Finishing Strong

So I plodded along today. I tried to push myself going up those hills and found that I actually slowed when I was going down. As soon as I turned the corner for the last tenth of a mile, it was as if my body knew I was almost home. Without thinking about it, my stride lengthened, my pace quickened and I was sprinting home. I do wonder if I hold back just a little bit during the run in order to push hard at the end? Sometimes I get lost in my thoughts and then I realized that I am running at the pace of a turtle and have to remind myself to pick it up. Today, the five miles seemed like nothing, which tells me that I have a good base built up. I only hope that when race day comes, I will have enough to finish strong at the end.

Kiera got her shots today. She didn't like it too much. Gavin got to inhale his flu shot which made him very happy. Not sure when I can get by with Aidan, but I need to do it before they run out.

It will be a fun evening with neighborhood friends coming over for dinner and tons of election day conversation. We are eagerly anticipating the announcement of our new president! It will be fun to see how the race unfolds.

Going the distance

It took giving birth to my third child for me to start running again. After my daughter's birth I discovered how much my body craves movement, solitude, challenge and beauty. So I began walking and the walking turned into running. Now I run a couple of days a week on the West side of Tucson in the desert. I get to experience beautiful sunrises and sunsets and always the silhouette of the Tucson mountains. I have encountered a whole herd of javelina in the early morning hours, heard the howls of the coyotes in the early evening and watched as snakes slithered across the sand to get to the warm pavement at sunset.

I'm not a serious runner, but I am serious about my parenting so I run. I register for races to give me the external motivation to run. I register for the 1/2 marathons to keep me running consistently and focused. I also like to run and when I return from a workout, I am greeted by my cheering children and their happy faces. The time in the desert settles me, gives me time for reflection and helps me to sort out the different challenges in my life.

I head out tomorrow for a five mile jaunt which will set the tone for a very busy day of appointments--school, doctor, voting and play date. Couldn't think of a better way to attack the day.