<p>Well, another “what would MOWC do?” – she would run the race she didn’t want to run and coach her daughter to a PR while looking snazzy in her new running skirt and negative split the whole thing…</p>
<p>Congrats, and to your daughter, too!</p>
<p>Thanks! This is really special for my daughter. She grew up feeling very inadequate as far as running/athletics compared to her parents and her brother. She is very fit, but has some hips and doesn’t have a skinny runner’s build. She’s lovely, of course, but has always felt “fat”. To be running half-marathons is not something she EVER thought would be happening! Today she really wanted to beat a couple of the female docs that she and her H know from Vandy. They are tall, willowy blonds. We were well ahead of them at the turn-around, and my daughter picked up the pace. She said, “They may be skinny, but I’m STRONGER!” I was so proud of her. They never gained on us at all. Her stretch goal was a 2:10, and both of us were too tired and confused to calculate properly after 10 miles, but we knew if we didn’t fade badly we could get the 2:10. I didn’t realize (and neither did she) that we were in the 2:07 area. It makes me happy to see the confidence she is gaining in her strength and endurance. That’s the important part. She also thanked every police officer monitoring the intersections and cheered people on who were still heading out after we turned around. Her husband was at the finish line, which made her happy. Mine was still on his bike ride, which was OK with me. We’ve had a lot of years of cheering for each other at finish lines!</p>
<p>That’s so fantastic MOWC. For both you and your daughter. I keep trying different stuff every once in a while to get my daughter hooked on fitness, so far to no avail. I guess you have to let them find it themselves.</p>
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<p>NROL4A workout for me today. The tough one with the front-foot elevated split squats and the inverted TRX rows and the barbell deadlifts and the pushups with feet in the TRX straps. Punched the clock. Workmanlike outing in the basement on a damp, dreary day. I’ve been doing this workout for a couple of weeks now. I can’t really go up in weight because 12 reps per set is a lot. I’m looking for one more shot at the 5K course before next Sunday’s “big race”, but the weather has been just awful and I don’t want to go bad enough to walk/jog in the pouring rain.</p>
<p>Okay, I actually teared up at MOWC’s post. I can totally relate to feeling like the “odd man” out, although I can only imagine what it must be like in the WC family of overachieving athletes. The love that came through in that post and what no doubt SisofWildChild felt from her mom – so, so cool!</p>
<p>idad- I think your example will ultimately be of more value than anything else. I did not come to exercise until I quit smoking in my early twenties and came around very reluctantly. I think in time, so will your d., especially given your example.</p>
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<p>Yeah. I felt the same way reading MOWC’s post. I also really like seeing how much MOWC enjoyed the race, even though it wasn’t a PR or winner’s trophy for her. For us ol’ geezers, it seems really important to find and appreciate value from fitness whether or not we are still capable of “winning”.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys. Our family dynamics have not always been very smooth. My daughter was a tough act to follow for my son in many respects.</p>
<p>I think half marathon is a tough distance. I only do well if I’m in marathon shape or training which gives you more confidence to really run at the edge. A lot can go very wrong in 13.1 miles. </p>
<p>I’m suoposed to bike tomorrow, but I’m hoping for rain. In a few days I can start freaking out about next weekend’s 2 day MS ride. Today I said, " The half marathon is over and I don’t nave to get up tomorrow and do it again!". Next weekend is a different deal, but at least a fun party at Jack Daniels happens in between!</p>
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I was never a racer, but I’m still proud of the 10K where I beat my husband! Anyway loved MOWC’s whole story and congrats to your daughter and you.</p>
<p>I continue to be amazed at MOWC’s antics.</p>
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<p>You ain’t kiddin’. At our age, walking to the mailbox is a tough distance! :)</p>
<p>Yay MOWC! I really enjoy reading about your racing. I am always surprised at your pre-race worries, because to me, what you accomplish is amazing.</p>
<p>I don’t understand my pre-race worries either. A neighbor went to the race with me. She is 50 and used to be a top competitive swimmer. She is also injured and shouldn’t have been running the race and had NO expectations and actually thought she might be walking. She was more anxious than I was and was totally freaking out. She said she has always been that way. Made me feel a little better!</p>
<p>I didn’t luck out. It wasn’t raining so I had to do the bike ride. 
