I've been away from blogging for a couple weeks, and with good reason. I arrived in Rochester on the 14th from my Santa Cruz summer. That Friday night, my grandpa passed away at 88 after a 2 year battle with lung cancer. It was very sad, but we all knew that this was coming down the road at some point. And fortunately, we had What was very moving was the wake and funeral - a ton of people attended to honor him. He was a WWII vet, an active member in his church and community, and really had a positive impact on a lot of people. Very inspirational, and a great tribute to a great man.
But needless to say, running didn't go perfectly during that time. I got in some good runs, including on the day of his funeral, and some bike rides with my dad too. Nothing like family time.
Then last weekend, I moved back to DC. My parents are fantastic and were really helpful in getting my settled into my new place. But, as I am sure so many people know, moving and running don't necessarily go hand in hand, so I missed a couple of runs. Moreover, moving back to crazy hot-in-the-summer-DC is not conducive for the best running either. Man, it was 50 degrees in the mornings in Santa Cruz - I could even get away with short sleeves! And in Rochester, it would at least be only 70 degrees. But this is hot hot hot! I got so spoiled with my summer - I know that most of the country had it hot and humid all summer, but man alive - this is hard! I haven't really had a stellar run yet. A couple of runs have just been cut short because of the heat - I keep wilting when it's 86 degrees. When I was home in Rochester, I could run 8 minute pace all day long no problem. Here, I'm holding onto 8:15-8:30 pace with no inclination of picking things up. I am hoping that soon, the weather will cool down a little and I'll get my kick back. I'm going to (try to) not get too worked up about some missed runs. A few skipped runs ultimately won't make a difference. I know that, I've been told that, and I've told others that too. But still, seeing as I have a teeny bit of a perfectionist streak, it's still a hard pill to swallow. But I will press on and wait to bounce back.
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| You wouldn't mess with me, right? |
Today's run looked like a dream - just 4 miles. Even though it was 88 at 6PM, it was going to be a good run. I was not going to get derailed by the heat, nor was I was going to get lost. Side note: I moved to a new place closer to downtown and spent the end of my last couple of runs literally running in circles - around the blocks of my neighborhood trying to get back. That was not going to happen today. I studied the maps, figured out the major intersections, committed to memory how SE streets flow into NE (I swear, to me, directions are harder than medieval history), and was ready to go. I ran around the Mall - hugged the Capitol, passed the Supreme Courthouse, wave to the Washington Monument, and climbed Capitol Hill. I ran about 8:20 pace for 4.5 miles, and it was the best run I've had since I got here. It was the shortest, yes, but it was also the smoothest. And I am not going to write it off as just a little weekday run - this was the small running victory I needed to help close out this month. I found my way back just fine, I was covered in sweat - really, it dripped on the desk, but I was triumphant. It won't go down in the books as spectacular (although it was monumental), but it was a small victory. This was my post-run picture - tough girl pose. Maybe I wouldn't win in a fist fight, but an A for effort, right?
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