C25K

I'm thinking about running again. I've updated my C25K app. I've bought new shoes. I've checked out upcoming 5Ks.

The one thing I have not yet done is actually strap on my new running shoes and gone for a run. I keep meaning to and then life happens. I've set a date to start running again though. I'm going to make it happen. 

My "plan" is to run on Sundays (alone), Tuesdays (with Maggie while Molly is at co-op) and Thursdays (either before Scott leaves for work or with the double BOB). I figure the days I run with the stroller will only help increase my strength. 

Any tips? Words of support? 

Exercising while Pregnant

I stopped running when I got pregnant (well, I did a half marathon and a 5K first but then I stopped!). I wanted to be a pregnant runner when I got pregnant with Molly but I was so tired and nauseous that there was no way that I could run. This time, I decided not to be a pregnant runner after listening to a lot of my friend's experiences with running while pregnant. So many of them have hip and pelvic floor issues as a result of running while pregnant that they convinced me that it wasn't worth taking the chance. My doctor did give me the OK to run until about 22 weeks but I told her that I like my pelvic floor and I wasn't going to do things to it that I wasn't sure were healthy for it. 





Not running means that I've had to find other ways to get exercise while pregnant though. I had gestational diabetes with Molly and I'd really like to skip it this time around (I have a high chance of getting it again though). One way to help prevent gestational diabetes is with regular exercise (another way is through diet which I've also been focusing on). I've been doing my best to some sort of exercise in at least 4-5 times a week. 



The week after my 5K, I did feel a bit lost with exercise. I wasn't sure what to do! My original summer exercise goal had been to work on my short running distance speed. I was going to run a 5K every month with the hopes of improving my time with each one.


I quickly decided that I would just try to exercise everyday and so I've been doing just that. I don't end up exercising every single day but Molly and I go around Greenlake, walk in our neighborhood, take a ton of hikes, I swim laps and for awhile we attended Barre3 classes. 



As the weather cools and heads into the rainy season, I plan to take my exercise indoors. We have our elliptical set up in the basement again and I'm thinking of hitting up stroller strides along with seeing what kind of classes are offered at the gym. What kind of exercise are you doing right now? Do you have any limitations on your fitness and how are you working with them?

**Check out The Oatmeal's post on running. It's spot on and hilarious! I can also vouch that he runs a lot. We used to have a condo right next to his townhouse and I'd often see him heading out on runs.**

Ran Like a MOTHER!

I started my second Mother's Day with the Run Like a Mother 5K and it was so much fun! Two of my friends from PEPS also did the race and they also had a blast. The course was all terrain from concrete to gravel, dirt and even a wooden bridge over a stream. We covered it all. 



My morning started out with a breakfast of eggs and toast made by Scott. We then headed over to Warren G. Magnuson Park for the 5K. The parking was tight but since this was a small race, we were able to quickly find it and then locate my friends. 

Scott and Molly headed off to the park and I headed to the start line. The atmosphere at the start line was full of fun. There were all types of Moms there from Mother/Daughter teams, stroller sets and even some pregnant runners. 



I started out the run with my friend, Teresa. We sprinted away from the start and I quickly knew that I had started out TOO FAST! I tried to keep up the pace but then panted to Teresa, "GOOO (gasp) AHEAD (gasp)!" After she ran off, I slowed my pace but kept running. I wanted to try to run the entire first mile but that didn't happen. The first mile felt SOOOOOOO LOOOOOONG! Laurie commented on that too. I think after running 13.1 miles a week before and then not doing anything at all for the rest of the week, my legs were not ready for the first mile. 



I got to the first mile marker and felt strong. I pretty much ran the entire second mile which felt great. As I approached mile three, I wanted to walk but a volunteer (a young teenager) would not allow that. He yelled, "YOU CAN NOT WALK PAST ME! YOU MUST RUN!" It was just the motivation I needed. I kept running. 

The signs along the course were getting more motivational as the finish line approached. At about 2.9 miles, two girls sprinted across the field toward their Mom who was just in front of me. They said they were going to run their Mom in. It was the sweetest thing ever. 



I run toward the finish line and one sign made me laugh. It said, "The finish line is near and so are your kids". My friends and I later commented that the sign might not be the right motivation depending on how your kids were acting that day. 



