returned from Tampa- my husband said “It’s so strange- the last couple days my runs have felt terrible. I don’t seem to have any energy.” Huh! That is strange. Saturday he was extremely fatigued, and Sunday he slept for half the day. Sunday evening he said “I can’t decide if I should go to work tomorrow.” I said “Why don’t you decide AFTER YOU TAKE A COVID TEST.” He did and, obviously, it was positive. Sigh. His two worst days were Saturday and Sunday, but he’s still fatigued and congested. Of course he stayed home from work, but as I was leaving yesterday morning he asked if I needed him to run out and get anything. What? NO! You have to stay home because YOU HAVE COVID. Then, he was thinking he might go to work today. I asked what in the world would give him that notion, and he said “Well, I don’t want to just sit around at home!” Ah. Well, that’s unfortunately what you have to do when you’re in quarantine. Because you have COVID. Sheesh. Of course now I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. We’ve both had Covid before, but not at the same time. My husband had it in the summer of 2021, but no one else in the family got it. Then, as I’ve mentioned many times, my son and I had Covid last Christmas, but my husband never got it from us. So…. you never know. Maybe I’ll be lucky and our streak will continue. On a lighter note, I have new tea. In this post,, Suzanne talked about her tea collection. Our tastes are almost identical, and she described two Earl Grey teas she loves. She made them sound so delicious that I ordered both of them. One is being shipped from Canada and won’t be here till next week, but this one arrived yesterday from Amazon. I was pretty sure I would love it, because my complaint with most Earl Greys is that the bergamot isn’t strong enough. I was not disappointed! As a matter of fact, for a moment I thought the bergamot was TOO strong, but then I realized that you can never have too much bergamot. This was the perfect amount. If I do get Covid, I will at least have lots of tea to drink! Do you still wear a mask? Have you had Covid?