Building speed

Training for the RnR Las Vegas is building speed...I had nine miles to go this morning. My husband was out of town, so I planned wisely and headed to my parents' yesterday evening so my dad could watch the kids during this morning's long run.

We had some stargazing fun last night. Sometimes, I miss the small town things like seeing so many stars at night. It was really good to have a chance to visit with my parents and just relax a little after this week.

This morning, Mom and I were both awake at 6. Unfortunately, she had been up with my lil buddy who had thrown up a couple of times. He seemed to be ok though (a red ices, ice cream and strawberry milk might not have been a good idea, huh?). We decided it wasn't light enough and went back to bed for another hour. At 7, we geared up and headed out around 7:30. Both of us had new Amphipod fuel belts to try out. The first half mile was hilarious as both of us sloshed and adjusted and re-strapped those belts. Luckily, once they settled in (or we got used to them) we were fine. In fact, I really liked being able to have both water and Gatorade for once.

The first two or three miles were really rough for me. I just couldn't get loose and find my rhythm. After three, things felt better, but not great. I think I finally hit my stride around six or seven. Crazy, I know, but the last couple of miles felt pretty good.

I am actually building a little speed again. I did a negative split "tempo" run this week with consecutive miles in 9:40, 9:20, and 8:57. I don't know what my splits were today, but even Mom could tell I was faster and stronger at the end than I was at the beginning of today's run. I will have to plug my Garmin into the computer to see my splits though.

Mom was only scheduled for 6 after her Double at the Tulsa Route 66 Quarter Marathon last weekend. She ended up doing the whole nine with me today. I know it was considerably slower than her normal pace, which is probably why she did the whole distance with me, but it was really nice to have company. It didn't hurt that keeping up with her kept my pace up.

I wish we had thought to get a picture of the two of us this morning. I was going to try and post a picture of her and Dad running last week's race, but my computer is just not cooperating.

One of the best parts of today's run (besides the fact that I ran with my mom) was that I finished strong and felt proud of me. I get so bogged down with other people's speed or distance that I forget that I am doing the best job I can do. I choose to run, so I can choose to enjoy it and celebrate my own accomplishments, no matter what that might be for me. After all, I finished nine miles this morning before lots of people ever left their beds. so maybe my confidence is picking up a little speed as well :)

Mileage Report
Weekly: 20 miles
YTD: 639.85 miles