Running While Pregnant: Week 27

For the second week in a row, I can use the word "running" in this post title without irony, a wink, or quotation marks. Granted, I only managed 1 workout that fit the definition, but I'll take it. Here's what I did in attempt to maintain a sliver of fitness and sanity:

Tuesday: 30 minutes "running" in the therapy pool.

That's totally me. Okay. Not really.

Wednesday: 30 minutes "running in the therapy pool.

Thursday: Jack Squat exercises. (In other words: rest/lazy day).

Friday: (Here's where I get legit...) My back pain, while still present at times, had been light the last couple of days. So, inspired by my great outing on New Year's Day, I got my carcass out of bed at 5 and headed to the track for a walk/jog/walk session. I spent about 40 minutes. I'm guessing I went about 3 miles, but I don't really know. It was dark and about 25 degrees. There was no wind and about 10 minutes in, a light snow started to fall. I listened to podcasts of The Moth (you GOTTA check this show out!) and generally found my happy place. It was PERFECT!

Saturday: We spent Saturday at this "schmancy" Sheraton (love that my boys think that's an actual word!) in Portsmouth. Our friend was having a surprise 40th birthday party and we long ago decided to stay overnight and bring the boys along with a babysitter and turn it into a mini vacation. (Mostly because there was a pool and this is January and, well, fun!!) So, the boys, their awesome babysitter and I got some "swimming in". I spent about 30 minutes "riding" and "running" on a noodle. I showed Tommy how to do it, too, so we raced all over the pool. Super fun, even though the pool wasn't the glorious 92 degrees that I enjoy in the therapy pool.

Sunday: Scott slept it off while the boys, babysitter and I spent another 40 minutes or so in the pool.

Monday: Jack Squat revisited.

Tuesday: My PLAN was to arrive at the therapy pool at 5:30AM, walk/run in town until it opened (6AM) and then spend 30 minutes in the pool. However... a couple of factors changed my tune. First and foremost, Monday  night my back began doing some odd things. It felt as though lightning bolts were going up my spine. My legs were involuntarily jolting whenever this happened. It was not too fun for me or my husband who got to enjoyed my "aaaggghs!" and kicks for a good deal of the night.

Secondly, I am having a hard time letting go of this story about a running mama/teacher who has gone missing in Montana. Normally news stories like this elicit a good deal of sympathy and concern from me but they don't get inside my head in a "that coulda been ME!" kind of way. Somehow - maybe it's a pregnancy thing - I keep imagining my own family dealing with something like this and it freaks me out. I haven't for a second thought about what might happen to ME if I was harmed while out on a run.... but thinking of how Scott, the boys and the rest of my family would handle it totally knocks me out.


So, given the pain and the bad place my head was in, I decided to skip the land workout and simply do the pool.

Running While Pregnant: Week 25 & 6 Days

I know I know I know! Why can't she just wait and do this post tomorrow when it's an even "Week 26". Well, I'm just SOO excited about the event that transpired yesterday that I have to shout it from the rooftops. (Errrr, write it in bold font from the blogtops?)

A good start to 2012.

Yesterday, New Years Day, January 1st, the beginning of the final year on the Mayan calendar...  

I, Phoebe, RAN!! 

Okay, okay, okay.... it was not anything that most people would recognize as actual running. I'm guessing that any decent speed walker would have left me in her dust. But for me, at this point, it was enormous.

The new year dawned GORGEOUS in these parts. We had friends coming over for brunch and I wanted to go to church, but when I stuck my nose out the door at about 9AM, I knew I had to try and get out there. My physical therapist told me that I needed to make sure all of my movement was as symmetrical as possible. In other words, running on even, flat surfaces. Given that the geology/geography of this area provides opportunities for anything BUT "symmetrical movement", I knew I needed to hit the track.

So, after a church service in which the sermon quoted a song from the musical "The Book of Mormon" (I giggled to myself for the next 10 minutes) and after a delicious brunch of too much quiche, too much fruit salad, too much chai tea, too much baked potato/veggie dish... but just the right amount of great conversation and laughs.... I donned my running clothes and headed for the track.

For irony's sake, I wore my Boston marathon shirt as my bottom layer. The way it stretched and yet still refused to cover my belly was, to me, hilarious. Scott came in while I was getting dressed and I said "Hey, honey! See how the mighty have fallen?" His response was right on and startling: "Do you want to be pregnant or not?" Okay. I will shut up about the way my "normal" clothes fit. Obviously I need the Boston technical shirt to not fit if Baby TOP is going to be healthy.

Anyway, off to the track I trotted, ummm, drove. It was a no-wind, sunny, 40-some degree day. That's like winning the lottery, running-weather-wise. I actually didn't plan on doing anything more than walking. I walked about 2 laps and was loving life. I had to take a bathroom stop (big surprise) and when I left the port-o-potty I decided to try a slow, slow jog. And I did. And it was slow. And it was, I'm sure, quite a sight to see. But, mostly, it was AWESOME.

My heart rate went up. My breath came faster. I even needed to expel mucus (eeew! but so satisfying!) which never happens unless I am truly getting exercise. I jogged about 800 meters, walked 200, jogged another 800, walked 200, jogged 800 and walked a final 200. All told, walking & jogging, I probably covered 2.5 or so miles. No big sneeze to a normal runner, but a call for great celebration to this girl.

The good news continues (knock wood) in that I woke up this morning with no back pain. I am not counting my chickens, of course, because as soon as I say "my back feels better!", I get hit with a few days of searing pain. And even if my back is "cured", I'll be back at the pool when they re-open tomorrow morning at 6AM to keep myself on task there. (I paid $110 for 3 months of pool-ness, and I ain't wastin' it!)

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you got off on the right foot yesterday and January 1st served as an inspiring starting line for your year. I'm feeling lucky and positive. Hope you are, too!

Tuesday Tough Grrrrllll!: Home & Foreign Soil Edition

I got home early this evening from a trip to upstate New York visiting my parents, attending a family reunion, and hanging out with my sister Heather's family. Elliott and I had SO much fun. He was a total trooper (read: adorable) with all the time in the car and new things to see & do. We're both glad to be home, though, as these things always go.

I have two horns to toot today regarding runs I did while I was away.... where it always seems like there are 1,000 reasons to blow off a run! But I'll start with an un-tootable run that I attempted. I wanted to get in 40 or 45 minutes of easy running on Friday morning since I missed an easy day last week. Elliott, my mom and I went down to Candor's school where he could play on the playground and I could run on the track (and other flat surfaces that town-folk enjoy!) I did 1 loop around the school grounds and as I approached the playground, poor Elliott was bawling his eyes out in Mom's arms. He had been running across a playground bridge and got his foot caught in a hole and really banged up his shin. It was a very impressive bruise and it was obvious that once in his sights, I was not going to be finishing my run. Oh, well! Ten minutes out of 40 does not a workout make, but that's life as The Mama.

