Tell Me Tuesday: How To Commemorate a Running Milestone
My beloved chocolate-brown heels, a gift to myself after finishing my very first race.
My very first race, back in the spring of 2007, was a 25K in a city two hours away from home. Looking back on it now, I’m in awe of my blind bravery—no 5K for me; let’s just go with triple that distance! I had trained hard for this race, though, and I’d been running consistently for several months, all thanks to a group of accomplished, sometimes intimidating running friends. (OK, so my decision to run a 25K right out of the gate was partly due to some blissful ignorance, as well as thinking, ‘If they can do it, so can I!’ I’m a bit hard-headed like that.)
Crazy or not, this race/girls’ weekend ultimately was a defining moment in my then-new life as a runner. And after crossing that finish line and experiencing the holy-cow-I-just-did-what? euphoria, my friends and I headed to a nearby shopping area to, yes, refuel, but also treat ourselves to some retail rewards. I don’t even think we changed out of our race clothes—we were staying at one of the girls’ parent’s place just outside of the city—before heading into a department store in search of clothes and shoes. And that’s when I saw them: a pair of chocolate-brown, patent-leather, peep-toe heels that I decided I had to have. Never mind they cost more than I’d normally pay for a pair of shoes. Or that I didn’t particularly want to wear them on my sore feet anytime soon. I deserved them. I had just run my first race.
Whether it’s celebrating a first-ever race, a hard-won PR, another year of running, or some other kind of running moment, we mother runners know how to commemorate such milestones. We know these events are important, and we want to recognize how this sport shapes us and changes us in the most amazing ways. While I don’t wear high-heeled shoes nearly as often as I once did—I prefer stylish comfy shoes now, thank you—those patent-leather beauties remain in my closet, strapped on for special nights out with my husband on occasion, and are a reminder of a pretty big moment in my life and what running continues to be for me. Here’s how other mother runners are celebrating their own running milestones:
Buying Bling: “I bought myself a necklace with a 13.1 bar and runner girl charm for the first half I completed,” says Shannon D., who even shared the jewelry love with a dear friend. “I bought a similar necklace for my best friend when she completed her first half also.” Susan F. also opted to commemorate a race with something she could wear: “Generally, I’m just thrilled to finish, but after the very first 5K, I went out and bought myself a necklace with a ruby slipper on it as a reminder that I had the power all along. Later, when I did marathons, I’d reach up and touch it around mile 20 to keep me going.”
Mother Runner Rebecca received this bracelet from a friend after completing her first (so far) 50-mile ultra. “It’s the best ‘medal’ ever!”
Setting it in Stone (Er, Skin). Janelle C. got a ‘Runner girl 13.1’ tattoo—“I love it!” she says. Amy P., meanwhile, got inked with a Mickey Mouse head with 13.1 inside of it. “I’ll add another outline for each half I run,” she says. Valerie A. and her BRF got tattoos after her first marathon—Big Sur 2012. “I got a tattoo of Bixby Bridge on the inside of my foot just below my ankle bone. It says ’26.2’ across the bridge. I love it! First marathon, first tattoo, I may continue to add to it with every full from now on!”
Rewarding with Running-Related Stuff. Nikki G. bought herself a watch she’d waned for awhile. Many of you also went the running gear route and opted for a new hoodie, top, running shoes, wireless earphones, even a foam roller. Adrienne H., who after her 70.3 treated herself to a new pair of Newtons, plans to save a dollar per mile of her marathon training and treat herself again. We can’t help but share Sherrie N.’s plan for celebrating marathon #5: “A Badass Mother Runner shirt!” Thanks, Sherrie!
