Running with my daughter by smish

Well WE DID IT!

I knew she could do it.  Race day was perfect.  May 24 was a perfect day t run...beautiful sun, a bit hotter than expected but with a lovely breeze.  We did exactly what we wanted.  We got up, ate, showered and got ready and went and ran....simple!  That was it!

Natalie was great. She kept whatever pace I set and never complained.  At about the 16km mark I told her we needed to make a decision.  Do we continue at this pace and enjoy the rest or do we want to make our 2:15 goal....what a trooper! She said we go for the goal so we picked it up a bit and gave it our all.  She started to fade in the last 2 km but Fred was everywhere then on his rollerblades holding up the sign that said "Who said teenagers are LAZY?!"  He was cheering us on and sending us on our way.  The crowd was getting bigger too and we pushed and managed to get across the line in 2:17:41...a great show for a 14 year old on her first half.  It was a very proud moment for both of us. 

She has a few toe nails that are in a bit of danger but otherwise looking good.  And of course, she is hooked and planning her next race already.

Thanks to anyone who helped get her there....it is always in the believing.

Trish

Well we are 3 weeks until race day!  

Later today, we are off to do a 16-18km run although it is very windy out and I hate wind.  We tried to do a 15 km run earlier this week but got a few km's from home and had trouble with equipment.  Natalie has bought a cute little skirt for race day and I suggested she try it out...good thing because we weren't far from home when the chaffing started.  She thought she would tough it out but finally we decided to turn back before we hit the concession roads and had little option of stopping.  We had done about 5.5km by the time we got back to the house so she could change and guess what? The motivation to continue was gone...sigh. What did we expect I suppose?!  So now we have a long run to do today.

You many wonder why we are doing long runs during the week along with the speed training? We made a small mistake and booked some 10km races, one last sunday and one this Sunday as preparation for the race experience of her first half marathon.  I didn't think about it interferring with the long runs though.  Oh well, live and learn.

On that note though, we did the Mercedes 10km in Oakville last weekend.  It was a great race with a good course.  We started out a bit fast for the first 3km and when I realized Natalie was really struggling, we slowed down for the next 4km.  I knew we were going to be fine when she started talking to me at the 7km mark.  Before that, she was pretty mad at me for dragging her out so fast!  She had told me she wanted to finish in 1 hour so I am nothing if I am not a good pacer!  Anyway, we came in at 1:02 and she was quite happy with the day.  We have one more this weekend followed by one more long run and tapering.  Still some time to try out different clothing options so she doesn't run into trouble in Ottawa.

I hope everyone's training is going well!

As I've said, staying on track for mileage has been a bit of a problem but if ever I needed evidence of tissue memory I have it now.

Two weekends ago I needed to get in 20km while Nat needed to get in 12km. The question is how to do that in our busy household without going out twice? The solution...start out with my group of friends all running 20km and call for someone to pick Nat up when we got to 12km.  Seems simple right? Well it should have been.

It started out fine and things were going well. The route that had been chosen took us out of town along concession roads but still on the same side of town where I live. At the 9km mark I started calling my boyfriend to pick up my daughter but no answer...I kept calling as we ran which is firstly, somewhat difficult and secondly, a little embarrassing. That chunk of the route was an out and back and so I was faced with heckling from the faster runners who kept telling me to put down the crackberry and run...haha. Anyway, SOMEONE never woke up so we were stuck...keep going with the rest of the group or short cut it back home.  If it had been summer, I could have left her and gone back for the car but really it was too cold to do that so we walked/ran the way home, making poor Natalie's 12km run into a 16km run. She managed it but it wasn't pretty. Again amazement because that girl is a good sport!

Last weekend was Around the Bay for me. Natalie is away so it was just me and 52 of our local runners on a bus to Hamilton for the day. While it was cold and rainy, that is still one of my favourite races. This is a bit of a recovery week although tonight is going to be hill training and tomorrow weight training but Ottawa here we come!

Well it has been a challenge lately to get my mileage in. I have Around the Bay coming in 2 weeks and it is a 30km race but trying to be ready for that one as well as doing the training with my 13 yr old daughter for the Ottawa Half is proving tricky.  I want her to be very well prepared but how to do that without sacrificing myself to the running gods??

Last week we started hills...this has never been Natalie's strong point. Off we went with a group in a driving wind. The way over to the hill was something else...dust and wind made me run much of the way with my eyes almost closed. We got over to the hill and started up. I told her we would each run the hill at our own pace and if I was ahead, I would wait for her at the top and run back down together. Just after starting, I heard her scream behind me and when I looked back she yelled that she had stepped on a dead squirrel. Yuck. On the second hill repeat, she said a hello to the squirrel...now her BFF according to her and by the end of hills, she had named him George and was wishing we had a camera for photos! Whatever gets us through hills I say!! She kills me!

In order to get in some extra mileage, I put off her long run (10km) until today since we can easily do that on a week night. It has been a bit of a jump since out biggest run has been d a few 10ks but in prep, I did a 17km 2 weeks ago (terrible), a 22km last weekend and now a 26k with my usual training buddies. Each run was progressively easier. Thank goodness for muscle memory. I think I will be fine for the 30km race in 2 weeks. It feels good to be back out there for those longer distances again. I will let you know how week 2 of hills goes!

Lastly, I was talking with my ex last week and he told me that he sees a difference in our daughter's self-confidence since we started to run...my evil plan is working. It makes me very happy for her and very proud.