On Saturday morning I had 18 "easy" miles on the docket. I used Map My Run to find a route and discovered if I ran from the bottom of my parent's hill to the next town north of them (Spencer) and back, it was almost exactly 18 miles. Most of this is along back roads and very "old school" (meaning places I ran in high school) which I looked forward to. I was supposed to do that at 80% of goal pace (goal pace being 8:23). After consulting with my brother and my dad, I figured out the math to be about 10:30 miles. (I changed the minutes to seconds and divided by .8... does that sound right? If you are good at this stuff and I've got it wrong, please correct my method!) That pace seemed slow when I calculated it and felt VERY slow once I got going on the mostly flat 9 out, 9 back trip... so I ignored it and went with my "does it feel like I could do this forever?" pacing. By and large it DID feel like I could do it forever and I ran a lovely, slightly rainy, 9:05 pace. I felt great all day after that, even after a two hour-ish (we got lost) trip to my sister's place near Syracuse. This is contrasted to last week when I did 16 with 5 "hard" in the middle... whereupon I was a wreck by late afternoon and begging my boys to just let me take a little nap! In much the same way "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" I guess "it's not the distance, it's the intensity."

Last night as I was getting my head wrapped around driving back to NH today and my sister said, "I assume you want to go running in the morning...?" Well, I sort of thought I would bag the track workout and try to make it up another day, but since she asked and offered to keep an eye on Elliott, how could I pass that up? I got directions from her to the local high school. She didn't know the distance but she guessed that "about 2 miles" sounded right. So, I warmed up jogging over there and did my first 1200 workout. I was VERY happy to see that the schedule only called for 4 x 1200 (if it was 6 I woulda DIED!) at 5:30 pace. The distance to the track was probably a bit more than 2 miles because I got to 20:00 on my watch a little before I got there and I was pretty sure I was doing slightly faster than 10:00 pace. So, with half of my head thinking "I gotta get on the road", I began to "run fast" just before the parking lot. I didn't know exactly where the track was or where the gate opened up but I found it pretty easily. Since I started out an unknown distance from the track, I banked on just running fast for 5:30 and assuming it would be close to running the 1200. I did a slow lap after that and then did 2 "real" sets of 1200s on the track (5:27 and 5:24... AMEN!) and started back to Heather's house on my 4th set, running a "pretty fast" 5:30. It was a pretty intense workout but not so bad that my legs seized up in the car on the 7.5 hour drive home.... which is what happened on Thursday after a fairly intense 8 mile morning session followed by the drive to Mom & Dad's.

So, I've been quiet on the blog but I think Tough Grrrllll lives! Hope you are finding ways to be Tough, too!!

Tuesday Tough Grrrrllll!: Patient Boy Edition

I had to drag Elliott with my for my track workout today. I'm doing my best to stay away from camp so Tommy can have a real-ish camp experience. (More on that in another post...)

The schedule called for a repeat of last week: 20 minute warm up, 6 x 1,000 at 4:30 pace w/ 2:00 recovery, 15 minute cool down. I talked to Elliott about whether he'd rather play on the playground at the track or ride in the stroller. He said he'd rather play on the playground... but I know from experience that he's good for about 10 or 15 minutes on his own and then he's "SOOOOOO boooorrrrreeeeddddd!"

Instead of risking him being miserable (and me being annoyed) I decided to park at the track, stick him in the jogger, and do the 20 minute warm up on the Bridge Falls path. That way he'd only suffer through (6 x 4:30) + (6 x 2:00)... hmmm that still equaled a LOT of minutes of alone time for Mr. Play With Me. As I was doing the warm up I changed my plans a little. I did the 20 minutes straight out (I usually run 10:00 out and and 10:00 back) and started my intervals on the path. Since pushing the stroller adds the element of no arms and extra weight, I didn't even attempt to use distance as my guide. I just ran hard for 4:30 and walked/jogged for 2:00. I was able to do 4 of these before we were back to the track. (Yeah, umm, it was plenty hard. I have no idea how far I went each time... but it was HARD!) At that point, E only had about 12 minutes of solo play on the playground.

When I got back to the track and began the 1,000s, I was completely unsure of how my pace would be. Going from pushing the stroller to not pushing the stroller felt great but I was already pretty pooped. I ignored my watch for the first set and came out at.... 4:29! I couldn't believe how well I nailed the goal pace. Freakish, you might say. The final 1,000 I REALLY felt after the first 300M or so but I pushed the final 200 and ran a 4:25.

I blew off the cool down because Elliott had been SO good and patient. And now... I'm waiting to hear from Scott about the car dealership. (Our new car already has bad brakes and we're making sure they'll give us a loaner for free while the fix it.) So, off the Manchester soon. Blech.

Thanks for the feedback yesterday on my canning/freezing/food adventure! One kind (local) reader has even offered to teach me to "do" frozen corn from her garden. Thanks, Carol!! I'll be there!!!

Tuesday Tough Grrrrllll!

It's still humid but I got out to the track at 6AM today so the heat was manageable. (Scott had yesterday off and spent the night at home so, no, I did not leave my children unattended at home!) Despite the better weather, I started out feeling pretty rough. I never got my "easy 30 minutes" in on Sunday so I did it yesterday.... and though I took it easy it was all hills. My legs were not as fresh as they might have been. In addition, some funk has parked itself in my throat and nose so I'm not loving my respiratory system just now.

On my 20 minute warm up I kept going through patches of air that were SO thick. It was very much like going through suspicious warm spots in the a lake... but I'm pretty sure the especially humid spots I hit this morning were not the result of lazy urinaters. Jeeze, I hope so anyway!

Back at the track I had the same workout as last week on the docket: 6 x 800. Because the heat was less intense, I decided to try to go with the 1:30 recovery period between sets. This is MUCH less than I normally do (since I usually do a slow trot around the track once between sets). After the 3rd 800 I had to cheat a little and give myself 2:00 instead of just 1:30, but I was pretty happy with the new challenge. I good way to crank up the workout intensity without having to add any sets of 800.... which would have made me want to weep!

I was all about 3s today. Except for my first set (where upon I dropped my Garmin - blasted broken wrist band! - and suffered iPod failure) the 800s were eerily synchronized.