We did a different course and I didn’t complain once in 32 miles (much to H’s delight). There was MUCH less traffic and it was very pretty. Hilly, but we saw cows, horses, llamas, donkeys and lots of roadkill. The negative is there is nowhere to stop for a snack or breakfast until almost back home. I shouldn’t put this on this thread, but at 29 miles we stopped at Steak and Shake for chocolate chip pancakes! SO good.</p>
<p>During the half yesterday I seriously lost interest in the whole thing at about 8 miles. I had to tell myself “It’s a race! It’s supposed to be hard!” And something from my running forum “Suck it up, buttercup!” At 11 miles I passed these two women running together. One of them tried to stop and walk. The other one said “Don’t walk. I’m tired, too, but we’re almost there!” There’s a lot of mental stuff involved in all this. I am not sore today, which is surprising. My daughter is. I didn’t wear racing shoes. I started to take them, and then thought to myself “Who are you kidding?” and went with the cushioned trainers.</p>
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<p>Make mine a double steakburger with cheese, large fries, and vanilla shake. On second thought, I’m glad that we don’t have Steak and Shake in New England. Or country ham bisquits.</p>
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<p>It has stopped raining here for an afternoon, so I went out for my third “training run”. The whole town was out getting in a practice run. A fat guy, an ol’ geezer, a young couple with two dogs, a mom and her grade school kid, etc.</p>
<p>It was brutally hot and muggy for this time of year, 81 degrees and everything is soaking wet. I added a little more jogging, running the first 200 meters before breaking into my 400 meter walk > 400 meter jog sequence. Started off like a house afire, but must have hit the wall because the final three 400 meter jogs were slow as molasses – under 5 mph. Not too bad, I guess, considering how hot it was.</p>
<p>Next week for the race itself it is currently forecast to be sunny with a low in the low 50s and a high in the low 60s with the race starting at 12:30. Sounds about perfect. Just barely warm enough for shorts and short sleeves.</p>
<p>I’m excited about your 5K. Wish we could all be there to cheer you on! It sounds like you are very ready.</p>
<p>MOfWC, great race! Your daughter did so well! Yay! And you, too!</p>
<p>H and I made our way to the beautiful island of Hawaii. There are signs all over the highway shoulders warning to watch out for “athletes in training”. The Ironman race is scheduled for October 8. I admire anyone who can do this brutal race in these temperatures. Meanwhile, my lazy-arsing way of living continues. So far, we made it to the hotel’s gym both mornings and pedaled stationary bikes for 30-40 minutes. The ocean is so warm, even this cold-blooded creature can snorkel for more than an hour, so I count this as “exercise”. There are several resident green sea turtles living in the ocean here at the resort, and they love to graze in the lagoon in the mornings, much to the delight of my underwater camera weilding DH. At this rate, we will have tearbytes of turtle videos to sort through when we retire. :)</p>
<p>^^ That sounds wonderful. Have a great time. The Ironman defies comprehension. I’ve always followed it, but never wanted to do a full Ironman, much less the “real” one. Getting off a bike and running used to be SO hard back when I did shorter triathlons. My longest was 1 mile swim, 43 bike and 10 mile run. Biking was my weakest part.</p>
<p>Holy Mollie! I cannot even imagine riding a bike for that long! My tailbone hurts just from thinking about it.</p>
<p>(BTW, take a look at some comments on the thread about Diana Nyad. She has been compared with “balloon boy” as publicity seeker. Sheesh, there are much easier ways of getting 15 minutes of fame than swimming 100 miles in shark and jelly fish infested rough ocean!)</p>
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<p>I don’t know how hard it is to get ready when you go into it planning to walk halfway! It is good that I’ve now done the exact route three times, so I have pretty good idea how to pace myself. The last three intervals are the toughest – #4 and #5 both have some short, but significant uphill bits. It’s also been good to do a little flatter route, lengthen my jogging intervals, and start doing a little more uphill jogging.</p>
<p>I just hope I don’t finish dead last. Last year, I would have finished #208 out of #227, although I suspect there were more people walking than that. It’s a charity run/walk for the local elementary PTA.</p>
<p>I need to give the old legs a break. Three of these 5K walk/jogs and three NROL4A workout with squats in the last seven days has the old thighs a little tired today. I just couldn’t make them go very fast.</p>
<p>Good job on the race.</p>
<p>The anxiety that you wrote about reminds me of getting ready for giving a speech. You know that you prepared and that your technique is sound but you’re nervous anyways.</p>
<p>Didn’t do much on Sunday but the basement looks so much cleaner. There’s lots of room for working out there now and I may do a YouTube video workout with my wife tonight.</p>
<p>MOWC: Congrats to you and to your D. Loved hearing about the race.</p>
<p>I ran into a guy that I hadn’t seen at work for a few years. Before he was tall, thin, broad shoulders, lots of muscles - but not too many. We used to talk about our workouts. He was a marketing guy that traveled a lot and he was in young family mode. This morning I barely recognized him as he’s put on a lot of weight. I guess that’s not uncommon.</p>
<p>I brought my running stuff in but was asked to play tennis this afternoon which sounds good. The only question is if I should squeeze in a short run this morning.</p>