Turkey Trot 5k

This Thanksgiving, Dad and I ran the Turkey Trot 5k in Washington, DC. It benefits SOME (So Others Might Eat) and runners get a nice view of the Capitol (with an O) and the Mall (without stores).

The Good

• Bambino got to participate in the 1-mile fun run. At least, it was supposed to be one mile.  We got there a tad late, started on our own, and we let him turn around on the out-and-back course as soon as he felt like it. Sure, he didn't run a mile. I couldn't care less. He ran joyfully and energetically the whole time, high-fiving a turkey at the finish.
• I ran the 5k in 25:57, four minutes faster than my goal and one minute faster than my super-secret goal.  I've got another 5k in December (Running of the Balls), so maybe I'll shoot for sub-25:00 with that.
• Dad got a PR!
• I've never run a 5k in a big crowd before, and I really enjoyed it. I didn't talk to anyone during the race (Dad and I ran separately), but I enjoyed listening in on conversations. Annoying things even enticed me to speed up: I had to pass three chatty girls running in a straight line as well as a woman with about $1.50 in change in her back pocket. Whatever motivates you, right?
• After the race, we went to the Natural Science Museum. Bambino loved it! He loved the dinosaurs, the fish, the mammals- everything. He's a science kid.

The Bad

• The one thing I didn't like about the crowds was that there was no room for snot rockets. That's right, I said snot rockets. I love them. I'm good at them. And with that many people, there was no chance to show off my skills.
• I missed the chance to see friends who were running. If I'd posted the race on FB, maybe we could have coordinated. Maybe next year...

The Funny

• I did see one old friend. To be precise, I saw him pushing a stroller on the other side of the road as I looped back around the course.  I did what anyone would do, I'm sure: I shouted his (full) name at the top of my lungs several times while running out of my lane to circle around, get right next to him, wave my hand in his face like an idiot, and say "hey!". Then I turned around and ran back to my proper spot. Yup, I have amazing social skills. At least I didn't trip. 

I looked through the race pictures, but no shots of Dad, Bambino, or I. I assure you, we had a great time. Next up- streaking. More to follow this week!

Spring 2013 Races

It looks like Cannonball will be my only half-marathon of 2012. Months ago I planned on running the Mistletoe half in Winston-Salem on December 1, but at this point I am sorely unprepared when it comes to long runs. I don't regret it at all; I've worked hard to rebuild my base, I am very healthy, and I've really enjoyed running this year. No reason to ruin running bliss by racing 13.1 miles unprepared.

That being said, I have begun planning my races for 2013. 2012 was an appropriately light racing year, but come January 1, I am back!

• Resolution Run 5k. I won this race (not age group- overall female!!) back in 2011. That may never happen again, but I still love to start the year right.
• Lakeside Trail Race. I've never run this one before and still don't know if I'll do the 15- or 8-mile option. Either way it will be a fun time on the trails.
• North Carolina Half. While disappointed that there's no full marathon option this year, I'm thrilled the half is back and will definitely run it.
• either New River Marathon or Potomac River Marathon. Although the names are similar and they happen the same weekend, these two races are quite different in terms of elevation. The New River Marathon is near Boone and very hilly. The Potomac River Marathon, on the other hand, bottoms out at 12 feet above sea level and gets up to 44 feet above sea level. Both are on gravel trails, so that will be new. The chosen race will be my dad's first marathon! (unless he decides to run the RNR Washington, DC race in March.)

I don't have definite plans after the marathon, but I think I want to focus on speed for the summer.  Pre-Alfie, I had gotten pretty speedy. I'd like to break 22:00 in a 5k and 50:00 in a 10k. For me, summer's the perfect time for that sort of training because it's not as dependent on a specific schedule. As a teacher I have lots of free time, but we travel, hike, bike, and do all sorts of fun stuff that's better suited to getting faster than going farther. In August I'll start thinking about longer distances again. I'd love to do Baltimore again, and with all of our family in Memphis the St. Jude marathon could be fun.

Cannonball Half Marathon Race Report (only a few weeks late...)