Keeping It Simple: A decadent dessert, gourmet coffee, and craft beer topped some mother runners’ lists as ways to celebrate a race finish. “I love a good sour beer,” says Kristi K. Adds Tanjie S. of a race she was about to tackle: “If I pull it off successfully, I’m going to have Key Lime pie for breakfast on Sunday morning with piping hot gourmet coffee. All. By. My. Self.” Terzah B. has a treat chilling on ice: “I have a special fancy chocolate bar in the freezer waiting for me to BQ. I hope it will happen someday—I’d hate to see freezer-burn on that chocolate. But you can bet I will eat it no matter how long it takes.” A little pampering—afternoon at a spa, a pedicure, or a massage—also are popular choices.
Signing on for a new race! “I plan for the next one,” says mother runner Debra D., “knowing that if you can do one, you can celebrate by doing more!”
Have you celebrated a big running moment? How did you commemorate this milestone?
5 Reasons Why I Won’t Do Another Ironmother
Raise a glass…even if it looks like you have to do 2.4 miles of butterfly during an Ironman.
Let’s cut to the chase. Inquiring minds want to know: Will you do it again?
The short answer: no.
The longer answer: if I had a $5,000 gift card to Whole Foods; a weekly cleaning lady; a weekly allowance for massage and chiropractic work; two weeks where I could just train and sleep and eat like the pros do (and do it in a cool place like Hawaii or New Zealand, even better); and somebody who hung out all my workout gear so it wouldn’t shrink in the dryer, I might entertain the idea.
Seriously, though, I’m about a month out from Ironman Coeur d’Alene: The giddiness from the finish line has died down, and I’ve had some time to think about whether or not I’d go 140.6 miles again.
A few reasons I’ve come up with that point the needle to no:
1. I’m more of a one-and-done than a let’s-repeat-the-same-course athlete. I’d rather do hundreds of new races than one race one hundred times; for me, it’s much more about the adventure and experience than it is about beating my previous self.
And honestly, I had a pretty perfect race. As I said on the race recap podcast, I did better than I thought I would on my first round of SATs and thought if I studied more, I’d easily nab a scholarship to an Ivy League. (Aaah, the delusions of youth.) My second set of scores? Considerably lower.
Although experience helps with any race, I’m not sure I could put together a more fulfilling race. Yes, I may be able to get a bit faster finish, but is eight more months of work worth, say, 20 minutes off a daylong clock? For me, that answer is a definitive no.
2. The training drained me. Like duh, right? But there were nights when I didn’t have the energy to wash my face because then I knew I’d have to apply lotion afterwards. Two steps of facial care was much too demanding, so I went for none (it’s not like I was wearing make-up anyway, so no real harm). My bedtime, especially this spring, was closer to 8 p.m. than 9, and I got a little bitter at my kids who asked me to scratch their backs right before they fell asleep—usually a favorite part of my day—because that meant I had to get out of my own bed right as I was getting drowsy. Sometimes twice. (I know: cry me a river, right?) And I got into two minor fender benders—nothing or nobody hurt, minus my checkbook—which weren’t exactly due to training, but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have happened if my braining wasn’t thick with Ironmothering.
Mason said he might fly away if I do another Ironman.
3. And training was the easy part. I got to justify and make excuses for a lot of things that I wouldn’t normally do. I deserve to buy dinner out for the third time this week because I’m so hungry and so tired. I will stop at Starbucks after the swim because I was up so early. I will go to bed now and let my husband fold the laundry because I am training. I will let Ben watch another episode of _____________ (fill in bad sitcom on Nick) because I don’t have the energy to fight with him to turn it off. I didn’t exactly become a diva—divas don’t wear compression socks to bed—but I definitely had a moderate case of Ironmother entitlement.
Don’t get me wrong: Husbands can fold laundry and mother runners definitely get to treat themselves to a latte. But eight months of continual, relentless focus on getting through 140.6 miles means a lot of important things went by the wayside. I dropped the ball on plenty of day-to-day things—appointments, prescriptions, phone calls, emails—because I just didn’t have it in me. And I let some other, more important things lapse as well. (And yes, I realize that is really opaque, but this post is going to be too long as it is.)
