Waking-up the Senses with a Good Run

(Today was a crisp, fall day - much like the day our family had pictures taken a few weeks ago, just after the fog lifted. Yes, all four of us were hula hooping for this shot. I love how the photo screams FALL is here!)

This morning two friends met me for a trail run. As it turns out, I met each of the women through my children's schools - and we each have a child in kindergarten and a 2 year-old daughter. Our shared passion for running and sneaking in some "me time" for an early morning run made it easy for us to slip easily into a 9:30 pace for a 4.2 mile run.

As we were running and chatting I was hit by how everything seems to come together on a run. My frustrations with my non-sleeping children melted away as our conversations drifted from home improvement projects to college days to how we met our spouses. On this foggy, fall day, things became clearer in my mind and I became aware of how running wakes my senses:

Sight:

- Though I never focus visually on anything in particular while running, I can match just about every run with something inspiring or quirky that I passed. Today the fog tickled the upper branches of the trees and blanketed the cows in the valley along side us. It was like being part of the calm part in an old war movie.

Smell:

- I had to rethink my hill running day choice after a few weeks of dodging garbage cans and their odors on our community's garbage day. I smile when I pass by homes on their laundry days when I can identify the family's fabric softener brand. Today's trail smell confirmed that we are waist-deep in autumn - cool, damp air and a breeze that hinted that the cows really were out there in the fog somewhere.

Sounds:

- My favorite running sound is tied to race days. After the starting horn the pitter-pattering begins. Hundreds or thousands of feet hitting the pavement at once makes for quite a raucous. The sound gets my heart rate going with the excitement of being part of something so much bigger than myself. This morning's run was marked by the crunches and swishes of our six feet navigating the thick carpet of sycamore leaves. While today's weather was calm, the previous three were filled with rain and strong winds, encouraging millions of leaves to release their hold to the trees and rest on the path.

Taste:

- What runner hasn't been treated to the salty taste of sweat making its way into their mouth during a summer run? That's what usually comes to mind when I think of the taste of running. But my Saturday morning trail runs have changed my thinking. The last few weeks I've been treated to a big breakfast when I returned home: eggs, bacon, toast and even hash browns. Now THAT'S my preferred taste-association with running - post-run goodness!

Touch:

- With the onset of cooler weather, I've become more aware of hand comfort on my morning runs. I've heard many a runner talk about how they don't like running with hot hands, but I prefer sweaty hands to icy cold hands. This morning the gals found me with my hands happily wrapped in my running gloves - a gift from the principal when I taught 3rd grade 5 years ago. Those gloves have been an essential part of many a run. I did shed them at the end of the fourth mile today, but am glad I grabbed them on my way out the door and went with the running jacket with pockets!

Next Saturday I have to fore go the usual trail run, but I'll have my two kids in tow for a family run (1.7 miles, I think) that supports youth programs at our local YMCA. I'll be signing books during the pre-race excitement to raise funds for their scholarship program. I wonder what my senses will notice at the event . . .

What sense is most heightened for you when you run? Do you have a favorite place to run because of it? Do share!

Up and running

I like a full plate. This sometimes makes my husband cringe, and sometimes causes me to breakout like a 15 year old . . . but, I like to be involved in things. I like to connect with people and I like to help others. It's in my nature, like my love for hot chocolate on cool autumn night.

I'm currently working on several exciting ventures:

1. Writing proposals for using We Are Girls Who Love to Run in corporate campaigns
2. Creating running clubs for Spring 2010 modeled after Carol Goodrow's Happy Feet, Healthy Food club at local elementary schools
3. Reading great books and resources, a mix of old & new, to review here SOON!
4. Increasing my own running milage back up to 15-20 miles/week
5. Keeping up with housework more consistently so I can focus better during times when my children are sleeping/away and I have time to work.

The first three items have my greatest focus.

The fourth is being supported by the increase in participation for the Saturday morning trail runs I'm orchestrating in my community. I ran a fabulous 5 miles with a fellow-mom last Saturday. It was such a great run, I practically floated through the rest of the day. Some runs are like that - and I hope to enjoy plenty more!

That fifth item is a constant struggle. Housework has never been at the top of my list, but the better I do with it, the more I'm willing to keep up with it . . . and the more willing I am to actually let people past the front door! If my book ever makes millions, you can bet I'll hire a cleaning crew so that cleaning isn't ever on my list.

Fingers Crossed for Good Weather

Tomorrow morning is Race Day. Well, not for me, but for many a runner or triathlete. On Twitter I saw that the Berlin Marathon is tomorrow (um, well, maybe today with the time differences!). In Seattle tomorrow marks the first time our city hosts the Trek Women's Triathlon. It gets underway at 7:15 - those of us volunteering will check-in at 6AM so we can be on the course and ready to support the athletes by Start Time.

This morning I was hoping to meet with a group of women for a trail run to kick-off this weekend of excitement, but Mother Nature had other plans for me. A downpour (not a light drizzle, it was TEEMING!) kept me inside, even though one woman DID show for the group run and kicked out a fabulous 5 miles in the rain before heading to Vinyasa class. I told her she earned her cape and that she can count on me being there next weekend (even if it IS raining - I'd like to earn a cape, too)! I will say that the other 4 or so women who will be doing the early morning Saturday runs also opted to stay dry, so I wasn't the only rain-shy runner in town.

