Starting later this month, I will be blogging more regularly at our family’s new site, away-together.com. We leave in two weeks for nearly a full year of travel to several destinations, to educate our kids (and ourselves) by seeing other parts of the world and to strengthen our bond as a family. I’m excited, nervous and asking myself, How did August get here? Running in July mirrored the pace of my life. I’m relating a few highlights here to try to make sense of it all:

Smiling at the finish of the Eden Medical Center 5K/10K in Castro Valley.

July 12: I stand at the start of a hilly 10K by Lake Chabot, seeing some road racing regulars for the first time in a long time. Morgan and the kids are with me to do the 5K. Coach Alphonzo is there with hugs and telling me to do the damn thing. I haven’t trained to race this distance on pavement in over a year — which is partly why I’m here: To face the challenge of running fast. To have fun (what a concept!) going all out. So I go for it, I go out fast with the lead women who turn out to be in the 5K. They peel off at the 5K turnaround and I’m the only woman near the front of the 10K pack (oh, sweet Jesus), trying to catch the guys ahead. (more…)