Marathon Mom

It seems like this year has been the year of decisions, many leading me places I had never imagined and taking the road I veered away from in the past. I started the year by walking away from a high paying career with great growth potential to focus on the things that were important to me in life and now I am walking away from a marathon before it even begins. It is amazing how things just feel right at times. After my post on Monday I bet you were all on the edge of your seats just waiting to know what I decided! Like I said above I decided to not run Milwaukee, the first time I haven’t run a race I registered for when I wasn’t in a cast! Instead I will be running a marathon closer to home two weeks later. There were multiple reasons behind this and honestly I don’t know if waiting an extra two weeks will benefit me enough or not but it makes me feel better. So I have a couple race bibs we won’t be using, any takers? This decision has brought me a few other opportunities, I...

The miles have been run and the finish lines have been crossed. It’s time to bring to an end Jill and Jen’s birthday celebrations for this year and celebrate your running joy and accomplishments! Enter below for a chance to win prizes from our wonderful sponsors. How do you celebrate your birthday? Ever run a race to celebrate? The craziest I have done is Ragnar to celebrate the big 30! This year Jill and I are giving the presents to you. A few of our favorite things. Share in our birthday fun and link up your race recap.  The next surprise... Medals! Yes 13 in 2013 medals will be available soon. The cost will be approximately $5 (including shipping) for pre-orders. Watch the Facebook group and our blogs for more details soon! a Rafflecopter giveaway Giveaway ends 9/7 at midnight EST. Open to us residents only.

Instead of focusing on my upcoming training instead the focus is on a decision I need to make this week about the marathon I have planned. Over the last few weeks I have started to really question my readiness for the marathon. While I know I can finish, I have enough of that lately I want to race well again, reach for the 3:20 goal and finish feeling strong again. I was behind in beginning my training thanks to not listening to my body when this hamstring injury started over a year ago! Instead I continued to run like nothing was wrong resulting in frustrating races and months of rehab. I was finally cleared to run speed with about 1/3 of marathon training left but remain limited on back to back runs and hills. I am less than 5 weeks from my planned marathon and the logistics of the race and travel while starting a new job also make it rather tough. Combine this with lack of ideal training (for both Matt and I) and we are questioning whether to run. I still want to run a marathon...

I still remember days of childhood and looking forward to birthdays for months, now as we age it seems like any other day that just comes with a new number at the end and in my case this year a new age group. This year seemed a little different, as O gets older and is even more excited about birthdays it brings back the fun of aging. My day began with a quiet house that was soon interrupted by a little voice running downstairs singing her own version of “Happy Birthday” Since Matt was home I took advantage of this and headed out for 10 miles (which turned into 12 miles thanks to adding an extra mile out to hit the bathrooms!). I had to try out my new Nathan Intensity on a shorter run. After years of complaining about my fuel belt and the associated back pain I reached out to my Facebook followers and was convinced to try the Intensity. What did I think? It took some getting used to and some frequent readjusting at first but I think I can deal for long runs. The front pockets were...

For my 3 rd Ragnar I was once again Runner 12, meaning I was the last runner to start and run. We drove down to meet Van 1 at the first major exchange with a van full of food and running gear! Leg 1 Very Hard: 6.2 miles 45:56 (7:25 avg pace) Pretty sad that this is a 10K PR on a course like this, guess this is what happens when the last 10K I ran was in 2007! I began running around 6:30p in bright sun and was not thrilled to see my leg was partially on a gravel, dust covered road. I even ran in sunglasses to keep my eyes clear of the flying dirt but yikes I could tell my lungs were not happy! I started out a good pace and the first 2 miles were easy and flat: 7:15, 7:20, then came the uphills on gravel yikes! This got tough but I kept running: 8:45, 8:50 (yep my lack of hill training showed!). But check out the map and Mile 5! 6:30, 6:40. I pass the One Mile to Go sign and try to pass the guy in front of me to make 15 passes. Success and there is my next runner. I pass the ...

Week 9  and I am over halfway. A strange week with O’s summer dance recital craziness and Ragnar, so no long run and likely a cut back week for miles but the hills! My poor quads are still screaming, Monday:  Core work later and Run fail (hamstring pain) 6 mile walk instead Tuesday:  Spin in am and Strength with trainer, walk 2 miles. Evening 7.5 mile run coaching Wednesday:  Yoga and spin Thursday:  Morning strength and 6 mile interval run, Appointment with sports doc in prep for Ragnar and we have a plan for the next 6 weeks. Can I just say I hate how lingering issues change everything! I can run again but hills suck thanks to avoiding them for the past 18 months! Friday:  Ragnar! 4.5 mile run and 6.2 mile run Hills!! Saturday:  Ragnar! 5.0 mile run and 4.8 mile run (Full Ragnar recap later) Sunday:  Sleep! Run/walk 5.5 miles. No strength thanks to shoulder issue L A peek at the Ragnar gang! Week 10  only 6 weeks u...

