Little Red Running Hood

Miles 155 Another number added to the wall. OK so, post race.  And a lot of stuff is going through my head.  Today is a good day and I am having a myriad of really good thoughts.  First, my run last night was amazing.  7 miles 8:31 average, gives me A LOT of hope for my race in May.  I need an 8:20 for 13.1 miles.  And while that is far from target… it is early in training and it is within my reach.  I feel that this really may be possible…...like lower 8 domination is something I can attain.  A pretty solid 2-3 of those miles at a 7:53…. and I had this mini break though.  I wanted to stop…. at about .40 of my mile…. my head was like TOO FAST SLOW DOWN STOP STOP…. assessed my breathing…. fine…. my legs…. not tired…. speed…. not to fast…. but my head and my gut said SLOW DOWN.  SO I thought about something else.  I pictured my daughter on the beam…. doing amazing…over coming her fears… I thought of her seamless bar routine… her...

Miles 142 I am freezing.  My coffee is good.  I am wearing long sleeves and long pants, but the icy wind of my afternoon run has settled into my bones.  Freezing.  I think it's 10 degrees the weather report shows "feels like 0".  My time absolutely sucked.  It was painful to breathe almost like my lungs were bleeding.  And I was overwhelmingly aware of the weight of 10 pds of extra clothing…. each blast of wind in my face made me question my sanity….I never stopped…. at one point I slowed, my wimpy winter treadmill lungs not accustom to breathing in"feels like 0"….  it was in one word…. amazing . Ok well the first mile was kind of hell.  I wasn't sure if my face was getting frostbit if my fingers would ever move again or if I could keep lifting my legs in the cold wind and extra weight.  My lungs struggled to take in air….. I didn't know if I felt fire or ice or when it would end.  My whole body hurt, not in a hard to run way,...

MILES 127 I am feeling kind of defeated today.  After my 20th cup of coffee. I am so tired.  I am tired of my knee hurting.  I think to think back on each season… always some minor injury…. there was the calf muscle ripping away from my bone… there was the hip flexor issues…. hmmm last spring the only issue was me not eating…. and then my hamstring in the fall… now this pesky knee thing…. was it like this in my 20s…. sometimes I am not really aware of how long I have been doing this. ….. how long has it been.  I seems like I have been running for so long that it is kind of my identity.   Who would I be if I wasn't a runner…. surely this is incorrect…. I mean I do other stuff…. right…??? Stuff that doesn't revolve around running……I need to check my running log…. I t is on the days that you don't want to do something, that you need it the most. Maybe just a slow treadmill jog.  Maybe some hill intervals…. it is like a monday funk and it's tuesday. ...

MILES 107 The weekend!  Perfect.  I intend to do nothing nothing NOTHING.  Except eat my girl scout cookies and drink coffee and stay in my pjs and watch romantic comedies.  In bed.  Reality check. Oh yeah, the weekend.  Healthy cooking, games, practice, actual time to train…… the weekend.  Catching up on my mt everest of laundry and cleaning something because everything needs to be cleaned every second of every day.  And I think my kids ate all of the girl scout cookies. I am in desperate need of a cheeseburger I think.  And a milkshake AND fries AND onion rings….. The world inside my head is amazing!  A world in which I am running 3 minutes miles with a cheeseburger in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other…. kind of like chariots of fire music playing….chariots of food…. as I run with a huge smile taking that slow motion bite of this massive bacon double with extra cheese and brake the finish line tape and jump into the air r...

MILES:  SAME AS LAST TIME BECAUSE MY KNEE STILL HURTS FRUSTRATED is that feeling of your knee STILL HURTING and not being able to run anything over a 9 minute mile and sprints make it hurt and it is not bad but it is just enough to say back off OR ELSE.  ANNOYED is that feeling of having to listen to my stupid, weak, ridiculous, irritating, frustrating knee that just doesn't want to get with the program here.  MY GOALS are TOO BIG for this CRAP. So I am drinking my favorite coffee…. it is so good I hide it so no one that comes over ever has a chance at seeing it…. it's the starbucks cinnamon dolce coffee and it is REALLY hard to find.  Plus I need the anti oxidants.  SNAP that reminds me…. I need to take my krill oil pill and some other supplement I am trying.  As a general rule I hate taking supplements, unless it is a protein shake or a quest bar.   So here we are with less than 15 days from my next race and 3.5 month out from Geist and my n...

MILES  98 We learn something new from everything we do, each experience, each moment…. we may not realize……. we begin to see and understand this when we take the time to live in the moment and capture the experience…. ….My oldest daughter did something really strange.  She had the opportunity to sign up for art or music as her middle school elective.  She is an artist.  A natural, honest, really good, talented, 100% self taught artist.  I am often in awe of her work.  So, of course, I assumed she would pick art.  She signed up for music. Yet she spends hours in her room, reading about art, creating, painting, drawing and steadily getting better.  She is not disappointed if a piece turns out different than she expected…. there is always a fresh canvas which she can begin anew…. she enjoys the process of learning, creating, and getting better…. every experience is something she learns from and she values and utilizes that knowledge. I ...