Although the training is hard, it’s not messy or complicated like relationships and working and parenting are. You get on the bike, you ride until you’re pretty sure you’ve got a blister on your most delicate parts, and you’re done. You get in the pool, you swim for so long, chlorine is running through your bloodstream, and you’re done. And because you’ve been on the bike or in the pool for hours, you get to use the Ironmother excuse to validate not having hard conversations or digging into tasks you’d rather not do.
Plus, more often than not, the training makes you feel good, and then people admire you for spending hours sweating, doing this thing that has a clean beginning and ending and only requires some willpower and strength. I mean, the combination of crazy endorphins and the praise from you all sent me to the moon.
Addictive? Just a little bit. Healthy? The verdict for me—a married, working, mother of two who wants to retain all those facets of her life description—is probably not.
4. I got really sick of being with just myself. As much support and love as I felt from you all, I really missed my running pals and the companionship and compassion they bring to my life. (Our regular runs got sidetracked when I fractured my foot and had to build up my mileage again.) Those group runs are the only adult contact I have outside of Grant most days. I’ll take a solo sweat over no sweat any day, but day after day after hour after hour of just me, myself, and I…well, by about month 5, enough already.
My new nephew will make even better signs for me as he gets older, so I gotta keep going. (But will he still hold them with his mouth and toes?)
5. I want to go faster. More than anything, Ironmother solidified for me that triathlon is my sport. My mind loves the Swim Bike Run value pack, and my (mostly injury-free) body is on board too. I was so fortunate, in so many regards, to be able to strike a thick Sharpie line through Ironmother on my bucket list, that I just want to let it be.
I can honestly say with 98% certainty that the Ironman marathon was the last 26.2 miles I ever will put in on pavement again. But Coeur d’Alene got my wheels turning. I’ll happily put in 13.1 or 6.2 or 3.1 at the end of a triathlon, hopefully at a faster pace than I’ve been able to do in the past.
I’ll leave you with that exciting cliffhanger: She got in two accidents and now she’s going to race again someday in some triathlon? This is better than Modern Family!
Do you make a mental pro/con list about a race after you do it? What items sway you to do a distance over—or try something new?
Recommended Reading: Sporty Books for Summer
Other than exercise, Dimity and Sarah don’t have many hobbies, but they are both avid readers. In this podcast, they share some of their favorite sports-related books, ranging from the incredibly inspiring (Marathon Woman: Running the Race to Revolutionize Women’s Sports
by Kathrine Switzer; Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer
by Lynne Cox; and Devoted: The Story of a Father’s Love for His Son
by Dick Hoyt and Don Yaeger) to the dishy and gripping (The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France
by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle and Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and the Greatest Race Ever Run
by Matt Fitzgerald), as well as a new page-turner of a novel (Flat Water Tuesday: A Novel
by Ron Irwin). All perfect poolside companions while kids are in swim lessons. And Sarah would like to point out that the vocab word of the week, “tousled,” is pronounced her way by many reputable sites.
If you’re digging our podcasts, we’d be super-grateful if you’d take a minute (because we *know* you have so many to spare!) to write a review on iTunes.
[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/podcasts.pagatim.fm/shows/amr/amr_072513.mp3]**Also, the quickest way to get our podcasts is to subscribe to the show via iTunes. Clicking this link will automatically download the shows to your iTunes account. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!
Girlfriend Getaways For Mother Runners: Best Races & Why We Love Them
Girlfriends + Racing + Different City = All Kinds of FUN.
The benefits of stealing away with our BRFs for a weekend of racing in a different city? Oh, they’re countless. Such trips are about enjoying much-deserved rest and relaxation with the women who know us best, taking a little break from donning the mom-wife/partner hat, exploring a different town by foot, and snagging not only awesome race swag but maybe a new PR alongside other BAMRs.
We asked the AMR tribe in a recent Facebook post to share favorite races to run with friends, and also any tips to make the experience as fun as possible (including how to keep things humming along well on the home front while you’re away). We loved the stories and pictures shared.
