TMI

Today is this Mother Runner’s child’s birthday. Five big ones for the little one!

I wish I could say I’ve spent the week crafting handmade decorations and hitting farmer’s markets in the area every day, carefully selecting the organic ingredients needed for the homemade cake, hors d’oeuvres and fresh-squeezed juice.

Oh, but we’re having a party at one of these places where they do everything for you, including the food: pizza. [I did opt for organic juice for the kids, though. Feeling like a good mom!]

So the party isn’t until late afternoon, but we already had a little pre-party celebration with cake: nothing like getting started on the sugar in the morning hours! But I was going to tell you how I got to the pre-party party.

Guess.OK, you guessed! I ran.

First, we drove to the location to drop off the cake and stuff, then HusbandRuns drove me roughly 10 miles out to Shoreline Drive in Mountain View (just so happens to be one my favorite places to run!), and I got started.Perfect day for a run: overcast, pleasantly cool, no wind. The miles flew!

And an hour and a half later:Cake time! [Oh yeah, he made me cut this whole “piece” for him.]

And because some of you may be thinking What kind of mother runs and shows up sweaty at her son’s birthday [pre-party] party?!?, I’ll tell you: the mother runner who needs to sneak in a long run. Hey, it’s all good though: I wore my “fancy” running outfit:“Mommy, you’re sweaty. Did you do a triathlon?” A few months ago, his first assumption was “did you go running?” Kid’s catching on!

Happy Birthday to our big runner boy! Now that he’s five, I should probably stop calling him BabyRuns. Any nickname ideas?

Hello from sunny foggy Santa Monica.

What up, SoCal, why you so cold? But hey, we’re good: the forecast for Sunday is a marathon-perfect 64 degrees. Phew!

Let’s just say that, barring a sudden weather change for the worse, we’ll be luckier than those who ran in 2011 and had to survive this:

Meanwhile, since we spent pretty much the entire day driving, I thought I’d show you some of the highlights of our road trip.

My Instagram followers [@AleksRuns] were treated to this incredibly scenic and beautifully composed image this morning. Sorry guys! But yes, this was our “mileage” for today!
Before this trip, we’d only traveled to LA in September or November, and pretty much all the green you see here (and in the photos below) has been yellow and dry. Much better this way!I kept it classy all the way:
[Except the two times we had to stop in the middle of I-5, because “Mommy, I need to go potty”–this literally 0.2 miles from a rest stop, but “I can’t wait.” And “My bottom hurts, can you wipe it?”]

Overall, the road to LA is quite scenic (even if you have to drive down a straight mile for the better part of three hours). And then you approach LA…
Good thing we had to deal with this horrendous traffic for only 10 miles, then checked into our hotel and immediately went back out to find an Italian restaurant for carboloading.
Excuse me, I meant proper carboloading:
In this family, no matter how quick you are with the camera, someone’s fingers always get to the deserts first!

Tomorrow, we’ll have to brave LA traffic again to go to the expo to pick up my bib and, undoubtedly, purchase whatever kid stuff they have for sale.

See you soon, LA!

This morning, at 5:18 sharp, I walked into the gym beaming with pride at my speed and efficiency. I had woken up at 5 — and been in the car by 5:05. Swoosh!

Then I realized I’d forgotten a bunch of stuff. Like my contact lenses. And clean underwear. #Awkward.

That made me think, how many awkward moments have I had courtesy of running/ working out? Too many!

Below, I’ve sampled a few for you. Not because they’re not absolutely embarrassing, but because I know that any good ol’ runner, swimmer, cyclist, gym goer or weekend warrior has experienced at least a few of those themselves. And if I’m sharing, so must you.

The awkward moment when you…

1. Go to the gym and realize that you forgot clean underwear the minute you’re done with that particularly sweaty workout.
[Tip: Wash your undies, then use the swimsuit spinner/ dryer to dry it up. Good as new and you’re welcome.]

2. Go to yoga class and realize that you haven’t shaved your armpits in a week. #Ohmmmmm.

3. Go for a run and Read more