Purling Sprite : Relaxing

Saturday morning, my legs were shot, I had finished running 9 miles on Thursday and then Friday I decided to do leg work at the gym. What I thought as a great idea, resulted in my legs being completely exhausted. Saturday morning, as I got out bed the only thoughts were of me staying in bed all day long. The constant reminder at the back of my head kept hammering my upcoming half marathon on May 16th. As I struggled out of bed and finally to make a move for the training ahead, I looked out the window only to find that Mother Nature had thwarted my plans of my outdoor 6 mile run. Falling from the sky were big dollops of snow, I say dollops because they were more rain than snow. I shivered and climbed back in bed and stayed there until noon.

At noon, I got out of bed and decided to put my "big girl panties on" and climb on my treadmill aka dreadmill. 5.5 arduous miles on the forsaken thing were all I could take. I so hate the darn thing. I love it because it got me started running but I hate its monotony and that it makes even the shortest distance feel like a marathon mentally. With legs shaking, I got off the thing and although they had been sore before I began, to my surprise I found that I was a bit limber and not as stiff as when I began. Training for this half marathon has been harder than last year. Despite the fact that I was fatter last year and less in shape, Mother Nature gave me better weather to train last year than this year. But, I believe that everything will be okay....I will survive the upcoming half and with a little effort, I hope to be able to get a new PR.

Since I couldn't move much from my soreness, I sat on the couch for most of Saturday afternoon. As I sat, I began knitting a pair of socks. Not for work. Not for a gift. But just for plain fun. I grabbed some of my favorite sock yarn, SweetGeorgia and I casted on for Angee, a sock pattern from Cookie's new book Sock Innovation. As I began knitting, I lost myself in the movement of my hands and became entranced in the repetitive motion. My legs were getting the needed rest and my mind for the first time in months was getting a break from all the work that it had been doing. Blessed bliss!

Late in the evening, the kiddos were both antsy and wanted to get out and do something. They also don't do very well with cold weather and feel like caged cats inside our house. They crave movement and a way to spend their energy. We called our friends and packed the kiddos in the car and headed to the local fun place for kids, called the Fun Park. We took little Nyah bowling for the first time in her life and I relished the minutes I spent showing her how to roll the bowling ball. As you can imagine, her little arms have very little strength and the ball took awhile to reach the pins but each time it reached them, we made sure we all cheered for her. Bryant was in the zone there, he loves sports and he always gives his 100 percent. He did fairly well with bowling but the next activity was his and his alone. Rollerblading!

Rollerblading was intense to say the least. My legs ached but I wanted to be there for my son and daughter so I got the skates on and got on the rink. Bryant needed little help, even when he fell, he just got up and kept going and going and going. Nyah didn't like the activity as much and decided to go and play at the slides instead, our friend Sarah took her and Sam and I were able to stay skating with Bryant. As I watched my son, with sweat streaming down his face, I wondered at his strength and his never ending amount of energy. Even when he fell (and he fell many times), he just dusted his little jeans, checked his hands, and kept going. If only I had his energy and his determination. He has such a great future ahead of him, we just need to be there to point him in the right direction. I so enjoyed watching him do his best. As we took our skates off, he showed me where the skates had rubbed his skin raw, all around his little calves. I told him concerned that he should have stopped and he said to me with conviction, "a little hurt is not going to make me stop Mom." He is his father's son, determined! Little Nyah wanted to stay and keep playing but once 10pm rolls around we know that both, her and Bryant start getting crabby and need their sleep. We headed home and they had a little ice cream and went to bed. As I crawled into my own bed, exhausted from the day's activities, I couldn't help but smile. It had been a wonderful Saturday, filled with many things I enjoy: running, knitting, and the best part of it all: family and friends together.

Comments

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You've got such a cute family, Isela. I love how much you all really enjoy spending time together. You are very lucky that both your children are close enough in age to enjoy doing the same thing. It is so hard for us to find something that we all really like. I think Lagoon might be it, and that's not cheap. Those socks are adorable. I just love them. That's a great talent, and a great way to spend a lame weather day.

Posted by: Jo | May 03, 2009 at 07:03 AM