Two days with no activity due to my injury, I decided to play it by…um…ear…(yeah… we’ll go with ear) for Saturday’s run with the Striders.  When I woke up this morning, I felt ready to run 6 miles.

As Tiffany and I set out to start our 6 miles, we met another Tiffanie, who looked familiar to me and we played “Six Degrees of Separation” to find out how we knew each other.  Turns out, we are both members of a huge on-line organizer’s forum on Meetup, *Not Just Moms*.  I am always amazed at how the on-line community makes a small world even smaller.

During our run, Tiffanie mentioned how she has a hard time labeling herself as an athlete.  Typically, she runs 4 miles and she feels her runs don’t fit the athlete label.  I shared my own experience and told her it took awhile for me to consider myself an athlete.  Now I believe it’s my commitment to the sport that allows me to wear the label proudly.

Further along the trail, I spotted a deer during our run and of course, Tiffany and I busted out the Do Re Mi’s again which caused the deer to run off into the woods and I envied its speed and grace.  Some runners in the Striders seem to sprint like cheetahs or gazelles.  I would be happy to pace with a deer.

As we stopped for a water break after our first mile, a small group of runners quickly caught up to us.  “I knew you ladies were fast, because you looked fast!” shouted Doug.  Doug’s declaration only validated my loosely fitted athlete label.  When we started running again, I believe we picked up a little speed despite our egos growing a little larger, but still not quite as fast as a deer.

Even though my asthma has been giving trouble lately, I forgot to use my inhaler before our run.  About 2 miles into the run, I felt the tightness in my chest and the rest of my run was quite a struggle and I found myself needing to walk more than usual.  Tiffany and I finished 6 miles, but it wasn’t our best performance.

 6 miles

Time 1:06:48

Pace 11:08

Next week, Tiffany and I will try to be at the trail around 6:00 a.m. to get an earlier start on our run and avoid the heat.  We’re going for 8 miles next week.