Joggermom 2013- pregnant style

I did it!  I've been a very slow runner for a whole year!  

-I made it through last year's hot summer thanks to Marti

-Ran a 5k in November with 2 of my sisters

-Ran through the cold dark winter thanks to my friends Sunny and Kelli.   

-I kept going through the 1st trimester exhaustion and nausea (with a couple weeks break during the worst of it at Christmas)

-Finished out my 2nd trimester by drinking lots of extra water and slowing way down.  

I really wanted to finish the year of running with the Joggermom Marathon again in May since that's what got me running consistently for the first time in my life last May. It seemed silly to go from running only 14 miles a month to 26.2 in May but I really wanted to finish with a bang before the heat set in again.  I wasn't sure I was going to make it.

Last year strategy/stats

-Run 6 days a week Mon-Sat mostly 1 mile at a time because I was just starting to be a runner

-Ran alone- or pushing Charlotte

-Finished the 26.2 miles in 21 runs (6hr. 15min. 22sec.)

This year strategy/stats

-Run 3 times a week (2.5 miles most days, 1.5 some days by myself at the end)

-Run with my running buddies- they were so nice to stay with my slow waddling pace- I only had to do 1-2 extra runs a week alone- made a huge difference in going longer and a little faster

-No pushing kids in a stroller- I figured the one kid in my tummy was enough this year- especially since I still don't have a jogging stroller

-Finished in 14 runs, but it took me until May 30th since I wasn't as consistent- (5hr. 5min. 19s.) I was so proud I still beat my time last year by over an hour, even with being 6 months pregnant!  I really must have been slow last year because I felt so slow this year!  I was glad it was before it got any hotter, and during my 2nd trimester when I always feel good.

I didn't win any cool strollers or prizes but I did enter the funny photo contest again!  I felt a little silly doing all these pictures but I had fun coming up with the ideas. Sadly, I didn't win the $100 amazon gift card either.  I consider myself the unofficial runner up because  they only posted 2 of the pictures on facebook- mine and the winner.  If you want to see the rest here's the link to the funny photo page on pinterest.  The winner was the one with all the arms.

Here's my entry- I included the bigger pictures below so you could see more details/faces

What my neighbors think I do 

Everyone thinks it's a real marathon when you say the name.  I love how excited the kids look!  They were much better models for this year's pictures.

What my kids think I do

I usually left at 5:45 before they got up, but if they happened to wake up early they acted like I was abandoning them forever to go do something fun, instead of 30 minutes of sweating and trying to run!

What my mom thinks I do

I had a hard time pretending to be in labor on the sidewalk without laughing. Some people thought I was a little crazy for trying to run while I was pregnant.

What my midwife thinks I do.

My midwives were very supportive of me running as long as I was hydrating and not having contractions.  They did recommend I stop once it got hot.

What I think I do

Super mom!

What I really do

Getting passed by a 2 year old on a trike.

These were some alternates I didn't use-

 I love the look on my face and Matt was nice enough to pretend to be asleep for these.

 I honestly do sleep in my running clothes so I can sleep in as long as possible- and I'm more likely to go if I'm already dressed for it!

Done!

I finished up 28 weeks pregnant- now I'm done running in the heat and doing water aerobics instead.  I make no promises to do it next year since baby boy will probably still be nursing. If I do it again does anyone want to do it with me?

Daily Snapshots from Fall

I came in to wake them up to go to family Sunday dinner and this is what I found. Olly was in a different bed when I put them down. Also note they are in fetal position- head to toe.

Olly threw a horrible fit while I was visiting teaching- then he came home and did this.  Do you think his sisters are not letting him get enough sleep maybe?

I looked over and found this- this was after the primary program- Charlotte informed me they were having church.

Accidental picture from my phone while I ran with my sister along the canal- I like it.

"I a turkey!  Oops!"  (If you own Red Hat Green Hat by Sandra Boynton this totally makes sense)

They were flipping out about a spider on their bike.  I came out and found the "spider". Olly who has recently turned into a bug killer was whacking it with his car!