The Good

• Goal! My dad beat his goal of 2:30 by more than a minute! He has trained so much this year, adding in outside, hilly running. If he'd add in lunges and squats, he'd get even faster.
• The course- I love this course. Sure it's hilly and out-and-back, but these are the trails I train on (or at least where I used to train before getting pregnant, moving, and having a baby) and the greenway is just lovely as it goes along the lake.
• Watermelon GU Chomps- I don't remember when I had them, but I ate two bags (four servings) during the race. Some people can get through 13.1 miles with nothing, but I need some calories to run beyond 8.  I had a Hammer Gell Espresso fifteen minutes before the race, and I had water and Gatorade at each water stop.
• Conversation- I could talk to my dad forever, so getting the chance to chat while running for more than two hours is divine. We talked about, among other things, Nationals baseball, church, school, training plans, food, vacations, art...

The Bad

• Droopy pants- I have these wonderful purple Brooks shorts that I adore. They have back pockets for Chomps, which I also adore. The thing is, when you put two packets of Chomps in the back pockets of the shorts, they do not actually stay up without a lot of assistance.  I had worn them on long runs before, but not weighted down with food. Oops.
• Chaffing- Stupid real sports bras. Normally I can choose my, ahem, apparel based on softness, color, whatever. However, these days my choices are limited to the several Moving Comfort designs that double as nursing bras. They're great, but after about 10 miles, I start to get blisters along my ribcage. After about 12 miles, they start to bleed.

The Funny

• In the past, my father has tried to get through a whole race without any cursing. He always, inevitably, fails. This time he had no such goal, made several colorful statements, and ran faster than ever. Coincidence? I doubt it...

And now for some photographs...

 After seeing us at the half-way point, the non-running family members went to a Fall Festival.

It is really difficult to get a picture in which both Bambino and Alfie are smiling and looking at the camera.

Why am I here?

The question is not quite as existential as it first appears. I do not regularly question my life, my family, or any of that. I like my life- it keeps surprising me because it's so full of love and bounty. This quandary comes from something much more mundane: about a month ago, I started to wonder why on earth I had a blog.

Not that many people read this blog. I am definitely not an expert on running.  When I started, I had a very clear goal (run a marathon- then, get a marathon PR!). There was momentum. When I got pregnant, I had a whole new reason to write; even though I am far from an expert, I was another voice on the internet saying that it's okay to run while pregnant.  It's possible (although unlikely) that I convinced some runner-turned-new-mom-to-be that there was no reason to quit running unless there was a medical problem or it just wasn't fun. A pregnant runner evangelist, that's me.

Then Alfie arrived. Life got hectic. I started running again, but without a goal- this was on purpose, because I didn't want to get back into full-on training too soon.  Now she's six months old, I'm running and teaching and chasing a three-year-old and poof! I ran a half-marathon two weeks ago and still haven't posted a report.

So why am I here? 

While running the other day, because that's when all good ideas happen, I decided I am here, writing this blog, for myself. It's simple and selfish- I want to remember.  Sometimes there's more to document- marathon training, PRs, pregnancy, a new baby- and sometimes life is relatively simple.  I forget to note those simple times, but they compose the bulk of this life I love.

I am here because raising kids while working and being a spouse and a good friend is so important and yet so hard to commemorate without intention.  Add running and racing into the mix, and some days- okay weeks, months- feel like a mad frenzy towards the future.

I am here to document how these years feel. When I started this blog, I named it The Marathon Year because 2010 was the year of my first marathon. I changed the name the next year because, well, Year implies one. Singular. Now the title means something completely different: These are the marathon years, the messy and wonderful years of adulthood and family and, for me, running. They are not a sprint, they require planning and care. Most importantly, the struggles are as much emotional as anything else.  The physical day-to-day is shaped by your mindset, in the same way that a race is shaped by your intentions, worries, and mental preparation.

This is why I'm here.

(I will post a better-late-than-never race report later this week.)

Sneaking Candy

I don't smoke. I have at most one glass of wine a week. I eat whole wheat bread, natural peanut butter, quinoa, and fresh veggies. I drink at least 120 ounces of water a day. I don't even have caffeine.