Scott and Molly were waiting for me right before the finish line so I made sure to look super fast as I ran by. I'm not sure that Molly was impressed with my running. I think she just wanted to be back at the park in the swings. It still is nice to have two such dedicated fans cheering me on when I run. 



I came in around 43 minutes and learned that the first finisher came in around 17 minutes. WHOA! Go Momma! That is zooooooom impressive. 

I found my friends after the race at the playground and we chatted about the race. Then Molly, Scott and I headed to Top Pot Doughnuts for some doughnuts. Heck, it was Mother's Day and I ran a 5K. I was having a doughnut.  It was a good one. My friend Laurie was also there. Molly mooched some doughnut off Laurie before settling in for her own very large doughnut. The kid was hyped up on sugar! It is a good thing she doesn't get doughnuts very often. 

After enjoying our sugary feast, we headed home where Molly took a 2.5 hour nap. After she woke up, we enjoyed dinner with my brother, SIL and their baby girl. It was nice celebrating my SIL's first Mother's Day with her. Molly loved seeing her cousin who is growing up so fast! She's working on crawling and I suspect she'll be there soon. Molly is going to love her mobility. 

Vancouver Half Marathon Race Recap

After 4 months of training, it is all over. I'm thrilled for the race to be done and I'm so happy with how I did. This may have been my slowest half marathon but I had great mile times and felt really good on the course. I felt so cheerful the entire time.



I woke up at 4:45 am, full of nerves and anticipation. I got ready and headed down to the lobby to meet some friends at 5:50. I ended up meeting another runner and we both walked to the SkyTrain station together. It was her first half marathon and I next saw her at mile one when she zoomed past, yelling "Hello Rebecca!" I can get behind that enthusiasm!



I met my friend at the train station and off we went! I was nervous about taking the train out to Cambie and finding the start but there was nothing to worry about. Everyone else on the train was going to the exact same place. I guess the train isn't a busy place at 6 am on Sunday morning. We had a long walk from the station to the start but it was a good warm-up for the race.



Laurie and I spent some time trying to use the porta-potties along with the other 10,000 runners. At 6:55, we gave up and headed up to the start line.



The race officials had said there would be corrals for the start but we lucked out and there weren't. I was thrilled because Laurie and I were in different corrals and I really wanted to start with her. She's a lot faster so I knew that would be the last time I saw her but I wanted to at least have the thrill of crossing the start together.



The race start was delayed by about 10 minutes but we finally were off! I crossed the start at 7:25 am and flew down the course. The first few miles were downhill and my legs were enthusiastic about that. I had a few 13:16 miles which were faster than any of my training runs. It's amazing how you go faster in a crowd of 10,000 people than you do alone. The buzz of the crowd pushes you. I ran straight for the first mile and a half. I usually run for 5 min and walk for a minute but I saved that for later. I just felt like running and so I did.



Molly and Scott found me around mile 5. Molly giggled when she saw me. Scott snapped some goofy photos and they both cheered me on. Then I was off again! The course started out in Cambie and curled around to Chinatown and through Yaletown before heading into Stanley Park. The city streets were full of people cheering. They had the best signs. My favorite was "Go! Stranger Go!" and "Your Mom and I are so proud of you".



Vancouver is a beautiful city to run through and I love how you go from city to forest on the same course. Stanley Park was a welcome respite due to the heat. It was a hot day and I've been training in 45 degree weather. 65 feels super warm when you are not used to it and out running. The clear skies and sunshine was very welcome though because I've done races in the rain and those are miserable.





I finally used the port-potties around mile 10 and text Scot to let him know I was 3.1 miles away from the finish. By then, Scott had met up with some friends. One of them had run the race in sub 2:00! Our friend's kid is almost three and got to meet Molly at the finish. He is now smitten with Molly. She thought he was pretty darn awesome herself. So while the kids were having a lovefest, I was still ambling along. My miles were getting a little slower. I had a few 14:01 miles and then my longest of 16:12 at mile 11. Mike 11 was hard for me. I just wanted to be done and I was tired. My legs felt like lead and I got a little dizzy. I walked, snacked on my sports beans and drank more water. At the next water stop, I chugged some Gatorade. Then I felt better and started running again.



The chute at the finish was looooong. You could see the finish arch in the distance but it never felt like it was getting closer. The crowd along the chute was great! They cheered! Yelled out our names (our bibs had our names on them) and pushed us on. It was so appreciated at that point. The woman marathon finisher flew past me at the very end and I was impressed!



