March 3 has finally arrived!
Our third book, Tales From Another Mother Runner should be hitting shelves and mailboxes across the country today! (And yes, we kind of think of it as our third baby. Except that labor was last fall, and we’ve fully recovered, so now we’re all: Isn’t she cute? And that wasn’t that hard, was it?)
To celebrate the arrival, we’ve got another serving of Tales From Another Mother Runner Thursday, where we preview one of the essayists. While our names are on the cover, the book is a truly celebration of this amazing, badass community: not only does it contain 22 essays from a range of talented writers and mother runners, it has miles of insight, advice, stories, and humor from hundreds of you.
Bethany Meyer (of Bethany Takes on Boston fame) has a great piece—and here’s a glimpse of it.
Important Schedule Note: We’ve flushed out much of the information for our events for the first half of 2015. Check it all out here–we’re headed for the East Coast next week!
My running history: I grew up an athlete, but was never a runner. Running was merely a means to an end. Whenever my high school field hockey coach yelled, “18 minute run, ladies!” my protests could be heard over everyone else’s. When my Dad was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, I grudgingly began running to manage my stress. I ran each day of his treatment and offered up every step to his health. Once his treatment had ended, running was no longer a means to an end. It was an integral part of my routine, and it has been ever since.
My writing history: Stories are my thing. I love to read them, I love to tell them, and I recently realized that I love to write them. My husband is a character. We have four sons together. We don’t have many boring days, so there is never a shortage of material. I started writing three years ago because no one in my house would sit still long enough to listen to my stories. I’ve continued writing because–just like a long run–it has become a form of therapy for me. Writing provides me the opportunity to process my feelings and embrace a creative side I didn’t realize existed for most of my life.
Quick recap of my essay “Who Needs Prada? I’ve Got Coach.”: When I found out I was going to compete in a Ragnar Relay as a member of Team SBS, I worried about how to train for it. It’s an unorthodox race. A friend of mine is a running coach, and he offered to coach me. He is a sub elite runner, and I am a Mom who runs to connect with my friends. And so that my jeans still sorta fit. Not exactly two birds of a feather. But he knows and understands me. And I trust him. So I hired him to be my coach. It is a strong possibility that I’m doing this parenting thing wrong, but I wind up doing a great deal of thinking for everybody else in my house. Enlisting the help of a running coach was like asking someone else to think for me. I loved every minute of it.
The merits of having a Coach: I get more value from my running coach than I do a gym membership. I’d tell somebody who is wondering to hire someone reputable and make sure you connect with him or her. Be honest, provide full disclosure, trust your coach, do the work, and enjoy the ride.
Gotta-have gear: Sugar free gum. It’s a must. My legs don’t move unless I’m chewing it.
Recent memorable run: A friend and I did a long run over the weekend. Less than a mile in, we spied an ice sculpture of the iconic Philly Love sign right in the median of the typically busy Ben Franklin Parkway. A mile from there, we were two fish swimming upstream against the Philadelphia Flower Show’s first Run Into Spring 5K. Eleven miles later, we bumped into the Northeast Roadrunner’s Winter 10K. It was exhilarating seeing so much activity around our city! We got a sense that spring is just around the bend. Pay no attention to the snow that arrived later in the afternoon.
Recent horrible run: We are experiencing an icy winter in Philadelphia. Last week it forced me indoors for a 10-mile treadmill run. I like the treadmill for speed. Not so much for distance. When that treadmill automatically shut down an hour into my run, I felt like it was saying, “Outstanding, Bethany! Now go get a large Dunkin Donuts coffee and enjoy the day with your family!” I would have loved to have listened to that treadmill. Unfortunately, I still had miles to go.
Next up on my running calendar: Boston, baby! Do you think the snow will melt by April 20th?
Great job on getting that treadmill run in. I’ve yet to do a long treadmill run with this nasty winter, but I did do 8 miles on a indoor (8 laps to a mile) track and 13 running around the same few blocks in my neighborhood. I can’t wait for spring and clear pavement!
So happy that you were able to get out, and see others running outside as well.
We have been lucky enough to find a little window of time almost every weekend to run outdoors. We are fortunate to have snow packed rural roads rather than icy ones. It is sad when you regard 20 degrees as a heat wave. I don’t see any of our snow melting in the near future, altho the light has a spring-like quality to it and the days are getting longer.
Hopefully the snow will be gone in Boston by Marathon Monday :)