#1 - 3:46
#2 - 3:33
#3 - 3:34
#4 - 3:33
#5 - 3:33
#6 - 3:30

Given that my training plan calls for speed workouts of 800s to be done at 3:30 pace, I am fairly happy with this. As I used to the shorter recovery periods I think I'll be able to get these down to 3:20s... but I'm certainly not freaking out about being a couple of seconds slow. Too bad there's no Olympics for people who are freakishly consistent.

In order to survive these - especially when my iPod fails as it did today, I count down from 8 as I run. With each passing 100M, I mentally repeat the distance I have yet to go (without the "hundred"). Some how counting down from 8 seems so reasonable and makes the whole thing seem not-so-torturous. If you are doing track workouts I highly recommend it!

Hope you are a Tough Grrrlll today, too.

Tuesday Tough Grrrrllll!

Eighty degrees and oppressively humid. It was brutal out there today. Legs were like lead. Lungs ought to have been replaced with gills. But I did it. Mostly because some other dude at the track with a 26.2 sticker on his vehicle was doing 800 repeats, too. And he was at least in his 50s. I learned at the end that he was supposed to do 16 of them (SIXTEEN!!) but cut it to 8. I was supposed to do 6 and - because he was there surviving it - I managed to do all 8.

I did a warm up of 20 minutes pushing Elliott in the stroller down the Bridge Falls Path. After my first 800, though, Scott arrived and scooted Elliott off away from the heat and horribleness. Thank goodness for Daddy!

My splits:
1st 800 - 3:19 (This is just obnoxiously fast given the climate. I have no idea how I managed it.)
2nd - 3:31 (right on target)
3rd - 3:32 (okay, cool)
4th - 3:45 (enter lead legs)
5th - 3:46 (kill me now)
6th - 3:40 (well, a piece of dignity)

I was supposed to only take 1:30 recovery between each set but I tossed that right out the window. Had I kept that time I would have been doing over 4:00s and, probably, in the ER.

I did a 10 minute barefoot cool down on the in field which helped my legs get un-creaky. Thankfully the track had a pretty decent breeze and for the first 3 or 4 800s, the sprinklers were going so for a brief second I could catch a short shower.

I am so glad I did... and so glad it's over. I definitely felt character being built today!

Tuesday Tough Grrrrllll!

Today's workout was kind of killer. And they are only going to get harder from here. That is, IF I'm doing the marathon in September.... Still waiting to hear about whether nuun wants to invite me on their Hood to Coast team. If they do, I'm going to skip the marathon. Here's hopin'!

My husband is a teacher fall - late spring and in the summer he is the assistant director at William Lawrence Camp, a traditional boys' summer camp about 6 miles from our house. It's the place he went when he was a kid and this is literally his 20th year there. During the summer, this means he is away from home 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. This obviously has some disadvantages that I'll doubtless be screaming about later in the summer. But, last night, it worked out great.

Scott very generously offered to take the boys overnight at camp. Now that they are 5 and 7, they don't need constant supervision so this very doable for him and a VERY nice break for Mom. Last night this meant: a) no bouncing small people back to their beds until 9:30PM; b) a couple of episodes of Archer on Netflix (HOLY COW! so sick and SO funny!); and c) I could go to the track in the morning for my workout.

The workout was 20 minute warm up, 5 x 800M with 400M recovery, 15 minute cool down. I was running a little late (literally) so I wasn't sure how much of this I was going to squeeze in. (I had to be at camp by 7:30 to reclaim the kids... also to score a free breakfast!)

My legs are pretty sore because of my long run on Sunday.... which was supposed to be Saturday... and was supposed to be flat and easy... but which started at 5PM at camp and took me up and down gigantic mountains and reminded me about how much harder the hills are over on that side of town than over here... which I just mapped on Map My Run and found the illustration of the elevation gain/loss to be visually very satisfying....

Anyway, my legs were pretty sore because of my long run on Sunday so my expectations were pretty low. The warm up was fine - I went to the nearby trail and did 10 minutes out and back. I got back to the track and cruised the first 800, thinking (rightly) that I needed to hold back a bit until the last 2 if I was going to survive. I did the first 2 at about 7:40 pace, the next 2 at about 7:10 pace. For the final one I needed to kick my sense of badass-ness up a notch so I took off my running shirt... (possibly inviting a sexual harassment suit from the poor college kid who was just trying to do some landscaping when some old lady took off her top and ran around in her sports bra!! "I need an adult!") Anyway, it worked and I ran it at about 6:45 pace.

When I think about what these 800 times would be in real life (3:50, 3:35 and 3:22) it makes me somewhat depressed. But... the days of cranking out sub-3:00 800s ended at age 18 so I guess I just need to get used to it. (Also, the 18-year-old me could never crank out mileage like I do now, so she can kiss my wrinkly butt!)

The No-Plan Plan

I'm a woman without a country at the moment. I have ZERO races officially on my calendar. I'm planning to do the Zooma Women's Half Marathon on Cape Cod on October 1st. (At this race will be my dear another mother runner friends, Sarah Bowen Shea & Dimity McDowell Davis, so it is absolutely not-to-be-missed!) And I still have hold of my Pipe Dream about running the Hood to Coast relay on the nuun-sponsored team at the end of August. (They will announce the winners on June 22).

But I realize as I type this that this is the first summer since '08 that I haven't been training for a marathon. Disconcerting.... Well, who knows? I may yet sign up for one. I think I'll let Hood to Coast decide my fate: if I get in, I won't do a marathon; if I don't, I will.

Anyway, in the meantime, I am still running. Sorta. Working backwards since the 1/2, here's what I've been up to:

• Monday - Rest day.

• Sunday - I did my first-ever run, yoga, run workout. I got the idea out of the blue Sunday morning. It was such a perfect day outside but I was not up for a long run. So, I did 1.5 miles to Nineteen Mile Bay, a quiet-at-that-hour beach. I did about 20 minutes of yoga (well, I left my shoes on since I had no mat, and I left my ear buds in because the music makes me happy... so it wasn't the most zen thing going...). Then I did the 1.5 home. I felt stretched & cardio'd & happy. All told it took under 45 minutes. I will definitely be doing that again soon!

• Saturday - False start in the morning b/c I woke up with a bloody nose. Thought better of running down the road gushing blood, so I made the boys and myself breakfast and waited for, ahem, digestion. After about an hour (with no "movement") I decided to risk it. I wasn't sure what I was going to do but I wanted it to count as a long run. So, I ran a nice hilly, 7.8-ish loop. I went slow, peed in the woods and (thankfully) didn't have to expel any other waste products till I got home. A perfect long-ish, slow run.

