Turkey Trot or You're Fatter When You're Pink

A million years ago, my daughter had a Winnie The Pooh movie where Pooh Bear spends the entire movie trying to remember what Christopher Robin told him. The answer was "You're smarter than you think", but he always came up with crazy renditions like "you're stronger when you're pink". So what does this have to do with my running, you might ask? Everything. I, apparently, am fatter when I'm pink. That is the way I have come to remember one of the two very valuable lessons learned at my Turkey Trot on Thursday morning.

Thursday morning was bitterly cold in Northern Virginia. I don't know how cold, but while I was out warming up for the race (a misnomer if ever there was one) my toes got so cold they were aching, my lips quite literally went numb, and my hands were frozen inside my gloves. Not being one to quit, despite whatever this injury is that seems to be plaguing my existence, to the starting line I trudged. The race director very helpfully informed us that the "people in competitive mode" should move to the front, the walkers and stragglers to the back. I went to what I thought was the middle... or middle towards the back. OMG!!! I got stuck! We started out with one lap around a track. Easy enough, except that I couldn't get through the old women and little kids who seemed to be everywhere. It took me FOREVER to break away and actually run. Yep, I am fatter when I'm pink... or in plain English, in a shock to my system, I discovered that I am faster than I think. Major lesson #1 learned.

It was largely a trail run, very hilly, with a metal bridge and grass throuwn in for good measure, plus concrete. A major mix and a tough course. So I cross the finish and am handed a card which tells me that I am #140 and asks ME to fill in my name, age, gender and TIME... umm, okay. What the heck was my time? So I start asking everyone in sight. Apparently my time was shouted at me as I crossed the finish. This would have been nice to know in advance so I could have removed my ear buds!!! I have NO idea what my official time was. I know what songs I ran to and approximately where I stopped. I went on iTunes for run times and added them together, then added a some time for turning it on, lag time between songs and still think that I probably PR'd. The run time alone was about 26:54. I am slightly distraught. I emailed the race director. Hopefully he can give me a time. It is driving me crazy. Life lesson learned. ALWAYS take out your earbuds at the finish!

Running Like a Mother...Again

Or not running, such as the case my be. I am so bummed I don't even know where to begin. I guess it all started when I decided to have a third child. The mere thought of having a "middle" child was enough to induce more guilt than I could handle. After all, he had been my baby for so long... anyway, here I am 4 years after the third was born and my middle is loudly singing along with headphones upstairs and I am trying so hard to make him happy. I know none of this seems related, but last year my oldest talked me into auditioning for a musical with her at a theater that is an hour away. We both made it, and in fact, I had a major part. It was an amazing experience, something that I had always wanted to do. So, fast forward to almost two weeks ago. I was with my middle one at the mall and we ran into one of my former cast mates who asked if I would be auditioning this year. I told him I wasn't sure and he told me that I had to make up my mind because auditions were the next day and that he really hoped I'd do it. I hugged him and left. Tanner, my darling middle child, turned to me and said "can we do it mom? PLEASE!". Tanner doesn't have a whole lot of outside interests and I try to encourage him wherever I can, so very reluctantly, I agreed.

When we got to the audition, the director took me off to myself and explained to me that this was a very male heavy cast and that she'd had TONS of people auditioning, so if she didn't cast me, would I want her to not cast Tanner, since I drive so far. Again, trying to help my middle child find his identity and interests, I told her to feel free to cast him if she thought he deserved to be cast and I had a BRILLIANT idea; I would run while he was at rehearsal. It was perfect. And let me say, my son CRUSHED the audition. The child can sing and dance!!!

So, last night I got the email that changed my little world. We were BOTH cast... as "Citizens of Oz". No one under age 15 got a speaking part, but she did eliminate tons of kids who auditioned and still thought we were good enough that she wanted to put us in somewhere. I am flattered. But opening weekend is March 20 and 21. Ther is NO way I can get out of the play, drive to Virginia Beach and still be okay to run a half marathon on the 22nd. I am devastated! I have been living my whole life in training for the Shamrock Half Marathon. But my son needs this and he needs the time with me. I just keep thinking of the Frost poem about a dream deferred and how it implodes. Blah. I guess I am now on the hunt for a new goal. :(

I Hate the Cold

It is so cold here. Fortunately, I did my long run for the week on the last good weather day. unfortunately, 5.9 miles is NOT enough to get me through the winter without having to run again.

