Can't Sleep

You would think waking up at 4:45 a.m., running 13.5 miles of hills, cleaning up the house, going to lunch, going out for girls' night, then waiting up until midnight for the husband to come home from guys' night, I would be able to sleep until at least 7 or 8.  Sadly, that is not the case. I think I slept from about 1:15 a.m. until 5:15 a.m. 

This happens to me all the time. No matter how late I stay up, I am still up early. I guess I just wake up early way too much. If being curled up on the couch in a quilt was not so comfortable, I might have gone out to do a recovery run with my running group, or maybe go to Starbucks for some coffee. 

There is still time for the coffee, though. There is ALWAYS time for coffee.

I guess while I am up, and until I have the motivation to venture out for coffee, I'll tell you about my run with my mom.

Last Sunday, for the first time, I went out for a run with my mom. Somehow, I was successful in convincing her to sign up for the Princess Half Marathon. I did tell her I would run it with her. 

Anyway, we went out to the West Orange Trail to run 8 miles. As far as I know, she has never run more than about 6.5 miles. We met up and started our run, after she finished getting dressed and setting up her run tracker on her iPhone. 

I let her set the pace. My husband told me I was not allowed to "break" my mom. I told her we can walk whenever she needs to, and if we need to slow down to let me know. We run and talk and greet all the other runners and cyclists on the trail. 

Before I knew it, we were at our turn around spot. We had not walked at all. We maintained a pretty steady pace, and my mom was looking strong! 

At the turn around, I had my mom try some of her Clif Shot. She had never had to take nutrition during a run before, and I wanted her to start getting used to it. So, we stopped and she ripped open her Clif Shot to take half of it. I could tell she was frustrated that we stopped running and walked a little to give her time to consume the sugary goo. 

Within about half a minute, we were back to our steady running pace. She was still looking strong, and we were having the best conversation. 

Maybe a mile after that, she took off and told me to "pick up the pace!" I was a little shocked! She said the power song came on. So, I picked it up even though I did not have any power song playing in my ear. A couple minutes later, she says, "damn this song is long!" 

The power song ended and we resumed our slower, steady pace again, running, talking and just enjoying the wonderful weather and each other's company. 

We finished our 8 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes. I told my mom that if we can keep that pace during the race, we will finish in under 2.5 hours!

She really amazed me! She ran so strong. It had to have been one of the best times I have ever had with my mom. I am so proud of her. I have always known my mom to be very strong-willed. Once she sets out to do something, she does it and she gives it her all. I knew she had been training hard and diligently, but seeing her and running with her made it real.

My mom is really going to run a half marathon with me! This has to be about the coolest thing ever!