• Friday - Rest day.

• Thursday - 3 miles easy.

• Wednesday - 3 miles easy.

• Tuesday - Race recovery (rest)

• Monday - Race recovery (rest)

I'm going to crank things up a bit beginning tomorrow. Maybe a track workout. Or not. It sure is easier to run with a purpose when you're, ummm, running with a purpose. Maybe I oughta track down a 10K or something to get myself centered. Or not.

I'll keep you posted.

Oh, Happy Day!

I am thrilled to be the "Follow This Mother"-Mother today on another mother runner.

For anyone new to the blog, welcome and thank you for checking it out.

Anything else I write today would be just lame after this... so I'll talk to you tomorrow when I actually have ANOTHER cool thing to reveal.

What a week!

The "But"

So, I ran a good race on Sunday. I ran, actually, THEE race that I trained for. I had used an interweb program (McMillan) that showed me training paces for those who want to run a specific time for a specific race. I had also followed a new-to-me Half Marathon training plan from Runners World. It involved track workouts, which I hadn’t ever done before. As soon as the snow FINALLY melted off the local track, I did them (almost) to the letter.

On Sunday, I set a new PR. I made my other goal of finishing under 1:45 (1:44:19). I felt good at the end. I spent the rest of the day playing with the kids and being completely human… which isn’t always easy after a big race. I even went out to dinner and movie (Thor... it wasn't horrible) with my husband that evening and I think I was fairly good company!

The “But” is that I secretly thought I was going to crush this race. I secretly thought I was going to beat the PR by leaps and bounds and not by “just” 1:20. The reasons are varied.

1) The course. My previous PR was set on a crazy, hilly course in torrential rain. My training for that course was not half-marathon specific. In fact, I was training for a full marathon and did the half as part of that training plan. I didn’t have any expectations for a finish time – I figured it would be under 2:00 but I wasn’t sure exactly. I ran a 1:45:39. The course for this race was a pancake. Seriously. There were maybe 2 places where a rise in elevation seemed obvious and it was very subtle, especially compared to the terrain I normally run on. I shoulda been faster on this easy course. But I wasn’t.

2) Race Phoebe. Race Phoebe comes out by surprise. I don’t feel like a really competitive person, but when I get to a race, She comes out. Somehow, She manages to take me to places (and paces) I wouldn’t have thought possible given my training runs. I think Race Phoebe showed up for the half marathon… but she was not nearly as Fierce as I thought she would be.

3) The training. As I said before, I trained very specifically for this race. I have been focused on it for the last 9 weeks or so. I don’t have any other races on my schedule – though I have some I know I’m going to register for. I wanted to give this race the respect it deserved by not giving my self “A Next” before it was over. I guess I thought training so specifically for this race would reap greater results.

4) The Lying Garmin. When I ran the marathon in September, my Garmin was off. It was telling me I was running a little slower and a little less-far than I actually was. This was GREAT because it was set like that for all of my training runs. So, come race day when there were mile markers on the course, it was clear to me that I was going faster and farther than I thought. What a joy! Sadly, the Garmin has been doing to the opposite lately. It appears that the Garmin has been ‘nicer’ to me this time, making me think I was running a full mile when, actually, I was running .95 or .97 miles or so. This isn’t a huge deal normally, but those few seconds/mile difference that I thought I was cranking out make a big difference over 13.1 miles.

5) Where’s my “all out”? The thing about me is, I don’t seem to have the ability to really dig deep. In the middle and (especially) the end of a race, I am pushing myself. I truly am. But when I’m done, I am fine. I don’t barf. I don’t collapse. I don’t require several days of assistance with stairs. I know this is a good thing for those around me…. But why can’t I ever take myself to that limit? What would that look like time-wise? I should be grateful that I recover well, but I think it’s a flaw in my character that I have never been to that scary place of seeing what this body can do.

Okay, bitch moan, bitch moan. I can’t complain. I set a goal. I achieved my goal. I ran faster than 8:00 pace. I am very happy to have achieved a new PR. I am very happy to be done! I am very happy to take it easy for a few days, register for another race and figure out a new goal for myself.

I just need to live with The But.

Follow me, please!

I have a whole schpiel in my head, but I'm gonna try to be brief.

There's a very cool relay race called the Hood to Coast which happens each year in late August. Basically, a bunch of people form a team, rent a couple vans and take turns running a really long way.... (200 miles). Each year there are about 15,000 runners. It happens in Oregon. It starts at Mt. Hood and ends at the Pacific Ocean in Seaside. There's a great documentary about it.

There is an opportunity for me to run this race for free-ish (I'd need to pay my own airfare but the other - fairly hefty - expenses would be paid for). The makers of nuun, an "electrolyte enhanced drink" are going to sponsor a team of Blogging Women Runners.

Just THINKING about this race makes me giddy. As many of you know, I qualified but missed running Boston this year. I feel like this would be beyond Boston as far as life experiences: Travel across the country, meet up with a bunch of like-minded strangers, spend an exceptionally long time in a stinky van with them, run a whole boat load of miles, see the Pacific for the first time in over 10 years.... What could be better??

But the thing is, there are some SERIOUS running bloggers out there. Not only do they have great posts and giveaways and superawesomefun links... They also have a bazillion followers. The application for this opportunity requires the blogger/runner to be creative, which with my warped mind I'm not too worried about. But, if these nuun folks click on my blog and see that I have an embarrassingly small number of followers they won't even consider me. (I mean, it's all well and good to sponsor a bunch of women to run a race, but nuun is, of course, trying to get some publicity out of this!)

So, I'm beggin' ya: Follow me! You don't have to like what I write. You don't have to be interested in my running. But... it sure would be spectacular to have an opportunity to run this race.

And better yet... I'll owe you one. Think of the things you can demand of me....!

More survey, you say?

Why, sure! The Best Damn Running Duo on Earth (Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell Davis) are going to be featured in Viv, an online magazine. another mother runner has asked it's Cult Members (ooops, I mean followers) to fill out another survey to help the effort. There's snowballs chance something I said maybe be published. But.... if I put it HERE... it will DEFINITELY be published. Take THAT, Interweb!

Of course you should totally scoot on over to the website and fill out your own survey if you want to be part of the action.

(They also requested 2 photos: a head shot and a body shot. I don't have a real head shot and the last time I took a body shot it was at my Bacherlorette Party and it did NOT end well... But here's what I sent them).


(cuz I just BQ'd!)

