December 2018

Highlights—and Mileage—of our 2018 Running

Before the ball drops in Times Square tonight, we had to be all trendy and offer up our own Year in Review story.

No jaw-dropping news or best Netflix lists here; instead, highlights and mileage from some of the fabulous women that are integral in keeping this #BAMR machine running.

ADRIENNE

Writer, Another Mother Runner

According to Strava, as of Dec. 26, I’ve run 870 miles in 2018. Looking at my training plan and the weather for the rest of the year, I figure I’ll add another 20 by the time the ball drops in Times Square. While it’s oddly frustrating to not end the year on a nice round number like 900, I’m satisfied with the miles I’ve run. Some have been tedious, a couple have been terrible, but the vast majority have been exactly what I’ve needed.

DIMITY

Co-Founder, Another Mother Runner

According to Strava, I’ve run 280 miles in 2018, which is about 270 more than I thought I would be able to run last year at this time, when I was in the middle of a six-month, can’t-be-chronically-injured-anymore hiatus from running. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to run pain-free again. Thrilled I can run enough to do fun races like Swim Run in August with my pal Katie—and I’ve also done plenty of hiking, biking, and strength training. (Speaking of swimming, I logged 148 miles in the pool in 2018.)

KATIE

Director of Marketing, Another Mother Runner

Something clicked for me in 2018. Maybe its because my body has finally bounced back after 2+ years of cancer treatment, I’m letting go of pace and distance goals and just letting myself run. Or maybe it’s because I can count on 45 minutes of peace and quiet when I’m out on the road. Whatever the reason is, I’m grateful for this tribe that inspires and motivates me to get out the door and I’m looking forward to running my FIRST marathon in 2019!

MAGGIE

Social Media Manager, Another Mother Runner

I don’t track mileage but my 2018 was the year I got back on track with being consistent with running. Typically I get about 3 -4 miles 3 days/week, and try for a 8-10 miler on the weekend or on Fridays as a way to celebrate heading into the weekend. I’ve also started encouraging my family to join me. We capped off our 2018 year of adventures with a frosty 5 miles on Christmas Eve!

MELISSA G.

Retreat Director, Another Mother Runner

Running this year was one marked by many grateful, thankful miles. A highlight was running my favorite relay, Cascade Lakes Relay, in Central Oregon for the seventh time. It was extra special because my BAMR friend from New Jersey, Kim, and her husband, Dave flew in to be on my team. Van 2 was more fun than ever!

MELISSA T.

Assistant, Train Like a Mother Club

I’m thrilled to have run about 840 miles in 2018, most of them in the second half of the year. The first half the year, I focused on surgery recovery, strength work, and pelvic floor PT, all of which have improved my running and set me up for an exciting 2019! Highlights of this year included placing 4th in my age group at a local 5K (including my first ever running trophy!), and battling a nor’easter at the Cape Cod AMR retreat to finish a meaningful post-injury half marathon!

MICHELLE

Assistant, Another Mother Runner

The picture is from one of only three races I ran all year, and I’ll be ending the year with about 670 miles total, which is 1,000 miles less (!!) than I ran last year.

Being on the injured list for almost 4 months really changed my perspective, and made me realize that I will always define myself as a runner, but running does not define me. This year has taught me a lot about humility, patience, and gratitude. I am thankful for every mile I run these days: the ones that are a total slog, and the ones where I feel like I’m flying, and every day between. Grateful and happy that I get to do this.

SARAH

Co-Founder, Another Mother Runner

Running in 2018 was working around injury—first Molly’s knee, then my foot. Molly and I convened to do Cyclebar, barre class, and open-water swim, but nothing compares to talking about everything and nothing as we pound out the miles. Thankfully, we are back up to one midday run and one longer weekend run—and I topped 600 miles in 2018.

SUSAN

Manager, Train Like a Mother Club

I am not a meticulous tracker of my runs, but thanks to Strava I can share I covered 1,300 miles in 2018 over 255 runs –– the most runs I’ve run in a year in the eight years since I became an adult-onset mother runner.