First time eating out for breakfast in their lives- McDonald's pancakes and yogurt parfaits.

I had my hair chopped. A lot.  I love it.  The best parts of getting so much chopped 1.How much quicker it is to do my hair 2. Everyone actually notices when it's this much hair gone.  Even our non-communicative cabinet guy said something!  ha ha.  Unfortunately I don't have a picture uploaded but it looks about the same as it always does when I chop it.

I got to go to Time out for Women with my mom, 2 sisters, and 1 sister-in-law.  I was tickled when I saw our good friend Kenny Pike's book at the bookstore there.  I highly recommended to the lady who was considering it for her son.  So if you need to buy a gift  for a boy 8-13 or so this is a great read- funny and hilarious drawings as well.

Love them!

Shun the Sun 5K Race

November 10th

Race Goals: 

1. Finish

2. Run the whole time

3. 30 min. finish time (10 min/mile pace)- I wasn't totally committed on this last one! 

Before the race with my sister Kori and Marti

Official Stats

Distance	5K
Clock Time	29:05
Chip Time	28:56
Overall Place	63 / 264
Gender Place	24 / 176
Division Place	8 / 31
Pace	9:19

After the race- How is it I look gross and tired while Kori and Marti look more energized? They gave everyone a medal- I felt pretty cool.

I'm not gonna lie- I'm pretty darn proud of myself!  The best I had trained for was just under a 10 minute mile!  Our average pace was 9:19!  I know that is still way slow, but for me it's a huge improvement.  My sister Marti had her phone tracking us and she was our pace setter.  We started out kind of fast because of all the people around us- and we basically just kept that pace most of the race.   I thought I might heave the last .5 mile but I kept going and Marti and Kori stuck with me even though they could have sprinted.  They make you loop around and around the stadium- you think you're almost there then they do another tighter curve around!  "Where the heck is the finish line!" was my exact phrase.

It was a great first race- much better than Jr. high cross country.  The race was so close to my house that I'd already run the course. Matt got the kids up and dressed and waited about half-way along the route so we could wave hi as we ran by.  It was really sweet of them to come- the kids were cold and cried the whole way home because they didn't understand why I didn't come with them. We're contemplating the 10K for the Phoenix Marathon in March but I don't know if I really want to double the distance!

So happy to be done!  Never too old for an orange slice smile!

I ran a marathon- (not really)

On my facebook wall on May 24th I posted:
"I finished my first "marathon" 26.2 miles logged in the month of May! It's been hard getting up to go running everyday but I've done it!"

We had to send in a finisher photo.  Notice Olly's attempt to get his hand in the air, Abby was too cool for that.

I was worried that people would actually think I ran a real marathon- which is laughably not the case.  Anyone who knows me well knows I am by no means an athlete.  I am an anti-athlete, if that is a word.  It is one of the things I am most self-conscious about and have wished many times I could change.  Thanks to going to a small school I honestly tried 4 different sports but you can't overcome this much un-coordination with "trying harder".  I try to be healthy and I like to go on walks but sports are not my thing.  Let's just say I hope our kids are more athletic than I am.

Last year I found the Joggermom Marathon by chance on facebook.  Basically you have 31 days from May 1-May 31 to run the length of a full marathon 26.2 miles.  They pick the month of May because of mother's day that month- this is a chance for moms to do something for themselves, and because the weather is nice most places.  Anyone who is much of a runner does this every month (or week)  I'm sure.  Everyone who finishes, regardless of time, gets entered in to win some nice prizes (think $500 jogging strollers) . I was a little discouraged when the first person to finish this year was on May 4th.  Many of the people on there finished in 3 or 4 runs.  Go run a real marathon people! That is NOT me. 

 Last year I started out pretty well- but you're not supposed to walk, and it's hard to go from being a walker to a full time runner- even for 1 mile.  After a  few weeks, the stomach bug and struggling to get up early enough to run before I had to nurse the twins I had only logged 7 miles.  Plus you had to track it with some sort of GPS and I couldn't get mine to work.  Basically is was a BIG flop.  But I learned some things.  

