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Throwback Thursday: A post while pregnant with Lou

September 8, 2016

Most of you guys know that I previously had a family blog called “Happiness is…” (some of you even read it!) It’s what made me fall in love with blogging, and that blog is special because my readers were able to watch me become a runner.  I was combing through it the other day (because my kids love it) and I found this post.  I knew I had to share it with all of you.
I was pregnant with Lou and feeling very sorry for my chubby, nauseous, no-energy self (I mean, the title of the post was “Frowny Face.” But just for the record- super super grateful for the ability to make humans, but not for some of the ugly stuff that accompanies it, i.e. constant nausea and fatigue for nine months that eventually it leads to sadness and worry of never EVER feeling not-sick again.)
I digress.  I am huge advocate of saving medals.  I don’t save many things, but medals I do.  And after I die, my poor great-grandkids are gonna try to sort through all of my old things and they’ll sit around a gigantic pile of these medals looking at each other like, “What the heck do we do with these??”
Now, for your reading pleasure…
***************************************************************
Frowny Face
6.11.115821621643_01018ecbb3_o
I should have been running this today.
Instead I am home doing dishes and laundry.
On top of that I am really busy feeling sorry for myself.
Out of the blue I decided to do something productive with my time, and maybe for a second stop the self-pity.
So I pulled a chair into my closet and got down the bucket that I toss all my medals into when I’ve finished another race. I don’t ever look up there, I just toss the medals in. I was surprised when I got them all down.
I had more than I remembered.
9 marathons.
5 Ragnars.
4 half-marathons.
It was a lot of medals, but I feel like that’s not that much for all the days and miles I have logged.
But I’m proud of those 18 medals. I like being able to see and touch something to prove you worked hard and saw something through.
Anyway, I decided to hang them in the laundry room. I always hear of runners hanging their medals in their office. Well, I don’t have an office. The closest thing to an office I have is either the laundry room or the kitchen, and there was no room in the kitchen, thus, decided the laundry room.
I thought maybe I could cover half the wall.
Then realized as I hung each one, I was wrong.
I made it all the way to the end.
And then I thought, Perfect. That marks the end of a chapter, and with the new wall, a new chapter and a new set of goals.
One day the four walls will be full.
One day I will run with 4 little ones across a finish line.
But for today, I must be okay with doing dishes, laundry,
and manufacturing a baby.
Where’s my medal for that????
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Filed Under: Throwback Thursday

More Shoe Talk

September 7, 2016

Maury-4199One of the worst news a runner can receive is that their running shoes have been discontinued.  And I received that news this summer.  After crying myself to sleep, I decided to try on the Nike Free RN and the Nike Free RN Distance.  Upon trying them on, I decided that I like the RNs better than the Distances.  Some reviewers said that the new Free RNs were comparable to the 5.0s, so I decided to buy them and try them out.  I have been running in them all summer.

They do they job, but I don’t love them like I loved the 5.0s.

I decided, just to be sure, that I am going to try the Nike Free RN CMTR and the Nike Free 2016 Flex.  If those aren’t closer to the 5.0s than the Free RNs then I’ll probably just stick with the RNs.

Anyone else feel down when their favorite shoes are retired? What do you do when that happens?

And, some catch up:

  1. B had to head back home to work Tuesday, Wednesday and half day Thursday, then he’s flying back here to us.  Connor asked why he has to go home to work,  “So that we can pay for trips to the beach.”
  2. Posey threw up last night.  At 12:50.  I swear between the hours of 12:00 and 1:00 I am the most dead asleep.  She handled it like a champ (boys and girls are very different when throwing up, by the way.) She woke up acting like her normal self and has been great all day.  Cross your fingers the throwing up ends there.
  3. I’m almost done with The Light Between Oceans.  So so good.  I think tomorrow night I’ll put the girls to bed, leave the boys to the TV and sneak out and go see the movie.
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Filed Under: Family, Finding Running Shoes

Running: How to Get Started

September 6, 2016

Maury Marathon Photos-0056I get asked so so many times how I got started in running or how to get started in running.  I know I’ve written about this before, but lets do it again because if it helps one person find joy in running, I’ll write about it as many times as it takes! Going from nothing to running isn’t easy, but it is possible.  I’ve done it once in the beginning and then once after each pregnancy with my girls so I consider myself somewhat of a starting-out expert.