Dressing up, Disney-style.
One top event choice: Disney races. Amanda L. and her BRFs are signed on to the Glass Slipper Challenge at the Disney Half in February—“I can’t wait!” she says. Tracy B. also will be there, with six of her friends, to run the race for her 40th birthday. Adds Melissa M.: “My best friend just started running. Goal? Do the Princess Half together in a year or two! Motivation!!!”
Race trip tip from Becky E.: “This might be unconventional, but whenever either me or my husband leave for weekenders (leaving the other at home), we find it’s just easier for everyone and better for the traveling spouse if there is little to no communication. Unless something catastrophic happens, there is little the traveling spouse can do about it and it just ruins their trip or makes their getaway more stressful.”
Rock ‘n’ Roll races are other popular events for girlfriends. Mother runner Amanda H. and her running partners sign on for at least two to three “just the girls” races each year. “We just finished the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Half,” she says. “Not only was it our first half, but it was so fun to get away.” Next up: Pacific Northwest Spartan Team Wonder Woman event. “I can’t wait until August 3 for this year’s getaway!” [Check out Amanda’s YouTube video of the event here]
Amanda and her BRFs at last year’s PNW Spartan Team Wonder Woman event.
Amanda’s trip tip: “I always stock the house full of junk food that I never buy for the boys and my husband. Get a few new movies and head out. They love having a guys weekend once in awhile, with no clean-up until right before mom comes home.”
Kimberly T. says a Rock ‘N’ Roll relay race was perfect for her and her BFF. “We were both less than a year post-partum and still building mileage,” she says.
Jana R. shared this photo of a recent girls’ race getaway:
“What makes it awesome,” says Jana, “is spending time with good friends who have the same passion to run! We can talk as much as we want about running and there are no bored looks and no one asks if we are crazy.”
Heather D. likes running the Hot Chocolate Races with her girlfriends: “Last November we ran the Hot Chocolate in Chicago. It was a great time with some great gal pals! We came together from Jacksonville, Denver, Indianapolis…and met up in Chi-town.”
Heather and her friends at last year’s Hot Chocolate race in Chicago. “Nothing better than a reunion PLUS a little run, right?!”
How about a little wine and pampering with your race? “We have been doing runs around Washington state every fall for a girls’ weekend,” says Bonnie G. “First we did one in Bellingham and stayed at a spa. Next year Leavenworth, Wash. during Oktoberfest. The this year walla walla, Wash. for wine tasting.” Tami R. and her friends will celebrate with wine after completing the Michigan Wine Trail Half Marathon next month. “This will be our first time…what could be better than a girls’ weekend with running and wine!”
When it comes to weekends away from the fam, Jana R. offers this trip tip: “Plan ahead and make sure everyone is on the same page! My husband knows way, way in advance what two weekends they are and we plan well ahead for them.”
Events that feature a variety of distances are great ways to ensure everyone finds a race to run. “Our little group will be escaping to Richmond, Va. For two nights for the fourth year in a row,” Megan W. shares. “Aside from Richmond being a friendly, pretty race, it is a good choice for us because there is an 8K, a half and the full. So everyone can find a distance they want to do.”
And her race trip tip: Don’t go too far away. “That helps us keep the travel affordable.”
What’s your favorite race to run with your BRFs? What advice would you offer to anyone considering a destination race with friends?
10 Half Marathons for 10 Years
When Kristy laced up in white tennis shoes for her wedding she didn’t know she’d be doing some similar lacing up 10 years down the road.
If couples choose to jet out of town for a milestone anniversary, it’s usually to a single location for a single period in time. Not in the case of Kristy Cisco-Voorhees who is celebrating her ten year wedding anniversary to her husband Will with ten Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathons across the U.S. So far they’ve ran New Orleans, Nashville, Portland, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco and Chicago with the remaining three 13.1’s TBD. It may not be your typical anniversary “rock” but we Mother Runners certainly approve!