High points: attending BOTH AMR retreats, and running my first destination marathon at one of them (Ogden, and it was GORGEOUS; and Julie shot this selfie at the start). I also ran the Ocean City, NJ Half in September — the weather was glorious, and I had all.the.fun.

TISH

Writer, Another Mother Runner

2018 mileage: 1,910

I ran all the major distances—5K, 10K, half-marathon, marathon—though not in that order and more by serendipity than genius planning. Plus, I wrote about all the distances for Another Mother Runner AND The New York Times, so that feels like a neat trick.
Nina, 14, took this picture around mile 24 of November’s New York City Marathon.

How many miles did you run in 2018?
What was a highlight of your running year?

#344: Co-Hosts Look Back at 2018 + Ahead to 2019 Races

 

An annual tradition, Sarah chats with her coterie of co-hosts to talk about the highs and lows of the past year—and what races the gals are eyeing in the New Year.

Molly; Tish; Dimity; Amanda; Maggie: All share insight + laughs. E.g.
– Dimity talking about how her focus is now on “adventures instead of races; experiences instead of data.”

– Amanda on how she keeps her motivation burning bright and stays injury free as a runner in her early 50s who routinely logs 35 to 40 weekly miles.

– Maggie, amid loads (loads!) of laughs tells why she got emotional in a recent seaside half-marathon.

Nuun drinking game? Chug every time someone says the phrase “air quotes” or even seems to use them; drink twice every time Dim says it.

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Enjoy Chosen Foods oils, salad dressings, and ancient grains: Get 50% off orders of $10 or more by using promo code MOTHERRUNNER at chosenfoods.com/amr
Go to GreenChef.us/AMR to get $50 off your first box of GreenChef. 

Dry Martini: Not About a Holiday Run

The column I’d planned for today — yes, I do plan these (sort of (a little)) — was going to be all about running in Montreal in the winter, when my beloved Lachine tow path is an ice sheet. Life, however, did what it does sometimes.

Lucy’s the one in the front. Lobo, the big white one, seemed to pick up that she was feeling poorly.

Ten days ago, our almost 7-year old corgi seemed a little off. A few days later, despite the meds our vet put her on, our Lucy lost control of her back limbs and had to pull herself around by her front legs like a seal. She was also clearly in pain. We gathered her up, went to our local vet, who sent us 2-ish hours away to the Cornell Vet School. Because it’s better to send your injured pet to an Ivy rather than a state college — and because that was one of the few places in a 200-mile radius of Oneonta that was able to do a dog MRI after hours on a Monday.

Two things you should know now, just so that you don’t have to live with a grinding sense of dread:

  1. Lucy is alive.
  2. While we are happy #1 is true, the next six weeks might be the death of us all.

Lucy isn’t my first pet. I know the reality of dog and cat lifespans. It’s one of the deals you make. Unless I wind up the proud (and perplexed) owner of a tortoise or macaw, I will face that awful day when it’s kinder to end my beloved companion’s suffering. It is the last act of mercy we give them.

This wasn’t that day.

That weird blob in the middle of the image is not what you want to see in an MRI, canine or human.

Imaging showed Lucy had slipped and/or ruptured one of the discs in her spine, which is a hazard for dogs with long backs and stumpy legs. The disc material was pushing on her spinal cord and, at this point, only surgery would stop the pain. The odds of her regaining control of her bladder and bowels, to say nothing of walking, were about 50/50.

Oh, and it would be several thousand dollars to even get us that outcome.

Lucy’s front half was in perfect working order and was remarkably chipper, even with the pain — and, frankly, that made all of the difference. While we can’t throw thousands of dollars at anything quickly, we are fortunate enough to be able to make it work. We will be uncomfortable, mind, but not bankrupt. We can also now claim that one family member went to Cornell, even if we can no longer afford to send any other family members there.

Long story short (too late, I know), Lucy’s home again, not in agony, and recovering. Her bowels and bladder are operating voluntarily (hurray!) and her back limbs are sort of working. She still might wind up one of those corgis on a wheelie cart, which isn’t the worst thing to have ever happened. If that is the outcome, we will put flame decals and glitter all over it. The other corgis will be jealous of her sweet ride.

