Sunday, June 27, 2010

Pain in the Butt

I love it when people are being interviewed about marathons and triathlons and such, but they are not triathletes or runners themselves. Sometimes you get the best bloopers.

For example, some chick from O, the Oprah Magazine was talking to Natalie Morales on the Today Show this past week. Anyone see this? I forget what the subject was, but they started talking about the Ironman. The woman being interviewed said (very knowingly), “The Ironman is a very long race and you don’t have to make that your first triathlon (duh). It is a 24 mile swim…a 112 mile bike…and a marathon.”

Whoa. Back up there sister. Did she just say 24 mile swim? That’s like from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Well, not really, but you get the point.

Fortunately, Natalie quickly put her in her place, advising her it was a 2.4 mile swim…Guess that teleprompter forgot the decimal point.

Speaking of 24 mile swims, Emma and I ran the Run for the Congo Women this morning in Denver. It was a perfect running morning with the temp at about 60 degrees, the skies blue. The race organizers did an amazing job of educating the runners about the cause at hand, and for nine year old Emma, this was very eye opening. They had a pastor on site who said a small prayer at the beginning of the race – something that would appeal to everyone about loving and enjoying life. Emma told me, “I said my own prayer to the women who are hurting. I said that I loved them.” She makes me cry sometimes.

The run started well enough. Emma had high hopes for her time as she had just run a 10K last month in 1:07. She thought maybe she could pull out a 30 minute 5K. We busted that wide open when at mile .5 she had a stitch in her side, she was tired, she needed water, her foot hurt, her leg ached, she felt like a loser. Have you ever run with a nine year old? There are good days and bad days. Just like all of us runners have. It was my job to pump her up and remind her that we were just out to be together on a  beautiful day and to support a great cause.  And, I meant it.

We ran, we walked, we drank water. Mile 2 had Emma starting to whine and while I had been the patient mom up until now I wasn’t going to take no whining. I shut her up quick with some stern mom talk. She finished strong in 38 minutes. No PR today for her. But for me? Finally I broke a 40 min 5K! :)

Surprisingly, she won first in her 12 and under age group (comprised of five girls). That shut her up for good.

Me with two Congolese women:

runforcongo And Emma:

runforcongo1

P1060902

We’ve decided to sponsor a woman in the Congo through Women for Women International. $27 per month goes towards helping a woman obtain career counseling, provide her family with basic necessities, pay for her children to attend school, etc. You exchange letters with this woman and learn about her journey. Should be a good family experience.

On a closing note, my ass hurts. I think it’s the old piriformis. Pain in the butt. I’m icing, rolling, stretching. I’ll take tomorrow off in preparation for a tempo run on Tuesday to kick off 16 weeks of marathon training.

Kiss my piriformis! Just doesn’t have the same ring as kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. (What movie is that from??). I’ll swim 24 miles if you tell me.

Don’t forget my giveaway HERE!

34 comments:

  1. Christmas Vacation!
    Your post made me choke up a bit. You ladies rock :)
    Tell your girl I said Great Job!!

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  2. sounds like a good run for a cause. if i hear of this run around my area I will definitely sign up.

    congrat's to Emma.

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  3. wait i saw something on the today show about doing your first tri and the interview was being done by natalie morales not merideth, is that what you are talking about. natalie did a sprint tri that i did in my area so i am sure she was holding back screaming out about it.

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  4. Love the pics of you and Emma! She is so cute!!! Great job to you both! :-)

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  5. Awesome running, Emma. My son is also 9 years old and he also has good and bad races, but everyone of them is a learning experience.

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  6. Awesome running Emma. A chip of the "young" block!

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  7. Emma is a rock star!!! It sounds like you had a great day together.....60 degrees it was 100 here today, I think I would freeze in CO

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  8. Emma has a beautiful spirit. She gave me a lump in my throat.

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  9. Awesome race report! Can't wait to run with my son...who by the way, blew me away by asking me a few days ago, "umm so Mommy? Next time you and Daddy run in a race, I want to do the kids one, ok?" SO HAPPY!!

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  10. 2.4 miles might as well be 24 when it comes to swimming . . .

    Cute pics of you and Emma.

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  11. Great job on the race and what a wonderful way to teach your daughter about the world!!

