Marathon Mom

The organization I coach for put on an inaugural 5K today to promote our upcoming season in Las Vegas. The race was Vegas themed and throughout the run participants collected cards to make a poker hand with the best hand winning. For a small race quickly put together the turnout was great, over 100 runners/walkers. The whole family did the race, Matt and I ran and my parents walked with Ophelia in BOB. I rarely run 5Ks and never expect much, especially today since I had run 16 miles the day before. Prior to the start I was informed by the guy who organizes my running group and my friend who owns the running store that they expected nothing less than a win from me, uh ok sure. The race started and a couple guys were ahead of me and two young teens soon sped past me, I was wondering how long they’d keep up their pace. The answer came quick when I passed them and could tell they were fading. Around Mile 2 I was passed by a group of three other guys, so I was still the first woman. I ju...

A few months back I got an email advertising an inaugural half marathon that just happened to be on my birthday, so I figured why not run it. It was a point to point course which combined the early miles of the old (pre-bridge collapse) TC10 course and a reverse of the middle miles of TCM. I should have known early on that this race would be different: (1) Ophelia woke on her own and we were ready to leave on time (2) I was not waiting in the porta-potty line when the race started (3) We were actually in the start corral with time to spare (4) I actually had a good training week leading up to the race. I lined up near the 1:45 pacer, still with that as my goal but hoping for a PR (1:43:27). The race started and I kept near the pacer for a mile or so until I got frustrated with the massive amount of people weaving through the course, seriously run in a straight line unless you are passing! I quickly had the 1:40 pacer close in front of me and decided to keep him in my sight, but runn...

Running during my pregnancy taught me many things, most importantly to listen to my body and enjoy running. I have a bad habit of continuing to run through the pain figuring it will just get better. Last Friday I headed out with the BOB for a run only to have pain in my hip that got worse as I went, after a few blocks I turned around headed home, got Morgan and turned it into a pain free walk instead. A year and a half ago I would have never done this, probably the reason for so many injuries including the tibial stress fracture that I discovered during a 20 miler that started painful and only got worse or the foot stress fractures that I discovered the day after finishing TCM many years ago when I had a swollen, bruised foot and could barely walk after mile 20. As ma result of listening to my body I had a great 16 miler on Sunday that was pain free. Motherhood has also changed me as a runner, I know everyone said it would, but I haven’t quit running and I never will because of my ch...

Ophelia has been quite the mover since before birth, over the past few weeks she has gotten quite quick and discovering everything she shouldn't have. Earlier this week she decided it was time to start standing on her own, I thought it was a fluke, but nope not after she repeatedly pulled herself up to standing using the edge of the couch or my shoulder. We had always said she'd be walking at Christmas time, now I'm wondering if we need to change that prediction to Halloween! So proud of herself!

I haven’t been very good at writing lately, I think of plenty to write but never get to it and even this is nearly a week late at this point. Ophelia is 6 months old; I can’t believe how much she has changed! At her appointment she found a new toy as she took great interest in the pediatrician’s ophthalmoscope, maybe she’ll be an ophthalmologist. She is now 14lb 1oz (15%) and 26.5” (75%). This month she has gotten the hang of sitting alone even though she doesn’t stay long, she’d rather be on the go and sitting involves minimal activity and like her mom she doesn’t seem to sit well. She is constantly on the go and moving quite fast doing a little crawling, but mostly the army crawl. There is no stopping her as she is discovering more excitement in the things she can’t have: mom’s laptop, cords, shoes, the garbage, magazines. She now has her first tooth after a rough few days it is finally here and so cute. In the past month, really since our California trip, she has turned in to a go...

Wine country with an infant was a great experience, somehow traveling turned my child into a great napper. I was nervous about the flights, especially after the day started with a major poop blowout on the way through security, but she did great! We even managed to keep an open seat in our row on the flight home and bring on the car seat, which resulted in a nap through nearly the entire flight. The reason for the trip was to coach my team through the Napa to Sonoma Half marathon, a course that winds through the wineries and finishes with a wine tasting in Sonoma Square. All 32 of my runners finished, many ahead of their predicted times, and all said they felt great. One runner even finished 3rd in her age group, pretty great accomplishment for a first timer. Ophelia loves watching and cheering for the runners, I hope this continues as she gets older since I’m sure Matt and I will continue to race. Once again this trip followed the same pattern as most, food, wine, and running. I...

Matt and I ran an inagural race to start our 4th of July this year. We wentdown to the start area on Saturday to pick up our packets and while we were there I encountered a strange woman. I was standing with Ophelia and she came up and started telling me how cute she was, asking her age, name, etc. And then proceeded to tell me that my child had an "iffy" name and making reference to Shakespeare. Okay, thanks for the infornation. Really, is it even possible to pick a name for your child that doesn't in some way associate with something negative? After the half on Sunday I am remembering what I don’t like about racing, the early wake ups that are now even tougher with an infant. The race started at 6:30 and I knew it was going to be a tough one when it was already 80 degrees on our way there. We got there about 6am, figuring we’d have plenty of time to spare. Wrong! After waiting in the massive line for the bathroom, I started almost 7 minutes after the gun went off, good...