I Have Run

I do some of my best thinking while running. If I don't solve world peace while running, then it will happen while I am in the shower or lying in bed, trying (and failing) to fall asleep. Yesterday's brilliance happened when I should have been sleeping. As I was staring at the dark ceiling, I realized I have a problem with one of the Ten Commandments. You know that one that says not to covet. Me = guilty. Unfortunately we live in a culture of me, me, me and more, more, more. Raising kids in that culture is hard enough. But just because I am aware of the pressure and influences they face and will do everything I can to teach them gratitude and self worth, my awareness doesn't mean I am immune. I thought about how blessed I am in so many ways (especially the ways that really count, such as my health, beautiful and healthy children, an amazing spouse, a roof over our head, food on our table) and knew my covetousness is not healthy. Probably normal, but still not good. Then c

I got the total miles in that my training plan called for last week, in spite of cutting my run short again on Saturday. The sky was pretty dark when I headed out the door, and less than a mile in I stopped to put the rain cover on the jogger. By the time I called it quits, I was soaked. I normally love to run in the rain, but it was pretty cold and I wasn't prepared for the combination of cold and wet. If I had remembered a hat and gloves, I probably would have kept going. That's the thing about us runners. The weather doesn't often stop us. My feelings about cold weather completely changed when I started running. This was one of the things I thought about after Iron Mike suggested a Runnerds Facebook page. If there was going to be a page, there needed to be a definition. And now both are HERE . There isn't much on the page yet, but this isn't my FB page; it's OURS. So spread the word and add your thoughts. Join the discussion. And if you decide to write you

I had seven miles on the schedule for today. The weather was perfect - upper 50s and overcast - and my Bean was happily singing along to Glee tunes (iPod Touch with built-in speaker = genius) . The only thing not cooperating? My legs. I'm pretty sure they were on strike. A little over a mile in, Bean started repeating "Home?" I decided she might be right, and decided to head back. I did an out and back, so of course as I started mile three my legs decided to come back to work and Bean fell asleep. I made it back to the car at 3.2 miles and will put in seven on the mill during naps tomorrow. As I loaded the stroller, I saw this: My husband gave me that sticker for Christmas last year and was the one who stuck it to the back of our vehicle. On our way to St. George for the marathon, we saw quite a few other vehicles with running stickers on them. Most were a simple 26.2 or Runner Girl or were marathon specific. But then we saw a car with three stickers on the back driver&#

Have you read EMZ's post today? If not, you should. It isn't at all confusing and is completely convincing. So much so, that I took her words to heart. My girls finished eating lunch at 1:10, already 10 minutes past nap time. As they finished, The Princess asked for the tenth or so time today if we could go lay on a blanket and look at the shapes in the clouds. She has been asking for months to do this exact thing, there just aren't ever the right kind of clouds in the sky when she asks. Today's clouds were pretty good though. And while I almost automatically said "no" when she asked because it was time for naps, I thought about what EMZ wrote and hesitated. Then I told The Princess to go spread a blanket in the backyard and out we went. Our cloud-watching only lasted about 10 minutes because 1 pm actually isn't the best time to be staring straight up into the sky on a sunny day. But those 10 minutes were worth every second. RUN: At almost any given time

Another great birthday. Another year older. A new running age group in most races. I'm trying to embrace my age. I am doing an awesome job if embrace is a synonym for denial. In honor of my birthday week, some of you asked birthday-related questions as part of my Sweaty Bands giveaway. Here are the answers my sleep-deprived mind put together: (The question I chose as the most creative and which earned an extra entry in the Sweaty Bands giveaway was this one:) Emz said... What's your favorite birthday smell. I know. Weird. But as a kid on my birthday I always woke up to the smell of carrot cake. So my Hubby being the baker he is bought me a carrot cake candle he lights every birthday morning. ;) I love this! How sweet is your hubby? My favorite birthday smell is my mom's homemade German Chocolate Cake. And now for the rest of them... Karen said... If you could have anyone from all of history jump out of your birthday cake, who would it be and what would they be wearing? An

The winner of the Sweaty Bands giveaway (chosen by Random.org) is: MEREDITH @ Therapeutic Runnings of a Mom Congrats!! Please send your mailing info to ihaverun@hotmail.com , and I will get your band on its way.

