This year, Mother’s Day fell on the 5 week birthday of my new son and I treated myself to my first post-partum run. Having run all through pregnancy I cheated a bit on the post-partum rest period and gave myself four weeks of rest instead of the typical six weeks after giving birth. My rest period did involve lots of walking but I was anxious to hit the five week mark and try a run. [click to continue…]
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When I found out I was pregnant I decided that I would run as much and as often as I could throughout my pregnancy. In the first trimester this was not a big deal as I was already training for the Marine Corps Marathon and my body was adapted to frequent runs. By the time I was in the third trimester I was running at a significantly slower pace with less frequency and one additional, major change…pit stops. [click to continue…]
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On April 15, mine and my husband’s world changed forever. Quite unexpectedly our son decided to arrive about 3.5 weeks early and we welcomed Connor to the world, a healthy, adorable and amazing son. I am still processing what it means to be a mom and each day is different as we learn the ropes of parenting.
A number of people told me that I would have an easy labor because I am a runner. This might be true though I credit the epidural for making the labor ‘easy.’ I labored for about 12 hours, pushed for just under one of those hours and then Connor was in my arms. During our two nights in the hospital, when the night nurse was taking my blood pressure, heart rate and temperature I was asked by one, “Do you run marathons?” and by another, simply “Runner?” [click to continue…]
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My husband and I were arguing one night about the reality of my being able to train for a 26.2 once we had our baby. The issue is not so much whether I am capable of training to run the marathon distance but whether or not we can figure out the family balance. I would like to be able to train with the support of my husband and ensure the new baby is not neglected. Details and marital differences aside, his opinion was that 13.1 is a perfectly reasonable distance to manage as a family and he ultimately asked, “what is it about 26.2?”
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You know how sometimes you think of yourself as a certain age regardless of how old you are? In my head I am usually 27, sometimes younger, and don’t feel nearly old enough to have the adult life I actually lead. Well apparently the same mind game applies to being pregnant. Only the other morning did it literally hit me that I am not actually 5 months pregnant. I am a full 7 months pregnant but in my head I have been stuck at 5. All of a sudden it made sense why running was more challenging, I am a little more tired, hungry and well, bigger. [click to continue…]
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It has been almost a solid six months since my last blog post. I believe I once read (or wrote) that a blogger, especially one who blogs as a hobby, need not necessarily apologize for not blogging regularly. However, I am genuinely sorry and I feel terribly guilty for not writing often. I don’t expect that anyone has been waiting with bated breath for my next post but I want you to know that I think about this health and running blog nearly every day. My mind is constantly whirling with posts I want to write. I have 17 drafts of blogs to come. [click to continue…]
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When my alarm went off at 4:30a.m. there was lightning simultaneously flashing through the window with rolling booms of thunder and the sound of a heavy rain pattering down on the roof and gutters outside. On any other Sunday it would have been perfect conditions for snuggling deeper under the covers. Instead, I deliberated for about 30 seconds, “to go, or not to go?” rolled out of bed, and got ready to leave for the 90 minute drive to Delaware for the Lum’s Pond Sprint Triathlon I’d registered for two weeks prior, for fun. [click to continue…]
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With the recent and persistent heat waves on the eastern half of North America it seems only natural to not only commiserate about the heat with other runners but also to write about it. I’ve written about running in heat and humidity before and as I thought about this post I went back to read what I wrote the first time to see if anything had changed or if I had missed some important details in the first discussion. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the post from two years ago was still relevant. The only thing that changed is the temperature. Two years ago when I was complaining about running in crazy hot weather it was only high 80s and 90s. This year, as anyone who has been outside in the last few weeks knows, its been high 90s, low 100s with humidity so thick it’s hard to breathe.
Yet, we crazy runners continue to lace up and head out for a run. Or rather a slow, slow shuffle. [click to continue…]
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I swear I was fast. At least, for me, in my age group, for my distances. I spent a good chunk of time and effort working on speed and got to a very comfortable place this year where my ‘slow, easy’ run was at 8:40, my 5k pace was near 7 minutes and my other mid-distances paces hovered somewhere between 8:00-8:15/mile. But alas, I seem to have regressed back to a 9 minute pace and just logged a long run averaging 9:15/mile. This rut, if that is what it is, is both frustrating and enlightening.
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Racing locally, in my opinion is one of the best ways to race. You can sleep in your own bed, you know the tricks to getting around traffic and good parking, you likely know the route of the race and there is the general pride that comes with seeing athletes ready to run in your hometown. This year, the Zooma Half Marathon & 10k was scheduled to be in Annapolis on June 5. I love the half marathon distance and I love running in Annapolis. But this would be my third weekend in a row of racing and to be honest, the Zooma registration cost is a little steep for my purse strings so I wasn’t sure if I’d sign up to run. But then, an email came out from the Annapolis Triathlon Club calling for volunteer pacers for the Zooma Half. Sold!
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