The Great Outdoors

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Living BOLD: March 2014… Or, I Did Something Crazy

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This month, I actually did something really bold on the very first day and then figured I could kind of coast the rest of the month.  In fairness, it was really, really bold.  Maybe too bold.  Certainly ambitious.  Certainly audacious.  Possibly nuts.  If we’re friends on Twitter or Instagram, this will come as old news to you, but my bold act for March was…

I registered for my first full marathon.

Gulp.  Yep.  I’ve decided that 2014 is the year I’ll finally tackle the big, bad 26.2.  But let me back up a bit and explain.

The idea of running a marathon is something that has been percolating for awhile, but the timing was never right.  I started running consistently in January of 2010 and, within about 18 months, had worked my way up to the half marathon distance.  I was really enjoying challenging myself with new distances and different races, but then I fell into a months-long funk (for multiple reasons, none of which I like to discuss) and ended up taking a substantial running hiatus.  Finally I worked through the mental stuff that was bogging me down, and started running again.  I ran a 5K turkey trot in November of 2011 and a 5K Valentine’s race in Feburary of 2012, and then ended up taking another running hiatus when I ended up with a high-risk pregnancy.  During these long breaks, the idea of running a marathon was pushed waaaaaaaay into the back of my mind.

I laced up the running shoes again last spring, when Emma and I ran the Healthy Strides Community 5K together.  Still, I wasn’t thinking about pushing it on distance; I was just glad to be out there again and feeling like myself for the first time in a long while.  But after that race, I kept going.  I ran casually through the summer – that was all I could manage while making peace with leaving DC and then getting settled up in Buffalo.  But I started to train more seriously once fall rolled in, because I’d committed to run the YMCA Turkey Trot with Emma and Grace, and I wanted to PR.  I did PR (although not by as big of a margin as I’d have liked, thanks to finish line snarls – grrrr) and I had so much fun training that I started to think about the next thing.  Slowly, very slowly, the long-shelved idea of running a marathon crept back into the front of my mind.

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But I knew I needed a confidence boost if I was going to take on this challenge.  Fortunately, I had one all lined up: back even before the Turkey Trot, I’d signed up for the Moms RUN This Town “Start Your Engines” winter virtual race, in the half marathon distance.  I trained hard and knocked out the 13.1 miles in early February, and I knew that if I could tackle 13.1 miles in frigid -5 degree weather, through blowing winds, and over a 95% packed snow surface, I could take on 26.2 miles on a (hopefully) lovely October day.  Because I’d narrowed my “big scary dream race” choices down to two, and they were both scheduled for October.

Picking a Race

Back in 2010, when I was running down the trails near my home in Arlington and dreaming of the big one, I figured that if I ever ran a marathon I’d run the Marine Corps.  It’s the big race in a city that attracts lots of big races.  I had many friends who had run MCM over the years and I dreamed of walking up to that start line too.  But when it came down to it, I ended up waffling between two different races.  The MCM is still a “bucket list race” for me, and I hope to run it one day.  But as things turn out, it wasn’t in play when I sat down to consider the question, “Okay, if I really do this, which race should it be?”

Another race I’d always had in the back of my head as a potential first marathon was the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon.  The MHRM has a lot going for it, from my perspective.  It takes place close to where I grew up and where my parents and many friends still live, so I’d have good spectator support on the course.  (I hope, anyway – I’m assuming availability and interest.)  There’s also the fact that the course is heavily downhill over the first 13.1 and pretty much flat for the second.  It’s one of the fastest marathon courses around and generates disproportionately high numbers of Boston qualified runners.  (Not that I’m going for a BQ – hah! – but if the course is really that fast, then I have a better shot of finishing with a not-embarrassing time.)  A bonus: the 2014 race happens to be scheduled for my birthday weekend, and I think running a marathon would be a really cool way to ring in 33.  The only negative (aside from having to travel across the state) is that the course closes after 5 1/2 hours, and I’m not completely confident I can get ‘er done in that time.  My current half marathon PR of 2:37:02 (in hillier, colder, worse conditions) puts me across the finish line before the cutoff, but I’m still nervous about the idea.

There was another possibility, though.  If I decided not to go for the MHRM, I could still run a marathon in October.  (Actually, there are a lot of marathons scheduled for October.)  The Niagara Falls International Marathon (known around the BUF as “the one where you run into Canada”) takes place at the end of October.  The start line is steps from my house.  (The finish line, of course, is in another country.)  I liked the idea of just being able to saunter down the block to the start – I actually ran through the crowd of runners waiting to start while out on a Turkey Trot training run last fall, and got to listen as they played the Canadian national anthem before the gun went off – and the idea of an international marathon was pretty appealing.  It also would give me about two more weeks in which to train and prepare.

In the end…

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I waffled for awhile, because both races sounded good, but in the end, I chose the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon.  Registration opened on March 1st and I signed up that morning – which was good, because it’s a very popular race.  (The half marathon option sold out within hours of the link going active.)  Naturally, I’ve been in a state verging on panic ever since.

Why Now?

Frankly, I don’t want to put it off anymore.  I’m tired of having dreams on hold.  I want to go live my life, and this is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time now.  I feel like the stars are lining up for me to go after some of my goals in 2014, and this is the best year for me to try.  I’m fully recovered from childbirth, I’ve got a handle on this parenting thing, and I’m at a point where I like having something “just for me” outside of my identity as a wife, mother, etc.  I have the capability and the time to train for a big event now, and who knows what 2015 will bring?  I don’t like to plan too far ahead these days – Peanut has taught me a thing or two about that.  So 2014 it is.

I’ll talk about training later this spring, and I’m thinking I’ll share snippets of what I’m doing to prepare for this insane task I’ve set myself.  In the meantime, just picture me hyperventilating as I sift through marathon training plans and try to set up a schedule that works with the other races I’m planning for the summer and fall.  Much more on the marathon to come, in good time.

If you chose a word for 2014, how did you live it this month?

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Tifft Nature Preserve: Winter 2014

Tifft Nature Preserve is an urban wildlife sanctuary located practically in the heart of Buffalo.  I’d been itching to visit for months, and hubby and I thought it’d be fun to go at least once in each season, and photograph the landscape as its elements changed with the months.  A few weeks ago, we bundled Peanut into the car and set off for our winter visit.

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Before we even got out of the car, we’d already seen two deer.  Deer in the middle of the city!  Love it.

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(This guy ^ was closer than he looks.  I need to learn to work my camera a little bit better, clearly.  Or maybe I should have swapped in my zoom lens.)

