Holding steady

I've had a few race-free weekends now, which feels kind of weird, but the running overall has been going quite well.  It's like Charlie hit 5.5 to 6 months and something just clicked with my physically and suddenly, I was on my way back.  As time goes on I just feel like I'm getting stronger and stronger, and it's cool to have gone through a pregnancy and birth and be back to where I was, fitness wise.  I'm even a few pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight, and I've really never felt better.

I've been getting up at 5am to run 3 or 4 mornings a week, and surprisingly it's been going really well.  The kids are so unpredictable, it's great to get the run out of the way and not have to worry that someone's going to not want to run with me, or scream bloody murder the whole time (that would be Charlie), or that it's going to be pouring down rain or something.  Poor Charlie had croup last week and I forewent the 5am run in favor of sleep, since we'd been up with him all night, and I did manage to get in 6.5 miles with him asleep in the jogging stroller during the day.  Poor kid was so tired, and the cooler air is supposed to be good for croup, so it was win win.  I was surprised that my pace with the jogger was about the same as my pace without it.  I've been averaging between 10:19 and 10:30 for my easy runs, which is actually a big speedier than they should be according to the McMillan Pace Calculator, but I have a hard time slowing down.  It's always been a problem for me, and the cooler weather just makes it easier for me to run faster.

I did my 3 mile tempo run yesterday at 9:00 pace, and I'm kind of wondering if I might be able to set a new 5k PR at the Freaky 5k next Saturday.  I think whether or not I PR is going to depend on a lot of factors, not least of which is whether or not I run it in costume.  Haakan and I both had the brilliant idea that I should run it dressed as Wonder Woman, but I have yet to find a costume the right size (this is where I could rant a little bit about vanity sizing, but I'll spare you since I normally don't care, it only bugs me when *my* size isn't in stock).  Got any other brilliant ideas for a clever costume?  I may have to try another costume store and brave the hoards of kids and teenagers this weekend, though my hopes aren't high.  I'm thinking if I can find a Cat Woman mask, I can just wear my black running tights and black long sleeved top and call it a day, but believe it or not, I haven't seen Cat Woman at the stores!  I've seen every other permutation of superhero gone slutty, but no Cat Woman.