The Princess, in all her 4-year-old wisdom, has shared some profound thoughts lately. After the St. George Marathon, The Princess told me I won. Yep, I won the St. George Marathon. Go me! She is smart enough to have noticed that everyone else that ran also had a medal, but she somehow worked that out in her mind. According to her, I won, even though the other runners got medals too. However, she clarified that I won because I am THE runner. Apparently, I have abs like Ariel and Jasmine when I am lying on my back. If only. She noted that she too has Ariel-abs when lying down, and then wondered why her belly sticks out (umm, only because she was pushing her ridiculously flat, tone stomach out on purpose) when she sits up. I mentally thanked her for not pointing out that my belly does the same thing when I sit up, yet without trying to push it out. Last but not least, The Princess told me a few weeks ago that she wants to be a farmer, a doctor, a teacher, a nurse, a worker girl and a ha

We are all about birthdays around here, so much that we acknowledge the entire "birthday week." Well it just so happens that my birthday week has begun, and to celebrate I am having a giveaway. When I was on the search for the perfect headband, Sweaty Bands sent me two headbands to try, and I am sharing one of those with one of you (don't worry, I only tried out the one I am keeping). The one you can get is a 1 1/2 inch wide band, white with multi-color dots. I borrowed this picture of the headband from the Sweaty Bands web site (no that isn't me) : If you want to win this headband, here's what you should do: Follow I Have Run . Leave a comment to let me know you are a follower. Visit the Sweaty Bands web site and tell me what else you like in another comment. Post a link to this giveaway on your blog or on Facebook. Leave a comment to let me know. In yet another comment, ask me a birthday-related question. Be creative. Don't just ask how old I am going t

Did you know 1 km is 0.62137119 OR 15625/25146 miles? As a miles girl myself, I actually had to look that up during my last training cycle because one of my runs called for 1 km repeats. I needed to know it again when I committed to running Barefoot Neil Z's 2010 *10-10* Virtual Race. Since I just signed up yesterday and only had one day to get my race on, I opted for the lowest possible commitment. Pretty pathetic that I wouldn't even commit to 1 mile, but I figured with 1 km I had a better chance of getting my little running buddies to tag along on foot rather than in the jogger for a change. We ran – or rather Bean with her short, tiny legs ran – and The Princess and I pretended to run to keep pace with her. We ran to the church around the corner and then we ran back; I'm pretty sure it's just short of 1/4 mile each way, so we ran (chased each other) around the yard for good measure. So there you have it. My 1 km run.

All smiles (and double waves??) for the cameras. The happiest moment of the marathon - seeing my family! Running with my girl. Finished. As I neared the finish, the crowd was going crazy. As soon as Spiderman went by, I knew why. Can you imagine running in the heat in that ?? Crazy! A smooch for my other little running partner. My AWESOME aunt, uncle and cousin (the one who ran with me near the finish). So happy to be done! My amazing little family. I haven't really had a good place to keep my medals; I found this surprise waiting for me at home. The Medal

I basically had my race report written (in my head) before the St. George Marathon even started. I was that prepared mentally for the race. After the race, I also knew my legs had been prepared to go the distance. Unfortunately though, that wasn't enough. So instead of the race report I thought I would be writing, you get this. The Good I finished. With a smile on my face. The smile was a result of seeing my husband, girls, aunt, uncle and cousin just before I rounded the corner to the finish. There is nothing like having support to get you through something tough. I thought I would cry when I saw them, but instead I was just overwhelmingly happy. My cousin ran part of the last 1/2 mile with me. Having a little conversation to distract me was exactly what I needed. During the race, I actually thought several times about how nice it would be to run with someone else just for that little push or distraction when you need it. I have spent the last few days focusing on what I can l