(Cuz we just uncorked a bottle of champagne for our 10th anniversary... and why a I just noticing now that my left eye is kinda droopy here. Alas.)

1.How did you get started running?

As a young kid I was a somewhat serious gymnast and rhythmic gymnast. When that got too intense for my adolescent brain/body at age 12, I looked for a sport at which my “perfect” older sister was not already, ummm, perfect. So I joined track. (Joke was on me – the next year she took up track and, naturally, broke all kinds of records and was champion of all things! I really love her, but COME ON!) After high school it was left over inspiration from my senior year's track coach who became a dear friend. She was a runner and OLD (ahem... 32!) and always said how important it was to her. Before her I never knew any adults who ran, like, at ALL!

2. What motivates you to exercise?

From the age of 5 I have always been some flavor of athlete. I feel very lucky that I am a Post-Title IV Chica and never had to beg for equality when it comes to athletic participation. Beyond “sport” though, the most basic facts about my emotional life are I love to eat chocolate and I love to NOT feel like a total lard. Those two truths add up to only one sane response: exercise. Pile on the boost to my self-esteem, a desire to hold on to my not-too-shabby-for-her-late-thirties legs and the example I set for my 2 boys and you get A Lady Who Moves.

3. What do you love about running—what has it done for you physically, mentally, and emotionally?

Oddly enough, my main motivation isn't physical at all. Genetics was kind to me so I don't pack on pounds too severely, even when I am dormant for awhile. Sure, I love feeling myself get more fit and have been known to check out my own quads in post-race photos, but running is definitely about the mental and emotional for me.

There's not a huge running community where I live. I think I love running because it makes me a bit of an odd ball around here: “Oh, you're that runner I see all the time.” I also enjoy it because – relatively speaking – it comes easily to me. Don't get me wrong, I work my tail off, but my frame is fairly small and my form is naturally decent so I don't have to spend a lot of time thinking about it. (Just please please please don't ask me to swim!) I like looking at my calendar of training days and knocking them off one by one and closing in on a race.

Because I run an in-home daycare, running is undoubtedly my single source of sanity some days. By 3:00 on non-run days, I'm toast. Given that I once had – and always thought I would have - a “big girl” career, running and racing are also outlets for me to feel like an accomplished human being as opposed to “the day care lady”. When I'm on a run I remember that soon, my kids will be in school full time. Soon, I will uncover the vocation that was meant for me. Soon, the world will benefit from my greatness! But for right now... let's see what we have in the tank to rock this hill!

4. What tips can you offer other women to stick with exercise, to squeeze it in?

I can't profess to be one of those ladies who jumped right back into running after I had kids. I was a very casual runner after my first child and until my second (and last) was about 2, I really didn't Train Like a Mother. So, anyone who is spending their nights nursing a fussy baby or Ferberizing... well, from me you get a pass. If you can do it, I bet running would be a huge help to you. But after the kids are sleeping through the night, I say, Go Get 'Em, Girl.

With my husband's schedule, I can't imagine fitting in a workout if I didn't get up at 4:30 or 5AM. For me, it works. And it has gotten easier and easier as the habit has gotten older. I can't remember how many days in a row you have to do something before it becomes a habit – I'm sure Google knows – so I say, challenge yourself to simply get through that many days of exercise and see how you feel about it when you're done.

The other mistake I've seen people make again and again is to be overly zealous in the beginning and burn out. The first weeks of running can be like a new relationship and you just want more, more, more! But you HAVE to schedule in rest days and you HAVE to keep your mileage increases to a reasonable amount week-to-week . Otherwise... illness, injury, frustration.... and back to square one.

5. Are you training for a race or have you done one in the past? What is especially helpful about racing?

I find that I almost always have to have a race on the horizon. If I don't, I get lazy about running and then my whole life – mentally, physically & emotionally - becomes hard. So, I have to have a “next”. The most helpful thing about racing is the motivation it gives you to keep training. It's also simultaneously ego-boosting (“I can't believe I just passed that kid.... He can't be more than 25!”) and humbling (“Good God, that lady has to be at least 60 and she's kicking my ass up this hill!”). A road race is so full of characters and back stories (most of which you have to make up in your head since you can't get to know these strangers beyond what they put on their racing shirt)... It's like the best night of television EVER! And you get to have it almost as many times a year as you want.

6. What role does the another mother runner/Run Like a Mother: The Book social media world play for you with your running?

I cannot overstate the role Run Like a Mother: The Book and another mother runner play in my running-life.... and my life-life! I am (partially by choice and partially by circumstance) a lone wolf when I run. I don't have a running buddy or running group that I meet up with . Ever. So all the amazing Mamas on the Facebook page and website act as my running partners. The Tribe has every conceivable type of running Mom. I have an opportunity to ask (sometimes awkward!) questions and I always get insightful, good humored and well-intended feedback from those who have dealt with my problem-of-the-week. It's also a safe place to lament a poor showing at a race or “celebrate your awesome” when things go your way. I also have a chance to respond to other runners who need a virtual attagirl, hug, or glass raised. Since The Tribe is so vast in number, there's always someone who's been where I am and there's always someone who might benefit from my experience. And always, ALWAYS, there's room for a good laugh at ourselves and how we cope. The weekly “Follow This Mother” feature on the website is a great favorite, too, because I have been able to find and get to know even better many, many Sole Sisters.

7. What is it about the another mother runner/Run Like a Mother: The Book community that helps/supports/inspires/entertains you?

Much of this addressed in question 6, but here's a bit more:

Opportunity for giving and getting feedback.

Shared sense of purpose... “Run! (For Your Life!)”

Links to great resources for training, races, music...

Perfect mix of irreverence and sweetness.

Never-fail, always-there, amazing-how-they-do-it, relevant-and-inspiring new posts daily! How do they DO that!??!

Love the One You're With

It was not an auspicious start to my run today. On the docket was 4 miles at race-pace, 800M "fast" and then 2 miles at race-pace. This 6.5 miles (plus recovering in between) takes kind of awhile. I knew that if I left the house at my usual time (4:50 AM) I was going to be - literally - running late. So, I set my alarm for 4:15 hoping to get out the door by 4:30 or 4:35. Unfortunately, I switched it from AM to PM when I set it. This is about the 5th time I've fouled up setting my alarm on my cell phone; one would think I would be smarter than this by now. One would be wrong!

So, I opened my eyeballs and thought, "Uh oh, it's too bright out for it to be earlier than 4:30." I was right. It was 4:47. After a 2-second "maybe I should just bag the whole thing" conversation in my head, I rushed out of bed and got dressed to go.

