Recovery: Not an easy week

Here's the thing: When you have kids at home, you never really get a vacation day. I'm not complaining. I adore my life with my kids. But I have to admit, last week was tough.

Monday I was barely walking. That Wapack race did me in. I was trained for the distance, but not for the hills. I definitely bit off a bit more than I could chew with those hills. My quads were nothing but nubbly bubblies for days and days and the top of my left foot hurt every time I came down on my heel. It seemed like a tremendous effort every morning to get up from my seat at the kitchen table and wobble over to the screaming tea kettle. Stuff like that. Moving across rooms was not taken lightly. Getting out of chairs (never mind getting off the toilet! forget stairs!) required strenuous effort.

What had I done to myself?

Monday we were out all day between Marine Biology classes, libraries and playgrounds. Lots of walking outside in the wind. Lots of mad dashes to sit on benches. I helped coach swimteam Monday night. I kept losing the thread of my conversations. I was very old on Monday.

Tuesday was better. Art and music at home. A stolen afternoon nap.

By Thursday I was up for taking the dog for a walk even though my foot still hurt. Thursday afternoon I biked for two hours while the kids were at farm class. Not hard. I fiddle-dee-deed up and down Al Harvey Road, giving my legs a little spin.

I don't remember Friday.

Saturday, at last, I ran. Maybe 14 miles total. By far the bast part of the day was the 3.5 mile road race I ran with Nell. What a tremendous joy that was.


All of the kids have been taking a trail running class on Tuesday and Friday evenings. We absolutely love this class. Between all of her swimming and this new running class, Nell was definitely in shape to run three and a half miles. She turned 9 last month, which is right around the age I started running the 3M Needham Fun Run every year when I was a kid.

And she ran beautifully. She is a smart runner. She did not get sucked into going out too fast, as almost all the other little kids in the race did. She started with her 10.5 minute mile and held it steady for the entire race.


It was a tremendous pleasure to run beside her. She didn't whine and complain, just kept plugging along. Only after the race did she tell me that there were times during the run when she wanted to stop. But she didn't stop. She clip-clopped along and finished strong. I'm so proud of her.

A delightful end to a difficult week!