I have just got back from a run that was MAGIC.
Yesterday was rest day; today was designated long run day and I have five more decent sessions to fit in before the end of the week. Then I heard that a sick teacher and resulting class closure (Covid rules prohibiting the school from sourcing any replacements) meant that I would have my eight-year-old with me at home for a few days.
I must confess that my first thought was, “oh no! How am I going to fit my runs in?!”
Obviously as a parent you have to be flexible and I’m often juggling things around, moving my runs to the evening if I’ve got sick kids at home, or swapping in extra rest days (which is just another way of saying skipping a session… but you’ve got to put a positive spin on these things!!).
But on the other hand, my marathon (which is less than eight weeks away, eeek!) is not going to be flexible with me… it’s not going to say, “oh you’re a busy mum and you didn’t manage to fit all your long runs in? Well that’s okay then you can just stop at 35km”…!
So I had to find a way to make it work.
Luckily YY has an excellent bike and with a certain amount of sugar-related bribery agreed to come with me. Initially I planned to do just half with her and then drop her at home to watch some TV (her father is teleworking in the basement) while I finished the distance.
But in the end, the weather was just PERFECT (sunshine, zero wind, 12 degrees) and she was in such a gorgeous mood and we were just having so much fun that we did the whole thing together… 27km in a smidge over two hours (moving time).
We took a break every 5km so YY could load up on sweeties, which I know is slightly cheating on a long run but it’s “time on your feet” that counts, right?
We chatted non-stop: speculating about why they’ve drained the canal in sections, watching the wildlife, planning what to do tomorrow, counting the massive freight trains thundering past on the other side and it was pure gold mother-daughter time that I will cherish forever.
If only every long run could feel this good!
I’ve just tucked YY up in bed and told her I was proud of her cycling so far with such a good attitude and she said, “27km is not far… 42km is far.” You can always count on kids for a reality check!