Now, I don't know about where you live, but here in New Hampshire we have had, ahem, a little rain. It was literally been raining since last Saturday. I have been pretty lucky that the precipitation has eased up some during my running times (except Sunday when I got totally washed away on my easy 8-miler). When I got about 2 miles from the track, the misty/sprinkle-y type rain became a full blown deluge. "Forget it. You weren't meant to do this today. Dunkin Donuts is open. Go to Dunkin Donuts and give yourself a break."

But I didn't. I parked the car at the track and started the first part of my run. Thankfully, the downpour eased up considerably and I merely got soaked on the run, as opposed to drown. My times were slower than I need them to be. I am hoping to run a sub-1:45, which means I need to run faster than 8:01 miles. I am shooting for 7:55s so that I have insurance as the miles get harder at the end of the race.

I didn't run 7:55s.
I didn't run 8:01s.
I ran 8:10s.

This isn't a total disaster. I mean, it was 5AM. I had fueled up at all. I had no warm up. It was raining. But, I'm starting to think I might need to face the fact that I stand a good chance of not achieving that sub-1:45.

As I was finishing up the first 4 miles, my iPod played "Love the One You're With." Now, taken literally, this song is pretty cynical, the message being: "Your love is out of town/unavailable, what the hell? Hook up with that chick over there... she's pretty cute." For some reason I like to run to it, though. It reeeallly got me thinking today.

(And now the blog takes a weird turn away from running so please be sure your seat belt is fastened and your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position)....

See, I just found out that a close friend of mine from high school is (once again) making national news because of her incredibly important research on cancer causing chemicals in household products. She is brilliant and a Professor at Duke and I can't think of anyone more deserving of recognition. She is completely self-made. First person in her family to go to college. She paid for everything herself. Not surprisingly, she was our class valedictorian. Guess who was the salutatorian?

Me.

Guess who spent a good deal of yesterday trying to make a 2-year-old follow the rules and not hit and not grab toys from others and not jump off the couch and not throw food and not put feet on the table? Guess who was NOT, say, finding ways prevent dangerous chemicals from ending up in the things we use to raise our children?

Yeah. Me.

Now, I have no desire to be a Professor at Duke. I never did. I was way more "social science" than "hard science" in school. I didn't have the fire in my belly to be that brand of successful. But, there was a time when I maybe could have been the journalist who interview her about her work. There was a time when I maybe could have been the PR person who helped promote her work. There was a time when I maybe could have been something other than what I am. Deep, dark, horrible wall of not knowing my destiny and not understanding my place right here....

So, back to "Love the One You're With". I got to thinking about how that song can be about a lot more than who your smooching. This morning I got thinking that although I know I am not in a great place career-wise, I CAN love the things about it that are good. I can love the time I get to spend with Elliott. I can love that I don't have to write report cards or dress up or wear make-up or commute. I can love that I don't have to do lesson plans or justify grades. I can love that I don't have to pay for daycare or worry about who is watching my kid. I am hoping that even thought I can't Love the Job I'm With I can Love Certain Aspects of the Job I'm With while I keep searching for another opportunity that will make me feel whole-r.

Aaaaannnnd.... I can Love the One I'm With with regard to my training. I was not loving this workout this morning. But after that song, I realized that I was in the middle of maybe the hardest workout of my whole training schedule. If I could get through it, then that's one step closer to my 1:45 or less.

Oh, and that last 2 miles I was supposed to do at race pace (or about 7:55 per mile)... I did 'em - in a complete downpour - at 7:13. I bet our class valadictorian can't do that.

"Love the One You're With"

Train Like a Mother Survey: Part 3

Here's Part 3 of the survey I filled out for the upcoming book "Train Like A Mother". Trot on over to Another Mother Runner if you want to offer them your insights.

Where do you log your miles? What do you like/don’t like about it? Most of my miles are logged right outside my door and in the 10 miles around me. I like this because it's convenient but it's also EXCEPTIONALLY hilly and somewhat dicey – the roads 'round here were not designed with foot traffic in mind. (In fact, “designed” might be a strong word for it!) I have gotten into the habit of getting up at 4:30 (instead of 5) for my speed work so that I can drive to a track that's 10 – 12 minutes away. Right near that is a beautiful running/biking/walking trail that I can do a few flat miles on before my track work. It's been a very cool development in my running life.

Do you strength train or lift weights while training for a race? Wait, is this like the dentist where I tell you I floss? No? Then, no. I totally don't strength train. I am awful.

Do you train to improve your speed? Yes! Just really began working on that a couple of months ago. I will find out how well it's working in a few weeks when I go for my PR in the half-marathon.

Do you do track workouts? If so, what’s your favorite workout? Yes! Again, a newish development. I particularly like when I do a “pace” four miler off the track followed by a “fastish” 1-miler and “fast as I have left” sets of 200s or 100s. Those last few sprints are so great because I know it's almost over and I swear I feel like the fastest kid in my gym class!

What’s your favorite cross-training activity? Why? Yoga. The stretching is soooo glorious. I used to be great about doing it every day. Now, I'm a schlump about it.

RACE DAY

What was your first race distance? Why did you enter it? After high school in college, I ran a ½ marathon in my-20s and a marathon when I was 29. I entered those races in an effort to get a marathon off my bucket list. Assumed I would be done w/ the running thing after that!

Do you keep track of your race times? Why or why not? I post my race bibs w/ the times on them on the bed sheet hanging on my bedroom wall. I know to the second my PRs but the others I just have a vague sense of.

What’s your favorite race distance? Why? I have drunk the Dimity Kool Aid on this: ½ marathon for sure. You can't blow off the training but you can do it without needing to go to Couples Therapy/Bad Mommy Jail for those endless marathon training runs.... which not only take hours but then sap you of any energy to do anything else all weekend!

What was your favorite race? Why? My first post-kids (second-ever) marathon.... Because I was shocked at how great I felt and how quickly (0:05 from BQ!) I ran it. It was the Mohawk-Hudson Marathon in Albany, NY. I highly recommend it!

What do you like best about participating in races? The social aspect. Since I'm a solo runner for training runs so it's novel and fun for me to run with others! Finding out what my body can handle is a close second.

What’s your worst race experience? What happened? It wasn't horrible, really, but I ran a marathon in June in Niagara, Canada. I knew that it COULD get hot but I thought I would be safe. It was very humid and very hot and, on top of that, I had been totally sick a few weeks before the race and didn't have a chance to run for the entire week in which I should have been at top mileage. I had gone into the process thinking a BQ was in sight but it was not my day. (Thankfully when I finished I learned that everyone that day was about 20-30 minutes off of their PR. I was in that range, too, so I felt a LOT better!)