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There were beautiful paths leading in several different directions, so we picked one to follow.  I can’t wait to see what this trail looks like in spring and summer!  I expect it’s a riot of green overhead and all around.

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Peanut wasn’t sure what we were doing tramping around in the snow, but – once again – she was not impressed.

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We passed a bat habitat that the nature preserve had set up in the trees, which I thought was extremely cool (almost like a modern art installation).  Although I – like every woman, I think – have a horror of getting a bat stuck in my hair, I actually really like bats as a rule.  They’re good for keeping local insect populations under control, and if you actually watch them swooping through the evening sky, they’re really quite graceful.  Obviously we didn’t see any bats (it being the middle of the day) but I like knowing that the nature preserve is taking steps to protect the local population.

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More nature: deer tracks!  I felt like I was tracking a Jaguar with Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet.

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We found a small frozen pond tucked away down the trail.  Peanut is recently obsessed with ponds (more on this next week) and we took advantage of the opportunity to show her her favorite ecosystem all frozen over.

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I don’t think she really put two and two together.

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Just before we turned back, we saw this small offshoot trail leading to a wide expanse of snow and grass.  I might be completely losing it, but something about the landscape reminded me of the beach.  Maybe the small path leading to the great wide open?  Or the tall grasses that look so much like the Outer Banks’ famous sea oats?  Either way, it was a beautiful sight.

Thanks for the lovely walk, Tifft Nature Preserve!  Can’t wait to see you bedecked in your spring finery.  Anytime now…

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Winter Workout Routine, or How I Trained for the Virtual Half

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With the Moms RUN This Town virtual half marathon behind me, I thought it might be worthwhile to say a few words about how I trained for the event, because my training was – by necessity – a little different this time around than it has been in the past.  Usually, when I am training for a race (and I mean really training, not just running for giggles, which is something I only do with 5Ks) I like to run three to four days per week, rest one day, and mix in cross-training and yoga to fill out the rest of the week.  That’s a formula that has worked for me in the past and has led to me successfully completing a ten mile race and a half marathon, as well as a number of shorter distance races (5Ks, 8Ks and 10Ks).

Although there was no set start and finish line, I wanted to treat the MRTT virtual half like a real race, and train for it.  As I mentioned in the recap, there was no requirement that runners complete their chosen distance in one go – you had all month to get the distance done, and all the group asked was that you complete it in a way that challenged you.  But I really wanted to bang out the entire 13.1 in one shot, so I knew I needed to train.  I had a couple of issues, though, that meant I couldn’t train the way I had in the past:

  • I am restricted in the times I can run outside.  I am only able to get outside for a run if hubby is home to watch Peanut, or if the weather is nice enough for me to take her with me in the stroller.  That means that, once in a blue moon, Peanut and I are able to get out for a jog together, but usually, I’m only able to run on the weekends.  (I go during Peanut’s naptime so that I don’t miss any awake time.)  It’s dark in the mornings before hubby leaves for work and in the evenings when he gets home and I don’t know the safe streets here well enough, yet, to feel confident running alone in the dark, so I don’t go.
  • I am restricted in the places I can run outside.  There is a big park not too far away with a well-maintained ring road that is generally clear and dry (or at least, reliably plowed to a packed snow surface), and is the best place to run at the moment.  Running in the neighborhoods is possible, although not pleasant, because not everyone is diligent about shoveling their sidewalks.  (You can only pretend to be running on the beach for so long before you have to get real with yourself.)  If I’m on my own, I can power through, but the same areas are impassible with the stroller.  So if I want to get a run in with Peanut, we have to drive to the park or another well-maintained trail to get it done.
  • I have no access to my treadmill.  I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be longingly caressing my treadmill, but it’s here.  I bought it back in 2011 when I was training for the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run, so that I could use it early in the mornings as an alternative to running in my neighborhood (where sidewalks were sporadic and street lights almost nonexistent).  It was a great tool and a big part of my success in completing that race.  (I didn’t use it as much for half marathon training, because I was training in the late spring and it was light enough to run outdoors at 5:30 a.m.)  I could really use my treadmill right about now, but it’s in storage in my garage (which is detached from the house and has no power source).  The movers were unable to get it into the house (just one of the many areas where they were kind of bumbling and useless, but that’s another story), hubby and I can’t shift it ourselves, and hiring fitness equipment specialists to bring it inside is not in the budget.  So I am currently sans treadmill, shooting pathetic looks at the empty floor space in the sunroom, where I’d planned to put the treadmill… and resigning myself to the fact that as long as I live in this house, I’m running outdoors or not at all.  (I suppose if I get really desperate, I could get a gym membership… but that’s not really in the budget either.)

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These factors combined mean that I can’t count on more than two running days (Saturday and Sunday) per week.  I might get in one or two weekday runs if I’m lucky and the weather cooperates, but there’s no guarantee of that.  Two days of running is not really enough to train for a race – especially not a long one like a half marathon – but it’s what I had to work with and I had to figure something out.  I approached my training plan with a couple of principles in mind:

  • Long runs are the most important workout of the week.  If there’s one thing that all the experts tell you, it’s that when you’re training for a long-distance race, you MUST NOT BAIL on the long runs.  If you get only one thing done in a week, make it your long run.  You can jettison speedwork and hill training and easy miles if you must, but you MUST do the long run.  So I knew that if I was doing two runs per week, one of those two runs had to be a long run.
  • Anytime I could squeeze in an additional run, I should.  If the weather is nice enough for me to take Peanut out, I will absolutely ditch my other workout plans and take advantage of the opportunity to run.  Any additional running I can do will benefit me.  (Obviously, there comes a point when you’re running too much.  No one should run seven days a week.  But there was no way I was getting to that point given my current constraints.  In my case, this “rule” meant that I might get a couple of three- or four-run-weeks in over the course of training, which is still not that much if you’re preparing for a race.  As it happened, that only occurred once toward the beginning of my half marathon training, and then the Polar Vortex swept in and put an end to mom-and-baby running for the rest of the training cycle.)
  • Anything I can do to improve my strength and endurance will help me run better.  I find myself stuck indoors a lot these days.  But that’s no excuse to be lazy!  If I can’t go out and run, I can still do things to grow stronger and more fit, and those workouts count on race day, too.  They might not be “as good” as running (remember, I’m talking about race preparation here – I don’t think other types of exercise are inferior to running, but when you’re training for a race, you’ve got to run!), but they’re better than nothing.  So I dipped into my stash of Jillian Michaels DVDs, or did calisthenics and strength training workouts while watching TV, or used my set of CRUNCH cardio dance DVDs (hilariously, since I have all the grace of a drunken hedgehog) – anything to get my heart rate up and build endurance.