The thing about tomorrow, though, is that rain or shine I WILL be at the race! I'm signed up to support the bike portion of the race. I'm looking forward to being on the course and seeing what it entails, as I really am a runner, not a triathlete. I'm also excited to be taking part in this event as a volunteer because it is an all women's event and it is fun to feel the extra energy that's around for women's races than for co-ed events.

And now that I know the kids are finally asleep, I'm off to relax a bit before going to bed early. I want to be well-rested for the race tomorrow and will have to leave the house around 5 to park and be ready by 6. Yikes! I might have to bring along some toothpicks to support my eyelids . . .

Happy running, biking, swimming and volunteering to everyone in race communities tomorrow. And congratulations to those of you who completed an event today, including an old high school friend of mine who marathoned today. Enjoy your well-deserved rest day tomorrow!

Race Season

The Summer 2009 race season came and went. I was pleased to knock out a few 5K runs, two timed and one memorial run.

The memorial run also happened to be my 2.5 year-old's first fun run experience (that's her above - pre-run). She had so much fun running the kids' dash with her peers (2 and under!) that she asked to run it again . . . and again, both of which were the same distance as the "big kids" (10-12). I cannot begin to express how thrilling it was for me to see her run - arms pumping, legs circling, all with a HUGE grin on her face. I truly believe that those little dashes taught her what running is all about: letting go, having fun and feeling the satisfaction after a good run.

I had hoped this fall would be my chance to train for and complete a Half Marathon, but I found that running with one kid in a jogger while encouraging another kid on a bike to pedal along side me is NOT as easy as I envisioned this summer. But this doesn't mean that races won't be part of my fall running experience. Instead I'll be using Fall 2009 for some other important things:

1. I'm volunteering next weekend at the Seattle TREK Women's Triathlon. This will be my first volunteer experience for a large event and I can't wait!

2. I'm working hard to promote a weekly Saturday morning women's trail run in our community. Since I initiated it in May I've seen mixed results. A few dozen folks have expressed interest in it - now the trick is to get them out of bed and into their running shoes!

3. We Are Girls Who Love to Run will be at the Seattle Marathon & the Portland Marathon Expos at the Banana Blossom Press booth. I'm thankful for Maria, who also displayed the book (and sold some copies!) at the Iron Girl Seattle event last weekend. If you haven't seen her greeting cards for athletes, be sure to check them out. There are cards to celebrate all distances, the love/hate relationship of training, as well as love for other sports. It is so much fun when small businesses can connect to support one another.

4. My son started full-day Kindergarten 2 weeks ago, which leaves me with a bit more time for running and building my distance base. And since my daughter loves being in the jogger we'll do more outdoor runs this year while she's still light enough to push (not too much longer, I fear). This morning we went for a 2 mile hilly run before her first day of pre-school. What a great way to start the week.

5. I'll be taking fun and easy steps to promote running experiences through the We Are Girls Who Love to Run page on Facebook. Volunteer opportunities, food for thought, and interesting upcoming races will be posted there. I post no more than 3-4 times per week, so come on over and become a fan!

What's on your plate for the Fall 2009 Race Season? Are you working toward a new goal? Be sure to post below!

Less Really Was More!

So, in looking back at my last post, it seems that I was right with the title. Less really was more for August: less blogging made for more of everything else.

More . . .

library trips
hula hoops hooped
books read
miles run
movies watched with the husband
veggies grown
tomato sauce canned
berries picked
concerts attended
State Parks visited
beaches walked
swings pushed

And as we get ready for our son to start Kindergarten next Tuesday, I realize that all of those "mores" will be great for my new take on "Less is More" in September: Less time with kids (because of school!) is more time for writing/working/running. Change is good!

Oh, and have you been stalling on getting your hands on a copy of my book? Act fast and you might just win a copy in a giveaway! If you are on Twitter, be sure to enter the WE ARE GIRLS WHO LOVE TO RUN book #giveaway at #girlgetstrong http://ow.ly/l2P9 And while you're at it, be sure to browse the Girl Get Strong site. They have lots of good stuff going on there for women, including articles by guest bloggers that are top notch!

Less is More

Somehow August snuck up on me. June and July were filled with just about ALL of the things we were looking forward to doing this summer, but now it is August and we have 4 weeks until the start of the school year. My two lingering, yet contradictory, questions are:

1) What the heck am I going to do with these kiddos until school gets underway in September?
2) How is it that my calendar is filling so quickly for August and September when those pages were BLANK last week?

Since #2 is happening so quickly, I don't think #1 will be much of an issue. But it does leave me thinking that it is time to rethink and regroup. I'm changing my mindset to consider a new approach: Less is More. As a "Type A" go-getter, this is a tricky one for me. I'm betting it has big rewards, though.