When you run in a race, do you run for time? Or hang with a buddy? Or some combination of the two? I've run a couple of races with the sole intent of helping a friend get over the finish line. This was SO cool because she was not confident about how she would do and I was able to mix the encouraging friend part of me with the “get 'er done, dammit” coach. She was very grateful for my assistance and is now running races on her own left, right and center. Mostly I just go and run my race and see what happens.

How would you describe your racing style? I'm a bit of a rabbit, unfortunately, because I just feel SO good after a nice taper. This has never proved truly disastrous for me, but I'm sure my times would be faster if I could learn to control it!

What’s your pacing strategy, if you have one? For marathons and ½ marathons I try to go with the “I could do this forever” as the pace to stick with for the first 20 (or 10) miles. After that, you just have to hold on and hope that the dreadful feeling fades quickly when you're done.

Do you consider yourself mentally tough? Why or why not? I'm sort of bi-polar on that score. Some days I can talk my body into pushing and pushing and pushing some more. Other days I can easily talk myself into ending a workout early or taking the pace down a notch. I think, maybe, I've never really, REALLY been challenged in a way to truly test my mettle. I'm sure the day is coming, though I don't look forward to its arrival!

If you have one, do you wear your Garmin on race day? Why or why not? I wear it... unless I forget it!... because I'm usually concerned about pace.

What essential piece of gear have you forgotten on race day—and how did you make up for it? I forgot my Garmin at my most recent half marathon. I didn't have a specific time goal in mind but I did find it unnerving. I discovered a pace group that was going for a 1:52 finish. My PR is 1:45:something so I decided to start out with them and see how it went. After a few miles I lost them on a down hill and I finished in 1:49. It was a tough course and a great race for me.

Does your family watch you race? Do you give them advice on where to see you? I've done races with and without my support system. It is SO much better when they are there! My husband was key in my BQ last fall. Because the course was open to traffic he and my 2 boys were there every few miles. I especially remember the banana he handed me at mile 22 or so. It was THEE best and I didn't even know I wanted it until I saw it. I don't tell him (or anyone) where to put themselves unless they ask because I hate to be the boss of anyone who's willing to show up at all!

What’s the best sign you’ve seen on race day? (On Mother's Day Eve ½ marathon) “Go Mom! (What's for Dinner?)”

What’s the best or worst thing you’ve ever heard somebody yell during a race?Silence really sucks. But the WORST thing a guy on the course ever did is this: a race volunteer at the top of a KILLER hill at mile 23 of a marathon stood there in silence, barely pointing to the turn we were supposed to take, and SMOKING a CIGARETTE! "Thanks, dude, that's EXACTLY what I needed right now!" Weird.

Race day: are you introvert vs. extrovert? Do you talk to other runners? Do you listen to music? I listen to music but I'm also an extrovert. Possibly to the extent that others find me obnoxious. What can I say, all that alone running catches up with me and when I'm in a race I have to chat it up with the other racers, the race officials, the fans...

Sex the night before a race? Alcohol? (Both?!) No official policy but I don't think I general get busy the night before. A glass of wine or a beer is not mandatory but it's not prohibited either.

What was your worst night (your sleep, your kids sleep, sickness, etc.) before a run/race? The night before my “return to racing” after having kids I was in a hotel room with my Mom and 2 boys (ages 3 & 5). Both boys insisted on sleeping with me. They are horrible bed hogs. They talk/yell/kick/laugh in their sleep. They sit up randomly and have bizarre conversations with no one. I don't know how many hours of sleep I got but there certainly weren't any consecutive hours.

Do you typically buy the pictures of yourself in a race? Why or why not?I never have... I am too cheap.

Train Like a Mother Survey: Part 2

Day 2 of boring you with the Q&A I filled out for the Insightful, Hilarious, Superhuman authors of the upcoming book "Train Like a Mother".

(I just found out that they have this new-fangled inter-web device that tells them when someone links their site in a blog. Let's see how over-the-top I can make my descriptions of Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell Davis of Another Mother Runner.)

GEAR

How do you describe your clothing style/what you wear when you run? Cheap/free! Though I do love to feel cute so running skirts have found their way into my repertoire.

Do you go commando? I'm unaffiliated... Sometimes I dos and sometimes I don'ts.(Honestly, it depends on what sort of, ahem, evening I had the night before. Blusssshiiinnnnggg!)

Where/how do you display your medals? I have a bed sheet (hastily) nailed to the wall in my bedroom. I have them there along with my bibs, on which I write my time/pace/place, etc. It's not fancy but it does serve to inspire.

What is must-have piece of gear for training? Some kind of watch with a stop watch component. I trained for my first marathon without a Garmin-type and it worked fine, since I knew where all my mile markers were. It was also a good mental workout b/c I had to calculate my estimated pace in my head. But... I do love being able to glance at my wrist now and know how close I am to my goal pace.

Do you have a specific race outfit you try to wear? Why is it special? Not so much. I was pretty pleased with my very pink get up at my last 1/2 though: Pink knee compression socks, pink skirt, pink "badass mother runner" hat, pink "fight like a girl" tags on my shirt. Honestly, I don't even love pink. It just worked for me!

Do you have an aging piece of gear/clothing that you should throw away, but can’t bring yourself to because it has sentimental value? Not really.Wait. I'm still wearing sports bras I got in college. So, yeah, I guess I do have that stuff. I just don't worry about it!

Have you run barefoot or in Vibram Five Fingers? What was your impression? Did you keep it up? Nope. Intrigued, though. Funny how ALL this stuff is coming out literally this week about whether or not it makes a difference for injury rates.

Do you buy new shoes for race day? Nope. Well, not on purpose. Sometimes my shoes are so beat I have to buy new shoes fairly close to a race, though I know it's not ideal.

Have you ever bought something at a race expo and worn it on race day? If so, did you regret wearing it, or was it o.k.? Never tried that.

Do you use recovery gear: compression socks or tights, a foam roller, a massage therapist? Compression socks (which I also wear on my long runs) and a foam roller recently came into my life. I really love them both. If I could get a massage therapist on the cheap I would do that too! I was going to a chiropractor earlier in the year but I had to reschedule so many times that I've fallen out of the schedule/habit. Oh, well....

TRAINING

What’s your favorite workout (length of run, speed you run, type of terrain)? Tough question. I have recently become pretty enamored of track workouts... but probably only because I only started doing the in the last couple of months. And although I don't do it very often, nothing beats a long, slow social run with friends.

