A great weekend and a little race report

I ran a 5k race yesterday. It was my first race since Baby C was born in March. It rocked.

In fact, I had a pretty awesome weekend, one of the best in a while! My sister flew into town on Friday. I have really grown to enjoy my sister the older I get. She's just easy for me to be around -- I am so comfortable with her. And holy bonus points, did she ever jump in and help out around here. I have no idea how many diapers she must have changed between the baby and my toddler, but she never once complained. Hell, she even volunteered to change them.

She held my kids, rocked them, read to them, fed them. She and I had lots of nice talks. We went to the park with the kids. And... she volunteered to babysit on Saturday night! We haven't been out on a date night since, oh, probably last August. Babysitters are expensive and we don't have relatives in town, so we are homebodies. It was so much fun to dress up and go have a drink and dinner with my husband. (And, having not done that for awhile -- it dawned on me what a spoiled puss I have been in recent years, going out to eat regularly like it was a birthright. When you don't get to do it, you really appreciate it for the treat that it is! That made it extra special.)

Her presence was calming for us, too. My hub just finished up a big story -- he's a journalist -- so he was able to happily throw himself into the yardwork. Seriously, he gets excited about a mulch sale at Home Depot. I got my date night and got to go running twice. We stopped talking about the same crap we always talk about -- his insane workload and my insane job search. It was the breather we needed.

And, I ran a very sweet post-partum 5k yesterday in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago -- 29:24, or an average 9:28 pace. I am so happy about this time -- two minutes slower than my PR, but for six weeks post-partum? I'm just pumped. I ran this race once before, five years ago, I discovered -- 31:25 or 10:03 pace, when I had just sort of started running.

I ran the race with my pal Darryck, who is also getting back into running. We used to train for marathons together with a few other folks regularly. Race day was a beautiful May morning in Chicago -- sunny, light wind, 50s. Perfect. I started physical therapy last week for my lingering sciatica, leg nerve pain related to my last pregnancy, so I was telling myself to take it easy. The therapist was not enthusiastic that I am running so soon. But people, please, I've lost my job -- if I lose running, too, I will be cuckoo. So, I've laid off speed work for now. And I vowed an easy race, even though I wanted to tear across the start line like someone shot me in the butt. Darryck and I did a nice 9:45 to 9:50 pace for the first two miles -- these are not blistering speeds by a long shot, but they felt challenging to us. We got passed by both little kids and by folks with a lot more gray in their hair than mine -- but we didn't care. God, it was fun to be out there again.

After the second mile marker Darryck told me to go ahead, and I did, though I wound up only about 30 seconds ahead of him, I think. I crossed the finish line panting and staggering a bit. It was AWESOME. And I made my sub-30 goal, woohoo! I may be *still* looking for work but dammit, I can race again!

That afternoon I took my sister to the airport. I couldn't stop tearing up after she walked into the airport. It was so great to have her around to talk to, to feel less frazzled, and to let my worries just slip away for awhile. I realized that being unemployed and a involuntary stay-at-home mommy is really lonely. It's my fault -- I've sort of fallen through the cracks and disappeared. So I'm resolving to get out more and see friends. One of these days, anyway!