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With those principles in mind, I experimented and tinkered until I came up with a workout routine that fit my needs and enabled me to have the endurance I needed to run 13.1 miles two Saturdays ago:

  • Sunday: long run.  (I started at 5 miles and worked my way up, increasing distance by a mile every week or two, until my last
    “pre-race” long run of 10 miles.  I had actually planned to do an 11 mile run too, but I was getting burnt out on winter training – running the same loop around the park five times in a row gets old after a few weeks – and Hal Higdon says that if you can run 10 miles, you can run 13.1.  I trust Hal.)
  • Monday: yoga for runners.  There’s a free 20-minute class on YogaDownload.com, and I found it was a great way to stretch out my sore muscles the day after a long run.
  • Tuesday: strength and conditioning / circuit training.  Sometimes this meant doing a Jillian DVD (like “Extreme Shed ‘n Shred”) or one of her free workouts on the Lionsgate BeFit YouTube channel (best discovery ever!); other times it meant just doing any strength exercise that came into my head for a set period of time.
  • Wednesday: cardio – usually kick-boxing, but sometimes circuit training, dance or calisthenics, whatever I feel like doing.  (Usually what I feel like doing is kick-boxing.  I really like kick-boxing.)  If I can fold some strength training into the workout, so much the better.
  • Thursday: REST.
  • Friday: circuit training, either on my own or attending a Stroller Strides class.
  • Saturday: run.  I never have a set run planned for Saturday.  Sometimes I feel like doing speedwork (although I need dry pavement for that).  Other times I want to just get in some easy miles (to keep things fun).  I go with the flow and do whatever the heck I want to do, as long as I’m running.

As I said above, this was a fluid “training plan” – rest days could get shuffled around, and other workouts could get dropped if a running opportunity presented itself.  I also might switch my long run from Sunday to Saturday if the weather forecast looked better on Saturday – that’s what happened on half marathon day, as a matter of fact.  (Running three miles in the rain or snow is doable.  Running eight is… also doable, but five miles less pleasant.)

(Please note: I am definitely NOT an expert!  This is just a routine I came up with that met my own needs, based on my own personal goals and constraints.  I also know that it’s far from an ideal training plan for an event like a half marathon, which is a long distance and a big deal.  I’m sharing my training because I don’t talk much about it on this blog, and I don’t want to give the impression that I approach any races without preparing for them first, as best I can.  Do what feels right for YOU, not for me or anyone else.  And it probably goes without saying, but check with your doctor before you start any kind of workout routine.  Especially if you’re pregnant or have a medical condition.  Safety first!)

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So… did it work?  Well… I’d have to say that it did!  On the day I chose to do the virtual race, I was able to step out of my door feeling prepared and knowing that I did everything I could to make this run a good one.  I had plenty of long runs under my belt, I had experience running on the snowy surface around the park, and I’d stuck to my workout routine fairly consistently.  I didn’t have a time goal going into the run; although I was hoping to beat my PR (personal record) from my last half marathon, I knew I was running under sub-optimal conditions (-5 degrees, and 95% of the run on frozen surfaces with no Yak Trax on my shoes – they don’t make them small enough to fit me – is far from ideal).  But midway through the run, when it seemed to be going fairly well, I thought to myself, “I think I can do this in under 2:40!”  And… I did.  My final time (2:37:02) gives me a lot of pride, a good number to beat next time, and a shot of confidence that I can shave even more time off the next half marathon.

Speaking of which…  Now that I’m no longer sore, I’m thinking about what’s next.  I’m the type of person who likes to have a goal to work for, and I have a few fun events coming up.  At the moment I’m participating in my Stroller Strides’ group’s “Mom Olympics” and thinking about picking up some spinning classes at a studio a few blocks from my house.  (Living in the city again does have some advantages!)  And next week I’ll have a post about the races and events I’m targeting for the rest of 2014.  I’m excited!

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Start Your Engines Virtual Half Marathon

It’s February, which means that herds of people are falling off of the healthy living wagon, and fitness-themed organizations are pulling out all the stops to keep their readers and subscribers motivated for the long wintry slog ahead.  My Stroller Strides group is doing a “Mom Olympics,” the fitness magazines are full of inspiration to stay strong after the January rush, and one of my favorite organizations – Moms RUN This Town, a confederation of running moms organized by locale – hosted a winter virtual race.  I signed up back in November, for one primary reason: the race included a finisher’s medal (and I love finisher’s medals even more than I love long-sleeved t-shirts) and it was only $11!  I don’t know of any other race that includes a finisher’s medal at such a low price, so I was all over that.

Here’s the idea: there were three possible distances: a 5K (3.1 miles for my non-running friends), a 10K (6.2 miles), and a half marathon (13.1 miles).  You could sign up for any of the three, and whatever distance you chose, you had the entire month of February to complete it.  All the group asked was that you complete the distance on foot if possible (no bike or elliptical unless absolutely necessary – say, if you’re injured) and that you do it in a time frame that personally challenges you.  So if you choose the half marathon and it would be challenging for you to complete the distance in the space of a week, then that’s what you should do.  It’s a very laid-back approach to conducting a race, and I love that.

I chose the half marathon distance, because I wanted to do another half (I ran the Virginia Wine Country Half in 2011), and I wanted to do one sooner rather than later.  I also have this strange quirk where I don’t like to claim a t-shirt or finisher’s medal that covers multiple distances unless I’ve done the longest distance.  (Weird, I know.  It’s not like there are rules about this.  It’s just a thing I have.)  So I knew I wanted to run the full 13.1, and the only question was whether I’d do the entire distance all at once, or break it up into multiple days.  Running 13.1 miles over a week wouldn’t really challenge me, but I thought it would be a bit challenging to do it over a weekend – say, 6.1 miles on Saturday and 7.0 on Sunday – so that was my backup plan.  Plan A, though, was to run the whole distance in one shot, and I really wanted to do it.

