This morning, I started to head out for my 14 to 15 mile run. I was ready for the distance; I was ready for the potential rain; I wasn’t ready for the tears.
As if on cue, Little Ironman woke up and came downstairs, crying that he wanted to come with us. He promised that he wouldn’t complain, that he would just sit and wait until he could have his turn to run at the end. I melted. “How quickly can you get dressed?”
So, one glass of milk and nutrigrain bar later (with snacks and extra water packed for the jogger), Little Ironman headed out with us and I was faced with two more surprises: humidity and wind -just what I didn’t want with 60 pounds to push.
Past the three mile mark, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to do the whole distance with LI. The 4 mile marker is my turning point – go long or go home. So we went home, straight into a strong wind that I would have had to face later for 5 miles, not one, if I kept going long.
It was a good decision. LI wouldn’t have lasted much longer and he raced “our kilometre” home in record time. At least, he had a good run.
Once in the door, I commented, “That run was a fail.”
“No, Mom,” Skipper replied. “That was an epic fail. You only ran 5 miles.”
My first thought was “Good, you know what epic means. You did learn something in Social Studies this year” but I bit my tongue. Instead, I stretched, grabbed on my cycling shorts and rode for 14 miles on my windtrainer.
Twelve hours later, I am over it. This morning was a reminder that life gets in the way. But, we adapt to the circumstances and juggle things to meet new demands. Tomorrow morning, I’ll head out again, this time on my own, to run 13 miles – not easy, not hard, to just get it done.
But, in the end, I was glorious. During my morning grrs, while posting my run on Daily Mile, I omitted my time. This was intentional as I have no idea how long my 5 mile venture took but I didn’t realize what this would really mean to my weekly log until later tonight when I read that I ran 22 miles this week in 1:57. Now, that’s cool. Accurate? No. Fail? Definitely not.
You got out the door and did what you could, I don't think that's a fail at all!
Balance and keeping flexible with scheduling is so much more important than training, at least for me! I think you did a great job this week. Congrats on getting done what you could with the jogger.
I think 22 miles for the week is an 'epic pass'! Nice job being flexible and getting it done.
“epic fail” too funny. its so hard to find a balance between mom and runner…
With kids, you just have to roll with it. It's great he wanted to go along!
Aside: Could you email me (lakotega@yahoo.com) the name + address of where the AMBP should be sent? Thanks.
Hey, you tried and that's all that matters. Totally love that he considered 5 miles an epic fail. Most people would be happy with that!
I think you did an outstanding job keeping the balance.
And your windtrainer probably appreciated the attention, also.
Congrats on 500+ miles, your training and racing has been very fun to follow.
It's so hard sometimes to be a good mama *and* a good runner. :/
How courageous of you to even attempt a run that long with the jogger. I have only gone 13 with LBM and I'm not sure I would do that very often! I do admire your willingness to be flexible and see the bright side. Any run is a good one.