Why I Run: For my Kids

I run for these sweet faces.
Trust me, under the skeleton mask is a sweet little guy ;)

I run for these little people.  For their sweet, smiling faces.  For the joy they find in life.  For the simple pleasures that bring them such great joy.  For the ways they can drive me to the brink of insanity one minute and absolutely melt my heart the next.

I run to show them what it means to be strong, fit, and healthy.  To care for oneself so that you can care for others.  To push your boundaries and discover new limits.  To accept disappointment in stride and celebrate victory in the small moments.

I run so that I can be here with them for many years to come.  Watching them grow into charming young people.  Cheering for them as they work towards their goals.  Delighting in discovering who they are in this world.

I run for them.

Why do you run?

Post-Race Mania

With training for my fall half marathon completed, I feel like I'm bursting with extra mental and physical energy.  I'm still running four days per week, but the runs are relatively aimless.  I'm lacing up for fun - and a chance to chat with my BRF - which completely relaxes the mental aspect of running.

So what's a mother runner to do with all of her newly available mental energy?  Completely reorganize her house, of course!  While in training, I find that household tasks move into a holding pattern.  I keep up with all of the mandatory aspects of running a five-member household, but major organization doesn't happen.  Closets slowly become cluttered, bookshelves grow disheveled, and dog hair mounds behind the couch (Don't judge!).  I see that these things need attention, but I just don't have the mental space to really tackle them.

We have this closet in our house, which we affectionately call the closet of doom.
While training, I close my eyes and pretend it doesn't exist...

A few days post-race, however, I go on a cleaning and decluttering frenzy!  If you peeked into my house last week, you would have seen me scrubbing kitchen counters with a toothbrush, rearranging the furniture in several rooms, and purging, purging, purging.  When I resume training for a spring race, I know I will not have interest in such projects, so I'm taking advantage of this boundless energy - and the extra hours in the week that I previously spent running - to cross some things off the to-do list.

Does anyone else exhibit unique post-race behaviors?  And if you need a closet overhaul, hit me up!  I'm available for hire, for another few weeks anyway ;)

Yoga in the Woods

At the last minute, we decided to pack up the kids and head to my parents' cabin at Innsbrook to enjoy this fabulous fall day in the woods. What an excellent decision! We've spent a lovely day of carefree playing, the highlight of which was the dinosaur dig carefully organized by Mr. D.

While the paleontologists-in-training worked at their dig site, I enjoyed a peaceful yoga break on the back deck. Outdoor barefoot yoga in October?! Yes, please!

Life is good :)

Prehab: Yoga and the Chiropractor

I've always been a big believer in post-run stretching, but over the last 8 months, I've done more non-running activities to support my runs. I'm going to call these things pre-hab: I do them in hopes of preventing injuries from happening. So far so good, so I thought I'd share a few of my typical pre-hab options:

Squats and planks. I've fallen off the squat bandwagon a bit since completing my squat challenge at the beginning of the summer, but I know squats are a terrific addition to my running regime. Stronger glutes, low abs, and quads make me a stronger runner. In an ideal world, I like to do 50 squats on non-running days.

Yoga for runners. I aim to do yoga 1 or 2 times per week, and I look for options geared towards runners or towards stretching my overused quads/glutes/calves/low back.  Always the cheapskate, I find all of my yoga classes via YouTube.  Some have been duds, but I've been impressed at the bounty of free, high-quality yoga available online.  I've posted some reviews of the ones I enjoy, and I have more reviews to come.

Regular visits to the chiropractor. My chiropractor has been invaluable in keeping me logging pain-free miles.  I first visited her last spring, when I finally admitted injury following my April half marathon.  She got me back on the road quickly, and I've maintained regular visits with her to keep my bones where they belong.  When not training, I check in every 3 months, but during this training cycle, I've gone monthly.  She keeps me tuned up, which keeps me running strong, which is definitely worth the co-pay.

Do you have any non-running activities that allow you to keep up your mileage?  Anyone else as indebted to their chiropractor as me?

Race Recap: Rock 'n Roll St. Louis

Sunrise in downtown St. Louis as we wait to start the race.

I couldn't have asked for anything more at Rock 'n Roll St. Louis on Sunday.  Delightful weather, upbeat crowds, good bands, terrific volunteers.  Oh yeah, and a smoking new PR :)

Emily and I arrived downtown just before 6:00am and found rock star parking near the starting line.  We took our time stretching, visiting the porta-potties (so many available!  Kudos to the race organizers), and eating one last bit of banana.  Nerves mounted as we waited around in our corral, but overall we were just excited about our day.

Nervous smiles as we hang around in our corral.

We wanted to beat Emily's half marathon PR of 2:08.  To do so, we planned to run the early miles at a 9:45 pace, kicking it up to 9:15-9:30 around mile 8, and drawing closer to 9:00 for miles 11 to the finish.  A thick crowd and an early restroom stop threatened our plan at the outset, but we weren't rattled.  We hit the 5k checkpoint at 30:29, which was certainly slower than we anticipated.  At that point, however, the crowd had thinned a bit, and we could make our way through the field with less weaving.  The slow early pace didn't bother me, as I hoped we were conserving energy and would have more left in the tank for the later miles.