I trained as though the winter virtual was a “real” race, in which I’d have no choice but to run 13.1 miles in one shot, or else take a DNF.  (More about my training next week.  This isn’t a running blog, but I do want to say a few words about training for the run, because 13.1 miles is a looooooong way to go and I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t respect the distance or that I set out for this run without training.)  So when I stepped out the door to run 13.1 miles on Saturday, I knew that I was prepared.  I also knew, however, that it was going to be a tougher-than-usual run, because most of my route looked like this:

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Here’s something I’ve learned about running, after training for this event through the early winter in Buffalo: you don’t truly appreciate dry pavement until you haven’t got it.  Running on snow, ice, or slush is a completely different animal from running on a dry trail on a lovely fall day.  (Just a dream I had…)  You’re using all kinds of muscles, including stabilizing muscles that don’t come into play at all on those “perfect running days.”  Just to stay upright requires what sometimes feels like a superhuman effort.

I felt as though in some ways, I got lucky with the weather on Saturday.  The sun was shining in a crystal clear blue sky (I know it doesn’t look it in the pictures – the sun washed out my iPhone camera and is making the sky look white), there wasn’t too much wind, and there was no slush to speak of.  The downside: the RealFeel temperature was -5 degrees Fahrenheit and my entire route, excepting maybe 5%, was packed snow.  Packed snow is a better running surface than ice or slush, but really, that’s not saying much.  Still, I knew that (1) Sunday would be a worse day, weather-wise; and (2) I really wanted to get this half marathon done.  Yes, I had all month to do it, but I prefer to procrastinate over laundry than half marathons.  So, on Saturday, after hanging around the house charging my Garmin and complaining about the cold for WAY too long, I finally laced up my shoes and headed out to run 13.1 miles.

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The picture above was an accidental snap – I was trying to put my phone in my pocket at the time – but it perfectly illustrates the running surface I enjoyed for most of the half marathon.  U-G-L-Y, you ain’t got no alibi, you UGLY.  Anyway.

When I signed up for the race, I’d intended to run about four miles downtown, run by the river a bit, then run back to my neighborhood and finish the day in one of the nearby parks.  A few weeks into training, however, it became clear that wasn’t going to be an option unless the weather changed drastically.  As you can see, it didn’t.  So I jettisoned the plan that would have me running on sporadically shoveled sidewalks and headed, instead, to the park where I’d done most of my training runs.  The park had the best running surface of all the bad options, but the negative?  The loop is only 1.8 miles around.  It’s really pretty the first few times you run it, but becomes mind-numbingly boring by lap number 5.  Still, I decided I’d rather be bored than wear a cast for the next six weeks.  (Oh, I’m such a drama queen!)  The park it was.

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Just some snowbanks.  Nothing to see here.

Miles 1-3: Head out my door and run up my street toward a big museum (that I haven’t yet made time to visit, for shame), then turn and head toward the park.  It’s about 1.25 miles or so before I make the turn onto the park’s ring road and it’s a pleasant little jog over there.  Not too much ice, and I’m feeling good.  As each mile pops up on my Garmin, I tick it off.  “Only 12.1 to go!  Only 11.1 to go!”  I could do this all day.

Miles 3-5:  Wheeeeeee!  This is fun!  Hi, cross-country skier!  Hi, doggie!  What a great day!  Yippee!

Mile 6:  I’m not hungry yet, but I slow to a walk and break into the Ziploc baggie of dates I brought for fuel.  I’d rather eat one before I start to get hungry than face a growling, upset tummy.  The dates are frozen solid, so that’s fun.  I eat one, toss the pit aside and wonder if I’ll see a date tree on my runs this spring.  Do dates even grow on trees?  Where do dates come from?  I ponder this for a little while.

Miles 7-9: I’m bored.  Bored bored bored.  Bored bored bored bored bored.  I try to figure out how many loops I’ve made around the park, can’t.  Lost count about 30 minutes ago.  Do some math to figure out how many more laps I need to run before I can go home.  Have lost ability to do math.  Eat two more frozen dates.  Whimper a little bit.

Mile 10: SECOND WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND!  I’m a freaking gazelle!

Mile 11: Sweet baby carrots, I’m tired.

Mile 12: Everything hurts.  I mean, everything.  There’s a knot in the back of my neck and I’m wondering if maybe someone shot me and I didn’t notice because my legs were hurting and distracting me.  My quads are frozen and yet in hideous pain at the same time.  How is that possible?  A new mantra pops into my head: “Pain is weakness leaving the body.”  I’ve never used this mantra on a run before, but it seems appropriate here.  I’ve left the park now – I had another lap to go but couldn’t face it, so I decided to finish off the run in the neighborhood instead.  I chant my mantra silently and watch each crack in the pavement scroll by under my feet.  I turn and start heading home.

Mile 12.6: Slip on an icy patch and skid several feet.  Make a pact with myself: don’t fall and crack your head open here, and you can go ahead and die once you hit mile 13.1.

Mile 12.8: Okay, the home stretch!  I pretend there’s a finish line ahead and start sprinting for all I’m worth.  (That’s probably about a 10 minute mile… sad… but it’s been a long, snowy road.)  Push, push, push.

Mile 13.1: DONE!  Final time 2:37:02.  That’s a big PR for me (although part of my terrible time in my last half was due to being held up for ten minutes while a crossing guard let cars go by, much to the chagrin of the increasingly irate group of runners standing by the side of the road plotting to smother him with Gu).  But even taking that ten minutes out of the equation, it’s still a PR, and a good one, and I did it in the snow and in temps below freezing.  I’m THRILLED.  I start walking the half mile I have left to get home, relying on my runner’s high and PR adrenaline to keep me upright.  I did it!

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When I got home, there was a small – but very welcome – package on the doorstep.  My finisher’s medal!  Perfect timing!  I tore open the package and immediately put on the medal, which is beautifully made and really cool looking.  And since the virtual race was organized by a moms’ running group, I posed for a pic with the girl who made me a mom.  (She loved my medal, by the way.  She totally thinks it’s hers.  And I taught her a new word: “Bling.”)

Here’s a better view of the medal:

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The newest addition to the collection!  And many more to come, I hope.  (More about that – my race calendar for 2014 – coming soon.)  Thanks to Moms RUN This Town for hosting this event – super fun!

Did you do anything fun last weekend?

