Surprise!

Lately the word surprise usually applies to something inside Elliot's diaper. Saturday morning, it described what I thought when I saw the clock at the finish line. Judi was right- there is secretly hiding somewhere inside me someone who still knows how to run, at least sort of. Last year I ran a 2:30 (14 weeks pregnant). Last month I ran a 2:28 (with little training). Just three weeks later, with no idea what my pace was-- no watch, no splits, no garmin-- I came over the hill to see the finish line say 2:20. Huh. Who knew? I know, it's still slow as molasses, but it's LESS slow. 8 minutes less in one month. That's pretty darn good improvement if you ask me.

The South Shore Half is a little event run on a rec trail. Not hilly, per se, but with a 2-3 climbs in there worth remembering-- far from the flat this Chicagoan is used to. The start is sort of a logjam but it worked in my favor- being surrounded by faster people finally forced me to run, well, faster. Having forgot my gel, headphones, watch, Garmin, and just about everything but my shoes at home, I just ran at my own pace and did my thing. At the completely anti-climatic turnaround (put one cone in the middle of the path, then run around it) I told myself it was time to start passing. I got around all but one of my goal-to-pass people, and that last person heard me coming at 12.5 mi and sped up to avoid it. It was a good day.

Elliot, however, didn't think much of being at my folks house. Unused to his surroundings, he sort of decided not to sleep. Let's hope that turns around quickly. I'm hoping it wasn't caused by the tooth I can feel coming.