Three Things Thursday: Please explain to me ...

It could be the 5 a.m. alarm or the fact that alarm didn't even wake me up thanks to Denali's stinky butt but I've spent the better part of the morning confused.

Royally, "Legally Blonde" meets Jessica Simpson confused.

1. Why every cute clothing item I see on Pinterest is from a stupid deal site that requires me to create an account?

T-shirt be damned, this pine cone necklace is cute!

The most recent offender is Uncovet. I really wanted to check out some T-shirt, which was so awesome I don't even remember it, and caved to the account. Now, for about 3.5 days until I delete it, I'll be getting stupid emails alerting me to sales - just a million more to the ones I already get from LeftLane, Zulil, Active Junky and ...

::brain stops::

Others.

2. Why, when digging up dandelions in the established garden, did I dig up a teddy bear? A legit bear that had to have belonged to a child at some point. And, it wasn't even found 10 inches below - but just one good shovel scoop away.

The most logical explanation is that it belonged to Child No. 7 (of the 8) next door, who has a penchant for throwing things over the fence, and Denali found it and promptly buried for safe-keeping. In my garden. I went out this morning to take a photo but the mysterious teddy bear has disappeared once again, most likely at the paws of a certain Siberian husky. While I was out there, though, I planted the remaining 7 (of 18) tomato plants, some thyme from a co-worker and contemplated moving a hosta but that required more brain power than I had available.

3. Why, nearly two weeks after the half, am I still running in recovery mode? I feel like a turtle (as opposed to the dump truck Miles said I was). I'm hoping I shake out before a rundate this weekend with some new ladies.

Time's a wastin'

In the twilight hours of the morning Tuesday, I set out for an easy 4-mile run. The air was perfect - 40s and only a smidge humid - and the streets were quiet. Still.

As I wound my way through the familiar neighborhoods along the route, I forced myself to relax. Enjoy the run. Re-learn the feeling of going slow. More than anything, the goal was to go steady and never anticipate the breaks that come as roads cross. To achieve that feeling of wanting to run forever, a sensation that has been absent for far too long.

Traffic was beginning to pick up near the end of my run, as to be expected as the clock neared 6 a.m. and commuters were heading to work, and I was forced to stop at an intersection. I hit pause on my Garmin 305, which I had brought along to spice things up (as opposed to the MOTOACTV), and noticed something rather alarming. While my goal was to go slow, it wasn't to go slow and the watch said I was going slooow.  In that instant, the run went from good to gruesome as I became frustrated with a pace I hadn't seen in quite some time.

I picked up the tempo as I headed back home, hoping to salvage what I could of the run. I hit stop as I sprinted to the house and looked down. 3.77 miles, the display read. It was a number I was certain was wrong, and I sprinted faster into the house to map the route on Daily Mile and MapMyRun. Both gave me a more palatable 4 miles with my long run pace from Wisconsin.

I posted about the discrepancy on Facebook, hoping to get some validation that I was right in trusting the mapping software and discounting the GPS. But, to my surprise, most were more likely to trust the watch. I didn't think much of it, to be honest, only telling myself that I should pick a watch, stick with it and deal with what it says - no matter how much I like it.

This morning, as I felt the dirt sift through my fingers while planting ground cover, I was struck. Not literally. But mentally. What if my penchant for double-checking maps to achieve a better distance and pace was my downfall for Wisconsin?

Hear me out. I thought I was running fast, for me. Nearly half of my runs in April were sub-9 and I even had a couple near the 8:30 range. But I'm certain that for some of those paces, I had double-checked (and adjusted) the distance, altering the pace. While the runs were still speedyish, they weren't as speedy as presumed nor were they runs that were setting me up for a sub-2, much less a PR, half marathon.  And so I went into Wisconsin feeling bad ass when I should have been feeling ... well ... bad ass - just to a lesser degree.

Building on that, when I didn't have that grand, superstar finish, I should have felt satisfied that I had some remarkable splits. I should have recognized that those splits, faster than training would have predicted, contributed - at least in a small way - to my end-race bonking.

And the lesson? Well, it's what I promised myself. I need to stick to what the watch says unless the synced map is completely jacked and accept what my body is producing on a certain day but not resign myself to thinking that I don't have better in me.

For the love of mothers

"Run," I told Mark when he first asked me what I wanted to do for Mother's Day. When he asked me a second time, I told him the same thing but adding the condition that it be by myself.

I had dreams of a delicious long run through the park, where the lilac bushes are in full bloom, adding brilliant color and a sweet scent that follows along the trail. Petals squish underfoot and rays of gorgeous sun peak through the leafy trees. The pace would be easy, effortless but brisk even so as I basked in the solitude.

But life had other plans -- more specifically, my legs had other plans. Recovery, or lack there of, from the Wisconsin half didn't go as planned. My legs were stiff and uncooperative, and the three runs (a total of 11 miles) that I completed felt arduous. BODYPUMP on Tuesday left me feeling unusually sore, and I had to fight the fatigue as I rehearsed Piloxing in anticipation of teaching my first two classes - Thursday and Saturday. Of course, Saturday's class being preceded by my regular BODYPUMP session. Oh, and I worked out with the Fort Wayne ballet in case you were worried I didn't do enough.

And so, on Saturday night, I told Mark just the opposite of what I had insisted in the previous two weeks: rather than let me run, I wanted him to keep me from the trail. What I needed most was to not run.

It was an odd feeling waking up on Sunday, albeit Mother's Day, without lacing up my shoes. Part of me missed it -- the preparation, the feet on the pavement, the sweat collecting on my brow -- but nonetheless I slipped on my TOMS for the start of what was a brilliant day.

Breakfast with my boys at my favorite spot.

Upon walking in, Miles immediately declared, "I hungry," and the kind server brought out a plate of banana and cantaloupe, chopped in small, bite-size pieces. It was a kind gesture that Miles "paid forward" by feeding the fruit to me. (Really, he was saving room for carbs.)

As for me, I opted for the Olympic skillet, with feta, green peppers, onions and tzatziki. I get it every time though I continue to be tempted by the Angel Food French toast.

Once satiated, we headed to the home improvement store for dirt. I am adding a raised bed this year and have a bevy of heirloom tomato plants ready for planting. All I needed was the dirt ... and lots of it. I think we purchased 20 bags, a mixture of top soil, compost and peat moss, for the 8-foot-by-4-foot bed. It took some muscle loading and unloading but it was rewarding to see it all come together. Miles even got in on the fun, helping me rake and find worms to add. We didn't put in any of the plants as there was a frost warning but we're good to go for this week.

During nap, Mark treated me to a much needed pedicure. My feet and legs achy, I opted to do a tropical treatment, which included an orange scrub and hot stone massage. It was my first time at this particular spot, and I will be going back. The tech spent extra time removing the calluses on the tops of my toes and even went back several times to make sure the bottoms of my feet were soft.

Once Miles woke up, we headed to the library to spend some time as a family. We had the children's room to ourselves, and Miles had a good time coloring, pushing around the shopping cart and driving the firetruck - complete with hat.

It was a great way to cap off the day and an even greater reminder of just why I like being this kid's mom so much.