Oh, what a weekend! Saturday started off a little shaky, with a bad performance at a local 5k. It was one of the toughest runs I've ever done - mentally and physically. As soon as I started, I knew any hope of a PR was out the window. I was shocked when I checked the results this morning and I won 2nd in my age group! Saturday afternoon, Chad and I had the honor of going to Peter and Jackie's beautiful wedding. Saturday evening I got to enjoy a much needed "Girls Night Out" with three of my closest friends here. Our friend Amberly was pregnant, and two weeks overdue at this point, and I think she was itching to get out of the house. We enjoyed "grinders" (Yankee speak for really good sandwiches) and good conversations for about 3 hours - it was such a great time to relax and be refreshed by my friend's wits and wisdoms.
Sunday, I got up early for a pre-church run. Part of me was dreading it, due to how I felt in the 5K the day before, but part of me was hoping that this 4-miler would rejuvenate my mind and body. It was a perfect morning - sunny, clear, in the 70's - and every step I took reminded me why I love running so much. It is training runs like this that keep me going. I'm slowly realizing that I love the training way more than I love the events. I get so nervous and tense and stressed on race day - trying to focus my training over the past 6 weeks, or whatever it may be for a particular race, in hopes that the training will culminate in one glorius run. A run where I will break past my own records, where I will defy the odds (and gravity) and be the one who crosses the finish line first. I know this is very unlikely to happen, but I think it is good to have lofty goals. But, for my own sanity I think I need to knock it down a few notches. Or maybe just keep competing in these really small runs in Wilmore, where I have a very small chance of realizing these dreams.
I think one of my issues with 5k race days is that I have not trained to be a fast runner. I've trained to be a distance runner. Running 15 miles at a 10 minute pace is completely different than running 3.1 miles at a 10 minute pace. My body is strong, but my mind is weak - it is hard to shock my system into kicking out even an 8 minute mile for a 5K. But, in my marathon training I am going to work on getting a little faster. If I can keep a comfortable 9 minute marathon pace (rather than my half marathon pace of 10 min) then maybe I can be a little lighter on my feet during the shorter races.
We have a huge event coming up at work, so getting Memorial Day off was almost a blessing and a curse. Part of me wanted to be at work getting things done, but I was very thankful to have the day off to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary! It was a relaxing day, and we went out on the town to celebrate.
When we got home last night, we got the best news of all - our friend Amberly was (finally) in labor! She gave birth to their son (at home, no meds, no drugs...what a cowboy!) this afternoon at around 3:40pm. He is a big boy - a whopping 9.5 pounds! I think he must have gotten Ryan's hips.
Chad and I were fortunate enough to get to visit them tonight and I was able to meet their son - he is so precious and so little. Congratulations to Ryan and Amberly on the birth of your first son! Congratulations to Morgan on becoming a big sister! We are so proud of your family and your precious baby boy!
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