I wish like anything that I could even semi-enjoy treadmill running. i once read about a marathoner from Alaska who ran 8 hours a day on a treadmill to train. I can't do that. I will lose my mind and have to be institutionalized if I have to run like a hamster on that contraption for very long,

my husband, God love him, wants to buy me warm running gear for christmas. that is wonderful! Except that ther are still 5 more weeks until Christmas and I may get frostbitten first. Oh well, I guess I will soldier on and whine later. I have to go map a run.

More rest worries

Well, since I last blogged, i managed to run 5.2 miles Saturday morning and 3 FROZEN miles on Monday. Which meant no running on Sunday or Tuesday. I know I need rest, too, but isn't that too much??? i hate the feeling of panic that overcomes me when I don't get to run. I finally figured out why, though. It's because I am afraid that I will quit and if I quit, I won't reach my goals of running the Winter Series and running the Shamrock half marathon (and maybe the "Dolphin Challenge", which include an 8K the day before the half) and I have a REAL problem with failing to meet my goals.

I guess in some ways that is a good trait that has served me well in this world. I have overcome a lot of obstacles and done a lot that no one ever really thought that I could. But at some point this pathological drive to succeed is going to drive me crazy! And it's not like I have an unrealistic definition of success... in my world, "success" in races is not dying before I reach the finish line. If I cross the line uninjured and still running (even though it is slow), then I have crushed the race. It is just an added bonus to get it done in a decent time. A PR is reaching a whole other realm of dreaming. :) At this point, I just want to DO these things and know that I have done them. I want my children to see me doing them and learn about dedication and effort. I want to feel that feeling of doing what no one but me ever believed I was capable of doing.

That being said, I am going for a run as soon as I get home!

Rest

I have a problem resting. Seriously. And I KNOW that this is going to cause me all sorts of problems, but still, I can't seem to strike a balance. My brain recognizes the biological fact that my body requires rest in order to function properly, and when it comes to running, rest is (supposedly) a necessary part of training. However, when I rest, I FREAK. I feel like I am not doing enough. I took Tuesday off because I didn't have time and then the Election returns started. I only got 5 hours of sleep that night, so yesterday, I was too run down to do anything. Now, I feel like all of my hard work is gone. I plan on running tonight, so hopefully that will make me feel better. I am just so scared that a couple of days of rest will turn into weeks and months...

A Good Morning for a Run

Well, I am back and it went well. Not perfect, but close. The weather is GORGEOUS! I ran a respectable 28:37... 12 seconds behind the #1 woman in my age group, so I got a second place trophy. I finished 22 overall out of a field of 55 or 56. I think it was my second best race ever. The course was tough and hilly, but it went by fast and I felt strong and healthy despite (drumroll, please) PINKEYE! Yes... Conjunctivitis. I had to wear my glasses and my eye feels AWFUL. Anyway, that's the race report.

More importantly, my 4 year old ran his first race today. It was 800 meters. He finished in 4:36, with me running every step of the way beside him (I am soooooooo worn out!). I cried when he took his popsicle stick. Just the look on his little face... I am tearing up writing about it. THAT is running like a mother. :) He came in 6th overall and beat the one other 4 year old. I am looking forward to many years running side by side.

All that being said, I also want to say here, that I am the luckiest running mom ever. My three kids and my husband are amazingly supportive. My wonderful husband came up behind me on the starting line to keep my arms warm because he didn't want my muscles to get cold right before I ran. Both boys kissed me for luck and stood and screamed at the finish. My daughter wasn't able to make this race, but she has gotten up out of bed twice during the summer and walked with me through warm-ups, ran from point to point on the course to make sure I had support at various places, and cheered for me at the finish. This is the same kid who rode her bike 9 miles a couple years ago to encourage training runs. She would bike a mile and wait on me to catch up. She is absolutely amazing and I am truly blessed. Thanks guys for being the best family a girl could ever ask for and way more than I deserve. :)

Trust your Training

I have learned a lot from John Bingham (aka The Penguin) of Runner's World fame. I have literally read all of his books and I own a Penguin running shirt (which I LOVE). Of all of this, the most important thing that I have learned from John and coach Jenny Hadfield is "Trust Your Training". Funny, from someone who never feels trained enough, but it has become my mantra.

I had a really good run in the cold last night. I ran 3.5 miles in 35 minutes and over .5 of it was a steep grade uphill. I maintained my pace even uphill!!! The race course I am running on Saturday is very hilly, but shorter, smaller hills. I have decided to remind myself of my mantra to get me through it. I will report back then!

Rambling...

