Postpartum: Week 13

Week-beginning Thoughts:
This is the first week in a long time where I've felt capable of setting goals for my future self, and not just in running, though that's what this blog is about. I haven't even thought about my Achilles for long enough to consider "what's next" on the training front, and I'm excited by that... a lot. 

Plus, I'm starting a new job nex Monday. w00t. 

Monday

Did: 4.01mi stroller run @ 8:59/mi avg, Big 5

Had a morning meeting and couldn't make it to 360 class in time, so I took the littlest one to the river instead for a nice morning run together. 

Tuesday

Did: 6.32mi @ 9:44/mi avg, 3.5mi double stroller walk, Strides

Good run. Good walk. Fun Strides class. 

Wednesday

Did: rest

Had an all-day work seminar + didn't feel well in the morning

Thursday

Did: 3.11mi on treadmill @ 9:44/mi avg

Still not sure I'm totally over the little cold that seems to have taken down both my little ones, so I opted for a gentle, indoor run today.

Friday

Did: 4.04mi treadmill @ 9:10/mi acg, 2.26mi treadmill @ 9:36/mi avg, Big 5

Frustrating day of sick kids, kitchen repairs, and inept delivery service providers = two-a-days

on the bright side, my hair looked awesome, and I didn't do a thing to it after getting out of the shower

Saturday

Did: 10.02mi @ 10:27/mi avg, Big 5

I knew I would NOT feel like getting up to run this morning, but WOULD want to have a double-digit run at some point during the weekend. So, Friday evening, I asked a teammate to meet me at 5am to run together. She's racing tomorrow, so she only had 3mi, but meeting her would at least get my butt out of bed and on the road. 

After a sluggish 3mi, I continued on, relying on mental math, singing Hamilton in my head, and trying to relish the solitude in order to entertain myself through the next few miles. I ended up just being paranoid since I'm not used to running solo at 5:30am, and even less used to seeing male runners at that time to day (I saw FOUR this morning). I kept my pace artificially slow in case I had to bolt at a moment's notice for safety. 

It wasn't pretty, but I got it done, and I'm proud of it. 

Sunday

Did: 4.25mi stroller run @ 9:33/mi avg, Big 5

I had a few teammates racing today near my house, so I opted to do my SundayRunday stroller run to/from the race course so that we could cheer. It ended up being even more fun than I'd expected! We had a weekend of success from all of my teammates, and I actually felt like the odd one out for not doing a race. I kind of wished I'd signed up (because it was a stroller-acceptable race) and run with my little one, especially since he kept asking, "Mommy, why are we not running this race? I wanted to run with you because we're super fast together." Mom guilt. 

Also, I've realized that we don't have many more months of fitting in the stroller to race together... and this absolutely breaks my heart. 

still had fun cheering

Total Weekly Mileage: 34. BOOM. That's a post-#2-partum PR. 

Week-ending Thoughts:

• Watching races, especially this women's race, makes me super emotional. I think I cried like three times this weekend about other people's race experiences...
• Stroller running with my potato is the best, and my heart is truly going to break when the stroller becomes too small... even though I have "another potato", it's not the same.
• I'm totally ready to get back into race training, though I have no ambitions for any overall PRs, only a post-partum one. Might try to do a little speedwork over the next few weeks before Thanksgiving, and I think I want to do a half marathon pushing the stroller... maybe even the double. That's probably stupid ambitious, but, hey, YOLO.