Some would say I do a great job with what I put in my body.  And compared to many, I do.  However, I have recently started eating a lot more of something not-so-great: candy.

Sour Patch Kids, I love you. Your sour flavor wakes up my taste buds while your empty calories amp me up for a good 20 minutes.  Your artificially dyed colors are bright and shiny, like a summer day.  I could eat you every day. I have been eating you several times a week, along with your friends Peanut M&Ms.

I could come up with numerous problems with this candy obsession, but here are a few:

1. I am thrifty, proudly so. I make good food for my family on a budget. And yet, I spend money every week on CANDY.  That's just wasteful, because what purpose does it serve besides temporarily filling my belly with something devoid of nutritional value? At least ice cream has dairy and fat, that soupçon of health.
2. When you eat empty, sugary crap, your blood sugar spikes and then plummets, making you grumpy, tired, and hungry again! Cruel, isn't it? I should be eating an apple, a cheese stick, mixed nuts, berries, baby carrots... the list goes on.
3. Whatever I eat, Alfie eats.  I can't be proud of my caffeine-free, natural peanut butter eating self if I'm gorging myself on candy.  She's eating that crap, too. She's eating preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, and sheer sugar.
4. I have sensitive teeth, so eating chewy candy exacerbates the issue. Why make myself hurt?
5. Bambino is impressionable, and sometime's I'm not sneaky enough. We don't live junk-free by any means, but we tend to live by Cookie Monster's "Cookies are a sometimes food" rule, expanding it to candy, ice cream, and other treats as well.  If he sees me eating candy, he wants some.  Do I say no and feel like a hypocrite or say yes and make him think it's okay to eat junk all the time?

Having said all of that, I am conducting a week-long experiment wherein I do not eat candy. I was going to make it no refined sugar at all, but a student offered me a cookie today, so...

Two Weeks Until Cannonball!

From the five-month photo shoot. One of her new favorite things

is to pick up legs and arms and "fly".  How did she get

so cute?

Goodness, what a week! Alfie turned 5 months on Tuesday, Bambino got a train table which reinvigorated his locomotive obsession, and he made it all the way through a movie last night:  Ratatouille! Thank you, DVR, for bringing us so many good choices for movie night and for letting us fast-forward through the commercials. Bambino is at that tender age where he proudly parrots back slogans- funny but a tad bit scary.

On the running front, I've done well. Monday was a rest day, then I ran Tuesday afternoon with Bambino and ran Wednesday morning solo. Thursday night I tried the treadmill for the first time in a long time (more about that in a minute), and then this morning I had a two-part long run of 11 miles! Why two parts? Because I do not like to do a long run in the pouring rain and the dark.  At 5:00, I woke up to feed Alfie and myself (peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat toast with a side of Gatorade). Of course, my morning glory (aka Bambino) woke up, too, so I fixed him first breakfast- he has two or three on a typical day, like a Hobbit- and sent him back to bed. I hopped on the treadmill for four miles while catching up on last week's Big Bang and The Office.  Then I hopped off to stretch and guess who was awake? Bambino! I bribed him with my iPad and hopped back on for four more miles, this time watching Glee.

Whatever it takes. He knew exactly where I was

if he needed anything. 

At the end of that set, everyone was up, so I got to hang out with Bambino in the train room and let Alfie have her second breakfast.  Then Jenn and Bambino went yardsaling. I planned for Alfie and I to stroller run the last two-three miles since the rain had stopped, but it kept returning. I will run in the rain, but not with a baby. We just chilled, meaning she played and made noises while I stretched and had my coffee.  Around 8:30 the yardsalers returned and I headed out for Long Run Part 2 (or 3, if you break the treadmill into two parts). I ran the neighborhood for three miles in just over 27 minutes.

