Run This Year - 700 miles

I hit the 700 mile mark at my erg class with Zack right next to me!

I'm still hanging in there, although mainly I'm getting rowing miles in.  I'm lucky if I get 2-3 runs in a week.  It's really rough, I'm really starting to feel discouraged, but I think I just need to ride it out.  There are always ups and downs in everything - work, relationships, fitness, running etc... I'm just in a low place at the moment and if I can just hang on, I'm sure it's going to get better.  The most important thing is, no matter how bad it seems I can't stop pushing through and running.  As soon as I give myself permission to stop or "take a break" -it's going to be all over, I know I'll never get started again.  So, hang in there and keep on pushing is my plan right now...

My boy is making me happy - 2 things

Sitting watching my boy eat... 3 eggs, 2 waffles, a bowl of grapes and half a dozen slices of bacon.  Eat baby eat!!  Still doing the "refugee sit."  He still eats like a camel... nothing but goldfish and fruit snacks for weeks at a time and then suddenly it's cheeseburgers, bacon dogs, eggs and bacon.   I just try and hold on to the eating times! :o)




 I woke up yesterday to this sitting by my phone.  Say What??  What teenage boy wants to get up at 5:00am to go to an Erg class with his mother??  My BOY!  That's who!   He's such a great kid, so off we went and erged away!

Running, Rowing - why is it all so hard??

I'm back trying to get myself running, erging and rowing.  It's not been easy, it seems like since I took May off, I just can't get my groove back on. Although I certainly have my eating groove going on!  The erging is fine - it's a class and I feel guilt if I don't go and work hard when I do, but the rest... it's a struggle.

I'm finding the rowing to be particularly challenging.  I feel like, I just don't feel like, I am, a novice rower trying to hang with the competitive women.  It's challenging to put it mildly.  Everyday I finish practice and I think, "I'm going down to Intermediate, I gotta go down to Intermediate."  There's so much I need to work on that I can't keep it all in my head.  As soon as I focus on one thing, everything else goes to hell.  I practically panic when they bump the stroke rate up and then I tense up and it all gets worse.  I'm a mess.  If I'm being completely honest, I don't think I'm that much worse than everyone else, but it sure feels like it.  If we could just spend all our time rowing at about a 20 and doing drills I'd be perfectly happy.  Doesn't sound much like a competitive woman to me. :o(

And the running....  Geez, it's like I've never run before.   I can't even run a mile without having to stop and walk.  I might as well be doing a Couch to 5K program, run a minute, walk a minute.  Geez it's ridiculous.  I feel like my legs weigh 800lbs and I'm huffing along like a gimpy elephant.   It's just not fair.  2 years of running and I take one freaking month off and it's like I've never run before.    It doesn't help that I'm about 6lbs heavier than I'd like to be, which is like I'm carrying a bag of sugar with me on every run.  Today I ran 2 miles on the trail and then did 3 -one mile repeats on the Boathouse hill.  God, that hill sucks!  I was pretty happy with my performance.  My new goal will be to run that freaking hill without having to stop, by the end of summer.