Runner Envy

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 came the brilliance. Maybe some of that jealousy and want could be good in the right dose. I won't even start on the list of non-running covets in my life. I wouldn't want to tarnish the perfect image you all have of me (yes, I am laughing out loud as I type that). Instead, let's just touch on my runner envy.

All those fast runners out there (let's not even start on the Boston qualifiers)? Jealous. Instead of just letting myself be jealous, I am going to do what I can to improve my running. It make take years or it may not ever happen, but there is no point in sitting around wishing I could run a lot faster. Awesome abs? Some serious coveting. Even though I actually am already trying to create some improvement in this area, I am going to try to stop being so envious and instead use people like EMZ, Beth and Morgan the Redhead and their glorious abs as motivation.

Like I said, I am just touching on my runner envy. But all that brilliance results in lack of sleep, so it hasn't turned into the clever (and coherent) blog post I imagined last night. So, I'll just hope you get my general drift. Now it's time to clean up from dinner, get the girls to bed, and hit the treadmill to work up some more brilliance.

*Image courtesy of athlonelite.com

Come Together

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 your own blog post about being a runnerd, let me know so I can put a link to it on here and on the Runnerds FB Page. I'm even thinking about some Runnerds stickers or magnets or key chains or something for our exclusive (meaning anyone can join) little group. So if you have any ideas or can create something awesome (since the best I can do is the simple little logo on the FB page) to put on the sticker, magnet or whatever it happens to be, let me know.

Runnerds

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's side and three stickers on the back passenger's side. The same three stickers on each side. It was like they had to make sure you knew both the man and the woman in the car were runners and had run the same races. Two of the stickers were marathon specific and the third was a 26.2.

When he saw that car, my husband said, "You are all a bunch of runnerds." I laughed seriously hard. Mostly because it's true. I am a runnerd.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

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, I have 8-10 running blogs open on my computer. What does that say about me?

You Smell Like a Monkey

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? And what kind of cake would we be talking about?

The cake is easy. I would want a ginormous Costco cake. When I thought about the people from history that I would want to meet, it felt disrespectful to picture them jumping out of a cake or they were women and it just felt wrong. So I'll just make it a really big cake and have Mark Wahlberg, Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper jumping out of it shirtless and call it good.

Darcie said... Since it's your birthday week, if a baby's leg pops out at 11:59PM but his head doesn't come out until 12:01, which day was he born on? Ignore the fact that the baby came out foot first :)

I would say the baby came out on the second day. I didn't consider my babies born until their little bodies were completely outside of mine.

..:danielle:.. said... if you could run/bike/tri any race in the world (and it would occur on your birthday JUST for you) which race would it be and why?

I had a hard time choosing between the two marathons I really want to do. I would either choose the Athens Marathon because I think it would be awesome to run the course based on the Pheidippides myth or the New York Marathon because New York is my favorite place and it would be a dream come true.

Jill said... How would you spend your birthday if you could do anything you wanted?

I did exactly what I wanted on my birthday. It was all about spending a relaxing day with my family and included good food and lots of cake.

Jamie said... If you could go anywhere to celebrate bday week where would you and who would you take? AND catriona said... As for birthdays... assuming an unlimited budget, what would your ideal birthday celebration look like?

This was another tough one. I was going to go with New York City, but I would want to take my whole family and NYC wouldn't be as fun for my girls. So I would spend my birthday week with my hubby and girls at Disneyland. It really is the happiest place on earth!

Iron Mike said... Are ya gonna give my birthday tradition a shot (even if it is ONLY half the distance...)? I don't actually know how old you are, but I'm sure its doable.

I LOVE Iron Mike's birthday tradition! However, I am old, and even the half distance was too much for me this year. I have made it a goal to start this tradition next year though. If I put it on the calendar and work it into a training plan, I will be ready!

