Race Review: Run Like A Mother 5k

 May 11, 2014 was Mother's Day, and what better way to celebrate it than to push my sweet "babies" across the finish line in a 5k?

The kids and I participated in the "Run Like A Mother" race.  According to their website, there are a few races in various cities around the US.  Maybe there is one near you?

I think it is a fun race and worth making a mother's day tradition.

Not all events around the US are "stroller friendly", which is a shame, since it is a race celebrating moms and on Mother's day.  I am lucky enough that my race was considered "stroller friendly"... but let me tell you a little bit about that....

The race starts on a local high school track and exits out onto the street, but to get that street entailed pushing my behemoth stroller through a patch of grass, some uneven terrain of a pit/hole/ old mud puddle and then lower the stupid thing over a curb. (Maybe I wouldn't have been so picky about the minor obstacle course if I hadn't just ran a half marathon the day before... and pushed myself hard in that race.)

I'd also like to take this moment to brag about my BAMR (Bad Ass Mother Runner) status and explain that the combined weight of the kids in that stroller was over 65 lbs.  We also had snack cups, water bottles, diaper bag, coats for everyone and toys.  

My goal was just to finish, since I was still pretty sore.

We started in the back with the other mamas pushing strollers and wove our way in a slow trot weaving around the course and the moms of all ages walking or running with their kids of all ages.  

The course had some pretty good inclines and one really nasty hill.  I'm not just a sore, over ran mother complaining either.  :)  I heard all about that hill from some of my Moms RUN This Town running mates who also signed up for this event.  Once you get past those inclines and steep hill, the course winds back and forth on itself, giving a stroller pushing mama 13 corners to navigate in 3.1 miles.  I was grateful at mile 2.5 to pass a dear friend working at the aid station and she gave me some much needed cheers to get me through that final leg of the race.

Since me and the kiddos were out on the course, the husband was a race volunteer and handed out finisher's medals and pretty tulips to each finisher.

Having him at the finish line like this was a unique opportunity for him to greet each finisher and see a race in a new way.  he had never volunteered before.

When I got through the finish gate, he handed me my flower and medal, gave me a "good job hun, you're flying!  Go rest." and later he told me that I was the third stroller pushing mama to cross the finish line and the first double stroller!!!  (The announcer gave credit to another mama for crossing as the first double stroller, but the announcer was also so busy reading our names off the timing ship system, that he forgot to notice my HUGE double stroller when I came in 10 minutes earlier.)  ;-)   I didn't feel like I was "flying" but I was certainly feeling my right quad and IT band.

The medals are beautiful and between the two races I had the joy of running on Mother's day weekend, the 5k was my favorite.... even though the half marathon was such an awesome PR.

When I got home though, and looked at the results from the race.... the 5k was also a PR!!  I had cut about 2 minutes off my last 5k race time.  Not bad for having a bulky double stroller and being sore from 13.1 miles the day before!   

"Team Robin"

The charity for our event was "My Little Waiting Room" which is a drop-in daycare for a local hospital so that families can visit patients.  

Festivities at the event had plenty of booths to look through and try some samples... kids could get their face painted and make cheering signs.  A local physical therapist had some foam rollers out on the turf in the stadium for participants to use.

It may have been a little bit more festive to have a local band playing?  But here certainly was a fun post-race environment and a race I'd like to do over again.

I'm pretty sure that anyone who knew me one year ago would think I was crazy for wanting to wake up early and run while hauling the kids in the stroller as a way to celebrate Mother's Day.

Have you gone out for a run or did a race as a form of "celebration"?

Run Like A Mother (Giveaway)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

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?

Gearing up for my first half marathon.... this weekend. Wait? WHAT!?!

I know....  I started this blog as a sounding board and community to vent some of my fears and hopes as I started running again and started to prepare for my first half marathon.  Which was "Run Like Hell" in October.  Well, one thing lead to another... and when I see a giveaway I have to enter it.

This giveaway was that each entry was to nominate someone who was deserving of a free race entry.  I nominated a good friend, and the one who introduced me to the idea of running and a training plan that gave me hope that it was doable.  We won!  Well, Happy Girls Run couldn't pick just one fabulous lady who deserved a free race entry, so they ALL won!  One thing lead to another, and my buddy couldn't race, so she gave me the free entry back to me.  (Insert huge smiley face here.  I was beyond excited.)  