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Summer Schemes ‘n Dreams

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Y’all, I’m COLD.  There’s snow coming down (again) outside my window, I’m on my fourth cup of tea of the day, I’m wearing layers IN THE HOUSE and I’m about to kick another tube of hand lotion.  At the moment, I’m not sure it will ever be warm again, although at least I have it better than the Ingalls family during The Long Winter.  I’m employing my usual techniques for riding it out: plenty of tea, good books, warm blankets, and a pile of knitting to keep my lap warm.  Still, it’s SO ridiculously cold that the only thing that will really, honestly warm me up is planning for the summer ahead.  (If there is a summer ahead.  Right now, it seems a bit like taking a leap of faith.)  It’ll be my first summer in New York State since… oh… 2003 or so, so I want to make it count.  Here’s a bit of what I’m looking forward to this summer, if it ever actually comes:

  • Hiking Letchworth State Park.  This is tops on the list.  I’ve never been there, but it’s called “The Grand Canyon of the East” and it’s not far from Buffalo, so this must be on the agenda.  We’re thinking we’ll invite Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Grace to come along and make it a big family affair.
  • A wedding in Boston, and hopefully, seeing my pen-pal Katie for an afternoon while we’re there.
  • Climbing at least one or two Adirondack high peaks.  Cascade and Porter are two of the easier climbs, and can be combined into one excursion, so they’re good possibilities.  And I’d love to see the view from atop Mount Marcy.
  • Visiting Greycliff, which looks like it would be beautiful in all seasons, but especially in summer.
  • Taking in the scene at Larkin Square and Taste of Buffalo.
  • Renting kayaks and exploring the Canalside area.  (I’m not sure if this will be something Peanut can do with us by the time she’s two, or if we’ll need to call on Grandma to snuggle her onshore.)
  • Running the Fifty Yard Finish Half Marathon.
  • Making – and drinking – homemade lemonade.
  • Taking in a performance at Shakespeare in the Park… maybe.  (Or maybe this is something to put off until a future year when our toddler will be a little less unruly and more cultured, LOL.)
  • Visiting more of the wineries on the Niagara Wine Trail.  (We’ve already been to Konzelmann and Palatine Hills, YUM.)
  • Taking Peanut to the park and letting her run around to her heart’s content.
  • Sitting and soaking up sunshine.
  • Exploring more hiking trails in WNY.
  • Afternoon sails on my parents’ boat.

What are you looking forward to doing if the weather ever warms up?

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Freezer 5K

Sometimes, I think there must be something wrong with me.  Upstairs, you know.

You see, I have certain trigger words that will make me do things that otherwise, when I’m thinking clearly, I would realize are DUMB.  Such as, for instance, the words “long-sleeved t-shirt.”  If you promise me a long-sleeved t-shirt, evidently, I will check my sanity at the door and decide that it sounds perfectly reasonable, even fun, to run a 5K ten days before Christmas.  All I can say for myself is, I was seduced by the words “flat” and “fast” that the race organizers used to describe the course.  And, of course, the prospect of a long-sleeved t-shirt.  So, naturally, on a beautiful clear fall day, I decided this would be a good idea and signed up.

The word “misguided” comes to mind.  So does the word “idiot.”

Over the past few days, Mother Nature has dumped on us repeatedly.  I’m told that this isn’t even that bad and it will get worse.  But it was bad enough that hubby had me checking my email constantly for notification that the race was being cancelled.  No such notification came, though, so on Sunday I dressed in my warmest running clothes and my Smartwool socks and headed down to the Cobblestone District for the Freezer 5K.

I knew immediately that I was in for an interesting race.  The roads on the way downtown were covered in slush and I had to steer around several big piles of snow (and I was driving on a major thoroughfare).  This was no Turkey Trot – just a small, informal, laid-back local race – so I didn’t have any delusions about major efforts to clear the course.  I knew that the course would get the same treatment the other roads got, and we’d have to be content with that.  And it was going to be slick.  I arrived at the race hub – a downtown bar where the race organizers were coordinating packet pick-up and the start – grabbed my bib, my packet and my t-shirt, and headed back to the car to drop off my stuff.  Picking my way through the parking lot, I heard someone calling to me.  A couple sitting in their car to warm up (just what I was on my way to do) asked me if I knew anything about whether there would be chips.

“That’s an excellent question,” I said, realizing that I hadn’t gotten a chip for my shoe and that there was nothing on the back of my bib, and feeling pretty stupid for not even thinking about it while I was picking up my race packet.  “Maybe it’s gun time?”

We chatted for a few minutes and agreed to fill each other in if any of us got an answer (and if I found them again, or vice versa).  I headed to my car and sat with the heaters on full blast, reading blogs until it was time to head to the start.  On my way back into the race hub, I heard “That’s the girl!  Hey!”  Turning around, I saw my new friends from the parking lot, who told me that there were no chips and we were just supposed to hand in a tear-off segment of our bib at the finish.  Not sure how that was supposed to work, and wondering how we’d have official finishing times without chips, I shrugged, thanked them and wished them good luck, and headed off to wait for the start.  Just as I was getting ready to leave the comparative warmth of the bar and venture outside to the start line, the race organizers made a disconcerting announcement:

Part of the course was completely impassible, so there would be a course change.  We were supposed to run by the waterfront, but the area was so socked in with snow that we couldn’t get through.  Instead, we’d be running to a turnaround point and then making an extra lap around First Niagara Center (the local NHL team’s arena).  The course would be a little long as a result, but it was the best they could do.  It didn’t make much difference to me, since I had no time goals and was just there for fun (and obviously, for the t-shirt).  I joined the crowd of runners streaming to the start line, where I took this picture:

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That, in general, was what the course looked like.  There was one short stretch that was clear, and there were a few drifts that we had to run through, but pretty much, this was what we were going to be dealing with.  It got progressively slushier and slicker as the morning went on.  I steeled myself and reminded myself of my only goal for the day: not to break my ankle.  I really didn’t care if it took me 40 minutes – or longer – to finish.  Just as long as I finished without breaking any bones, I was going to consider the morning a wild success.  After all, I already had the t-shirt we’ve established I will go to ridiculous lengths to get.

The Abominable Snowman fired the gun, and we were off.  I followed the crowd and just tried to stay upright.  As we rounded the first corner, a guy shouted out, “It’s just like running on the beach in the Bahamas!  C’mon, gang!  Let’s have fun!”  He got a few cheers in response, and then we all buckled in for the ride.

After my first pass by First Niagara Center, I saw the leaders coming back from the turnaround.  They were hauling the mail, despite the slushy conditions.  I cheered for them inwardly, although I was still trying to focus most of my attention on not falling down.  (That’s also why there are no pictures from this race: I kept my phone in my pocket and my eyes on the road.)  I passed the finish line, noticing that it read just about 20 minutes, and headed out for my second loop around the arena, high-fiving the Abominable Snowman as I settled into the lap.  Before long, I realized my shoe was untied.  Ugh.  I knelt down, tied it, and continued on my way… for about two blocks, before it came untied again – the first and second times I’ve had to stop during a race to tie my shoe.

