Another Mother Runner Cape Cod Running Retreat: The Recap

Although we had nearly 80 #motherrunners at our Cape Cod Retreat this weekend (27 states + Canada, represent!), there was one mother who crashed our party: Ma Nature.

She blew in in the form of a nor’easter on Saturday, the day of the
Cape Cod Half-Marathon.

Once we realized the weather forecast wasn’t going to budge, two perspectives prevailed:

—Running 13.1 miles in a nor’easter? Pretty much the definition of b*d*ss.

—You can only control yourself + your attitude. Energy or anxiety towards the weather is only wasted energy that could potentially go towards your running.

So we pepared as best we could. Justin Ross, mental mathematician he is, wrapped our minds around being clear about race day goals—and reminded us that psychological pain always lasts longer than physical pain. Ellie Kempton, nutritional guru, warmed us with nettle tea as she talked through hormones and plenty of other topics.

Kolleen, a TriggerPoint guru, took took care of any physical niggles we knew about—and plenty we didn’t as well. Coach Amanda, Coach MK, and Dimity met with athletes one-on-one to help them figure out their goals, plan for 2019 or otherwise smooth out a few running wrinkles.

And #motherrunner Carrie, also a yoga instructor, helped us ground ourselves—and open our hips—with two lovely yoga sessions.

That said, Ma Nature was a team player for most of the retreat.

Before the retreat started, we shot a few photos for some upcoming projects—and were reminded how many #motherrunnners run things.

Erica + Adrienne catching some waves and Vitamin D.

A Von BAMR Trapp family moment before we walked over to pick up our race bibs.

Lots of flat #motherrunners took to the private Facebook page on Friday night. The best part of this cute outfit? The purple bibs, special to BAMRS; with an out-and-back course, runners were able to identify each other easily, even in driving rain.

The purple bibs also helped our unbreakable cheering squad spot our runners. (The runner in the picture? Not a BAMR. Using this pic because it shows all our signs before they melted. Fortunately, the cowbells stayed intact throughout.)

This group of five BAMRS ran together with plenty of stops for pics—and sang songs along the way. Even with the multiple stops, Alana (in braids) was <60 seconds off her half-marathon PR.

Speaking of PR’s, these eight BAMRS hit a personal best while Mother Nature was at her personal worst.

We left no BAMR behind; Donna, in green, was all smiles + steadiness as a few of us accompanied her to the finish line.

Once we dried off, showered, dried off again, ate, napped, visited the Kennedy Museum and otherwise found our groove again, the celebration was ON.

 Mother Nature might bring our clambake indoors, but she can never take away our sense of humor.

Our mother/daughter pair for the weekend; Kathy, the mother (and grandmother) ran her first half-marathon this weekend—and the retreat was a holiday gift from Liz, her daughter!

Lots of other firsts at the retreat: first race expo for one; first yoga class for another; first time eating lobster the “real” way for many.

And then? Karaoke! Sarah + BAMR PAMR warmed us up.

Soon it was a group affair though, with roughly 88 backup singers + dancers on every song.

Including the friendliest bartenders ever.

So.much.fun. (And yes, this is Dimity, a very reluctant dancer, typing this and starfishing on the dance floor.)

Some of us wrapped up Sunday morning with—surprise!—more running on a dry, sunny day. (The marathon started later that morning.)

And some of us chose lattes + laughs from perhaps the best boulangerie most of us have experienced. (“Croissants?” said one BAMR. “I don’t even eat croissants, and I’ve had about four this weekend!”)

This post might come across as hear-all-about-my-vacation, which isn’t the intent.

If you’ve read this far, you are a part of the #motherrunner tribe, and our tentacles stretch far and wide, across oceans + politics + lifestyles + religion + every other thing that could easily group us otherwise these days.

But this retreat cemented (again) what we know to be true: there are certain traits that all #motherrunners, whether they’re beginners or have been at it for decades, inherently have—determination, a sense of humor, perspective, self-confidence, generosity, and, of course,an inclination towards endurance sports—that connect us both quickly and intimately.

We will always love rooting for and chatting with you via a keyboard + social media, but to be able to give + receive hugs in the middle of a nor’easter AND a half-marathon?

It just makes our bonds that much deeper.