Small Achievements

Day 2:  Faced with the unexpected challenges from yesterday, I decided to go shopping.  I bought some comfy and guaranteed-to-cut-my-time-in-half running shoes, and a new running shirt with pockets for tissues.  Notably, none of the spring T-shirts had pockets, so I'm not sure how I'll deal with that obstacle when warmer weather arrives.  Perhaps we will still have a cold Memorial Day.  I also dosed up on 2 prescription nasal sprays: one for allergies, and the other is a nasal antihistamine which is supposed to dry the flow.   Once I was feeling super fast and prepared for all kinds of bodily fluids, I took to the pavement, but this time with my son in tow at his urging.

     This is not the first time I've gone "running" with my son.  He has previously spurred me on with playful gests and occasional competitive mini-races which he could usually run in circles around me.  I would often end up pleading for walking breaks, or threaten time outs if he did not wait for me, for fear of losing him entirely around the next corner.  Today, however, I had the upper hand.  At one point, he commented, "Mom, you are definitely faster than the last time we went running."  I thought, well, I'm no longer in heart failure.  I beat him soundly in our mini-sprint race (about a block long), which for some reason he only suggested once.  Perhaps my championship Rocky-style dance, entitled "Your Momma's Faster" was a bit much.  Did I mention that he has asthma?  I beat my 9 year old asthmatic boy in a mini-race for the first time today, and I will someday feel guilty for this, but at the moment I'm still happy.  

     The wind was still strong today, but my eyes were less teary, perhaps another benefit of the antihistamine?  My new challenge was my bangs.  Bangs were not designed for wind.  When I dropped my boy off at the house and decided to head back out for another lap of my walk-slow jog, I grabbed a little barrette to hold my hair out of my eyes.  I also grabbed a fresh baked brownie bite to refuel, because I'm human, and they smelled so good.  The barrette worked well at first, but for some reason half-way around my lap I felt a ping on my forehead and the clip spontaneously launched itself somewhere into the adjacent field.  Really?  Is this associated with running? I looked around a bit but eventually had to abandon it in the grass.  Barettes have never spontaneously snapped off of my head before, so I'm guessing this was either a faulty barrette or once again had something to do with the jarring on the pavement.  Either way, could be a safety hazard in a crowd so perhaps a headband is the way to go.

     Sadly, the slow leak at the other end was present once again today, though this time I was more prepared.  I had hoped for a fluke of nature, one time occurrence, but no such luck.  Fortunately, I had not yet donated my stash of feminine products that I had optimistically set aside after my hysterectomy.  The damage today was at least contained, and I Kegel-ed my way around my route like crazy, visualizing dry days ahead.  That's bound to work, right?  ...RIGHT?

     Maybe it was my new gear, or because I outperformed my son, but for some reason I felt faster today, though inexplicably my times for the day did not reflect any overall increase in speed.  I also learned a little about pacing:  if I go super slow, I can make it to the trail around our subdivision before I need a rest, already making my goal of 4-5 blocks by race time.  And I made it 2 laps around our subdivision in my walk-slow jog pattern, which seemed to have shorter walking periods today, probably due to my slowed pace.  I now am patting myself on the back for a job well done, and wondering how many days per week do I actually have to do this?  The forecast here over the next 2 days is for heavy snow, so I might be forced to take a break and revert back to my indoor workout.  That would be a shame.  ;)