The Finish Line: Final Time 32:10

As we completed our second lap, I knew I had some gas left, so I made a play to pass a few people.  I hopped over to a relatively clear patch of pavement and just started running as fast as I could.  I pounded my way to the finish line and, just before I tore across, realized that the clock read 32:10.

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WHAT?  32:10 is fast for me, even under the best conditions.  My 5K PR is 32:04 – only six seconds faster than I ran this race, in the slush – and this was a long course (although I don’t know how much past the 3.1 miles it actually went).  I was absolutely shocked at my time.  I’d expected to run closer to 36 minutes and would have been thrilled with that time; the last time I ran a 5K race in the snow I finished in a frustrating 37 minutes (I was pregnant at the time, but didn’t know it yet).

Honestly, I’m not sure how I pulled out this race.  I’m well-conditioned, thanks to Turkey Trot training.  This was also a smaller race, so I didn’t really spend any time weaving around other runners.  But still.  To run 32:10, in the snow, on roads so slippery that I wasn’t sure I’d finish the race upright?  Yeah, I’m a little baffled by that, but also really proud.  Makes me wonder what I could have done under ideal racing conditions… guess I’ll have to look for a spring 5K to find out.

Will I run this race again?  Not sure.  It was fun, and I definitely admire the race organizers for being able to work with the snowy conditions.  But man alive, it was COLD.  Right now, still thawing out, I am inclined to ask hubby to chase me away from the computer if I try to sign up for another December race, long-sleeved t-shirt or no.  But ask me again in October, when I’ll probably think that a holiday race sounds “fun.”  Like I said, misguided.

Edited: The official results are up and it appears the course ended up being short, not long.  My time was 32:11 for 2.76 miles.  So, not a PR, or even close to one, but I still can’t complain – it was slushy and slick and I’m proud to have gotten out there, run in the muck and finished it!

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A Winter Walk at Chestnut Ridge

Chestnut Ridge, I think, is one of the prettiest parks in Erie County.  I’ve been there a few times with hubby, my sisters-in-law, my mother-in-law, or some combination thereof, and always had a blast walking in the serene setting.  There are tall trees, stunning vistas, and broad lawns to enjoy… and there are always plenty of people enjoying them.

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This past weekend, I was there taking in the breathtaking winter beauty with hubby, Peanut, and some new friends: Zan of I Choose Buffalo and her new husband (!!!), Paul.  Zan and Paul got married on Thursday and decided that they most wanted to spend their first Saturday as a married couple hanging out with us nerds.  (Psst – Read Zan’s post about our walk here.)

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(They are the cutest couple ever, yes?)

I first found Zan’s blog, I Choose Buffalo, when we were contemplating our move.  Zan lived in D.C. and decided that she wanted to move to Buffalo, where Paul grew up.  She started her blog while still living in D.C. and planning her move, and now that they are here (Zan and Paul moved up to Buffalo about a month before our family did) she writes about cool experiences she’s had in the area, and shares interesting articles about the city and the region.  Zan and I connected through blog comments and Twitter and we’ve had a few “friend dates” since I moved up here.  She had met hubby briefly, but this weekend was the first time we got to meet Paul.  We had such a great time hanging out with this terrific couple, and hope to spend more time getting to know them.

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(Thanks to Zan for the family photo!)

Our first stop was the sledding hill, where we spent a few minutes watching some big kids ride their toboggans.  Chestnut Ridge is one of the best sledding spots around!  Can’t wait to take Peanut back when she’s a bit older.

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From there, we strolled into the woods a short ways.  The main road – where I’d hoped to walk – was closed because the park was hosting a winter festival and they were using it for open air rides to see Santa.  (We didn’t take one, because we thought it would probably take too much time and we wanted to explore on our own a little.)  Instead, we struck off on a path to one of the near shelters… or what would have been a path were it not covered in two feet of snow.  We waded a little, walked in snowmobile tracks, and drafted off one another.  I decided that it would be a good idea to walk in Paul’s footsteps, which necessitated some leaping on my part… he’s a tall guy.  And I am not.

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We only had time for a short walk before we had to turn around and take Peanut back to warm up in the lodge.  It’s a cute space that reminded me of an Alpine ski lodge.  (Note: I’ve never actually been to an Alpine ski lodge, so this is just what I imagine one would be like.)  They had a big Christmas tree with plenty of activities for the kids attending the winter festival – we passed, because Peanut is a little too small for face-painting or paper-gluing.  There was also a big, fabulous fireplace.

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Toasty!  After we warmed up, we realized that it was already 1:30 and our family had to head back into the city for Peanut’s afternoon nap.  Zan and Paul decided to stick around and explore the park some more.  (I felt bad to rush off, but when you’re a slave to naptime, you don’t have much choice!  Hopefully the next time we hang out with our new friends, we can spend a little more time getting to know each other.)

Zan and Paul, thanks again for the great afternoon!  You guys were such good sports to come out in the wind and ice to tramp through snow drifts TWO DAYS AFTER YOUR WEDDING!  (Seriously, how cool are they?)  We had an awesome time… but hopefully, the next time we venture to Chestnut Ridge, it will be just a little bit warmer.  Hey, a girl can dream.

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Buffalo-Niagara YMCA Turkey Trot 2013

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!  I hope you all had a fabulous day yesterday, filled with plenty of turkey and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce (the Thanksgiving Trifecta, as I like to call it).  I did, and I’ll fill you in all about the whole weekend on Monday, but today I want to share how I started Thanksgiving Day: with 12,000 of my closest friends, running down Delaware Avenue in Buffalo.

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This was my third Turkey Trot, and it’s such a fun way to kick off the holiday season.  I ran the Buffalo Turkey Trot with my sister-in-law Grace back in 2010 and the Troy Turkey Trot with my dad and high school BFF in 2011.  (I didn’t trot in 2012, because I was still recovering from Hurricane Peanut.)  This year I had a big goal – I really, really wanted to PR (beat my personal record in the 8k distance).  I trained hard over the course of the fall and I was pretty confident that I’d get not only a PR, but a big one… until race day, when I woke up to this view:

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I’m all for a white Christmas, but a white Thanksgiving?  That’s real… unnatural.

Needless to say, I was pretty unhappy about the view out my window.  We live on a major, high-traffic road and the race was being run not too far from my neighborhood.  So I was just a leetle bit worried about the road conditions.  It looked as though the plough went through, but there was no salt on the road and there was an inch of slushy slop covering the entire surface.  If Delaware Avenue – on which 95% of the race is run – looked anything like this, I knew my PR was out the window.  I wanted to set a new record for myself, but not badly enough to break an ankle.  So I took a deep breath and tried to revise my goal to just have fun with my sisters-in-law and worry about a PR at the Shamrock 8k in March.

