Run Like A Mother (Giveaway)

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Within a few months of declaring that I was a "runner", a friend asked if I had read "Run Like a Mother" or "Train Like a Mother"...  With a title like that, I had to learn more...

"Run Like a Mother" is Sarah (SBS) and Dimity's first book they have co-authored.  It's a book full of personal experiences, humor and practical advice for women of all running expertise.

I remember running into Sarah at the Rock N Roll expo last year in Portland and we started chatting about "balance" and trying to train with family/mother/wife/life responsibilities also needing a piece of  the pie.  It gets hard at times... but the book is a fun approach to how these two women have mastered it.  

Dimity and Sarah are the witty, fun authors of "Run Like a Mother" and "Train Like A Mother" and also have a weekly podcast that is laugh-out-loud funny and pretty informative.  You can learn more about that here.

After you have looked over their fantastic blog (linked above), you can also find them on facebook.

Photo taken from AMR website at:  http://anothermotherrunner.com/authors/

If you are really really lucky, you'll find them at a running event near you... or you could happen to live in the same city as one of the authors!

Last fall I was able to join some other AMR (Another Mother Runner) ladies for a group run and fun photo shoot on Portland's Waterfront.   I'm in the front on the bottom right.  I was running with Squeakers and Bugaboo in Sarah's stroller.

There was a photographer there taking all sorts of running pictures to capture gems like this one:

To see more of these, you can find them here:  http://anothermotherrunner.com/you-might-be-a-mother-runner-if/

 Now for the big giveaway!  If you haven't read this book yet, enter HERE to score your own autographed copy and a Sweaty Bands AMR headband.  (I'll be giving the orange one away with pink hearts.)

  If you don't get lucky and win this awesome set, you can purchase one (or any of the super cool items) at their online store.

Do you have any extra tips to share for balancing demands of family life and getting your workout in?

Book Review (and giveaway!): "My Favorite Run" by Katherine Karagiannis Richards (from Fit Kids Publishing)

As always, the opinions expressed in my reviews are mine alone (or Mariah's should she be the one giving the review...).  I was not compensated in any way for this review or giveaway.  I hope it is insightful for you! 

In my house, you know it is a good book if you have to read it at least three times in a row before being able to sneak away...

...And that they still want to read it themselves, with or without your help.

Bugaboo loves to go out on a run with me, whether in the stroller or being able to go around the block running next to me.  I hope that someday, Squeakers will  want to go run with us... though she is a big fan of riding in the stroller too.

I have been looking over my library and local bookstores for kids' books about running without a whole lot of success.  Finally a friend shared a post from Fit Kids Publishing on facebook and I have been excitedly waiting to get my hands on this book ever since.

It was worth the wait.

The pictures are beautiful with vivid colors.  The people and scenery are done very well.  Bugaboo and Squeakers both have wondered off with the book to slowly look through the pictures.  On the first reading with Squeakers, we talked about the pictures and the things we saw.  "Can you find the bunny?"  "Are they running?  Where are the runners going?"

Squeaker's favorite page is when the mom and daughter stop on their run to take a moment and smell the roses. (Something every runner should do!)  And she squealed with delight on finding a ladybug on one of the flowers in the picture.

The story is not too complex so that a very young child can enjoy it but with subtle references to good running form, recovery, stretching, pacing your runs... lots of good nuggets of information that we all might need to be reminded of and something to share with our children so that they can learn some of these tips too.  I think a child of any age range could find something of interest in this story.

I walked away from the story being reminded how important my example is and that little eyes are watching and learning from me about the importance of an active lifestyle and the healthy choices I try to make.

Here's a bit more about the story (and the project that helped make it a real book) from the author:

  I requested my local library purchase a copy of the book for their collection (and they did!) and after reading it myself, I am excited to contact the author on her webpage (click here) and order my own copy to keep and reread to my girls over and over and over and....

I hope you get your hands on a copy of this book!  It is darling.

You can also find it at Amazon for Kindle or Barnes and Noble for a hardcover copy or Nook version.   If you have an i-toy of some kind, you can also purchase a copy though iTunes.  Or, ask your favorite local book shop to carry it.  ;-)

You can also enter HERE to win a copy of your own!  (Starting Tues. Jan 14th)

Have you found any interesting picture books or stories for children about running or fitness?  Please share the titles so I can find them too!  :)  Or tell me about the example you show with people (or children) around you.  You probably are inspiring someone...

Book Review: Born To Run by Chris McDougall

Idly flipping through Competitor Magazine, I came across this picture and just kept flipping.  Then a week later I signed up for my library's adult summer reading program.  Not that you care for details, but it's a bingo card and I needed to check off a nonfiction book to get my BINGO!  Well, why not read a running book?  I know I saw an article about one somewhere... what was it?  Which one should I read?

I know what you're thinking.  "You call yourself a 'runner' and haven't read McDougall's book YET!?"

I remedied that, though I haven't finished the article that I found the picture (seen above) that had planted the idea in my mind for me to pick up the book.

Is it a fantastic book?  Absolutely.  Is it a little fantastical?  Yes.  I don't want to discredit McDougall in the least.  He paints a great picture and tells a vivid story.  He is a journalist and takes those skills to delve deep and find the facts, write about them in an interesting way to capture his audience and find clues and hints about people to give us a bit of their character.  Perhaps he takes these clues an embellishes a little?   Perhaps the Tarahumara are romanticized a bit and we don't fully see the exploitation and poverty they live in?  It is glossed over quickly, but that's because it's a book about running, not sociology or anthropology.

 I particularly was fascinated and appalled with Ann Trason.  Maybe not with Ann Trason herself, but how she is portrayed in the book.  I'm not buying McDougall's idea of her... and I'm not the only one.    It made for a great story that Caballo Blanco called her "La Bruja", but according to the blog linked above, there is more to the story:

Caballo also says that the reason they called her "La Bruja" was because he himself had used that word to try to describe a woman with great powers. His Spanish is limited. He never intended the name to be used it in a critical way. Being viewed as a powerful woman is not the same as being a mean old witch. Caballo can probably also be blamed for some of the weird interaction between Ann and the Raramuri. He advised them to stalk her and not pass her until the end. Apparently, when Ann stopped to take a pee during the race, Juan (one of the Raramuri) stopped and waited for her. She was understandably weirded out by this because she thought he was taunting her. Caballo said that he and the Raramuri were very impressed with Ann's performance at Leadville. She didn't win, so it must have been the way she ran. In fact, the Raramuri were so impressed, they presented her with a special gift of hand-made sandals at the awards ceremony. That doesn't sound like bad blood to me. Why would they do that for someone who had been mean spirited?

I think it is a great book, with some very interesting facts about running and some great "characters" to the book...  It's in my nature to research some of the things I can after reading stuff like this.  It's fun and interesting to look up "Barefoot Ted" and read about some of the other great people mentioned in the book.  I think it's also important not to take one guy's word for it.  Even Ultra runner (and one of the main characters in the book,) Jenn Shelton took some issue with some aspects of the book... and she was there!  Which, I think, is the point.

Read it, please!  But with any book about anything out there, don't just take that person's word for it.  Or maybe the next person's either.  One thing is for sure, the book has sparked quit a bit of discussion, controversy and brought to light some great people and a culture not well understood before.

Have you read the book?  Love it or hate it?  Are you a barefoot runner or in shoes?  I'd love to hear what your ideas and opinions are when it comes to this, so please share.