That girl who runs funny with the jogging stroller

I tried something new today.  I decided to run to pick Oliver up at preschool with the double jogger, with Elliot in it, of course.  And that went fine.  I took the Jackson/Stanton loop on the way there, and got to school right on time, allowed myself just enough time.  But while I was running, I caught a glimpse of myself in a store's plate glass window and I was horrified to see that I was far from looking like that hard core woman running with the jogger.  Instead, I was kicking my feet weird, kind of bouncing, and it just looked... odd.  Not even just odd, it was dorky, not cool, and not at all runner-looking, if that makes sense.

Now, I had always kind of, silently, in my head, pitied people who ran with really weird strides.  There's that girl who runs like a sloth who I've seen in a few races (and who has passed me, rather horrifyingly), and the women who shuffle their feet oddly, the guys who kind of glide along.  I never thought I was one of them!  Ok, well, sure, I'm not the best runner out there, but wow, I'm going to be kind of self conscious now (and I'll think more charitable thoughts about the girl who runs like a sloth, since I think she might have finished the half before me last Sunday).

Better for me to concentrate on the run today, which was quite good, actually.  My pace turned out kind of slow, since I hit all the red lights on the way back (and had an extra 40lbs of kid to push in the jogger), but I did the whole way there with really no stops, other than for traffic, even up the hills into the park.  So I guess I am getting better, even if I don't feel like I'm getting all that much faster, which is a nice feeling.