I grabbed an easy but filling breakfast (banana with pecan butter, Larabar and two cups of tea) and at 8:35 on the button, my father-in-law and sisters-in-law rang the doorbell.  I hopped in the car and my father-in-law dropped me, Emma and Grace off at the starting line.  We were almost late – thanks, snow and traffic – and had to run to the corrals, but we made it.

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Have I mentioned that it was COLD?  The temperature was in the high teens.  Brrrrrrrr.

I could tell immediately upon arriving at the start line that Delaware Avenue looked much better than my street.  Yay!  The city snow crews must have given my street a cursory effort because they were all busy getting Delaware into race shape.  (They obviously went back for a second pass at my street later, because it looks fine now.)  The road was a little wet, but otherwise perfectly fine.  I decided to go for my PR after all.  My A, B and C goals for the race were:

A – Beat my previous 8k PR of 56:19.
B – Run the entire race in under an hour.
C – Finish.  (This is always my C goal.  Heck, sometimes it’s my A goal!)

The loudspeakers played The Star-Spangled Banner, and we were off!

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(The start lines, viewed from the corrals just as we started to move.)

Miles 0-1

The first mile of the race was wall-to-wall people.  I tried to find some running room, but there wasn’t really much space to be had.  I waved to my father-in-law, who was cheering just past the start line and spent the rest of the mile fighting my way through the crowds.  The first mile does contain one of the most fun moments of the race – when you run under the “New York Central” bridge and everyone shouts “WOOOOOOO!” all at once.  Sorry for the crummy picture, but I was running:

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As expected, the first mile was my slowest – but I was so distracted by just trying to find an unoccupied patch of pavement to put my feet that it seemed like no time at all before I saw the flag marking Mile 1.

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Miles 1-2

Aside from the finish line, I was happiest and most excited during this stretch, because I knew that “my” spectators would be waiting for me.  Just as expected, right before the 1.5 mile mark, I saw my two favorite faces:

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Look how disgruntled Peanut is!  You can just see her thinking, “What new way have they come up with to torture me now?”  I took a quick detour to give her kisses all over her face, and she slapped me.  I laughed and headed back onto the road.

Miles 2-4

Somehow I missed the mile marker for Mile 3, and this felt like the longest mile of my life, until I realized… duh.  This was the stretch where I dug deep and focused on running a smart race.  There was one traffic circle and I carefully ran the tangents in an attempt to get down closer to the shortest legal distance.  (A smart strategy during any race, but especially a race like this, where the crowd never thinned out and I spent the entire time weaving between other runners – I knew that I was running much longer than the 8k distance.)  I dug into my bag of motivational tricks to keep my feet going: picking a spot on the pavement to stare at until I ran over it, and then another and another, and repeating my favorite mantras: “go mama go” and “strong legs, strong mind.”  I pulled out that second mantra when the lazy part of my brain started suggesting that I take a walk break – even though I knew that I didn’t need one.  My legs weren’t tired at all and the rest of me felt great too, so it was only my mind that wanted to slow down and walk.  I instructed my mind to get on board with my legs, and we kept running.

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Miles 4-4.97

Just before Mile 4, the road starts sloping noticeably downhill.  Yay!  (It’s pretty much all flat or downhill anyway, but the last major stretch is really downhill, and so much fun.)  My overall plan for the race had been to run at a comfortable pace for the first four miles and conserve plenty of energy, and then turn on the burners in the last mile.  So when I saw the flag marking Mile 4, I started to gradually pick up the pace.  By the time we entered Niagara Square, with just under half a mile left, I was flying.  (Or, flying as best I could while weaving in and out of the crowds of other runners.)  I turned two corners and saw the finish line looming up ahead.  Hooray!  Or maybe not…

The Finish Line

This was where my race experience soured.  I ran all out in the last short stretch and I felt like I was floating two feet above the road… until about five feet before the finish line, when I came to a screeching halt.  There was a bottleneck inside the finishers’ chute, caused by people crossing the line and coming to a dead stop (exactly what the pre-race email warned people not to do), and the bottleneck had spilled out of the finishers’ chute and was making it impossible to cross the finish line at all, let alone at a run.

I just barely managed to stop without mowing down the people in front of me and immediately screamed with frustration.  Was I really standing here, completely still, not moving at all, five feet before the finish line?  This had to be a joke.  Alas… nope.  Those last five feet took almost a full minute to travel.  I was incredibly frustrated because up to that point, I had run exactly the race I wanted to, I was feeling great about my training and the effort I’d put in, and I knew I was very close to my hoped-for PR.  I finally crossed the line, but instead of the huge smile I had worn for 99% of the race, I had a huge scowl.

Final time: 55:40.

So, despite the snag at the finish line, I did end up hitting my “A” goal for the day.  I PRed by 39 seconds.  I was happy to get the PR I wanted, of course, and I was proud of the effort I put into training and on race day… but it stinks to know that you could have finished faster, were it not for a circumstance outside your control, like bottlenecking at the finish line.  If I had missed out on a PR because of the weather, I’d have been bummed, but I wouldn’t have been too upset, because no one can control that.  But losing out on the chance to sprint across the finish line because of other people’s inconsiderate behavior – stopping in the finishers’ chute – really left a bad taste in my mouth.  I tried to reframe the experience in my mind to make it more positive: after all, if I hadn’t trained well, run smart, and poured it on in the last mile, I wouldn’t have hit my PR at all.  So the good work I did earlier in the race made it possible for me to have a good day and meet my “A” goal – my first PR in over three years! – despite hitting a snag at the finish line.

Still, I’m looking ahead to another chance to PR, and this time the way I want to, at the Shamrock 8k in March.  I’ll be crossing that finish line at speed, even if I have to sprout wings and fly.

If you trotted on Thursday, I hope you had a great race!  I’ll be back on Monday with a recap of the rest of our Thanksgiving festivities.

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Fall 2013, Instagram Edition

Thanksgiving is this week, which – in my mind – heralds the end of fall (my favorite season) and the beginning of that between-season called The Holidays.  It’s not exactly winter yet, since the solstice hasn’t arrived, but our thoughts turn away from autumnal glories and toward tinsel and evergreen and snow and all things twinkly.  But before that shift, I want to take a moment to share some of my favorite snaps from the fall.  I’ve been really into using Instagram lately (you can find me there @backyardyogini) to capture not only our daily moments – there’s plenty of Peanut in my stream – but also moments of beauty that I spot while out and about.  Enjoy:

My favorite family picture snapped this fall... maybe my favorite family picture ever.

