Hello from Limbo Land, the uncomfortable place where I have been languishing since I ran the Boston Marathon and then paced my teenager through her first half marathon. Over the summer, I’ve continued to run three days a week and cross-train the other days with swimming and strength training, but it feels like I’m hanging on to fitness by a thread. I don’t have a goal race on the calendar and that’s making me antsy. The solution seems to be simple — sign up for a race! And yet, I cannot bring myself to do that with how busy I am this fall. So far nothing has inspired me to take on the commitment of another race.
My goodness, though, how I enjoyed watching the men’s Olympic marathon yesterday! I loved to watch the front of the pack — from the joy on the gold medalist Eliud Kipchoge’s face in the finish chute to the incredible accomplishment of American Galen Rupp taking the bronze, to American Jared Ward surging from 15th place with six miles to go to 6th overall at the finish! I loved seeing American Meb Keflezighi handle his digestive issues and a harrowing slip in a puddle followed by some face-saving push-ups at the finish line. And I loved watching the last runners to complete the marathon — the Argentinian Federico Bruno who due to cramping had to side-step his way across the finish line with support from Paraguayan Derlis Ayala, who stopped several times to encourage Bruno to the finish. And you’ve got to love Jordan’s Methkal Abu Drais who finished smiling in last place (several competitors DNF’d – did not finish) behind a Japanese runner and comedian Kuniaki Tanizaki who was determined not to finish last.
Without a running goal and training plan to keep me focused, I’ve taken on a couple of strength training challenges to give me that daily satisfaction of checking off the workout lists. I just crossed off day 16 of the 30-day ab challenge from darebee.com and the old 50 push-ups challenge from @neilarey.com. I’m shocked that I can now do 52 push-ups in one day (broken up into four sets – 14 reps, 12 reps, 14 reps, 12 reps). I try not to look ahead at the schedule because it intimidates me.
So why am I so especially busy this fall? My oldest daughter just started high school. She’s made the varsity tennis team and is taking on an advanced curriculum in the local science and technology magnet school. And look who just joined our family — my new running partner! Meet Roxy, an eight-month-old German Shepherd:
The veterinarian cleared her to run 1-3 miles with me, but I have heard that I should wait until she is 12-18 months until I take her running. Any thoughts? She’s about 45 pounds and approximately 75% of her adult weight. I haven’t taken her running yet but she enjoys going on one-mile walks and she loves to run around the yard. I start human/dog training with her next month (she had some training with her former owner, a mother of three girls — like me! — who realized that Roxy had outgrown her mobile home and needed a backyard and some room to roam).
What do you do to come out of a running slump? Do you have any advice for running with a dog?
Fit Fun Mom 