Train Like a Mother Club News: Are you planning on being in Pittsburgh on May 6 + 7? We will have a shake-out run + a #BAMR get-together on May 6. All are welcome; sign up here to be notified of details!

Programs Opening This Week: Simply Nourish Like a Mother (6 weeks); Sprint Triathlon (12 weeks for July, August, early September races); and 5K SUCCESS (12 weeks for July/ August races).
Now, on with the post…

In just a few short days, I’ll be gunning for a PR at the Sachuest Point 10K. And, literally, just as I started to write this and was opening links to figure out how to spell “Sachuest,” I realized that their description of the race as a 10K++ wasn’t just a cute typographical treatment. It is actually 6.7 miles rather than standard 6.2.

*insert a surprised/flummoxed/shrugging emoji here*

Upside: it’ll be a PR because I’ve never run an official 6.7 mile race. Downside: I won’t have a shot at an official 10K PR. I’m still working out how much I care about the downside, however. I’ll have to get back to you on that. Regardless of my feelings about the race’s distance, an hour and some minutes spent running by the ocean is always good.

When last we spoke, I was just about to set off on a 13-mile training run becauseI’ll be running (and working the AMR booth!) the Pittsburgh half marathon May 7 and Coach has me working in some longer runs in between the short, speedy ones. Upside of that 13-mile long run: I found a dollar!

Folding cash money!

Downside: pretty much everything else. Not only was this a few days after our area was hit by Stella, which left us with three feet of snow to find new places for so that we could leave our houses, I also really didn’t feel like doing it. Some days, the long run runs you.

The running has gotten better since then as has the weather. I wouldn’t say that it’s finally spring but we can maybe see it a little bit from here. A singular crocus bloomed on my front lawn this week. The low skies and snow are sticking around but I have hope that their days are numbered.

While the circumstances behind the balloons are sad — the owner of this shop recently died — the picture itself really sums up early spring in this part of the country.

The weather followed me to Chicago, which is where I was for a few days last week to attended a conference of alumni magazine professionals. Yes, there are such conferences. Yes, they are really enjoyable if you’re into alumni magazines. Given that my job-job is writing and editing an alumni magazine, it’s a great fit. If that isn’t your job (or, I guess, hobby), you might not dig it.

Last year, the same conference was in San Antonio, Texas. Not only did I take an official running tour of the city, I got to hook up with a posse of mother runners to run a less busy bit of the river walk. I figured I’d at least work in a scamper along Chicago’s waterfront. But March in Chicago is different from March in Texas, which is one of the most “no duh” sentences ever written. When I pulled back the curtain to figure out what to wear before I got my sweat on, rather than face a sunshiney morning on the other side of the glass, I was met with 35 degrees and sleet. Because I am a wuss (and there was no one waiting for me), I just went back to bed.

I regret nothing.

While the weather was definitely a downside, there was a lot of up. When I found out the dates I’d be in Chicago, I immediately looked at the Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me taping schedule, like you do, and the scheduling gods smiled. Not only did I get to see how they make the public radio magic, this happened:

Me and Peter Sagal. I’m the one with glasses.

Because a photographer friend, who is friends with Peter Sagal, suggested it, I brought my NYC marathon medal to show off. And so I did. Shortly before I snapped this selfie, in fact. My new BRF Peter and I talked briefly about marathons and New York City. While my time for that race was just about double his, we agreed that the last hour is awful whether your are going fast or slow. That might be the glue that holds all runners together. Or maybe the Gu. Something like that.

What have been your upsides and downsides this week?