I have about a million things racing through my head right now. First things first... I officially feel like a "real" runner. A woefully underprepared runner, but a runner nonetheless! It is less than 32 degrees here tonight and I dragged my dead butt out and ran 3.1 miles in it! I am so proud of myself. Kind of funny, I am proud of myself for something that I would ordinarily consider borderline insane. Go me! This gives me a more specific wish list... primarily (besides shoes, of course) I need a midlayer shirt with long sleeves to go over the under armour, but under the windbreaker layer. I also need warmer socks. Otherwise, it seemed to go rather well.

So, the other 999,999 things going through my head all center around Saturday's race. The biggest thing is that my 4 year old wants to run the kiddie fun run. I think this is great!!! EXCEPT, he thinks he's going to win it. I am not disparaging my wonderful son in any way. But let's face it: a four year old doesn't stand a chance against the 10 and 11 year olds. They all get a ribbon and it will be great IF he doen't flip out when people pass him. I want him to love running. I don't want to damage him. Maybe I just worry too much.

Also, about the race, I don't feel like I am ready for it. I don't feel like I have run enough. though I wonder if I ran 20 miles a day, seven days a week, if I would feel like I was running enough or should I be running 30. Argh. I am so competitive with MYSELF it's crazy. I have no delusions of actually ever winning. I just want to get a PR every time! That's crazy and unrealistic, but it eats away at my psyche. I guess any motivation is better than no motivation at all, right?

Running Like a Mother

After I decided on the title of my blog, it occurred to me (while running last night) that maybe I should think about what exactly it means to "run like a mother". I chose the title based on the fact that "mother" is the role in my life that I seem to be the most connected to... you ask me to tell you alittle bit about myself and the very first thing you are going to hear is "I am a mother of three". Somewhere during the speech I will mention briefly that I am a lawyer, but won't dwell on it for long! But how is it that a mother runs?

In my case, I think the answer is both "sporadically" and "as though my life depends on it". That may sound a little drastic, but let me explain. I was talking to another mommy runner yesterday and it occurred to me that I felt like a total fraud because I am not a real runnr- I hadn't run in three consecutive days. How dare I talk about running as though it is actually something I do?! But as the conversation went on, I realized that her running was every bit as sporadic as my own. I asked her if she was going to do the local 5K this weekend and she began telling me about the State Cross Country meet on Saturday that would be hopefully nearby the state soccer meet that another of her 4 children has to go to, and between soccer practices of the three younger kids (her oldest is a senior and one of my oldest's best friends0 she didn't feel very ready anyway. So this conversation ultimately lead me to a three mile run that began at 8:45 last night.

While I was running, I realized that although I SHOULD have been at home checking homework, bathing the 4 year old and getting everything ready to go this morning, the world wasn't going to spin backwards if just this once my husband did those things. I may always be a mother, but I am not always going to be a mother with kids in the house, and I need to identify myself in another way when the time comes. I think the identity of "runner" will fill the void nicely. And in the meantime, I owe it to those little people (and not so little people) that I love so much to be the best example that I can be and to keep myself in the best shape that I can to ensure that I am around to be their mother for a long, long time.

I'm Dreaming...

of new running shoes for Christmas. I have gone beyond wanting new shoes. I NEED them. I realize that I was pretty much a slacker for all of 2007. So, when I think about how long I have had my shoes, I really can't count that entire year. Still... I bought my brand new Brooks Glycerin 4 shoes in September 2006!!! Brooks is now up to Glycerin 6!!! Again, these shoes did sit dormant for all of 2007, but still... it's about time before I get myself injured or something. I am also dreaming of some winter running gear to keep me going through the cold WV winter. I tend to hibernate like a bear in winter and I am determined not to do that this year. I am hoping that this blog will help.

Okay... here goes nothing...

So, here it is, my first blog post. Okay, not really. Once upon a time we had a family webpage and I had a little blog on it, but this is the first one I have created myself. So, I called it "Run Like a Mother" because I happen to love that little running slogan, as I am a mother of three. I considered calling it "Running From the Law", as I am also a lawyer, but I consider myself a mother above all else.

A little about me and my running career... I never ran a single step until I was 31 years old. My daughter ran cross country at the time. A friend of mine bought her a Runner's World magazine and, bookworm that I am, I read it simply because it was there. It inspired me, somehow, and a (not so great) runner was born. I ran my first 5K in November 2005 and finished with something like a 41:00 time. I felt like an Olympic Athlete!!! I won't bore you with my entire race history, but my biggest accomplishment was the completion of the Army 10 miler in October 2006. In August 2008, after losing 35 pounds, I posted a PR of 27:55 in a 5K.

So, don't expect to see anything amazing transpire here... just a girl who tries really hard to get better and learn from her mistakes. :)