Patience; the new endurance sport.

Got up with the kids to do the Freedom Festival 5k. I was so excited we were "running as a family!" Until my daughter said "um, you don't expect me to run with you, right?" Then she finished in 21 minutes . Brat, but good for her. She runs so hard in soccer, she probably does a 5 por 10 k every game and she is FAST on the field. She said the 5k was only a moderate effort and felt easy compared to soccer. So that,axe me proud. My son on the other hand who comes home from XC to report his mileage like he's all that, ran the first mile with his sis and lost steam/confidence completely and finished 4 minutes after me. He started in on all the reasons he held back, lost steam, had a bad race. And hoping to teach him something about reality I said "son, there is ALWAYS a million reasons why we don't do our best and they don't even deserve mentioning them if you think they are excuses. In running, you either do or you do not finish with a respectable time. If you didn't try your hardest, no one's interested in why not. We want to hear what went right". He was quiet but I'm not sure if he was taking in a dose of running math reality, or if he was mad. In all fairness, this was his first attempt at 'racing' so I pointed out that starting out too fast before you can find a suitable sustainable pace is just as bad as just taking it easy and running slowly (time wise). I don't know what he'll take a way fom that. Fourteen year old boys, at least mine, seem delusional about their abilities. It's a cross between helping the, see reality so they can improve their performance, and allowing them to build a little confidence without self deceit. Not sure I'm the one to teach him those lessons though. Mom's "don't understand" .

Probably not such a great idea to run a half marathon the first Sat. after not running for 2 weeks. I ran extra miles on Thursday after the Freedom Festival and could feel it yesterday. On my last trail run, I got horrible poison ivy, probably using the bushes somewhere (tmi). Because of my immune system idiocy, the rash became pervasive and they had to put me on prednisone and augmentin. So I have been a dragging, swollen, bag of hives and blisters driven to the brink if itchy madness. The rash, is gorgeous, as far as rashes go. So there's that. But anyway, we wanted to run with Josse and Michelle, Rachel, etc. for some impromptu RHPC love for Josse and because Michelle's here from Hong Kong. I saw Michelle Thursday doing the Freedom 10k and cheered for her as she speeded past me going up 9th east going on to become the first woman finisher (way ahead). Anywho, I made the mistake of bringing my sweet old dog Sara today, who's 9 now and losing her hips. I did it to ensure that I would only run 6 or 8 miles. But Rach kept me company and before I knew it we'd already gone 5. So I let her go ahead, I finished the 6.6 is and waited so we could finish the canyon, I was actually feeling great, but my dog, not so much. Poor old girl. We actually had to wait on her a few times. She's no good for more than 6. The girls brought breakfast fruit and water (I got locked out of my house at 6am leaving my cut, chilled watermelon on the kitchen counter). It was good to see Josse and Mac and Michelle even briefly, but I really need to get with it and call Karen (Smooth's friend/neighbor). Running with the guys my own age was a revelation when I ran 13 or 14 with their group a few weeks ago. I'm ok with slowing down if I can keep some good company. Anyway, Josse's having it tough, more tough than anything I am fit to bear and so we wanted to show her our love and support today. I'm glad I went, though my dog and I will be a little sore today. If my rash and the fever would just subside ill start some regular mileage this week. The cooler weather and the rain were literal heaven to my skin. Sending my love and gratitude to the universe and saying a prayer for Josse, Jade and Karin and their family.

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