For example:

1. Blueberry picking - eat less, put more in bucket

Instead of eating them all while picking (my kids' favorite approach), I'm opting to just nibble one or two every bush or so. The reward is a full bucket to take home and enjoy in muffins, pancakes, etc. We have 3 gallon-sized bags frozen to enjoy through the year. My parents have over 50 pounds frozen at their place. Less is definitely MORE!!!

2. Child Motivation - yell less, get more cooperation

Instead of yelling at my son (which never works anyhow, so I don't know why I'd even bother) to clean up the disaster in the family room, down the hall, in his room, in the bathroom . . . you get the idea, it was BAD . . . I implemented a tip I got from a friend's nanny last week. I set a timer for 5 minutes. My son worked on cleaning the family room. When the timer went off, he could stop there and pick the next space to clean. Then I reset the timer for 5 minutes as he worked on his bedroom. He could see immediate progress in a short amount of time without being overwhelmed by the sheer task of shoveling himself out of the disaster. In 20 minutes he had 2 rooms completely cleaned and neither of us had a single meltdown. Smaller chunks of time (less!), led to cleaner spaces (more!) and happier people (hooray!).

3. Entertainment and opportunity - less scheduled time, more time for unique experiences

One of the Seattle theatres called in May to see if we wanted season tickets (which included tickets to Wicked). I called my mom, we quickly decided on some shows and I hurriedly bought tickets for 4 shows between September and May. It happened FAST. Then I discovered that the IronGirl Seattle event (including a 2 Day Expo!) was the same weekend as Wicked and I'd have to find a babysitter for the kids after I had been gone all day at the Expo. Since my kids usually get Oma and Papa as their sitters (yes, yes, we're ALL spoiled by that one!), this is not really an easy thing. Just thinking about it for 2 days had me stressed to the MAX.

Having We Are Girls Who Love to Run at the expo is just too good an experience to pass up - especially since Seattle is just a stone's throw from us. And although I know Wicked is supposed to be AMAZING, the stress of the whole experience isn't worthwhile. I cancelled our tickets on Friday and couldn't be more content with the decision. I feel good about having the other 3 show dates free, too, even if they don't coincide with another event. I also feel good about not having shelled out all the moolah for the shows. I love theatre, but maybe this is our year to experience some good local talent. Less expense/time commitment for entertainment leads to increased potential for business and more family time.

4. Running - fewer people for a group run, more thinking time and quality one-on-one chatter

I'm keepin' on with my Saturday group run stuff. Some mornings I've had 6 or 7 women join me, other times it is just little ol' me. While I do get a bit bummed if I'm running solo, it isn't always a bad thing to have the trail to myself (and my cell phone for safety). This past Saturday I started the run by myself and was pleased that I fell into a nice pace and as able to work through some mental challenges. I also got to have a few powerful moments of eye contact with a cow in a pasture alongside the trail when I stopped to shed my long-sleeved shirt. That cow seemed to get me. Really, she did.

Shortly after my turn-around spot, a member of the Saturday crew came down the trail, so I turned back around to run with her. Big group runs are fun, but every run has its own purpose and I walked away from Saturday's run feeling more satisfied than I have post-run in a long time.

Whew! That was more than I expected to write, but now I have less clutter in my brain which gives me more thinking space for enjoying a good book tonight.

How about YOU? How can you apply the LESS is MORE theory in your life?

My Running Triangle

Last night I took our trusty old pup, Albus, for a run. It was one of those ideal summer nights - a little overcast without covering the tri-colored sunset, a gentle cool breeze, and both of the children were sound asleep so my husband could enjoy the quiet at home. I left the Garmin at home and we just went. We seemed to bound up the first hill (usually a killer), and fell into a comfortable pace immediately. I slowed to a walk a few times to make sure I wasn't over-exerting Albus (he is nearly 9 years old, after all), but each time he looked at me with a glimmer in his eye that said, "Come on, Mom. I may be old, but I've still got it. Let's GO!" It was summer running perfection for the both of us!

But after we got home I realized that while the run itself was great, I shouldn't get too excited about my running fitness just yet. My post-run stretch was a loud reminder from my body that while my strength and endurance are better than they've been in years, my flexibility is at a near all-time LOW.

Further reflection led me to a self-discovery: I've never been diligent about maintaining all THREE elements of my running (endurance, strength & flexibility) simultaneously. In my younger years I was a dancer - I had some endurance, but strength and flexibility outshined it. I discovered yoga shortly after running found me, thus giving me the great combo of endurance and flexibility. But when I integrated strength training into my workout mix last fall, the yoga slowly faded to make room for the weights. So, though my fitness triangle shifts regularly, I have yet to find the sweet spot where all the sides get equal attention!

Maybe this is a casualty of motherhood, or maybe it is because I've never had a formal plan to integrate all three elements effectively. Whatever it is, my plan is to work on it! I've been doing 3 days of weight training each week, but I think it is time to change the plan. I'll keep using the SaneFit strength training workouts, but I'll knock it down to 2 days of weights to welcome at least one day of yoga practice/week back into my life. The running can stay the same at 3-4 times/week. For now. I'm interested to see if increased flexibility will help me as I get rolling with my longer runs.

How about YOU? Do you find that you go through phases where one element of your workouts take over and you neglect other aspects? How do you keep things balanced in your fitness life?