6 at 6 (o'clock that is...)

6 Reasons Why I Want to Run a Marathon

6. Running gives me an excuse to buy cool running clothes and nice sneakers with minimal guilt (and I suffer from a lot of guilt - read about mommy guilt here).

5. I want to be a member of the cool mommies that run club!

4. I have 10 pounds of weight to lose to reach my pre-pregnancy weight.

3. I would like size 6 jeans to make an appearance in my life again.

2. It gives me an excuse to treat myself to a little alone time - and if you're a mom who says she doesn't appreciate alone time you're also a liar.

Reason #1. I want to prove to myself - my jiggly, stretchmarked, no-longer athletic self, that I can still be an athlete.

Boilermaker

It's official - my running buddy and I are registered for the Utica Boilermaker 15K road race! :)  Ya-whoo! 

Anyone have a great 15K training program to recommend?

Reality Check...

As I mentioned in my last post - I run with my mom. The nice thing about running with my mom is that I have someone else to focus on, I also get to take it easy and enjoy the movement while not worrying about pace. The fact is that I can imagine myself as some sort of big shot runner without actually having to deliver.

Yesterday was the first time that I've run by myself and kept track of pace. I went for a little over 3 miles and averaged 11min 33sec per mile - not exactly big shot runner pace.

Time to turn up the heat I'd say!

March run - 3 mile

Well I finished the first run of my year a few hours ago. It was a great run - tons of support from the crowd, free delicious food, and free Saranac beer at the after-party (not that I could cash-in on that too much, I haven't had a drink since finding out I was pregnant with Little Man 16 months ago)!

My time - 42 minutes 12 seconds. Not the best in terms if speed but I haven't ran regularly since November. My running partner for this (and every) race I've run so far is my mom. She spends the entire race worrying that she's holding me back and telling me to take off and run at my own pace. Truthfully I probably could shave some time off my pace if I didn't run with my mom but I like hanging back with her. She's my running buddy.

Last week while talking about December race (43 min 30 sec), someone said "You might as well walk at that pace." Ok, maybe we could walk faster than what we ran but we choose not to. Mom does her best to run as much as she can. She's pushing herself now more than she ever has. I'm proud of my mom for just being out there and I'm grateful to have someone to pass the miles with even if we're going slow.

The best thing about running with my mom - she knows we'll get better. Our next race is in April and she's already making plans to train so we can nab a better pace.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Run Like a Mother

This weekend we took a much needed trip to Barnes and Noble (well...much needed for me - Hubs would much rather have stopped at the tool section in Sears). Anyway - I was checking out the books in the running section. I've been looking for a good running book online but much prefer browsing in real-life. There's just something about being able to touch the book.

The book that I found is called Run Like a Mother and I love it so far! What really snagged my attention was the little phrase underneath the title (not sure what the official term is) "How to Get Moving - and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity". This book seemed perfect for me. I'm in the winter rut and can't seem to dig myself out of it. I did wake up bright and early one morning two weeks ago but am facing my first 3 mile race of the year this Saturday (and I haven't trained - yikes!!!)

In any event - I love this book and have been grabbing it every chance I get to plow through a few more pages while Little Man naps or spends quality time with his daddy. The running mamas that wrote this book also have a blog so scoot on over to check it out - runlikeamotherbook.com/

That's all for now - wish me luck on Saturday because I'm going to need it. :)