"If people don't call you crazy, then you aren't dreaming big enough"
- Jerold Mitchell
My husband's response to me the other day, when I asked him if people think I'm crazy.
Meaning, I run into people - people in our town, people at our kid's school, just PEOPLE. And they always say "We saw you running yesterday!"
It's become a bit funny, an almost "Where in the world did we see Nat running today" type of craziness.
Sometimes people ask me if I was running in a location where I truly wasn't running... "Were you running on such and such street today?" Nope, it wasn't me :)
I am also asked: "How do you balance it all with three kids?"
Carefully. Strategically. Non perfectly.
Believe me, it's SO far from perfect. Every day is different, based on how I am feeling and the needs of my family. My kids come first - school events, school parties, projects, homework, cooking for them, shuttling to sports and playdates.
Running fits it's way around all of that, with still being at the top of my list. I won't miss a workout - but I am flexible about when and where it gets done. I will say that when I am running, I block out (mostly) everything else for that hour to ninety minutes and focus on the running.
Core and strength is a total free for all. Most of the time my 3 year old is on the mat with me, trying to do a push up too. Bicycle crunches are interrupted by my six year old asking how to sound out a new word (she loves her new found reading skills) It's messy and chaotic, but it works.
By the way, this puts everything into perspective...
Sunday's 13 mile run was a hot mess. Ugh. I seriously wanted to quit at least five times. I felt off, I was cold, I felt super slow... So, you can look at those images on Instagram, and think it's all wonderful, glorious running - most of the time it sort of is (?), because it's an escape and therapy - but sometimes it's just a crappy run. I didn't even bother to look at my pace, there wasn't a beautiful fast finish - I was just happy to get the time on my feet and move on.
Those runs can mess with your head. I started thinking for a moment "What in the world am I doing? Why is this important - why don't I just quit?"
I thought about it later (much later when I was warm and dry) and I realized that it's those type of runs that prepare us for the dark cave of pain in the marathon. Those miles where we question "WHY are we doing this?", but yet you still keep going.
Don't give up. Ever.
Don't give up. Ever.
Last week was super fun - I had a birthday on Thursday...
SO much love and laughter with the kids, a great run (really it was - I had a good workout!) and we had a date night! Dinner at Patina (really an amazing experience. LA people ----> GO) followed by a beautiful concert performed by the LA Philharmonic orchestra. We had a repeat of last year's birthday and I loved every minute.
Oh and THIS happened!
Seriously. Sarah Jessica Parker shared this pic of me in her dress (I loved the dress, bought it for my birthday) on her company Insta page! Let's back up... first I took a picture and shared it on my Insta. A few, short minutes later she replied with a very sweet note. I was honored (and shocked). Fast forward to the next day and THIS. Boom!! Day made, birthday present in full effect. (Thank you Paria for sending a DM to me about it!! I totally did not see this until I got a note from her).
Is it really 19 weeks till Boston? That is crazy. Still at the base building phase and plenty of time left for marathon specific workouts.
Here is what the last week of November looked like:
Nov. 28th - REST
Nov. 29th - 5 miles
Nov. 30th - REST
Dec. 1st - 2 mile warm up, 10 x 2:00 min on at 6:45 pace, 1:30 off, 2 mile cool down. 8 total birthday miles = let's start the year right.
Dec. 2nd - 5 miles
Dec. 3rd - 5 miles
Dec. 4th - 13 miles
Total miles: 36
We got our tree on Sunday. It wasn't perfect - Josh wasn't happy about the tree that all of us agreed on. I think he'll change his mind when it's decorated...
And that should about catch us up on life lately and training!
Enjoy the start of the week!
Happiness Is Running Life.
xo,
Natalie
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