Week of the Races

The 10K is now just days away. I'm really, really looking forward to it. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous. Fall in Minnesota is just perfect. My husband disagrees with me, but we will just move on from this (fall = waterskiing season draws to a close).

Not only am I really looking forward to the race on Saturday, but last minute, two co-workers and I signed up for a 5K that our employer is putting on tomorrow! Our company is set out on a huge area of land and we have our own walking/running paths around the entire campus. I utilized these paths when I was pregnant and overdue hoping the walks would put me into labor (did not work). The 5K will take place on those paths, so it should be a lot of fun. The three of us turned in our registration paper yesterday. And then the lady told us they'd be videotaping the run. Videotaping. I think it is only fair to tell us this up front and not after I have signed my name on the paper. I will be wearing a hat (as always) to disguise myself.

My husband and I took our boy out for a run after work yesterday. My goal was 4 miles. The boys did all 4 miles with me despite our boy's begging to turn back and look at the bullsosers. He just never gets enough of them apparently.

The run was fantastic, but it started out a little rough. The air was unusually heavy for this time of year from the rain we had in the morning. It wasn't crisp like fall is supposed to be. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold, and it was a little bit foggy, but sunny at the same time. The first 1.5 miles my legs felt like heavy weights. They just didn't want to move. The large hill we ran up probably didn't help things, but I tried to remind myself that running those hills helps in the long run.

There were a few times I wanted to stop and I told my husband that it was really hard to keep up with his pace. We ran his pace - fast - the entire 4 miles. As much as I hated running that pace, I loved it. We turned onto the final stretch, which was about half a mile. He said to me, "I want you to stay with me the rest of the way." I had been lagging behind him a bit. Inside I was so mad at him for pushing me when he knew I was already spent at keeping his pace, but on the other hand, I was really glad he was along. I probably would have started walking had I been alone.

I kept up with his pace for about a minute and he complimented me. Then, out of nowhere, he said, "I want you to stay ahead of me until we get back... just a few minutes... stay ahead of me." I was over being mad at him for pushing me since I was clearly doing okay keeping his pace. Now I was just in it to prove to him and myself that I can kill the rest of this run. I sped up and ran in front of him and the jogging stroller. He was speeding up behind me. I sped up to stay ahead. We passed a few of our neighbors out for a leisurely jog and I could barely get a "hello" out as they passed by. My shirt was drenched. I ran the last few steps even faster so I could for sure beat my husband onto our street from the sidewalk. I'm pretty sure I said, "YES! I win!" as if I had just won a race. I'm not sure either of us knew until that moment it was a race :)

I feel great today! My hips and legs feel as though I pushed it a bit harder last night. I feel proud that I kept up with my husband's speed the entire time and even passed him up at the end. I'm happy to have him challenging me to push it once in a while. It's hard to do that on my own. I feel ready for tomorrow's 5K and the 10K on Saturday. It's going to be a great rest of the week!