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family

First Triathlon, First Impressions

by Natalie on August 12, 2009

We arrived early to get set-up and fortunately the dark sy didn't open up on us with any rain during the race.

We arrived early to get set-up and fortunately the dark sky didn't open up on us with any rain during the race.

In late April I set my mind on doing my first triathlon. My sister and her husband had moved to upstate New York last fall and her husband signed up for the Cazenovia Sprint Triathlon which was August 9th. I thought signing up as well would be a great way to tie in a visit to their new home and I was eager to mix up my running with cross-training for a tri. After months of swimming, biking, running, searching for the best thing to wear, practicing transitions, and mentally preparing to do a triathlon it was finally time to put all that work to the test.

The days leading up to the tri I tapered my training and kept my meals consistent with what I’d been used to eating. The day before the race I had three square meals with slightly more carbs in each than I would normally have, a race routine I’m used to. We all (myself, my husband, and my brother-in-law) went to bed at a reasonable hour with a 5:45 a.m. alarm set. As happens before any race, I woke up several times to make sure I didn’t miss the alarm and at 5:30 I was ready to get going. [click to continue…]

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Girls on the Run Give Back

by Natalie on May 20, 2009

wfe_gotr_s09-12This spring I volunteered as one of three assistant coaches at Windsor Farm Elementary in Arnold, MD, for Girls on the Run. Every Tuesday and Thursday 15 third through fifth grade girls plus the coaches would meet to talk about life, confidence, making healthy choices, family, friendship, trust, self-respect, and a host of other topics designed to  encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual, and physical development. In short, the program teaches girls how to avoid getting stuck in “the girl box” all while training for a 5K.

Each class day had a lesson paired with a running activity in which we practiced proper form, pace, breathing, and the basics of running. When I think about the types of games and relays we played we were actually doing the type of running you’d see on any training schedule–sprints, hills, tempo runs, and race pace. Even the day we played sharks and minnows had a lesson of teamwork in it and certainly some sprinting involved! [click to continue…]

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Out and Back

May 14, 2009

My sister-in-law’s wedding was at a beautiful farm in southern Maryland along the Patuxent River and as I do before I go anywhere new, I mapped a run that I could squeeze in between the festivities. I was pleasantly shocked to find out that the driveway alone was nearly a full mile guaranteeing that I’d [...]

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The Central Park Circuit

April 20, 2009

During a mother/daughter weekend in New York City, my mother, sister, and I crammed into slightly less than 48 hours lunch at Carnegie’s Deli, a visit to Ground Zero, an evening show of In the Heights on Broadway, a meandering walk down 5th Avenue, a stop at the Met, and a solid 10 miles of [...]

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Having a Health Profile

April 15, 2009

I recently got a letter in the mail from my insurance company inviting me to find out how healthy I am. It was the kind of mail that I normally would toss right into recycling until I realized it might make a good blog post. I decided to read further. The insurance company has set [...]

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First Time Reflections

March 2, 2009

This morning as I was walking down the stairs sideways, slowly, holding on to the railing, and feeling each step in my knees and ankles I smiled knowing that for all this pain I would not change having just run my first marathon less than 24 hours ago. There are still so many thoughts and [...]

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Finding (And Keeping) Balance

February 16, 2009

I just caught myself saying, as I have many times before, that “there aren’t enough hours in the day.” I often think if only I could function off of 4 hours of sleep and could be totally productive during all my time awake that I might really get some things done. But alas, I am [...]

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