My favorite family picture snapped this fall… maybe my favorite family picture ever.

A riot of color in my in-laws' driveway.

A riot of color in my in-laws’ driveway.

Perfect weather for hiking pants and flip-flops on crunchy leaves.

Perfect weather for hiking pants and flip-flops on crunchy leaves.

Early golden leaves appear.

Early golden leaves appear.

My favorite month.

My favorite month.

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These trees reminded me of the cover of “The Magicians,” by Lev Grossman.

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That’s a pumpkin spice chai latte in that cup there. No big deal.

So many perfect running days. This is where I pound the pavement.

So many perfect running days. This is where I pound the pavement.

I also logged some quality reading time on my in-laws' deck.

I also logged some quality reading time on my in-laws’ deck.

I love golden leaves against a bright blue sky.

I love golden leaves against a bright blue sky.

Too much to stop at just one picture.

Too much to stop at just one picture.

Leaves aren't the only thing that looks good against a backdrop of blue. This red-berry bush brightened up many a fall run.

Leaves aren’t the only thing that looks good against a backdrop of blue. This red-berry bush brightened up many a fall run.

A bounty of apples.

A bounty of apples.

More blue backdrop - these are Jonagolds ripening on the branch.

More blue backdrop – these are Jonagolds ripening on the branch.

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Peanut didn’t quite get the concept of apple-picking, but I think she had a good time. She’ll love it next year!

Some indoor fun was had, too. We visited this gigantic Jackson Pollack at the Albright Knox Art Gallery.

Some indoor fun was had, too. We visited this gigantic Jackson Pollack at the Albright Knox Art Gallery.

Hope you’ve all enjoyed your fall!  And now… on to the twinkle lights.

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Healthy Strides Community 5K

I didn’t write anything specifically in response to the terrible events of a few weeks ago in Boston, mostly because I didn’t think I really had anything meaningful to add to the discussion.  Most of the things I could think of to say had already been said, and said better, elsewhere.  But Boston has been in my thoughts.  It’s not a city where I’ve spent much time, although my brother went to college there (at Boston University) and I’ve loved every too-brief visit I’ve made there.  I have many, many friends in Boston – just how many, I didn’t know, until my Facebook feed filled up with the reassuring “We’re okay!” messages after the bombing.  And I later found out that the sister of a dear friend, who ran in the marathon that day, was at the finish line when the explosions occurred.  She was unharmed and I know everyone who is acquainted with my friend and his family is incredibly relieved about that.

Kara of it’s a dog lick baby world, a running and parenting blog that I really enjoy, made a good point about the horror of the Boston marathon bombing, at least for anyone who runs: normally when you hear about these terrible tragedies, you think “I can’t imagine…” but what is truly horrifying about this bombing is that you can imagine it.

I’m a slow runner, and I will never, ever qualify for the Boston marathon – and I’m okay with that, because I just want to get out there, run, have a good time, and try to live a healthy lifestyle.  But even though I’ll almost certainly never complete this particular race, I’ve run in other races, including one major DC race that is popular and crowded enough to attract similar unwelcome attention.  I can honestly say that when I was running in that race (back in 2011), it never occurred to me that someone might attack the finish line.  I sort of thought I might faint at mile 8 and never actually see the finish line, but the idea of a tragedy of Boston marathon magnitude… nope, never entered my mind.  It sure will the next time I register for a big, popular race, though.

Last weekend, my sis-in-law and I lined up for the Healthy Strides Community 5K at Burke Lake Park in northern Virginia .  It was a tiny little community race – even tinier, probably, than it would otherwise have been because it was scheduled for the day before the Nike Women’s DC Half Marathon.  E’s goal was to run every step of the race.  My goal was to have fun and finish my first race as a mom with a smile on my face.  We both achieved our goals.

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The race started at one of the picnic shelters and continued on shady park roads.  The 5K course was a simple out-and-back – a little hilly, but fun nonetheless, and with pretty lake and woodland views to distract the runners from their burnin’ lungs.  As I covered the course, I thought about how much I’ve missed this running community.  My last race was a freezing cold trail 5K over Valentine’s Day weekend in 2012; I spent the 3.1 miles wondering why I felt sick to my stomach and nearly collapsed at the finish line.  (Unbeknownst to me at the time, there was a microscopic little Peanut who had taken up residence and was making my stomach churn and my head swim throughout the race.)  I stopped running early in my pregnancy because it felt wrong, and later realized that it must have been my “mother’s intuition” speaking – and I was glad I had listened to that inner mama, when I was put on activity restrictions and then bed rest for pregnancy complications.

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I’m not sorry I took that time off from running, because I needed to do it for Peanut, but I’m glad to be back now.  I missed the excited chatter at the start lines, the encouragement from fellow runners on the race courses, the volunteers who give up their weekend mornings to hand out water and shout things like “Good job, runners!” for hours, and especially, the burst of adrenaline and pride upon crossing the finish line (whether it’s a 3.1 or a 13.1).

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I thought about Boston while I was running in this relaxed, low-key 5K.  I thought about the people who worked so hard, and logged so many miles, to get to the start line – and the finish line – that day.  My slow, plodding “icebreaker” 5K was for them.  I also thought about the journey I’ve personally taken over the past year – from pregnancy to delivery at 31 weeks, parenting in the NICU, and then finally getting some of the normal life I craved back.  I thought about the kind of mom I want to be – an active mom, who teaches her kids that it’s fun to get outside and move – and how this slow 5K was just the beginning of what I hope will be many, many years of demonstrating a healthy lifestyle for Peanut and her potential future siblings.  And I remembered how, when I was stuck on the couch trying unsuccessfully to hold Peanut in last summer, I yearned for the ability to do just this very thing: to go outside and put one foot in front of the other.

Yes, I really missed these people and this sport.  And I love that we’re all still here, still getting out there, still toeing the start lines and sprinting across finish lines.  A little community 5K in a northern Virginia park is no Boston marathon – no one would claim that it is – but when you’re standing at a start line, you feel solidarity with runners everywhere.  Fast, slow, beginner, advanced, new mom, old pro, we’re all friends and we’re all still here.  We’re in this thing together and we won’t be scared off.

I’m already looking out for my next race.