  • Make a time goal, not a distance goal.  Make a goal to go for a certain amount of time (not that you will run to a landmark or distance.)  Run when you can, walk when you must.
  • Be consistent.  Your endurance won’t improve much if your runs are sporadic.  Try to make a habit out of it.
  • Go outside.  I’m not a huge fan of treadmills- especially in the beginning.  It’s too easy to step off when it gets hard and your feet should set the pace, not a belt.  Plus, one of the biggest benefits of running are the ones that you get from being outside- sunshine and fresh air.
  • Find something that will help keep you motivated- a friend, a playlist, or an upcoming running event that you’d like to participate in.  Don’t let a 5K or 10K scare you.  You can do it! I promise promise promise.  Everything seems impossible until you do it.
  • It will be hard.  There will be good days and there will be not-so-good days.  Don’t get discouraged.  If you are consistent, the good days will eventually start to outnumber the not-so-good.
  • No comparing allowed! The only person you should compare yourself to was who you were yesterday.

Running is very rewarding.  Some people only see the pain, but if you look for the good, you’ll see that there’s a whole boatload of it.

Happy Running!

Click here to see my available training programs.

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Filed Under: Marathon Training plans, Training Tip Tuesday

14 Weeks until CIM: Training Week 8/29-9/4

September 5, 2016

Training week began with an easy 4 miles on Monday.  Like I said, I had been sick with a cold and cough during the weekend, so I wasn’t feeling my best.  The goal was to just finish the run.  I was coughing pretty frequently during this run, but I finished it. Usually when I’m sick I feel better after running, but on this day, I felt worse when I got home.  IMG_0966

Tuesday I took off because I thought if I gave my body one more day to feel better, I’d be 100% by Wednesday morning.

Wednesday I ran to a nearby park that has some short, steep hills to do my weekly hill workout. Coach wanted me to do ten repeats of 45 second climbing  with a 2 mile warm up and a 2 mile cool down.  The park is two miles from my house, so that worked out great.  B went in late on Wednesday so I didn’t have to wake up super early either- a good thing when you’re trying to let your body get well. (Blocked out the map so the creepers can’t wait behind a bush and attack me on a dark early morning.) This workout felt next to impossible.  Breathing was hard.  My legs were jello.  I had to walk (what felt like) a thousand times.  I tried not to get too down on myself- I reminded myself I was sick, I wasn’t used to hard workouts quite yet, and I would get better.

gconnect

Thursday was a five mile run on the treadmill at home after Lou went to preschool.  6.7 mph and 1.0 incline.  I might have caught up on Bachelor in Paradise while running.  So trashy yet so entertaining.  Was feeling a bit better by then.IMG_0968

Friday morning was long run day- 10 miles.  I started off really slow and steady knowing that I would be lucky if I finished all ten miles.  I brought a handheld water bottle with me filled with ice and Gatorade.  Drank it at mile 5 (the turnaround.) I knew by mile 7 that I would survive the run and I got excited so my legs started moving a little faster.  Or maybe it was the sugar in the Gatorade 🙂IMG_0969

I was up most of Friday night (because of Lou’s Pukefest 2016) so I postposed Saturday’s run to Sunday.  I hardly ever run on Sundays, but I really really really wanted to complete all the runs for the week.  The run was a 2 mile warm up, 3 miles @8:20-8:25, 2 mile cool down.  I started at our rental beach house by running north for one mile, then turning around and running south for 3.5 miles, then north again heading back home for 2.5 miles.  There was a headwind while I was running north so keeping an 8:20ish pace didn’t feel super easy, but it did feel easy for the last half mile running north before the 2 mile cool down.

IMG_0970

I’m feeling much better today, which is great news.  Being sick has been super frustrating because I hardly ever get sick.  And I never get coughs.  This one seems to be dragging on forever.  Ready for a good training week with lots of good runs by the ocean.

Happy training!

 

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Filed Under: Training Week in Review

Motherhood is so weird.

September 4, 2016

IMG_0947I’ve been in a funk ever since my kids started school.

Motherhood is so weird because one second I’m like, when will I EVER get a moment alone??? There’s always somebody there! and then the second they all run in different directions I’m like, I’m so lonely. It’s so quiet.

That’s basically what I’m feeling now. When kids are little they require constant supervision and care.  Once upon a time I changed diapers, I tied shoes, I wiped faces.  Now that my kids are older the mothering role has changed so much.  I have become a driver, personal assistant, time manager, personal shopper, menu planner, the list goes on and on.  I can honestly say that I love and have loved every single stage that my children have gone through, but it’s so crazy that they are all creating these lives of their own.  I’m here to be a cheerleader of that life, a supporter, and someone to drive their homework to school when they forget it for the 7th time 🙂

My motherhood role as of late- It’s a very cool thing.  It’s an honor to be the one they run to when they are in need of something to help them in their quest to create their own cool little life.

It’s just been a little bit of an adjustment.

(Training week in review coming at you tomorrow.)

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Filed Under: Family, Kids, What's On My Mind

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About Me

About Me
I am a wife and a mother to four busy kids who is seeing the world one marathon course at a time. I invite you to take a peek into my life, read about my quest to complete a marathon on each continent (with lots more traveling races in between), and learn how to race with your heart. Read more...

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