I Have Run

I wish I had posted more pictures of the non-running me before I posted these of me in action, but you know what they say: "Wish in one hand, poop in the other, see which fills up faster." (This is a family-friendly blog so the quote was edited for language.) Anyhow, apparently the photographers at the Hobble Creek Half Marathon only wanted pictures of us looking our sweaty best so they waited until the last five miles to take these. The smiling one was taken as I started down a hill, right after an uphill and an aid station. Of course I would be smiling then. I am pretty sure the other was taken during the last mile. I can imagine that was the look on my face when I saw the "1/2 mile to go" sign.

Half Marathon = 13.1 miles. Just wanted to put that in words at some point in this post. I don't know why I have such a hard time when it comes to my race reports, but I do. Anyhow, here is the story of my first half marathon, the Hobble Creek Half. Thanks to my AWESOME cousin Stacey, who got out of bed at 4:30 in the morning to come watch my girls, I arrived promptly at 5:30 am to get on the bus. Because I didn't know anyone else running, I sat alone until the bus was almost full. Then Miss Runner herself sat down next to me. After pleasantries ("Have you run this before?" "No, it is my first half. You?" "No, it is my first half too."), I asked if she runs a lot of races because she looked familiar. She confirmed that she does. But she doesn't just run; she wins. She ran in high school and through college. She took a year off during college to have a baby (and now has three kids), but came back and continued to win and win and win. While wai

There are a few things I have been wanting to get written and could make pretty lengthy posts about each, but I am tired of thinking about them. So here are the things I have been thinking about lately: My first half marathon. It is this Saturday. The Hobble Creek Half Marathon. I have already lost sleep over it (thinking things like don't forget to Glide your toes, update iPod tomorrow, etc.). Instead of running my planned 20 miler this past week, which is what my marathon training had scheduled, I decided I would rather have fresh, strong legs for my first half. That means my longest run will be 20 miles, the week after my half. But several beginner training plans I have looked at peaked at a 20 mile long run, so I am hoping that will be enough. There is a reason the GU instructions say to eat one 15 minutes before. I have been using energy gels about 6 miles or more into my long runs and not noticing any spectacular difference in my energy. I was tired and hungry at the start of

I was planning to write about my running last week and my plans for this week (first half marathon Saturday!!), but I was tagged by Mel (Tall Mom on the Run) to "Show My Heart." Since this is more fun than recapping my runs, I will have to get around to that later. Here is my assignment: "With as much creativity as you can muster, show your heart in: a picture, poem, a song (or piece of music), a phrase (or quote), an item of clothing, a place, and (just for fun) a Disney princess." A Picture "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." (Elizabeth Stone) After I had my first baby, I found this quote. It is exactly how I feel about my girls. A Poem In spite of my degree in English, I am not a big poetry fan. I never really enjoyed reading or writing it, so this one is really tough. I am going with a book that is essentially a really long poem, because it is one of my

Those words ran through my head the last four miles of my six miler this week. But the words actually look more like this: "I want to be spanked." That is how they look in the book I tried to read on the treadmill. Magazine type is too small, but I thought I might be able to follow the print in a hardback book. I made it about two pages. After that, I spent the rest of my run reading the top line of the open page over and over and over . The rest of the page was bouncing too much to read, but for some reason that sentence, all alone at the top of the page, came through as clear as can be. I know I should have just shut the book, but I was afraid of becoming one of those "I flew off the back of my treadmill" stories. So I just want to thank Christopher Moore for spicing up my run a little. By the way, I love Christopher Moore's books. Lamb is one of my favorite books ever . I have read all Moore's books and highly recommend them, but let me follow that by

In my last post, I mentioned Nike's "Just Do It" slogan. I find myself repeating that and other sports slogans to myself during my runs. On some of my more difficult runs, I often ask myself: "Is it in you?" (Gatorade) Apparently those marketing people know what they are doing. At least when it comes to motivation. I don't buy Gatorade because it will magically make the answer "yes, yes, yes" when I ask myself that question (although I do buy Gatorade, or G, or whatever they want us to call it). However, I'm sorry Nike, but I don't have any of your shoes. I think I might have a long sleeved shirt that is yours, but it is buried until blissfully cooler days are upon us. The fact that telling myself these things actually motivates me means so much of succeeding at it really is mental. So what words motivate you?

Yep, I ran 17 miles on the treadmill. It wasn't easy. It wasn't fun. But it's done. Why, you might ask, would I choose to run 17 miles on a treadmill? Sometimes you do crazy things, like sign up for a marathon which puts the longest runs of your training schedule during your husband's busiest time of the year at work. When the signing up took place, your brain tricked you into thinking you could make it all work so smoothly and conveniently. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! In spite of reality hitting me in the face lately, I did what I had to do. In fact, somewhere around mile nine, I asked myself how I was going to make it the rest of the way. I told myself, "You just do it." (Thanks Nike!) After my pathetic previous week, I had to get my training back on track and just get 'er done. Pathetic would be one tempo run and one speedwork run, followed by a weekend of scheduling and rescheduling my long run, 12 miles that never happened. So last Monday, I reminded myself

To select the winner of my giveaway, I put the number of entries into the Random Sequence Generator on random.org. I matched the number that came out on top to the comment bearing the same number. And the winner is comment #32: Mel @ Achilles Me . Congratulations! And thanks to everyone who entered. It was great to "get to know" more of you and find some great new running blogs. I look forward to getting to know you all better!!

For lunch today, my 11-month-old ate avocado, cheese, apples and whole wheat bread, with a banana yogurt drink on the side. My somewhat pickier 3-year-old ate cheese and a BIG carrot. I think I should start eating more like my girls. The funny thing is I am the one who feeds them, so why is it so hard to feed myself equally nutritious food? Just a thought...