I was so excited to meet my (Sole) Sisters for our usual Wednesday run, even if it was 90-some degrees in the shade.  I busted my butt to get home on time, got dinner made and was out the door to pick up the kids in record time.  We were going to make it! Then, everything went sideways...Murphy's law, I know. Discussions about behavior, cranky, crabby, and otherwise unhappy, my kids were not cooperating with my plan.  To top it all off, I realized when I did get home that in my rush to get out the door I'd turned OFF the oven I'd preheated, so the dinner I'd busted my butt to get done early was not even halfway cooked. Sigh... What to do?  Skip the planned run or find another way?  I opted to take the kids with me to the gym and run on the treadmill.  The alternative, no run at all, was even less appealing than the "dread mill." Dutifully I stepped up, wondering how I was going to combat the boredom that seems to creep its way into just about

This training cycle has been full of ups and downs.  Lately, it seems more downs than ups.  As I tried to study for my upcoming neurology exam  surfed Facebook pretending to take a "study break", it occurred to me...I've been WAY too hard on myself. I'm admitting it:  I don't give myself nearly enough credit for what I have and do achieve.  I'm realizing how true this picture really is for me at this point in my life. I have not let myself be the runner I am right now.  No wonder I'm having trouble being the runner I want to be.   I downplay and diminish what I am able and trying to do nearly constantly.  Why?  I don't know.  It's something I've always done.  But, I realized that when it comes to my running, for some reason I expect the performance of and critique myself at the level of an elite runner (um, Kara Goucher anyone?).  However, the truth is my training, nutrition, etc. is not that of an elite runner - it's that of a c