So, the treadmill. I haven't used it recently, because when I do it no longer gives an accurate measurement of pace or distance. I turn it on, press start, and enter a speed, but the speed feels much much faster than expected, and then the speed indicator starts switching numbers really quickly, finally settling on 0.0.  If I set it at 5.0-5.5, I can manage to not fall off the back.  Aggravating? Oh, yes. Aggravating but workable. My solution has become to set the speed somewhere that feels reasonable and just call it 10-minute miles, because I don't really care about pace right now anyway.

There's got to be a good caption for this, but I don't know what it is...

So, a great week for life and for running. I hit 20 miles today and I plan to run tomorrow, making this my highest mileage in a long time.  I've run 83 miles so far in September, the most in 18 months. On top of that, I feel really good about running's place in my life right now- I run early in the morning or late in the evening to preserve family time. I run with Bambino in the afternoons when he asks, because how could I say no when he wants to do that with me? I'll run with both of the kiddos in about another month, because it's such a great way to spend time with them.  I am very conscious of not letting my running take too much time away from family, and I think right now I've struck a good balance.

My first post-Alfie half-marathon is coming up in two weeks: Cannonball! I'm running it with my dad again. Last year, we ran it together when Alfie was still in my belly. In the year since, my dad has trained a lot, so it will be so much fun to see how he does- I bet he'll take at least 10 minutes off of his PR.

Miles for Matthew 10k Recap

My first 10k went very well.  No pictures of me racing (kids are a lot more fun to photograph), but plenty of details.

We got to the race at 7:50 so that Bambino could participate in the kids' run at 8:00. He got a number and everything, and then the kids took off for one lap around the track.  As one of the younger runners, Bambino was near the back, but boy did he run.  He didn't stop once, and he looked like a runner. He beamed as he finished. Made my heart warm and proud. 

After the kids' race, Bambino went to child care (awesome feature!) and Jenn and Alfie walked me part-way to the start.  Tgere weren't that many runners- 296 combined for the 5k and 10k, so it was easy to ind a spot. At one point some woman behind me said, I wish I had a course map so I could figure out where to cut through.  My ears perked up. Who would admit to cheating?  Who would be so brazen as to say, before even starting, that she planned to cut it short for a better time?  I turned around ready to scold and saw a woman, clearly a spectartor, talking to her daughter about taking her picture during the race. Oops. I told her what I'd thought she meant and that she made my day. Laughter's always a good way to start a race.

At 8:30 on the nose, we started.  I tried not to stare at my watch, but I'm a little addicted to the numbers.    Mile one was fast: 9:13.  My goal for this 10k was to break 1:00, so I needed to run around 9:45 for that. I totally meant to slow down, but mile 2 was 9:09.  

At this point, I started to panic and talk to myself, thankfully in my head.  Okay, I said, you're going too fast.  You are going to crash and then walk and you'll be disappointed in yourself.  Slow down this instant.  You have a Garmin- use it!  No more speed!

Well, while I was talking to myself, mile 3 passed by in 8:48.  Crap, said I. That did not work.  Please slow down a little, okay?  You know you feel good now, but what about later? You haven't run this fast on a run longer than three miles in a year. A YEAR.

At mile 4, which I ran in 8:54, a different voice popped up. So you're running faster than expected.  Big deal! You can and have run a lot faster than this. You're doing fine.  If you crash, the worst that can happen is that you walk. But what if you don't crash? What if this is the right pace for you right now? Doesn't it feel good to go faster than expected?

I like this voice a lot more!

I ran mile 5 in 8:33 and blasted through mile 6 in 8:08. As you can see, I picked up the pace for the final mile and really tried to floor it when I could see the finish.  The course was a little short, so my final time was 53:23 for 6.09 miles, or 8:46 pace, a minute faster per mile than my goal.  Happy doesn't begin to cover how I feel about this race.  Despite being about ten pounds above "racing weight", despite having a baby less than five months ago, despite sometimes having trouble making runs work around family and work, I surpassed my goal with room to spare.  I consistently ran four times per week and 15-20 miles per week.  I raised money for a great cause and dyed my hair a funky color accordingly.  And now I am more than ready to tackle the rest of the season: two half-marathons this year, and a marathon in the spring.  I'd love to find another 10k to do, too.  This distance seems to fit me really well.