    24 miles??? Hell, doing 1/2 a mile seems like 20 miles sometimes!!

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  12. So sorry your fanny is bothering you, that's NO way to start a training program. Get well, keep rolling and icing!

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  13. Christmas Vacation...one of my all-time favorites!!!!! Congrats to Emma on first in her age group!!

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  14. Nice job to you both on the 5K for a great cause!

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  15. nice. so cute you and your lil' gal ran together.

    and yeah w/the celeb's and talkin' marathon's and tri's...i often find them not knowin' what they heck they're sayin!

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  16. Awesome job to you both! Great pictures!

    I often think the same thing when I see news reports on running. Did they really just say that?

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  17. Love it--24 miles! Your daughter is a cutie and I can completely relate to running a 5k with a 9-yr. old. We've run several with my son and you really don't know which version of him will show up--the tough runner or the whiner. In the end, though, they are always happy they did it. Finally, good for you for sponsoring the congolese women.

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  18. Awesome job to Emma! What a great thing to do together.

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  19. This has inspired me to run this when it comes to STL in October. I love running but I'm still not very good at it and usually only run for about a mile to 2 miles at a time. Any suggestions as to how I can start training for this?? I would love your advice if you have time to sit and explain.. My email is efendler@ldmgrp.com.

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  20. Oh come on there's no way a kid that cute could have whined!? :) I so wish I could get my kid to run even a step with me! I think she will look back on this day and love that she participated in such an important race. Awesome mommy/daughter time too!

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  21. Congrats to Emma! Sounds like a great event for an important cause and an inspiring day all around.

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  22. The Biggest Loser is also notorious for screwing up distances. One season, they called a half-iron man a one mile swim, 40 mile bike and marathon. REALLY?!??!?!?!

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  23. This is what happens when your late to the game and commenter #23 - the answer is Christmas Vacation - seriously, my favorite movie!
    What a great way to spend a Saturday all the while supporting such a great cause :)
    Good luck with marathon training, I'm back on the bandwagon, too. We have the same marthon date! Whoo hoo!

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  24. NICE! I'm running a 5k with MY 9 year old on Saturday. They are so much fun to run with...most of the time... Thanks for the reminder on how to "mom" him through.
    I'll TRY to get some picks of Wild Bill in his new gear...he doesn't usually stand still long enough!

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  25. That's a great cause. From everything I've heard, it's just a living hell over there for those women. I'll definitely run one of those if I get a chance.

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  26. Love the story about the 24 mile swim. When someone recently found out I completed the Boise Half Ironman, they asked me the same thing? Is it true the Ironman is a 20-mile swim? Get real folks. That would take a REALLY long time.

    Congrats to Emma. How sweet!

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  27. Emma is such a cutie! I love that she prayed before the race for those women. I pray before races too but usually it's for myself :(

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  28. Excellent, Emma! And Beth...for breaking that sub-40, you rock!!! I learned about this race last year and know a woman who sponsored a woman in the Congo through the race and she had the hardest time writing about her life here knowing this woman has seen so much destruction and rape and murder than we could even imagine. But she did and said it has been the best thing to make her not take her life for granted. Anyhoo, hope the piriformis settles down and behaves. I have found that once you have that monster, it just rears it's ugly head now and then. Stretching the back and the hamstring seems to help.

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  29. Emma is lovely! Congrats to her and you on a great race for a great cause! And Uh, so sorry to hear about your "performance" muscle (that's what I call it) I've been battling it for > 2years and that sucker won't go away, I hope you have better luck with it! Great post!

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  30. what an incredible cause you're supporting. we go back and forth about sponsoring a child in another country.

    and can you imagine? 24 mile swim?? as i read that i thought, no way would i do that iron man!

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  31. Tell Emma congrats! She sounds like an amazing little person! Thanks for sharing this with us.

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  32. Emma is adorable and it's so awesome you get to run together and for such a great cause as well!

    24 mile swim is insane! I don't know who in their right mind would ever do that with the bike and run following it!? lol

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  33. Very cool that this run was for a good cause.

    I've always wondered if little kids were all amped up to do races for the entire time...I know i'm not! Tell her good job finishing.

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  34. A mother daughter run sounds like the best race ever!

    Way to go.

    And

    amazing what a little decimal point can do. ;)

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