This year I set it as a New Year's goal.   I was going to do this thing!  In April I started running every other day using one of the "couch to 5K" running plans that are prevalent on the Internet to ease myself into running instead of walking.  I found a running app I liked- endomondo.  I promised myself I would get up every single morning (except Sunday- I take the day of rest pretty literally).  I need to be very specific in my goals- I knew this would make me run more than I ever would on my own.

I am proud to say I did it!  I got up every.single.morning M-Sat to run until I finished.  Charlotte who usually wakes up at 7 started getting up at 6:30 and then 6 and then 5:30.  Maybe it was the sun coming up earlier but I think it's her 6th sense- she senses when I'm up and trying to do something without her.  She had no interest in watching cartoons at home with dad while I ran.  So I ended up pushing my 30+ pound daughter in my freebie single stroller with tiny wheels that veer badly.  Meaning I had to push harder with one hand so she wouldn't go off the sidewalk.  I only tipped her over once and it was in super slow motion (this is me running remember) but I still felt so bad.  I started to dream that maybe I could win one of those jogging strollers.  I felt like 1 mile with that stroller should count for 2 miles!

Getting up early really helps me to learn to love Mesa.  I struggle with the heat.  It's a lot easier for me to appreciate the beauty of the mountains, baby ducks on the canal, and nice lawns when I'm not sweating like a pig.  May was super hot- even before 7am some days.  Charlotte made a great cheerleader.  She'd pop into my room first thing, "Get up mommy!  Get up.  You going running today?"  Then if I tried to slow down, "Faster mommy!  You can do it!"

My sister Marti helped me get through a few longer night runs.  I don't like running at night as much, but having someone to talk to made it much more fun (and safe).  I wish I could find a running buddy who lives close who is as non-athletic as I am.  All these half-marathon or even 5K people put me to shame.  I am a tortoise not a hare.  I ran only 1 mile most days.  I had to run every day without skipping because I knew I wasn't up to "catching-up" by doing a 2-mile run.  At the end I was finally getting close to 2 miles- and feeling good- if I wasn't pushing the stroller and 3-year-old that is.  I won by consistency not my speed for sure.  I thought I would finish with 1 day to spare if I never missed a day of running my 1 mile.  But as my endurance increased I finished about a week earlier than that.  

My official time was 24 days or 21 days if you don't count Sundays.  A pretty bad marathon!  If you added up all my time actually running it was still darn slow 6 hours 15min 22 sec.  I guess the average for women is around 4 hours 45 min. and that's running it consecutively!

  I said I didn't do it for the prizes, but as I came close to finishing visions of jogging strollers or $100 Amazon gift cards started dancing in my head.  I wish I could finish this post by saying I won a prize, but I didn't.  I am pretty proud of myself for finishing- I think everyone in my family, and a few friends had to hear me talk about this.  I never had people come to all my sporting events and cheer me on- this is all I've got.

Q&A  

Am I still running Monday-Saturday?  No way.  I was exhausted by the end- staying up late and getting up early every day is a bad combo.
Am I still running a few times a week? Yes!  My endurance and my sense that I CAN do it has increased dramatically after my month-long kick start.  Basically I had to stop listing all the reasons I couldn't finish a marathon, and figure out how and when I could do it.  
Do I ever want to run a real marathon?  Ha ha. Never.  That is some special kind of torture.  I hated races in cross country.  I am trying to work up to running 5K (about 3.2 miles) now on my own.  
Am I glad I did it?  Absolutely! No one ever says, oh I wish I hadn't made that hard goal or exercised so much- I really regret it!
Anyone want to run it next May with me?  It's a nationwide thing, you just sign-up and pay your $10 fee, and start tracking your running- I didn't mind the fee because it made me feel more committed.  You won't regret it!

Here's a link to the finisher's video (our picture made the cut around 6min 50 sec)
And if you want a good laugh here's the link to the finalists for the funny running picture prize- chalk outline won- I'll have to be a lot more creative to win that contest!  They added my picture on after the voting for the finalists was over but at least I made the board!