Woke up early to get a ride in with Kami and Julie again. I really enjoy riding with those girls! It was supposed to be a short 15 miler, so I figured I'd be done in an hour, but with a late start and lingering and stops and a few detours it was a little longer. Oh well, good times...I enjoyed it all! Got home and despite the heat got my Lauren out of bed to run. She needs to start working out every day and training for her tri in September. Her bike will be ready Tuesday and she really needs to start getting out to do at least one sport a day and as we get closer 2/3 every day. I don't think she realizes how hard this is going to be. She was reluctant to get out of bed, but I convinced her. Only problem was she started pulling "teenage drama" on me. What the heck?!? Welcome to the downward slope to 13 I guess.... She was running and at mile 1 (the first mile is 80% downhill) I heard her crying. What?!? I asked her was was wrong and she said she couldn't breathe. I didn't believe her. She was just running next to me and was breathing fine. I let her take a break, get some water and encouraged her that we could make it. The next mile is uphill and I told her a designated spot we could stop. We got there and she was crying again (only the last 50 feet) because she 'couldn't breathe' again. I told her that she COULD breathe and that there was something more going on. She said "I didn't want to go on this stupid run anyway!" Then I got it. She wanted to go the short way home and I told her no. We had a little talk about her brain stopping her from reaching her goals. That she needed to put in the work. She isn't going to be able to just show up and do this tri, she is going to have to work for it! She has run 3+ miles more times than I could count and I KNEW she could do it and her body knew it too, she just needed to convince her brain. I told her to stop telling herself why she CAN'T and start telling herself why she CAN! We got through the next mile+ and she was fine and finished strong. Oh how many times my brain has been there. I couldn't do it. I wasn't supposed to do it. I understood her plight, but wanted her to prove to herself that she could do it! She didn't need to give in or give up, she could do it. After I asked her if it was really all that bad and with a smile on her face she said "yes." Stinker, stickin' to her guns! But, I know she knows it wasn't really that hard and that she did it well. When I got home I wanted one more mile. I wanted to push the mile and see if my legs would respond to some speed. I did my TM mile on the road and although the first .1 was with Lauren, I finished with a 7:47 mile. So, I'm guessing it was closer to 7:40, but I don't know for sure. I'm just glad my legs are finally responding to some speed. I hope to do some Fartleks on our Tuesday Ten tomorrow to see if I can hit some more speed. Slowly, but surely....
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