traveling with kids is tiring! Running is an escape from that "mama are we there yeeeettttt?" or "I want out NOW" or " I'm.....fill in the blank (hungry, thirsty, etc.)....that's tiring.
It is 11:07pm on Saturday night. This morning I ran 31 miles at the Chicago Lakefront 50/50 Ultra Marathon. Yes, it was a tough run. We went out fast, we thought too fast, and managed to hold the pace. We also ran against 20 mph headwinds for 18-19 miles. We finished overall 2nd (Elissa), 4:17:57 and 3rd (Emily) 4:18:00 place females and 13th and 14th overall out of 200+ runners. So it was a good run day. We started off with the fast pack and I'll admit I was nervous. I remember looking down at my watch at mile 15ish and seeing that our average pace was 7:47. I really thought we would be doing more like 8:30s considering we haven't done any speed work since well before our 50 miler and really hadn't planned on running this race. I really continued to feel good until 22-24ish where we were running against some really strong headwinds. It was exhausting. We rounded a bend in the path shortly after 25 and the wind did change directions, of course not directly blowing in our benefit, but better. However at this point we were both exhausted from the battle. I asked Elissa, "how long have we been running?" She said, "I'll tell you in a minute." What? Then she said, "Congratulaions my friend we just ran a 3;29 marathon." This was a huge thing for Elissa because she has had a goal of 3:30 for her next marathon for the past year. Too bad it counts for nothing! Our last fuel stop was at mile 28. Oh, this is when I revisited my old friend otherwise known as.....the WALL. Now, I will have to admit, I sounded a bit like my 3 year old this weekend- cranky! I got so dizzy Elissa asked a complete stranger if I could have a drink and of course since I looked completely pitiful he said yes. This helped for about 3/10ths of a mile and then I crashed again. This is basically how the last 2 miles finished for me and I feel horrible that Elissa had to deal with me at this point. She just kept chanting to me "you can, you will, you want to." And I just kept chanting "I can, I will, I want.....to hit you." She is tough physically but I swear I have never, ever seen someone so mentally tough. She is unstoppable at the end of a race. She has an extra gear that she turns on and no matter how tired her legs are she can still crank it up a notch. We got to the last 3/10ths of a mile and I just remember yelling "you deserve number 3 more than me.....GO" of course she wouldn't, so I stopped and she yelled "you better not walk across that finish line!!!" Of course I didn't walk across the finish line. I picked it up too, but she definitely deserved at least a place in front of me. When we got done, to our surprise, we finished 2nd and 3rd women overall.
Then we got in the car and for the next 6 hours I got to hear my daughter whine. Yes, she was exhausted and it was a long trip home, I get that. One day, I will get to tell her the story about how mommy ran a 50k ultra marathon after walking all over the aquarium the day before, shopping at the American Girl store, and throwing my back out of whack because she wants me to "hold me." One day she will be a mom who is mortified at a meltdown in the middle of a public restaurant. One day she will understand that no matter how much you try to be the best mom you can, you will still always feel like you could be better. And hopefully, one day she will understand that running makes her a better mom. It gives her strength and freedom. It is the one time where she gets to be just her, no title, just one with the road. When she's done she will feel like she can do anything, even if that feeling is only momentarily. Because running is not tiring. Being a woman, a mother, at times can be the toughest job there is. And let me just tell you, the car ride home from Chicago was about as good of an example of tough as it gets :)
It is 11:07pm on Saturday night. This morning I ran 31 miles at the Chicago Lakefront 50/50 Ultra Marathon. Yes, it was a tough run. We went out fast, we thought too fast, and managed to hold the pace. We also ran against 20 mph headwinds for 18-19 miles. We finished overall 2nd (Elissa), 4:17:57 and 3rd (Emily) 4:18:00 place females and 13th and 14th overall out of 200+ runners. So it was a good run day. We started off with the fast pack and I'll admit I was nervous. I remember looking down at my watch at mile 15ish and seeing that our average pace was 7:47. I really thought we would be doing more like 8:30s considering we haven't done any speed work since well before our 50 miler and really hadn't planned on running this race. I really continued to feel good until 22-24ish where we were running against some really strong headwinds. It was exhausting. We rounded a bend in the path shortly after 25 and the wind did change directions, of course not directly blowing in our benefit, but better. However at this point we were both exhausted from the battle. I asked Elissa, "how long have we been running?" She said, "I'll tell you in a minute." What? Then she said, "Congratulaions my friend we just ran a 3;29 marathon." This was a huge thing for Elissa because she has had a goal of 3:30 for her next marathon for the past year. Too bad it counts for nothing! Our last fuel stop was at mile 28. Oh, this is when I revisited my old friend otherwise known as.....the WALL. Now, I will have to admit, I sounded a bit like my 3 year old this weekend- cranky! I got so dizzy Elissa asked a complete stranger if I could have a drink and of course since I looked completely pitiful he said yes. This helped for about 3/10ths of a mile and then I crashed again. This is basically how the last 2 miles finished for me and I feel horrible that Elissa had to deal with me at this point. She just kept chanting to me "you can, you will, you want to." And I just kept chanting "I can, I will, I want.....to hit you." She is tough physically but I swear I have never, ever seen someone so mentally tough. She is unstoppable at the end of a race. She has an extra gear that she turns on and no matter how tired her legs are she can still crank it up a notch. We got to the last 3/10ths of a mile and I just remember yelling "you deserve number 3 more than me.....GO" of course she wouldn't, so I stopped and she yelled "you better not walk across that finish line!!!" Of course I didn't walk across the finish line. I picked it up too, but she definitely deserved at least a place in front of me. When we got done, to our surprise, we finished 2nd and 3rd women overall.
Then we got in the car and for the next 6 hours I got to hear my daughter whine. Yes, she was exhausted and it was a long trip home, I get that. One day, I will get to tell her the story about how mommy ran a 50k ultra marathon after walking all over the aquarium the day before, shopping at the American Girl store, and throwing my back out of whack because she wants me to "hold me." One day she will be a mom who is mortified at a meltdown in the middle of a public restaurant. One day she will understand that no matter how much you try to be the best mom you can, you will still always feel like you could be better. And hopefully, one day she will understand that running makes her a better mom. It gives her strength and freedom. It is the one time where she gets to be just her, no title, just one with the road. When she's done she will feel like she can do anything, even if that feeling is only momentarily. Because running is not tiring. Being a woman, a mother, at times can be the toughest job there is. And let me just tell you, the car ride home from Chicago was about as good of an example of tough as it gets :)
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