TTT: Back on Schedule, Looking My Age (?) & XC

1. I finally did it. At least for today. I'm going to be optimistic and just declare I am back on a schedule. I FINALLY got to bed at 9:30 last night. Was shooting for 9, but I'm still happy with 9:30. I was asleep in no time, but was interrupted by a nose bleeding child. Ugh! It was a doozy and we had a hard time getting it to stop. I had visions of an er visit and a long late night. Maybe those were just hallucinations from my tiredness, but neither of it happened. We got the nose to stop bleeding and I quickly fell back asleep. I got up at 4 a.m. with my alarm & set out on a 4 mile run before my pilates class. I had given up my early-early morning runs for the summer. Not because I didn't run, I just had the flexibility to push them back until 6 or 7 a.m. Now....I just need to stay on track with a good schedule.

 2. I pulled up to the high school yesterday in my van. I pick up a group of xc (cross country) kids and take them out to Lake Storey for practice. As I roll up to the xc kids, another high school kid yells out to me...."Hey Angel, what are you? a taxi?" Uhhhhhh, he thinks I am my soon to be 17 year old daughter. I was tempted to not correct him. To just wave and chuckle. Then he started to walk toward the van himself. The other kids heard him too and were starting to murmur amongst themselves. Since he walked all the way up to the van (probably because he thought he was going to talk to who he presumed to be Angel) I yelled out & corrected him. "Sorry! I'm not Angel! But basically yes....I am a taxi!" Ha-ha....ha-ha....ha-ha. No I'm actually not flattered that people think I'm a high school teenager. I mean I worked hard all these years to achieve my wife/mom status, don't be making me some "kid" again. Actually, I just keep amused about the whole situation. It's not the first time it's happened. It's probably not the last.

3. I have 2 kids running xc this fall. One in high school, one in jr. high. Not all of my kids are runners like me. Some are not runners at all. (I'm guessing they were switched at birth or something....ha-ha) Each has their own special talents & interest. I enjoy them no matter what. Of course, xc has an extra special spot in my heart since I ran it all through high school as well. We are not new to the jr. high aspect of the sport. The same child that runs in high school is the one who started it all when she herself was in jr. high. However, I think - at least early season races, are indicating that our son will advance into the bigger meets of the season that require him to qualify based on time & team standing. He's basically one of the top boys on the squad. So far he has easily ran his 2 miles in 15 minutes. He just had a light bulb moment when he told me he realized he can run much harder & faster in a race. Well.....duh! I knew that, but was letting his running be just that, his! Yes, I'm super competitive and I really get into races by screaming and yelling like a maniac cheering on my kids & the team.  But I'm not interested in being a bossy mom who thinks she knows better than the coach or her kid (ok to be fair, I probably do know more, but I'm cool with that.  I'll let the coach lead and let my kid learn the right way).  Now my high school daughter is the exact opposite runner, but man does she make me proud.  She sticks with it!  When she races, she may not be the fastest, but she is such a solid runner it makes my heart swell just to see her out there.  I can't wait for the rest of the season to see what unfolds for each of my xc kids.

My Jr. High boy (third on back)

My High School girl, finishing strong

She just "loves" it when I take her picture!