I couldn't find Scott and Molly at the end but I had gotten a text from them cheering for me so I watched that and then texted that I was heading to our meeting spot. I grabbed two bananas (I had been dreaming about them since mile 6) and a water and started walking. I got to our meeting spot but couldn't see them. I didn't trust myself to stop so I texted that I was going to the hotel and like a robot kept walking. Scott called me when I got to the hotel and they were at the finish so I headed back. It was on,y a few blocks and I think the walking helped. I met up with the group and they led me to food. Halfway through our meal, I realized I was supposed to text Laurie about lunch. Oops!



I texted Laurie and they were having lunch. She completed her race in 2:18 and I was so happy for her! What a great birthday present to herself!



All in all, I enjoyed myself and had a great time. I'm thrilled to be done with this race and don't really care that it took me a lot longer to finish than my friends. We all had a great time and we all covered 13.1 miles. My legs are still telling me about their adventure. I plan to rest them this week. Then I'm running a 5k on Mother's Day because it sounded like fun.

Race Stats:
3:18:30 Half Marathon (13.1 miles)
1:34:50 Halfway (6.5 miles)

Race Ready

After 4 and half months of training, tomorrow is RACE DAY! My bag is packed. 

My shuffle is charged. My heart rate monitor is ready to go. 

My race belt is packed and stuffed full of Gu and Jelly Belly Sports Beans. My Nuun tablets are ready to go.  

My breakfast is ready! I'll only eat one of these but I like to have a selection when I travel. 

My shoes and socks are packed. 

And my running outfit is ready to go. Now to get my nerves under control and do this race! Wish me luck tomorrow! 

11 Days

In less than two weeks, I'm running the Vancouver 1/2 Marathon, ok maybe run/walk/stumbling through it. I am however feeling way more confident about this race than I was a month ago. 



On Sunday, my training group ran 13 miles along Alki in West Seattle. It was a cool, crisp morning and the rain stayed away until about 5 minutes after I finished. I was able to run a few miles with a friend and I finished just around the time I figured I would. 



The only things I would have changed would be to have actually eaten breakfast before the run and to have planned my bathroom break better. I can't believe I forgot to eat breakfast! I was running 13 miles! That was VITAL FUEL! I did have some GU and jelly beans with me but I was HUNGRY when I finished and drove right to Starbucks where I inhaled a breakfast sandwich and some pumpkin bread. As for the bathroom break, I can only thank some kind homeowner for doing construction on their house and having a clean, unlocked potta-potty outside their property. Thank you whoever you are! 



I finished the 13 miles strong and didn't feel like death at the end. Oh I was TIRED and I ran faster than my coach expected which was an awesome feeling, but I didn't feel like I had run every ounce of energy out of myself. I'm finding that running post-Molly is different than running pre-Molly. I used to be able to just use up all my energy doing a long run and then I'd go home, shower and sit on the couch the rest of the day. Now I come home, shower, go out to eat, play with Molly, pray that she naps so I can nap, keep playing with Molly and pray that she goes to bed early so I can go to bed early. One nice thing about all the playing is that it keeps you limber. I used to get so stiff because I'd just lie on the couch after getting my muscles all inflamed. Now I'm rarely stiff and sore the next day because I had to keep moving after my run. 




11 more days until my race! I'm getting excited! 

(Half) Marathoning

I wasn't going to write about running or marathons today. I was going to tell you about our first weekend away from Molly. But moments before I sat down to write today's blog post, I received a text message from Scott telling me about the events at the Boston Marathon. 

I'm doing the Vancouver Half Marathon in just three weeks so I'll soon be in a crowd of runners racing toward the finish line. We'll all be worried about our time, our bodies and the course. Now we'll also be nervous about bombs. That is not something you worry about when you run a race. It is not something that you SHOULD NEED to worry about. 

I've done one marathon and many, many half marathons over the years. I've never worried about being hurt in a blast. Races are usually filled with people excited to be running, people anxious about their race, people thrilled to be out on the course and of course, at the finish line, that is where the runner's support groups are located. That is where your family and friends wait for you. It's where you wait for your friends when you are finished to finish their race (or in my case where my friends wait for me to finish). It's a place of celebration. It's a place where you can finally rest. It is not a place of horror. 