Feeling strong at mile 8.

We faced an unexpectedly long climb at mile 4.5 (with the early morning sun in our eyes), but we cranked that mile in 9:30.  Entering mile 6, our energy flagged a bit, and we embarked on the part of the course that did not have live entertainment.  (Citing respect for the neighborhoods, race organizers informed us that there would be no bands from miles 6-9, an unfortunate point in the course to be lacking distraction.)  We kept a good pace, however, and hit the 10k checkpoint at 58:58.  Mile 8 brought us to a familiar park where our families were waiting for us.  Seeing their happy faces and stopping for a quick hug gave us an extra spring in our step.  We logged the next two miles at about 9:20 each, and we agreed to try to hang at that pace until the mile 12 marker.

My sweet cheering section :)

While miles 1-6 were rather urban, starting in downtown and then traversing some industrial areas, miles 7-12 took us through beautiful neighborhoods and along well-maintained parks, and many of the residents came out to cheer us on.  As we were kicking up the intensity of our effort, I was grateful for the distraction of lovely houses and cheering fans.  The band at mile 11 was my favorite of the course, for no other reason than their rendition of "Run Around Sue" made my heart happy and gave my tired legs a little extra pep.

As we planned, I pushed the pace as soon as we passed the mile 12 sign.  Emily stayed a step behind me but promised that she was ok.  Mile 12 took us across an overpass into downtown, and the view of downtown and the other runners in the field was fabulous.  Pushing uphill at the end of that mile, however, I could tell that my energy was waning.  We saw my parents right at the 13-mile mark, and I mustered a smile and a wave for them.  As we neared the why-does-it-still-seem-so-faraway finish line, Emily stepped ahead and took the lead.  "Let's go," she said.  "Let's get it!"  I didn't know I had any gas left in the tank, but I found just enough to turn in a strong finish alongside her.  We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw the official time: 2:03:58!  More than 4 minutes faster than her previous record, and 8:21 faster than our April race.

This giant street marking totally messed with my carb-starved brain.
This faux finish was at the 13-mile mark, and that final .1 seemed endless...

Full of pride and finish line adrenaline, we walked to the car discussing possibilities for our next race.  One good finish line deserves another, right?  We will plot our spring race soon enough, but for now, I'm going to bottle up the excitement of this finish and savor the sweetness of hard-earned victory.

Elated at the finish line!

It's Go Time: Rock 'n Roll St. Louis

The hay is in the barn.  The seeds have been sown.  The work is done.  Now it's time to go out and show what I can do.  The Rock 'n Roll St. Louis half marathon dawns early tomorrow morning.

I'd be lying if I denied my pre-race jitters, but I certainly feel more confident than I did on the eve of the GO! St. Louis race in April, my first half marathon.  I know that my body can cover the distance.  I am strong, injury-free, and mentally prepared to face the challenge of mile 11.  I don't have a specific time goal (at least not one that I'm willing to verbalize), but I definitely hope to beat my spring time of 2:12:19.  Considering how much I labored for each step of that race, I am optimistic that I can shave a few minutes off that time.

I'm working to focus on the excitement of the day: running in a new part of the city, hearing local bands, spending the morning with my BRF, and seeing the joy on my kids' faces as they oogle my finisher's medal.  I've logged the miles and finished the training.  Now it's time for some fun :)

Ready to rock, roll, and sparkle!

Inspiration from a BQ'er

I love that running gives me a chance to draw inspiration from others.  I love to watch other runners work hard, push their boundaries, and strive relentlessly towards a goal.  I become deeply invested in their training and seeing their successes feels almost as thrilling as accomplishing my own goal.  I thrive on the team spirit and sense of camaraderie we share as we constantly work to better ourselves one mile at a time.  While watching their efforts (through blogs, Strava, and Twitter), I am inspired to set my own big, scary goals and set out to accomplish them. 

Because of SBS and other strong women, I have the courage to dream big.

One of my favorite running bloggers, Sarah Bowen Shea of Another Mother Runner, set out on Sunday to run a Boston-qualifying time at the Victoria Marathon.  She shared her training with us through various media, and as a result, an enormous tribe of mother runners sat glued to their devices cheering for her as she pushed herself 26.2 miles through beautiful British Columbia.  When I saw that she had nailed her qualifying time, my excitement was off the charts.  I cried happy tears - for a woman I know virtually but not "in real life" - and that feels perfectly normal to me.  After all, I cried when her partner in crime, Dimity McDowell, finished her IronMan race in 2013.  Those mother runners inspired me to first lace up my shoes, which means that I owe them an enormous debt of gratitude.  Doubtless, I'll never be able to do for them what they've done for me, but I can cheer like a crazy woman at their victories and cry happy tears in celebration.

Congrats, SBS, on your hard-earned victory, and thank you for allowing us to share in your journey.  You've inspired me - and countless others - to dream big, aim high, and work tirelessly to make the dream a reality.