#177: Tales from Another Mother Runner Essayist Marit Fischer
Merit (in orange hat on left) and her BRF waiting on the side of the road in Tahoe City.
Dimity and Sarah are joined by Marit Fischer, a mom of one, trail runner, and contributor to Tales from Another Mother Runner. Because the three mother runners have been friends for two decades, the conversation undulates and curves like a lovely mountain trail. While it is rare you will find this guest on a group run, Marit talks about the deep bond she has with her best running friend, and she shares tales of several epic adventures they’ve shared, including a 35-mile run on the Pacific Crest Trail that culminated in a $150 taxi ride! Marit reads an excerpt from her TAMR essay, which explores the spiritual side of running. From there, the conversation turns to Marit’s new career as hynotherapist and Reiki practioner, both of which enable this empathetic mother runner to help, “people eliminate barriers to their own strength within themselves.”
Also in this podcast: You might find yourself hankering for a bag of chips (perhaps with a can of Tab) while listening to it. And we pretty much guarantee you’ll have either the song “Hello Dolly” or “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” as an earworm for a few hours afterward.
AMR’s Greatest Hits: The Real Daily Mile
Blame it on the rain…
A little gem from 2011 as we head into the holiday weekend….
If you’re not familiar with Daily Mile, it’s a training log that records your runs by asking where you ran, how far and for how long you ran, and how you’d rate it: great, good, alright, blah, injured. Then it asks the broad question, “How did it go?” Like most online training logs, it’s a great way to see your cumulative miles add up and your progress with each workout.
What I don’t particularly like about it–and it’s totally my (self-esteem) problem, I realize–is that you can then tweet or Facebook your results of your run.
When I see, “Jenny ran 5 miles in 40 minutes and felt great!” I, in turn, feel not so great. Why?
1. I estimate the pace to see if I can run faster or slower than the person. Nine times out of ten, it’s the latter.
2. If I haven’t run today or yesterday, I instantly feel like crap. When am I going to make time for my daily mile? (Or, if I’m injured, it’s even worse: will I ever get back to daily mile?)
But those updates, like all things related to FB, show the world what you want to show. This is me on my great vacation! This is my kid being so cute! This is the hip restaurant I just ate at! This is me running so fast! (Lest you think I’m above FB, I’m so not. Just stating fact here.)
So it got me thinking: what happened if people dropped the facade and bared their sweaty souls on Daily Mile?
Megan* ran 4 miles in 40 minutes, and swore at herself and wished she would’ve stayed in bed and hated running for exactly 3.9 miles. When she turned the corner and saw her house, she instantly loved running and remembers it now, 5 hours later, as a great! run.
*Real names have been changed to protect identities.
Anna ran 4 miles with her girlfriends. Last night, she indulged a little too much at Chipotle, so she spent the entire time 4 miles pretending as if it wasn’t her farting every third step.
Pamela ran 5 miles in crowded Washington Park. She subconsciously compared the size of her butt to that of every woman that passed her.
Gretchen raced a 10k, and beat her PR by 2 minutes. Now she will walk on clouds for the rest of the week.
Jenna ran 7 miles in 90 minutes. She did a walk/run because her freakin’ IT band feels like it might snap, but she was too stubborn to quit. She promises she’ll take a break after her half-marathon in three weeks. Maybe.
Kate ran 3 miles at a high school track. She attempted speedwork–6 x 400 meters–but, after 3 breathless, burning laps, she realized she’d rather run happy than run fast.
Joan ran 3 miles at a high school track. She finished a 10 x 400 speedwork session because there was varsity boys lacrosse practice going on. The coach was a hottie, so she picked it up every time she passed him. And then she stretched in the bleachers directly behind him.
Liz ran 5 miles. During mile two, she cried, not out of physical pain, and still isn’t sure why. But she feels so much better now.
Rachel reluctantly ran 4.5 miles with a faster friend. She was annoyed that even though the friend said she wanted to run with Rachel at her pace, she stayed three steps ahead of Rachel the whole time, making her feel both exasperated and slower than she really is.
Danielle ran 2.5 miles. And sang along at top volume to Milli Vanilli the whole time. (“Blame it on the rain that was falling, FALLING!“)
Kira ran 4 miles early this morning at that oh-so-special-monthly-time. Thank God for black capris.
Laura ran the 4-mile loop her in neighborhood for probably the 675th time in her life. The whole time she thought, “Throw me a freakin’ bone already, running. Why can’t you ever feel any easier?”
Joyce ran as fast as she could from home–away from the drama-queen tween daughter, the indifferent husband, the seismically loud twin sons. After 6 miles, she was centered and relaxed, and actually laughing at the dynamics in her house. She was ready to run home again.
How would you bare your soul on Daily Mile? Feel free to submit under a pseudonym if you’re feeling a little self-conscious.
Three Things Thursday: My Favorite Places to Run in Denver
A little slice of heaven right outside of Denver.
I’m often asked by mother runners headed to my city for business or vacation for good places to run in Denver. Here are my top three (mostly) traffic-free spots to run in Denver. Bonus: on each of them, getting lost is pretty tough, as you can easily run them as out and backs.
The Highline Canal. It’s a 66-mile beast, so I’ve only run it point-to-point about eight times. Kidding. It’s easily accessible through many points of the city and suburbs, and is a mostly gravel path with very little elevation change. (Read; the only elevation you have to worry about is the 5,280-feet of Denver.)
The Bear Creek Trail in Lair o’ the Bear Park. This out-and-back trail run, which can be as long as 12.6 miles, is like many trail runs in the metro Denver area: starts out with a long climb, then rolls into rolling hills. The bad news is that the first few miles are a grind—and it’s often easier to run/hike them—but the good news is that you get all that luscious downhill on the way home. (Also, this trail is a favorite of mountain bikers, so if you want solitude, go early.)
The Cherry Creek Trail. Truth be told, this path isn’t my favorite, but that’s only because it’s concrete and my knees moan and groan after a few miles. Otherwise, I love it: the Creek is always flowing—I heart running near water—and because it’s a popular bike commuter and dog walking route, there’s plenty of distracting people watching. The 12-mile path runs through downtown, so if you’re staying near the conference center, it’s super accessible to run—and then grab a coffee or breakfast post-run.
If you’re a Denver local, where are your favorite spots?