Kristy lives in Chandler, Arizona with her husband Will and daughter Alexa, age 8.5 (you can’t forget the half!).
What inspired the 10 races for 10 years celebration?
I’ve been involved in distance events (13.1, 26.2, ironman triathlon, triathlons, century rides) for quite some time. In the last couple of years my husband started getting into running (he’s done two 13.1s prior to this endeavor). With a move to a new state he’s had to travel a lot, therefore racking in hotel points and airline points. We decided, what the heck, let’s use the points and Southwest companion status and go for 10 half marathons! Pretty sure next year we’ll be on an island drinking fancy cocktails with umbrellas!
Have you and your husband always been running buddies?
Will and Kristy at the San Francisco half. Despite living in San Francisco for several years, it was the first time Kristy crossed the bridge on foot.
No, not at all, in fact the only 13.1 we did together was New Orleans. We are totally different runners! He can get up early to run, me not so much. When I was working shift work (I was a 911 dispatcher prior to moving to AZ) I’d run when I could, or not. My passion is cycling and I really enjoy being a part of Team in Training as a mentor, captain and coach.
Are your kids following in your [running] footsteps?
Alexa…sometimes. Her elementary school has a run club. It turned into a walk club for her. She loves the social, daisy-watching aspect of sports at this point, but has completed one kid’s triathlon about three years ago and loved it. From the time she could hold her head up enough to wear a bike helmet, she was in a bike buggy for 25-mile rides, then graduated to the bike attachment that she pedaled. Now she rides alongside us for family outings to Starbucks.
Do you and Will run together or go your own pace during races?
Own pace – I’m a run/walker, he’s a runner and still about 3 min faster than me…yep, only slightly competitive.
How have you celebrated previous anniversaries? Anything as unique as this ten-year milestone?
You mean we had nine other anniversaries?!
More bling, more bettah! Only three Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathons to go!
Why the Rock ‘n’ Roll series?
The bling! More medals – more bettah!
Any special restaurants picked out along the way?
No, although Chicago style pizza this weekend is a must! Our trips are usually Fri-Sun and I’m pretty anal about not spending the day before a race touring the city.
What tips do you have for mother runners who want to run with their partners but find road bumps in the pacing, distance, etc.?
Don’t! It’s your time to be one with whatever you want to be one with. Should you want to connect with your partner via running then “agree before you go.” If you decide to run together then do it and don’t be pissed if one of you is slower/faster. As Will and I do – go to the event together and know that it is TOTALLY ok to run your own race. The key is to decide before you go. I’m an emotional athlete: I feel good then game on! I have a blast at whatever event/sport it is. If I’m feeling blah, not so much. So whatever happens, starting the race together and knowing we’ll see each other at the finish is perfect.
Back to the Start of Women’s Running
Running free: Sharon Barbano in 1980, four years before the debut women’s Olympic Marathon Trial.
Sharon Barbano, a past winner of the Finland and Long Island marathons, talks Dimity and Sarah through the experience of being part of the first-ever women’s Olympic Marathon Trials: from the spectators that lined the course even hours before the 11 a.m. start to horrifying pre-race “test” each competitor had to pass. Sarah and Dimity get this former U.S. 50K Trail Champion to share how she’s continued to find her strong over the years, including becoming a long-distance kayaker and black belt in karate. If you’re in need of inspiration, this podcast has it in spades. Even Dimity’s talk of her daughter’s quest to make state swimming championships will get you fired up!
If you’re digging our podcasts, we’d be super-grateful if you’d take a minute (because we *know* you have so many to spare!) to write a review on iTunes.
[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/podcasts.pagatim.fm/shows/amr/amr_071813.mp3]**Also, the quickest way to get our podcasts is to subscribe to the show via iTunes. Clicking this link will automatically download the shows to your iTunes account. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!