Do you run/train solo, with a running partner, with a group, or a mixture? Solo. Always. It's a curse. Or a blessing. I can never decide!

Are you a serial trainer/racer—are you consistently on a training plan or heading to a race— are you a do-your-own-thing or do you go back and forth? I'm better off if I have a race on the horizon. If I'm just running to run I slack off and become a complete horror to everyone in my life. After a marathon or something I'll give myself a month or so to chill but I definitely need a “next” on the calendar.

What do you carry on training runs? Depends on the weather and where I'm going. On long runs more than 8 miles or so) I generally wear a Road ID bracelet and a fuel belt with one small bottle of water, one small bottle of Gatorade (or similar), a gel or chew, cell phone... Man, that sounds like a lot!

Do you have a mantra? Where did it come from? When do you use it? Nothing official, but I do get some phrases in my head on lots of runs. During a marathon after mile 20 I sometimes think “tri-umph; tri-umph; tri-umph” with my footfalls. Cuz hell, any step you take after 20 is DEFINITELY a triumph!

Train Like a Mother Survey: Part 1

The amazing ladies behind "Run Like A Mother" are getting set to write a new book, ("Train Like a Mother") and they have sought out their fans to get some info from "real" moms about how we manage to train for races. These are some SERIOUS essay-type questions and I realized... man, these are a bunch of good blogs right here. So, here's the first stack of questions and how I answered them. If you want to respond to their survey, click on their link and you can do so. Super fun, right??

How long have you been a runner? Began in 7^th grade (track) and ran through high school. Off and on after that (one ill-conceived attempt at Cross Country in college... so much beer! So little time!) fairly casually until I attempted to run the LA marathon in 2000 (injury/surgery prevented that). Then... determined to run a marathon before I had a baby and determined to have a baby when I was 30... I ran my first marathon in 2003 – when I happened to be a teeeeny bit pregnant but didn't know it yet. Ran casually after that, had another baby in 2006. Back to marathon training in 2009 when I found out my former sister-in-law was training for one. Seemed like the right time to get moving again.

Why did you start running? In school...because my “perfect” older sister didn't run and it was something at which I might be better than her. (Joke was on me – the next year she took up track and, naturally, broke all kinds of records and was champion of all things! I really love her, but COME ON!) Then it was left over inspiration from my senior year's track coach who became a dear friend. She was a runner and OLD (ahem... 32!) and always said how important it was to her. Before her I never knew any adults who ran, like, at ALL!

On average, how much/how far do you run per week? I run 4 or 5 days a week. Depending on what I'm training for, I ran as few as 20 or as many as 45 miles a week.

Road, trail, treadmill, or some combo? What do you like about each? Dislike about each? Road pros: convenient, free, hills & flats automatically included, varied terrain (in the sticks, I mean)

Road cons: 'round here, some dangerous curves and NO sidewalks and poor shoulders in a lot of places.

Trail pros: My road runs are pretty “trail-like” so I don't do any of these officially.

Treadmill: I've run on a treadmill about 8 times in the last 3 years... when I stay at a hotel with one and I can't get out.

What time of day do you usually run? Why? “Scary o'clock” 5 or 5:30AM- otherwise I just won't get out there and/or I'll be blowing off my family. Now that I'm used to morning runs, anything after about 9AM and I feel completely off.

When did you feel like you were a “real” runner? Since I started as a 12 year old, I never struggled to feel “real” in my running. But I totally get why it takes some people awhile to get there.

"That's not running....

THIS is running!!!"

Have you seen that episode of Friends when Phoebe & Rachel decide to go running together? Rachel is a somewhat normal runner - though she breathes weird - and is horrified when Phoebe insists that the only way running can be fun is to go at top speed with arms flailing, like a little kid who KNOWS that she is the fastest person the universe. At the very end of the episode Rachel comes to realize that Phoebe is right and adopts this childish/joyful running style.



I'm not saying that I've been running like that, but I have had a bit of a Run-aissance in the last few weeks. (Did I just coin a phrase? Probably not, but I don't think I've ever heard it. I so amuse me!) I found a half marathon training plan that involves lots of track work. This is my first time doing real track work, like, EVER. (I ran track in jr. high and high school but we didn't actually HAVE a track so we ran around the elementary school, the baseball field, the town....) A couple of mornings a week I'm getting up at 4:30 to head to the (completely void of human life) track.

It.Has.Been.Awesome!

Most runners I know (or read about, really, because I don't have human contact with a ton of runners) dread these workouts. They have special pump-me-up playlists on their iPods. They have special speed workout running buddies to keep them showing up and honest. I am not saying I think I am a totally normal person, but I always thought with running, I was pretty typical of my peers.

Nope.

I don't know why. Maybe it's the novelty of it. Maybe it's the promise of ZERO hills. Maybe it's the precision of my distances. I just LOVE running on the track.

Actually, I think I know what it is. It's the speed. I'm not a really fast runner. I have no idea how fast I could do a 100M or a 400M or even a 5K. All of my race distances since adulthood have been more than 5 miles. But these tracks workouts almost always call for a final push of 4 x 100M, or 2 x 200M.

I wasn't on the track today, but it is a good example of what I think I mean. I ran 4 miles at about 7:45 pace. The boys and Scott were playing on a playground and riding bikes around the basketball court. Right nearby is the only flat (non-track) place to run in, I think, 100 miles. It's a great former rail road track turned biking/walking/running route. So I ran 2 miles out and 2 miles back. Talked to Scott and the boys for a few minutes and then, as my training plan called for, did 4 x 100-ish (I had to go by feel since I wasn't on the track, naturally). There's something about those 100M "sprints" that I love. I call them "sprints"and not sprints because I'm sure I'm not going very fast. But I love the way I can totally cruise, ALMOST going as fast as I possibly can. I am in a pretty healthy place body-wise right now so I've got no weird pains. My form feels awesome. It's totally lame but I honestly feel like a model runner when I'm doing this. (Model, in this case, NOT meaning a gorgeous chick in insanely high heels, obviously).

I have no idea if I have good form. I have no idea if I am fast. I have no idea if these workouts are going to bring me to a half marathon PR.

I do know that I wear a teeny invisible badge of honor every day after I've done the 4:30 drive to the track. I do know that I feel like the fastest kid in my gym class on the track... (probably because I am alone and there's no one there showing me up!) I do know that this Phoebe agrees with Fictional Phoebe and think to myself every time I get my speed on....

"THIS IS RUNNING!!!"