The running around will have to wait. Until the end of January, she is on crate rest, which means she can go on short walks to pee but has to spend most of her time locked up so that her back can heal. She is already against the confinement. I can only imagine how much barking and general grousing will fill our new year. When she gets on my last nerve, I’ll need you all to remind me how glad I am that she’s still with us.

My legs still work so I ran what I was scheduled to run, which included 8 x 400 at the track in the snow.

Which brings me back to Montreal. We’d planned to spend Christmas week with friends of ours up in Canada. It’s a quick drive and a pleasant change of scenery. Yes, it’s cold — but we were going to be cold anyway. I’d rather freeze surrounded by poutine and Tim Horton’s.

With Lucy’s confinement, the plan had to change because there’s just too much to ask a dog-sitter to do. I took one for the team. On Christmas Day, we had our traditional waffle breakfast and did the gift thing, then my husband and the kids took off for the Great White North. I teared up briefly when they left.

Hang on to that image for just one second.

A couple of days ago, I finished up my long run on our high school track. There was woman there in her late 20s, walking fierce laps while being trailed by two pre-school kids. We made eye contact as she was gathering the kids (who were resisting being gathered) so that they could leave. She sighed and said, “We’re only five hours into winter break and already … “

She trailed off because her daughter was trying to climb her while her son dragged his coat through a puddle by the bleachers.

“Been there,” I said. “Dig deep. You got this.”

While I’ll miss spending this holiday week with my most favorite humans, I won’t miss the bickering and the grousing. In fact, I’ve been looking forward to the only one I need to feed/amuse/drive around/clean up after is me. I can exhale after the last week of worry. This unscheduled and unstructured time one of the best Christmas gifts I could have received.

That’s not to say I’m happy about how I wound up with this little staycation. I’d much rather have a dog who is healthy. But when life hands you a wheelie cart, bedazzle the crap out of it.

What has been your most unexpected gift, running or otherwise?

#343: Nutrition on The Four Top

Sarah and co-host Ellison chat in the intro, then the episode has Sarah as a guest on a podcast called The Four Top, a roundtable discussion with the co-authors of Good Food, Great Medicine. Topics covered include carbohydrates, protein bars, and bowls. Definitely listen to hear Sarah’s TMI question about corn!

In the intro, Ellison talks about defending her age-group title in a hometown 5K. Then, of course, the convo turns to books: Ellison is savoring Pachinko, while SBS is engrossed by The Golden Age of Murder. (It’s less creepy than it sounds!) This leads the ladies to sing the praises of non-fiction books. The Four Top episode starts at 23:50.

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Thanks, Wander Beauty. Get 20% off at WanderBeauty.com/amr

Training For My First Marathon: The Beauty of Boredom

Marathon

Hanging with Albert mid-run.

[Follow—and cheer for—Pam, a #motherrunner of two in Decatur, Georgia, as she trains for her first marathon. Check out previous entries.]

On Thursday of last week, my alarm went off at 4:15.  I climbed out of my cozy bed and wandered into the bathroom, where I had laid out my clothes, shoes, and gear the night before. I pulled on a sports bra, a lightweight sweatshirt, fleece-lined running tights, and the world’s most comfortable and versatile running vest, followed by socks, shoes, and heart-rate monitor chest strap. I added an ear-warming headband and gloves for added, plus a NoxGear Tracer 360 and Knuckle Lights for visibility—make fun all you want, northerners (I’m looking at you, SBS!), but 25* is COLD here in the south—then headed out the door for an easy 6 miles.

I don’t have much to say about those 6 easy miles, other than that I kept them easy (average pace 11:16, HR 140), and they were chilly and dark: just another midweek, bread-and-butter marathon-training run. I came home to a pile of suitcases by the door and two little girls, 2 and 4, bouncing off every available surface, including one another, in their excitement to visit Nana and Pop-Pop in North Carolina.

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to foresee that I was unlikely to have the energy for a run after eight or nine hours of handing out snacks, switching back and forth between Peppa Pig and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Kindles, and ignoring intermittent screaming about who was touching whom. So getting the run in beforehand was vital.