Mel's Mom said... Do you prefer the traditional "Happy Birthday" song or do you have another rendition you enjoy?! :)

I don't want to be told I "smell like a monkey" and I don't need someone singing a breathy Marilyn Monroe version to me. I am good with the traditional version, especially when it is sung by my girls. It was awesome to see how excited they were to sing to me this year. Even the little Bean, who only knew about three of the words (happy, you and Mommy), sang her little heart out.

Meredith said... What is the most creative birthday present you have ever received?

I really couldn't come up with an answer to this one. Boring, huh?

chasingdownadream said... Do you have a favorite meal for your birthday? I love a good lasagna but only as a birthday treat once a year.

Growing up, I wanted homemade tomato soup on my birthday every year. It is no longer a birthday tradition, but it always reminds me of my birthday.


RUN: Good luck to my cousins Stacey and Brittany who are running the Las Vegas Ragnar this weekend!!

Sweaty Bands Winner

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

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 hair girl like her aunt when she grows up. She was going to be all those things, a different one every day. Then the other night, she was quite upset and told me she doesn't want to be any of those things because she doesn't want to work until midnight (translation: when it gets dark). I told her she could be a Mommy, then she wouldn't have to be gone until midnight. Yesterday The Princess told Grandma she is going to be a mom who is a writer and a runner when she grows up so she doesn't have to be gone until midnight.

Needless to say, that girl is good for my self-esteem.



RUN: Two more days until my birthday Sweaty Bands giveaway ends.

A new mantra (and a giveaway)

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 to be. The most creative question gets an extra entry.

That makes four (possibly five entries) each. The winner will be chosen by Random.org on Sunday, October 17th.

(Sweaty Bands provided the headband for this giveaway. They also gave me a headband for my personal use. I did not pay anything for them.)


RUN: After I finished my run today, The Princess decided to join me for a little strength training. While lifting my 3 lb hand weights, she said, "Do you know why it starts to hurt when you do this and why your legs hurt when you run? That's the strong coming into you."

I think I'm going to make that my new running mantra.

One of the Cool Kids

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.

SMILE - St. George Marathon in Pictures

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

2010 St. George Marathon

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 learn from the experience. After being seriously disappointed at first, I changed my attitude and am moving forward.
• I will run another marathon, even though at one point during the race I swore I wouldn't.
• It is only Tuesday, three days post race, and my legs are almost back to normal. I haven't been very sore at all.
• My shin didn't bother me at all and my IT band didn't act up until 10 miles into the race. It tightened up off and on but it was never too much to run through.
• I was running by the 4:15:00 pace group until 13+ miles. My legs felt great and I felt really good about finishing by the 4:30:00 mark at the halfway point.
• The medal is awesome.

The Bad

• I didn't PR. When the 5-hour pace group passed me with just a couple of miles to go, I wanted to sit down on the curb and cry. I didn't.
• I wore my black capris. Once the sun came up, we were running directly into it. Sun + black = HOT!
• With the amount of sweat I was wiping off my face and the water I kept dumping on my head, my sunscreen didn't have a chance. My nose and forehead got way too much sun!

The Ugly

• This was the warmest race in the St. George Marathon's 34-year history. It was 67 degrees at the start and in the 90s when I finished. I got dehydrated and very nauseous. I had to walk a lot toward the end because any exertion made me want to puke. I was afraid if I puked, I wouldn't finish.
• I didn't train in the heat. Because of my husband's work schedule and having two little girls, I do most of my runs on the treadmill. I didn't realize how much hydration I would need. I drank water and/or Gatorade at every aid station, but I probably should have started drinking before the first station (at mile three), and I obviously needed to drink more overall.
• Because my stomach got so upset as I became dehydrated, I couldn't get my energy chews down when I needed them. I was fighting a losing battle.
• Obvious signs I was dehydrated: I wasn't sweating anymore and my mouth was SO dry I could hardly swallow. I have never wanted ice that bad in my life. The last aid station had cups of ice, and I savored every piece.

RUN: More photos and random post-marathon thoughts to come...