Last night while I was nodding off on the couch, I woke up and before I went to bed, I checked my phone and was so excited to see a Tweet from Girls on the Run that said “welcome!” So I checked my emails and there was a welcome email that notified me that I am now a Girls On The Run Ambassador! I am looking forward to sharing their news and product information with you all!
If you didn’t know this about me, I love handcrafted jewelry. I used to make a lot of jewelry before my kids were born and I still have bins and containers full of beads and supplies to make it; but running has taken over as my hobby these days so I don’t have the time to create my jewelry anymore. Girls Run Fast sell handcrafted necklaces, earrings, charms and anklets. They also have cute tech shirts, hats and temporary tattoos. Check them out at www.girlsrunfast.com
Once again Disney announced a new challenge, the Disney Castaway Cay Challenge. This time it’s not something that I’m going to consider. I did think about it briefly and mentioned it to my husband. However, he isn’t interested in taking a cruise at this time.
They are offering the opportunity to go on a four night cruise on the Disney Dream the day after the Walt Disney World marathon or Dopey challenge weekend and participate in the Castaway Cay 5K. This race used to be free, now they are charging $40 registration fee. Along with this you are also going to receive a special challenge medal, t-shirt and the Castaway Cay 5K medal.
This sounds a bit extreme to me. However, if you compare the costs of what you would spend to extend your stay at WDW the days following your race to the cost of the cruise it may not be that far fetched. We plan on spending a few days after the marathon (the Dopey challenge for me next year) in Florida for a couple of days. But to compare dollar for dollar, our cost of staying a couple of extra days will not equal the easy $2500 for the cruise for the whole family.
What do you think of the new challenge? Will you be participating in it? If I were just doing the races alone without my family coming down to cheer me on, I would consider doing it with friends. But to add the expense of all the family members, it is too expensive.
Why does it seems like after I finish a marathon I start to fall apart? After I finished the WDW marathon this past January my hip flexor gave me trouble for months. I figured it was because I walked 20 miles of it to help my friend cross the finish line during her Dopey challenge while finishing chemo. Now I am experiencing random issues here and there after the Providence marathon. I had a very good race, it was a great race actually! I don’t know if I could have done that race as fast as I did if I didn’t have my friend there to get me to that finish line goal I set.
After my last easy 4 mile run my left calf started cramping up on me towards the end of my run. It was a warm day out but I had been hydrating all day. I am suspicious that it happened because I started wearing flip-flops the day before. I iced it up and then used a heating pad on it last night and it’s feeling better, but I am cautious now.
I feel like once the big accomplishment is over, my body tells me to take it easy for a bit. Maybe the release of relief in my brain that my goal was met lets the rest of my body know it will be on a break for a while. Who knows! But I just want to stay healthy. I don’t have any big races planned until June 8th when I run the Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon. I would like to get my 3rd PR in a row with this race, but given the name of Heartbreak Hill half, I am going to assume that it will be a challenging race in the hills of Massachusetts.
With a vacation coming up, I plan on taking it easy for a little bit to let my body recover, but I am going to still get in my 2 runs per week or more if I have the time and then I have to get in a 14 mile run Memorial Day weekend.
Mentally, I was having a little trouble getting out for a run the other day. I had a lot of stuff to get done around the house and was toying with the idea of skipping my run, but I knew it was better that I get out there and do it. I actually just put on my running clothes and my Garmin 220 and hit the road, I forgot my headphones and didn’t realize it until I was a mile into the run. It was just me and the road and I enjoyed that. I was going to do 3 miles, but decided to do 4. My pace was slow though. Since my coach told me to do easy runs post marathon for the next 2 weeks I didn’t do any speed work or hills. I just ran for the sake of running and I enjoyed it. It was nice to run “naked”.
I think sometimes after a big goal is met, it’s ok to have a little downtime in your running routine. I need this time now to regroup and focus on what my goals are for the summer and leading up to training for Dopey in January. This is also a good time for me to give my legs a little break and do some bike riding as well to prepare for my fall Sprint Tri.
Do you ever have a running slump after a big race?
So I was running the Simsbury River Race a few weeks ago and prior to the race I was sitting in Kim’s car with her discussing my race strategy. She asked me what my current running pace was. I pulled out my phone and starting to look at my stats and she told me, “Girl, you need to get a Garmin! It’s time to get away from all that phone crap.” (Well maybe not word for word, but that’s what she was trying to say). So I decided to use the birthday money my mom gave me towards a Garmin watch.
As soon as the race was over, I came home and pulled up the Garmin site and amazon.com and did some research. There were two specific things that I had to consider when purchasing a watch, battery life and interval training.
Well, I should have done more research because the first watch I ordered, The Garmin Forerunner 210 could only do interval training in increments of 10 seconds. It’s a nice watch, but I wasn’t really sure if it was going to suit my training needs.
So I ordered another Garmin, the Forerunner 310XT and when it arrive it was the size of a laptop on my arm! I wasn’t too happy about the size of that watch, but it had a lot of features I was interested in like the lap pace and other data on the larger screen while doing the interval training. So I figured worst case, I can wear it on my fitness belt and look at the data as I am running.
The other mistake I made was testing out the watch very little prior to my marathon. I had an epic fail on race morning because I charged the Garmin Forerunner 310, but didn’t put it in power save mode overnight. So when Gail and I got to the lobby on race morning it was dead! So we ran upstairs, she grabbed her watch, I grabbed my Forerunner 210 and we went back downstairs. I used it during the race with the 20/20 intervals, but when we hit 99 reps of intervals it stopped and I didn’t know what to do! I thought I lost all of my data. Come to find out, the data is still in the watch, but I have no idea how to restart the intervals. I did restart the timer but I assumed I was starting at mile 0 again and starting all new stats. We used Gail’s watch at this point in the race, but I was trying to capture as much data as I could because I like to review the numbers after my races.