The day after driving to North Carolina, my husband Erik and I said goodbye to the girls and the grandparents, and set off toward Bethesda, MD, to meet my cousin’s new baby (6 weeks old, sweet and snuggly, did nothing whatsoever to my own ovaries, thank you very much). The next morning I took advantage of their proximity to the Capital Crescent Trail to encompass the Mall and a number of monuments in my 17-mile run.

Marathon

Just keep running, just keep running.

Echoing the general tone of my recent training, there were big chunks of that long run when I was simply not feeling it. I enjoyed the first mile or so of running through the woods before boredom struck, leaving me as sullen as a teenager forced to spend Friday night watching a black and white film with my parents when I wanted to be out partying with my friends. But the plan said 17 miles, dammit, and the city was only a few miles away, so I pressed play on my Trekz Air headphones and listened to Sarah and Tish interview some BAMRs who crushed it in the Twin Cities.

The podcast kept me going until the Potomac suddenly appeared in front of me, the National Monument beckoning me from a distance. I paused the podcast and continued my run with renewed energy and motivation. I ran along the river past the Georgetown boathouse, skirting a labyrinth and some fountains, crossed a busy intersection, and approached the Lincoln Memorial.

The miles along the reflecting pool, around the World War II memorial, and the National Monument ticked by without much notice from me, as I spent all my attention on the beauty surrounding me. I availed myself of President Lincoln’s (heated!) hospitality—thank you, National Park Service—made a quick detour across the street to visit Albert Einstein, and then headed back toward the river to find my way back home.

Marathon

All smiles touring the sites de D.C.

The second the Mall was behind me, the ennui hit once again. I turned the podcast back on and realized this was a perfect mental training opportunity. I’ve never run a marathon before, but I’m pretty sure there are going to be minutes or maybe even hours where the race is the last place I feel like being—and here I was, midway through a run I didn’t feel like finishing. How lucky was that?  I mean, what are the odds?  (Okay, fine, they’re probably in the triple digits.)

That’s the thing about marathon training: it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon!

The training itself is a (syllogistic) metaphor for the race, as are many of the individual runs. There are moments, hours, days, weeks, in which the desire to finish is buried so deeply that is impossible to locate.  In those times during training, I rely on the mental discipline and muscle memory I’ve stockpiled  I set my alarm. I lay my clothes out the night before.  I make a running date with a friend.  I save up my favorite podcasts only to be accessed in case of emergency  I remind myself that if I fail to practice something in training, I’m not magically going to be able to make it happen in a race.

The AMR podcast carried me through two or three miles until I met up with my husband, who had come to join me for the final stretch.  I told him about the monuments I saw and how I had just discovered that boredom can be an excellent training tool.  We chatted about our children (wonderful and frustrating), our jobs (status quo), about why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings, until the aqueduct indicating our turnoff appeared.

Boredom: Happen to you on runs?
If yes, you cool with it or not?

#342: Becoming a Runner in Different Decades

Sarah and co-host Amanda Loudin connect with four women to hear about how they each started to run in a different decade. First in line is Julie Mayne Baker, who began running in her 20s—nearly four decades ago. Julie shares how her running changed over the years; find out what launched her into marathons in her 40s. The started-in-her-30s runner is Erin Wright, who took her first running steps after the birth of her second baby. Laugh (and nod!) along as Erin admits how the idea of alone-time was a major motivation to get out the door. Next up is Erica Richards who, you guessed it, started running in her 40s, and who offers up a resounding reason why it’s great to enter the running realm “later in life.” Erica teaches SBS a new definition of “B.C.” She also drops numerous pearls of wisdom about leaving behind guilt and sidestepping injuries. Last but not least is became-a-runner-in-her-5th-decade Donna Lehmann, who sings the praises of cold-weather running. She gives loads of witty advice, including how to respond to naysayers and doubters. Regardless what age you became a runner, you’ll relate to and learn from these four gals.

In the intro, Amanda talks about playing nurse-maid for her her senior-year son, who just got his wisdom teeth out that morning. The duo welcomes the first guest at 13:10.

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