Legs of Lead

Monday, May 10:

Running the Numbers ~ Training Stats:

Training days to go: 89

Longest run to date: 6.5 miles

Mileage last week: 16.25 

Mileage this week thus far: 2

Total training mileage: 57.75

Workout Stats:

Location: Spring Creek Trail, down to spillway

Time of day: 5:30pm

Time Running: 20 minutes

Planned Distance: Rest 

Actual Distance: about 2 miles, maybe less 

The Run:
Life kicked my booty today .. and did not make an exception for the jog/plod/survival shuffle I forced into the later part of the afternoon. When I woke up at 7 this morning, I was ready to tackle the day and the chaos I expected to hit me head on. By noon, my "Bring it on!" attitude was utterly shattered, and was eliminated from every piece of the rest of the day. I thought I had the bull by horns in my legal battle, but it turns out, my hands are tied and for right now, I'm completely defeated. The only thing I can do is wait ... and pay my lawyer.

Which got me thinking: Can I even afford to run this marathon? Will I be able to take ten days off for a much-needed Tahoe vacation and a stop-off in Bend to test the training I've been logging and planning?

Without much hope and too many question marks dancing around in my brain, I almost kept myself cooped up in my little corner apartment to continue sulking and fretting. But with two rambunctious little wiggle worms, my girls were dying to get outside, so I promised Aspen a run. When you promise something to a 3-year-old, sometimes it's easy to divert their attention and they'll most likely forget the treat that was guaranteed. Not my 3-year-old: she'll repeat it thirty-five hundred times so that nobody could forget, even if they wanted to! So I had to get out and go for a run.

Luckily, I'm well equipped with the coolest running stroller ever! It's a double-stroller, but only single-wide. The older kid sits out front while the smaller or younger passenger is tucked in behind and below the front seat. It also steers like a dream! I can easily push it with one finger at a time. Love it. It also means I never have a good excuse NOT to go if I have my girls.

So, after bundling everyone up, I slowly maneuvered us out the front door. I lumbered down the walk and toward the front of the neighboring apartments and made up an excuse to keep at a walk as we got closer to the geese and their broods of goslings. This was a nice pace .. why not just stick to this?

No, no. As soon as we waved goodbye to the "baby geesies,"  I leaned forward and off we trudged, sluggishly switching from pushing with the right arm, then the left. I hadn't mentally planned a run so I just started moving. I ended up following the Spring Creek Trail down to the spillway to see if we could spot more goslings (they're actually pretty cute when they're yellow and look like walking puff-balls! And then they grow up ... and poop ... a lot). Anyway, at the spillway, we were SOL in terms of baby geese spotting, so we turned around.

Just a note: When you run along a creek toward a spillway, you go downhill. Which means, when you turn around, the whole way back will be uphill ... slick move, genius. Although it already felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders today, it felt more like it had seeped through my pores and poisoned my body. My lungs felt filled with tar, and my muscles felt loaded with sludge. I was losing the uphill battle.

In the end, I gave up after 2 miles, maybe less. It was barely a shuffle. I convinced myself that, since I have 4 miles set for tomorrow's run, any kind of movement today would suffice.

Before we hit the apartments again, we stopped to watch our fox pups play along a nearby ridge that houses their den. The munchkins and I were suddenly all smiles watching them jump around and tumble down the hill. It's awesome what seeing something through the eyes of your child can do for your outlook. And then the world didn't feel so heavy anymore. Maybe tomorrow we should start the run passing our foxes.