When I wanted to "jog" in high school to attempt to get my weight problem under control, I gave up right away.  My high school sweet heart drove to my house every morning at the crack of dawn for three days.  Every morning I heaved and gasped for breath and hoped I wouldn't die of a heart attack while he kept a pace with me similar to speed walking.  It was too humiliating and I gave up.

Speed up the clock 15 years later, and I still had that weight problem and still wanted to do "something" about it.  more than anything, I wanted to prove that I could do this.  I CAN run.  I can!  Well, week one of couch to 5k just about killed me.  It certainly killed my pride.  In a group of 5 other lovely ladies, I limped and lamented and when my 30 seconds of running was done, I cried at the idea of the walk times getting shorter and the run times getting longer.  I'm not even kidding.  You can ask them, but I'm too embarrassed about it to give you their contact info.  ;-)

Well, they didn't give up on me and I didn't give up on myself this time.... so now I'm running a free race on Sunday!  Why not go for the sweet swag and run a half?

Sneak Peak of the sterling silver bling awaiting half marathon finishers

I'll let you know on Monday how much I regret that decision.  I am full of hope though, because I am trained for a half right now with Hal Higdon's training plan.  I did great on my 10 miler last weekend.  The question is... How I'll do for 13 miles on a trail.  The very same trail I did a 10k on last month.  

This will be interesting.  Hopefully I don't face plant it too bad!

Any advice or anecdotes for a first half marathon?
Trail running?

Have a fatastic weekend and I'll keep you posted!  By the way, I hung out with SBS and Dimity of Another Mother Runner today.... that'll be a post for another day.  ;-)  Stay tuned!

Race Review and Seeing Stars

May 18th, 2013

Hillsboro Park and Recreation is offering an "All Comers Family 5k" series with a 5k in a local park in May, June, August, September and the last one in October.

"Lace up your shoes and gather the family for the All Comers Family 5k Running Series...  Whether this is your first 5k or your fiftieth... run, skip or walk your way through to the finish."

This is a perfect series to introduce the family to a race in a non threatening, easy pace race that is also inexpensive.  $5 registration fee for 18 years and up and 17 years and under are free.

Living in Oregon, you can't be afraid to run in a little rain now and then...  The park was absolutely beautiful!

On my way through the park to the registration table (with a screaming knee injury) it occurred to me that though I had been to this park many times, I was really just seeing it.  I wanted to "feel my race, be my race" and not focus so hard on a PR that I ended up destroying any recovery my knee had made.  I needed to run and appreciate my surroundings a little more instead of being so intense on my breathing, pace, and gait.  All of those things are important, but I needed to back off a little and just enjoy this Saturday morning.

This was the first time that my new chapter of Moms RUN This Town was getting together for a race.  Though our picture is missing a few other shoes, it was very rewarding to see these amazing, beautiful women come together and support each other.

Throughout the race, if you weren't being passed by and given a high-five by a familiar face, there were encouraging notes on the ground.  Or attempts to help participants stay on the right path.  I wonder what Robert Frost would have to say about this?

Over all, this small community race was exactly what I needed.  I finished pretty poorly in terms of time and previous races, but my knee thanked me for walking those hills and I gained a lot more in the park that day.  I heard the birds twittering, the rain hitting the tree tops over head and bonded with my new running buddies.  

And with this cathartic quote about running and enjoying it, I'd like to mention that I spent the afternoon after my race at a Health and Fitness expo where Kara Goucher was speaking.  What a great close to a racing day!  Kara spoke a bit about her balance between who she is and how people see her.  Balancing her competitions and training and her family.  Something that I have been struggling with a bit lately...  It's hard to run at times, we all get that... but it's also hard to get that time in to run, meet the demands and responsibilities required of a mom, wife, friend, blogger, patient in physical therapy, volunteer chapter leader for a running club... You get the idea.

As I walked away from Kara, feeling inspired that she can handle these demands and still train, but not really getting yet how I was going to manage it,  I ran into Sarah Bowen Shea.  Yeah.  One of the authors of the book about balancing the role of "mom" and "wife" with running your heart out.  If that isn't serendipity, then I don't know what is!  I learned a lot yesterday... I still have a lot to learn.  I'll keep you posted on my journey.  :)