My most recent purchase is the Garmin Forerunner 220 and so far I love it so much that I wore it as my every day watch.
It is simple to use, the battery life is great and I like the screen and information it provides me during my run. I like that I can select intervals for my own specific times for run and rest, and I came across a walk/run timer built into it today. I am still learning the watch, but it is very easy to use and some time on YouTube will really teach me a lot about it.
The watch is very light weight and is comfortable on my arm. When I first started running with a watch I hated the feeling on my arm. It really irritated me. Ironically, when I was running the Providence marathon with it on, it didn’t even bother me. I charged it when I received it last week and used it twice for running, and as a watch for time and it hasn’t required a charge yet.
The Garmin 220 is a keeper for sure. I already returned the other two watches and have no regrets. The Garmin Forerunner 210 is a nice watch, but when comparing the 210 to the 220 I’m all about the 220. Easy to read screen, cute colors and very light weight.
Mother’s Day is a special holiday for me. I couldn’t wait to be a mother, but that wasn’t easy for me. When my husband and I got married in 2002, I got sick. It took a long time to figure out what was wrong with me. Eventually, when we learned that I had kidney vasculitis, I had to take chemo-type medication and was told that our dream of trying to get pregnant had to be put on hold. I was devastated.
After many years of trying to get my disease under control, different medications, steroids, 2 kidney biopsies and lots of prednisone, my disease quieted down. Five years later, I pursued my quest to start our family. But that wasn’t easy either. We couldn’t get pregnant. So with the help of the UCONN Fertility Center, I was able to become a mother, twice!
So I love Mother’s Day. Especially now that my son, age 6 and daughter, age 5 make projects at school and secretly share with my husband that they have a surprise for me and can’t wait to give them to me. That is so precious and these are the gifts that are priceless! Everyday, I use the jewelry box that Adrienne made me last year.
This year I was able to enjoy the Mother’s Day Tea at Adrienne’s school (we are usually in Florida on Mother’s Day) and enjoy her little singing presentation and gift. Once again I received a priceless trinket box that Adrienne proudly presented to me at her school.
I also love that Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate the grandmothers. I am so happy that I was able to make my mother a grandmother. I remember the day when I told her I was pregnant. I couldn’t wait to tell her! I had wanted that for sooo long! She loves her grandbabies and my kids LOVE spending time with her! My mother-in-law is also happy to have more grandbabies from her youngest son. It’s so awesome to give my kids the memories of time spent with their grandparents. I remember and cherish my memories of my grandparents. They are special memories.
I love being a mom! Some days it isn’t easy and some days there is no effort at all, but I love all the days that I have with my children. I remember vividly when I came home from the hospital with my son and my milk came in and my body was doing things I never knew it was going to do. What an overwhelming time that was! But with the help of my mom and my husband I got through it.
After my daughter was born, I struggled with postpartum depression. I didn’t really know I had it at the time, I thought I was just overwhelmed and hormonal with a newborn and a 16-month old very active little boy. But I got help and now I see the change in me and I feel that I am a much better mother. I was a good mother at the time, but I really struggled. I am feeling more confident as a parent now that they are getting older. I am seeing them maturing and making wise choices. I love how people comment on how much my son and daughter love each other. It makes me proud to know that we are raising them right!
I can’t imagine life without them now. I vaguely remember what life was like before them, but I would much rather live with these little amazing kids in my life who teach me something every day. They make me very proud. There is no manual that comes with being a mom. I call out to my mom often for advice and recommendations, and I use her model from raising us as part of how I raise my children.
My cousin sent me this awesome card the other day and I was so touched. I guess I am doing something right!
I try every day to be a good role model to my children. Many times I will hear them say something and it is a carbon copy of something I say to them! (Sometimes good, sometimes not! lol). When I go out for a run, my daughter likes to put on her “workout clothes” and sneakers and pretend she is going out for a run. I tried taking them for a run with me once. We will need to work on that. I enjoy seeing them watching me and seeing my positive habits as something that is part of my lifestyle and will help them live a healthier lifestyle also.
They also enjoy when I go away on race trips with my friends. They mostly like it because they get an exclusive weekend with their dad who they don’t get to see as much as me. I hope I am teaching them about friendships and how it is good to have friends and support friends and how friends can support you with your goals and endeavors. When I did the Walt Disney World marathon this year I explained to them that I was helping a friend reach a goal and sometimes it isn’t about getting your best race finish time, but helping someone else achieve something they worked hard for. Then for the Providence marathon, a friend helped me achieve my best race time. I like how I can take my personal experiences and turn them into life lessons for them.
As part of the #whyirundisney program, Allison Foley was filmed on why she runs Disney. She is a perfect example of a selfless mother. She runs because her daughter can’t due to RETT syndrome.
I must say that my mother is a selfless mother. My brother has special needs. He will live with my parents his entire life, but not once have I heard my parents complain about that. I hope that I live my life as a selfless mother for my children.
So in honor of Mother’s Day, watch this video and be inspired by a mother who runs for her daughter.
So I checked my emails and there was a welcome email that notified me that I am now a Girls On The Run Ambassador! I am looking forward to sharing their news and product information with you all!
