Marathon Mom

What a year: some good, some bad. Overall ran 3 marathons including a PR and a total of 2341 miles Great vacations to Mexico, Boston, Wine Country and a girls' weekend in college friends Running stronger and injury free Loving my fun and spunky almost 2 year old, what a joy in my life Made an important decision on school, what a stress lifted Finally figured out my GI issues and wow I feel great most days! Took a new postion as run coordinator at a local gym meaning my membership is now free A nasty fall on the ice resulting in a broken arm, luckily this was my only running injury A rough fall filled with illness and the deaths of my grandmother and Matt's aunt within 24 hours, the beginning of December was rough 2011 Goals - Continue to run injury free Yes, all except the fall last winter resulting in a broken arm - Keep up with the strength training 2-3x week and XT 2x week, maybe even add in some yoga Working with trainer and doing strength 2-3x week, XT has been...

Here we go again, yesterday marked the beginning of Boston Marathon training, so 16 weeks and 100s (maybe 1000s) of miles until the big day. This year I decided to try something new and actually train with a coach again. About a month ago I started a new part-time job as running coordinator for a local gym which enabled me to get connected with a coach and group to train with. He has an extensive running history and impressive resume and best of all I love his training philosophy of flexibility and quality over quantity. The first training run was hills, my favorite, ugh! I don't know why I back away from hills lately since I feel so much stronger afterwards. Suck it up and think of the results! What better motivation to get out there then record high temps of 52F and sun yesterday for the run. I can honestly say that this is the first time I have ever run in less then a winter running jacket and tights in December. I am loving this weather, thank you mother nature. This warmth a...

What a difference a year makes! As an adult you kind of lose the excitement of Christmas but with a toddler in the house that has returned. Actually had a tree (with lights) and watched some Christmas shows on TV this year, I can't wait to see how the exictement continues to grow. We started the day with a 5K in atypical December weather. Snowfree ground and temperatures in the mid 30s. I finished in 23:20 (3rd woman overall). Attempting to be festive with the Santa hats and our little reindeer. Gusty wind makes running in a Santa hat difficult. My parents forgot my mittens, luckily grandma had an extra pair. Only this girl chooses a banana over the table of cookies.

I've always said that as much as I enjoy my days home I could never be a stay at home mom and last week I was ready to find a full-time job since my typically happy child was fussing and crying for no reason. One minute she'd be happy and playing and like a switch filled she'd start crying and nothing would fix it until the switch was flipped again and she was once again happy. This has continued now multiple times a day for up to 1 hour at a time. Early this week she was complaining of tummy pain during these fits but had no other symptoms. The turning point came yesterday when she refused to jump on the trampoline at gymnastics. This meant a call to the clinic which was completely pointless. One of my biggest pet peeves is talking to clinic nurses who are clueless. Her answer to everything was juice for constipation which was not in any way a problem! This after she reassured me that it was not appendicitis, thanks I've seen enough of ...