Small Victories

A week ago, I ran a 10k.  I had a goal.  I did not beat that goal.  I really wanted to run it in under one hour, which would be totally doable.  For someone else, that is.  I managed a time of 1:01:20, or an average 9:53-mile.  I might have made it, but when I started to head downhill on the far side of the bridge, I slowed waaaay down.  People I passed on the hill were passing me – so frustrating!  I can’t run downhill, I guess.  It just hurts.  Perhaps this is why I always start out on the gentle downhill slopes around my house so I can do the grueling hills on the way back in.  Not a big help in a 10k that has about a half-mile downhill, though.  When I got to the end and saw the time clock above the finish line, my heart sank.

 

But I was only disappointed in myself for a little while.  That runner’s high is something else, huh?  The day was beautiful, the view over the Astoria-Megler Bridge was lovely (I would say “breathtaking” but, well, I’ve seen the view a lot.  It’s spectacular, no doubt about it, but I am sort of desensitized), and we had a wonderful time eating a large post-race meal with the extended family.  So there, self-disappointment.

 

I don’t think I’ll run another one until next year, maybe.  My knees hurt all day Monday.  The last thing I want to do is tear up my knees, so I’ll stick to my 2 – 3 mile runs for the time being.

 

In other news, that is significant to me, but perhaps to no one else outside of the immediate family, I finally got rid of the smellies in our cloth diapers.  I don’t know what the deal was, but they stunk.  It was as if they were already dirty, right out of the washer.  I tried all sorts of detergents and rinses and I stripped them again and again and again, but in the end, good old Charlie’s Soap did the trick. 

 

Tony’s been busy with school and basketball, so I’ve had lots of quality time with the kids lately.  Behold, the wonder of brothers, ice cream, cupboards, and tractors: