So many Cadbury eggs so few miles.

Written right before I realized I locked myself out of my blogger account.  Oooopps!

The true meaning of being a mommy runner came to me this week as I tried to run the miles on my training plan.  Flexibility is what needs to happen when you are a mommy runner.  And by flexibility I don’t mean the stretching I should be doing more of or the Yoga I would love to rotate in as Cross training.  Flexible the expectation of when I can work out is key. 

At first glance I thought hey not a bad week.  5 Tuesday, 3 Wednesday and 5 Thursday is cake.  Short enough to get in, in that window I have between getting home and the bus dropping the kids off.  I should have known better it was too good to be true. 

I went back to work on the Monday after Easter but the boys had a few extra days off due to unused snow days.  I enjoyed a rest day and an extended work meeting after my 12 mile Easter run.  Tuesday was supposed to be baseball practice but the clouds were looming.  When I got home from work I got ready to run but then ended up running around getting stuff together a result of my husband’s ongoing projects.  No problem, I’m flexible I can run during baseball practice.  Start yelling at the boys to stop screwing around in their room and get into their baseball gear.  (Seriously ten minutes can pass and I will still walk back in there to see one of them half naked saying they are looking for socks or their jock or pants. What’s up with that?) So by the time they are ready it starts to pour and the husband has to make the call on baseball practice.  CANCELLED. 

I send a quick e-mail to everyone hoping they get it on time.  Five minutes later the sun comes out.  Figures.  All the yelling makes Pete decide he needs to get out of the house and hit the gym since there is no practice.  OKAY then.    I feed the children who now have to get out of their uniforms so we can find all the pieces the next day and avoid the “I can’t find my _____”, issues.  I send them out to play while I have the joy of cleaning the kitchen.  Guess who’s not out the door running five miles.  So by now I am hungry since I should be done with my run and eating.  I decide I might as well.  And then I make the decision to change up the workout, because I have to.  Since it is Biggest Loser night perhaps I should just cycle for an hour while I watch since they are all set up.  It is going to have to be.  19 miles on the bike will replace my five miles.  Not a bad trade.  Surely the rest of the week will be better. 

So as I think about the rescheduled practice I think hey I can make up yesterdays missed 5 and add it to Wednesdays 3 and that is the distance to the ball field.  Perfect!  I can get them dressed and fed and into the car with Pete and meet them at practice.  But of course, MJ comes home not feeling well and doesn’t go to practice.  Again I am housebound with no hope of getting miles on my feet.  So while he lays down in his bed ( most likely trying to avoid his homework) I take advantage of the time and catch up on all of your blogs thinking about all I want to write myself.  Bummed I forgo the bike  and tell my husband when he returns from practice that tomorrow I will indeed be running eight miles when I get home from school so he needs to be home when the jackals  get off the bus! Wednesday and Thursday’s miles are now to be combined…on Thursday.  FLEXIBLE

And the Thursday run does happen.  I get home; I run, have to take an immediate shower, get the boys to religion, drop Pete off to pick up his car that has been repaired and pick them up early to go to Open House at school.  I swear homework was only manageable because I got those eight miles in.  Third grade homework in intense!

Friday.  Friday was the real trick.  I was going to run long out of Mommy necessity.  And when I mean long I mean the last long run before the taper.  The cub scout overnight trip to Massachusetts to a Battleship was happening.    There was no way Saturday would happen since we needed to be at the bus by 8am.  Sunday we would not be home until the late afternoon.  It had to be Friday.  So I mapped out my route and planned my fuel.  I made the 8 mile route to the ball park extend to 20 or 23 utilizing the bike trail, depending on how I felt.  I left before the boys got off the bus with the intent to arrive at baseball practice before it ended at seven. 

Once again I made it clear to Pete that this was happening and it did.  But it was not fun.  I left twenty minutes later than I wanted to.  I had been up since 6am.  I worked a full crazy day at the HS.  It was full sun at 3:45, 68 degrees.  I was carrying water in addition to my fuel belt bottles.  I just kept willing myself forward.  For three hours and ten minutes I ran and ran.  (The shorter route) Thinking of how I never did carb load the night before and maybe the breakfast and the lunch I ate would do the trick.   Thinking the eight miles the day before was stupid but what else was I to do. Thinking that hopefully the benefit of this run would be that I was running on tired legs and a tired mind. Thinking, hey maybe I should have done this monday following the trip.  (Stop it Heather, that's crazy talk)  I was disappointed when I mapped it later to find out that I only covered 19.2 miles.  Hopefully the effort of the entire day makes up for the lack of actual miles.

I really shouldn’t complain.  I really couldn’t ask for better winter weather to train for a marathon than we have had for the past three months.  In fact this will probably never happen again.  I have missed very few workouts and I feel really good.  Maybe I was getting spoiled fitting it all in?

So now it is Saturday morning and I am sitting on a bus finally with a moment to myself.  My legs are happily enjoying some compression and we will be arriving soon for scout adventures.  Damn, just realized I forgot the Aleve.  Here’s hoping for the best, smiles on the boys faces.  That is what this whole parenthood thing is about right?

Out of touch

So my phone battery died on Easter.  Just completely gone.  No resurrection for that thing.   Back to school and busy, I could not get a new one.  It was actually fine, until...  I realized that I was then locked out of my g-mail and google account and blogger!  But alas Pete got my phone up and running yesterday and after a full work day followed by a marathon mommy day I was able to retrieve my code to get back in to catch up with you all. 

Its a little more than two weeks til marathon # 2.  Hopefully this weekend I can share some thoughts before I forget everything. 

I hope everyone has been feeling great!

Do striped socks make you run faster?

Running the St. Patrick’s Day races was once again a great experience.    

I was hoping to improve my 10k time and I felt pretty confident about it. Anything lower than 52 minutes would do it but I was really hoping for 51:3x.  For some reason the last four times I ran a 10k I would only improve by about 5 seconds.  An improvement sure but I was always looking for more.  On the way down to the race I reviewed the eight times tables with my third grader so I could know roughly what my pace should be.  He wasn’t thrilled but I felt I was doing us both a service.  Low eight’s would work. 

The race fell on the spring forward portion of daylight savings time.  That itself was not a problem since it did not start until 10:45 but the fact I was dragging the boys to the race did mean a morning whine fest.  They lasted all of ten minutes.   As we picked up my bib they complained about the cold and convinced Grandma and Grandpa to take them back to their house.  I made them take a few pictures with me before they left but my phone was not having it!  Boo for no pictures of my striped socks! 

Suddenly my four spectators left me alone.  I wasn’t alone for long as I bumped almost immediately into one of my facebook friends who I attended k-12 school with.   Actually she is one of the people who’s time I looked up two years ago!  We walked over to watch the two mile race.  It was nice to catch up and talk all things running.  We both ran our first marathon’s last fall and I was happy to hear first had her NYC experience. 

I made a pit stop at the car to drop off my sweatshirt and take a last drink.  The sun was coming out from behind the clouds just as we were lining up.  I questioned my long sleeve shirt (don’t you hate that?) but the wind and a couple of friendly strangers made me confident that I would be OK.  It ended up being PERFECT running weather!

I had lined up pretty well and was free of the crowd rather quickly.  I felt good then first hill was as I remembered it, a turn around right at mile one.  I caught a quick glance at my watch and saw 7:00!   HOLY CRAP! SLOW DOWN!!  I used the downhill turn to breath and resist the urge to continue to book it.  If people passed me whatever.  And man when I saw the hill just after mile two (15 min and change in) I was glad I had it stepped back a little.  How the heck did I forget this hill?  It was a slight steady uphill that lasted about a half mile!  I was happy to get to the midpoint and start lap 2 well under the 24 minute guide in my mind.  A quick cup of water and I was off to do it again.  The sun felt great and the wind kept it cool.  I willed myself to continue strong. I hit the hills and used the downhills to regain myself.  I loved hearing people comment on my socks!  I told myself it was almost over! I kept running.  Kept doing calculation in my head.  Guessing.  I guessed wrong that the next parking lot I passed was the last (Ooooops those park, parking lots all look the same).  I pulled my way to the finish line and could not be happier with 49:17!  To say I surprised myself would be an understatement!

I stumbled to find a drink and catch my breath.  I wandered over toward the food for a bagel and hung out in front of the outdoor fireplace.  I wanted to make sure of the time I had.  And whatayaknow?  Third place in the 40-49 age group!  OMG, OMG,OMG!!  This club is so competitive how did I do that ? 

Who cares!  Yeah Me!! 

First Race Reflections

Tomorrow I will be re-running the Taconic Road runners St. Patrick’s Day races.  Two years ago this was my first race ever.  A 10 k that started my journey as a runner, who raced. 

I think back to how I trained to run that race, my approach , my goals and even what I wore.  I didn’t follow any plan and I wasn’t reading any blogs.   I don’t know how I decided how far to go when I hit the road each day.  I didn’t have a watch and never knew my time other than a quick look at the clock when I got back in the house.  I just did what I had always done and got going. I wanted to do it in under an hour.  That seemed doable.  I looked at the race results of the previous year and scanned the names.  When I found the names of some girls I knew from high school, I thought “If she could do that, I should be able to do that”.  I had no idea what a pace would be or what PR meant.

The shoes I wore were adidas, comfortable and pink.  I bought them for those reasons, two summers before when I started taking long walks with my son in the stroller.  They were the sneakers I wore for everything.  No idea how many miles I wore them for.  A pair of pink yoga pants, a green cotton shirt and a hat with shamrock pin completed by ensemble.  I believe I entertained the thought of a windbreaker.  Thank god I did not find one or I might have worn it. 

It was cool and damp, a classic March morning.  I ran my heart out and felt great.  I kept my brother in-law within view just ahead of me and the girls I knew from HS were just behind.  The course is two laps in a park with an out and back at the top of a hill.  As I rounded the hill for the second time somewhere in the 4^th mile I realized something.  I have a lot of hills in my neighborhood and run them a lot.  People were sucking wind on these hills and I was passing them left and right! The last two miles were hard but I gave it all I had.  The two girls whose previous race time I had looked up were well behind me.  I passed my Bro in-law somewhere in the last mile and realized that I was faster than I had imagined.  I was overjoyed with a 57:35!

Fast forward to today.  I take my sneakers off as soon as I step in the house!  I record the miles I have covered in each of the three pairs of shoes in the current rotation.  I log my workouts into three separate places, read active.com articles on my smart phone and buy colorful knee socks to run in.  Most of the book marks on my computer have to do with running and my new clothes are all ones I sweat in. 

In the two years since this first race I have run in twenty events and fell in love with distance running. I have picked up a few technical tools of the trade but my running is still ruled by one thing. The time and opportunity I have to run, revolves around the schedule of the little people in the house.
 

That was always the hardest thing.  And these are the daily questions; "When can I run, if when I have the boys with me all day"? "How much sunlight do I have before Pete goes to work"? 

This year the real bonus has been the afternoon school bus.  It being 20 minutes later this year has been huge!  The window of opportunity I have between getting home from work and the boys arriving home is close to an hour!  An hour to decompress from the stress of the day.  An hour to prepare for the homework and activities ahead.  An hour to get the metabolism going.  An hour to decide what to make for dinner that someone will actually eat! And some days Pete is home too, so he can wait for them!.  So there is now time for the mid week long run if it’s on the schedule!  That really has really enabled me to train for marathon number two during the school year. 

Bus Stop!

All that racing home before the school bus had been a benefit to me.  As a working mom it helps me feel connected to their school day. But it just might be the secret to my speed because I pride myself on getting there on time ;) 

February Wrap-up

It’s been a really busy month.  Even though I haven’t been doing a whole lot of blogging I have been doing quite a lot of running.  I am happy to report that in the month of February, I ran One Hundred twenty-two miles and and only missed one nine mile run. 

I enjoyed good weather and had a wonderful productive and relaxing week off that found me becoming a godmother, reading a book getting my taxes done and several other homeowner things accomplished. 

In addition to that I finally started to do some cross training activities as well.  I am not very good at making sure I do my strength and cross training.  But the nagging thought of injury has gotten me moving.  As much as I love my rest days I have given the “active rest day” a try twice in the past week in the form of the stationary bike, in front of the TV. 

MJ and B enjoying the game bike's

To be honest what got me going was that my husband made me help him carry two game bikes down to the basement for the boys to play.  If I have to do the work I might as well use it two right?   For those of you who have never heard of a game bike it is a regular stationary bike but it has moveable handlebars and a video game controller attached to it.  You hook it up to a Playstation and race your way through a game by pedaling and steering instead of using the buttons on the controller.     We have had these bikes in the garage from when my husband owned a kids gym a few years ago, back before the economy went to complete crap… 

Anyway I am happy to be starting to do something other than run, so now I can bike and elliptical on my rest days or even swap out activities on bad weather days, as is the plan of today ,since leap day brought snow to NY and today is gross and daylight was shortened by my errands.  Eight miles will happen tomarrow as this crazy mixed up winter weather continues into March.  

 

Superbowl Sunday in NY!

So, what happens when you go run a race with your friend, not caring about your time?

You end up on your road runners club web site SMILING...As the lead photo in the write up of the race!

Here's a good tip.  Want people to cheer for you?  Cater to the crowd and wear your support for the home team along with coordinating socks, courtesy of your son’s little league wardrobe. 

A real smile!

I seriously had the best time today running these five miles. 

I was worried about how they would feel after the nine miles I put in on the trail in the early morning.  It was cold and I ran much quicker that I usually do for a long run but I felt really good.  I knew the last five miles of my day would be OK and I was right.  I believe I carb loaded right and fueled perfectly today and that was key.  

5 miles in 42:20

Beth's goal was to better her turkey trot time and get it done in 45 min.  She killed that by two minutes!  So happy I was there for that moment! 

This year’s winter run was completed faster than last year but I was much more comfortable.  I guess it is a good sign that my training is going well. 

How will I run February's race?

So after careful thinking, advice and practical thought I have decided that ten miles NEED to be run before Sunday’s race in order for me to run the fifteen the plan calls for.  It just makes sense to go bang it out on the trail on my way over to the race and then see what I have left for the five officially timed miles.  

I guess my hesitation here was worry about my time.  In what capacity … I’m not sure.  Was I worried someone would think I was slower that I could possibly be?  Would I feel the urge to tell people “yeah I ran ten miles already this morning; I might not be as fast as I could be.  But that’s cool”.  I guess I am more competitive than I realized.

It really it should not matter but somehow it did.  I have taken every race very seriously and always want to improve my time.  But right now the long term training is more important than a PR. 

So instead I am going to do a nice ten miler and (after exchanging a few texts this morning confirmed), join my friend in her PR attempt! A respectably quick pace, that will still give me some speed work.  Perfect!

Any way that I do it, the fact is fifteen miles will be covered Sunday morning AND I can partake in the miles of wings, appetizers and sausage and peppers that will be laid out at the Superbowl Party! 

GO BIG BLUE!!