Now I'm in this place where I am worried. I was looking forward to having Molly see her Momma finish strong at the Vancouver Half Marathon. I remember how proud Scott was of me the last time I did the race and I was selfishly looking forward to that same look from Molly. And now I'm not even sure I want them near the finish line. But I'm not going to make that decision now. Instead I'm going pray for the people who were running their dream race, their family and friends who were cheering them on and I'm going to hope that today's event does not crush the grandness that is the Boston Marathon. My thoughts today are with each and everyone of the people running today's race, all the people who were there cheering the runners on and all the people who work so hard to put these races on. 

Striding Toward Fitness

My 1/2 Marathon is coming up in less than a month and I've already started thinking about what I'll do for exercise after the race. I've been doing some research and looking at some group classes. I heard about Stroller Strides/Fit 4 Mom about a year ago but I've never attended any of their sessions.

 Today was their 1 year anniversary in Seattle so I decided to attend the free session. I LOVED it! Molly LOVED it and my booty hurts. The time is perfect and the fact that you are supposed to bring your child in a stroller excites me. We did interval training with runs in between lunges, squats, tricep pulls and other sorts of exercises. For the runs, we left our kiddos in their strollers and ran down the block and back a few times. The leaders kept an eye on the kids but the kids were busy being entertained by the other kids so it was perfect.

I've also decided that this summer will be the Summer of 5Ks. I'm going to try to run one 5K a month and work on my speed. I know I can run/walk for a long distance but I'm terribly slow. While the turtle eventually wins the race, I'd like to see how the rabbit feels going fast. I'm considering the Run Like A Mother as my first 5K on May 12th. My only concern is that it will be one week after my 1/2 Marathon but then again there is nothing like just jumping in with both feet.

I'm also thinking about taking one Barre class a week through the summer. I really enjoy the classes but the $$ and the timing of childcare makes it hard to attend a lot of them. So those are my summer workout plans. What are yours? What other kinds of workouts am I missing? 

On Training for a Half Marathon

My race is only 32 days away and I'm getting both excited and nervous. I feel like I've recently come over the top of the peak in my training and am now on the downward slope toward victory. I won't be getting a PR on this race and I don't care. I won't even really be racing. I'm going to go out there and concentrate on my 5's (I run for 5 minutes and then walk for 1 minute) until I've covered 13.1 miles. Then I am going to drink a very large beer and eat a very large meal followed by a very long nap.

This morning, I went to Greenlake for my usual run. We were told to do 5 miles of tempo and due to many things, I only did 4. But they were the best 4 miles I've run in a very long time. This is coming off my exceptionally awesome long run on Sunday. I'm feeling so good about running right now. 

A month ago, I was HATING running and do a lot more walking. I had lost my focus and wasn't doing my 5's. I was doing a lot of whining. And you know what, it is what ALWAYS happens to me at the mid-point of training. I start hating it but if I push through and I keep on it, I always come out on the other side in a much better place. 

I also suspect that Whole30 is contributing to my current running performance. I'm not dragging myself down with unhealthy foods (even though I really, really, really want them!) and feeling my success is helping me keep to the straight and narrow. 

Any tips for my upcoming race? Scott and Molly will be there cheering me on. I can't wait for Molly to see me complete the race. She's been training with me all along and deserves a lot of credit for getting me out there. I think she likes the wind in her face and seeing all the fun places we go in the stroller. 

A Sendakian Moment

I took Molly to Greenlake for a run on Tuesday. My plan was that she would sleep while I ran the lake. Alas, plans at times go to waste. The run was fine. My legs were popsicles for the first mile, mile two was pretty good and right when I got into my groove around mile 2.5, Molly fell out of hers. She began thrashing around in the stroller and tossing her body, like a wild thing. I decided to just let her out since I only had a half mile more of my run to do and it didn't really matter if we slowly walked it.



Molly took the opportunity to dash toward the water with a frenzy, pick up every stick she could find and run toward the trees like a wild thing. She tore off her mittens and hat which made her cold as it was only 37 degrees outside. The cold led to a complete and utter breakdown which led to me holding a squirmy toddler while trying to push the stroller back to the car. I'm sure if she could form proper words, she would have yelled, "I'm a wild thing! Rawr!"



It was a very long half mile. We finally got back to the car where Molly continued to scream and cry as I loaded her up. I got a lot of sympathetic looks from people all around me.

But 5 minutes after I drove away from the lake, Molly was sound asleep in the backseat. Being a wild thing wears a little soul out and rest is the only way to gain back one's wildness.