Early Morning Runs: I am back, so far this week two pre-sunrise runs and I love it! Why did it take me so long to get back to this? The bad part is in a few months it will be done for winter L Honestly what can be better than the cool morning air, the peaceful sounds and watching the sun rise as you run? I love the way I feel after an early workout, it is so awakening and no matter how tired I start I am always feeling better than 2 cups of coffee after! Isn’t it nice to know that the workout is done, no letting time or other commitments get in the way of something later in the day. All Taped Up Another appointment with my sports chiro yesterday and I am once again taped and ready to run. She still wants me to avoid hills (or at least take it easy on hills) and no more doubles! (After this weekend of course). I am also to cut out my recovery runs since I seem to be fine with long runs until after. This past weekend I ran 20 miles on Saturday, 3 on Sunday and Monday was bad ...

I feel like he most frequent question I get is “How do you do it?” This is often follow by some form of…”I can’t run because…I’m a mom, I don’t have time, my kids need me, etc.” Yes, I get it, everyone’s life is different but I always said that being a mom wouldn’t take away parts of me. I have run and trained through having a baby, motherhood, grad school and working multiple jobs. So, yes with planning and time management it can be done. Get Up Early For me early is 4am at times since I frequently worked at 7am or sooner, heck my sleeping in days were 5:30am spin class! It takes time to get in the habit but by adding a few minutes each day it gets easier. I used to hit the bike trainer for an easy workout, this transitioned to spin class or runs of hills or intervals. I feel so awake and refreshed by a morning workout. With “practice” I have even gotten my body used to 1 hour workouts without fuel in the morning. Stay Up Late While I am more of a morning person I have ...

Week 8  meant I am hallway to my race, yikes! It isn’t that I have any doubt in finishing but I am lacking the intensity and level of training I hoped to achieve this summer meaning I can likely kiss my PR hopes good bye L Although after this weekend’s 20 miler I am feeling better on the training. Monday:  Core work, run 4 mile to/from store and evening 5 mile hills with friends Tuesday:  Spin in am and Strength with trainer 2 mile walk. Evening 7 mile run coaching Wednesday:  Spin Thursday:  Morning intervals 6 miles (45:35) and strength Evening 5 mile hill run with friends Friday:  Spin Saturday:  20.7 mile run in 2:57 (8:34 avg pace) and biking (23.7 miles) to a couple wineries J What an adventure on road bikes through a knee high field and over mushy dirt roads for about 3 miles! Sunday:  5k but with a friend on the course for her tri (Matt swam with the MRTT gang first) and strength and 1.5 mile walk Week 9...

Normally I am full of ideas on what to write and while I have a few in my head I am just lacking clarity and don't know where to start so I just want to write some thoughts and today get back to why I began this blog; to write what was on my mind... This past week has been a little crazy and stressful all around. I know I haven't said much about the surgery I had last week but while I am feeling better I am still without answers, so we wait more. Could be another week before the doctor has things back to discuss. I do have some answers to explain things that have been happening over the past few years and did find out that my hemoglobin is low and after looking at other labs, likely iron deficiency anemia, thanks to Tracy for her consult, got to love having sports minded physician friends J . I began on iron and hope to see a difference in the next month or so. Since Friday we have also been dealing with a sick puppy. Every time I think about bringing him in he ge...

As a long time runner and through many injuries I keep talking about becoming a true triathlete to focus on the cross training. Yes, I have done two in the past; one indoor and one in a lake and yikes the lake swim nearly killed me! It has been many years but I am ready to go for it again. Awhile ago I asked Laura from Mommy Run Fast  for her advice on going from runner to triathlete. Below is a combination of advice from us both... Swim: The lake swim is what gets the best of most of us “non swimmers”. The thought of swimming with others and near weeds, fish etc. is not the best feeling. My first open water tri the water was cold and my breathing suffered.  Take a few deep breaths and think back to your childhood when the lake was no more than a big bath tub, jump in a have fun! Per Laura: “ You should aim for two- three swims per week, of about double the race swim mileage.  Master’s swim groups can be a great place to gain tips and be given workouts with swimm...

On Sunday I had the decision to make on whether at two days post surgery the better option was a long run (which I knew I would push) or a sprint duathlon (which I knew I could at least take the bike portion easy), I chose the duathlon and knew I would take it easy and have fun with it. (I should say I was cleared by my doc, I am not being stupid. She told me normal activity on Saturday but then rephrased it to “other’s normal activity” and resume workouts on Sunday!).  I was excited to check out another Esprit de She event and finally do a duathlon this summer. It did mean getting up early both days this past weekend since we went to cheer Matt on at his triathlon Saturday, but O was a trooper and loved cheering. She got to finish daddy’s race with him and was all smiles! Luckily Matt is an expert at packing for multi-sport races and before I knew it all my bike gear was in the car and ready to go. I grabbed the rest and we were off on the long drive. I checked ...