The Training Plan That Helped Me “Own” 13.1 Miles

The Training Plan That Helped Me “Own” 13.1 Miles
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Five years ago, I sat in my newly-appointed OB’s office and nearly cried as he informed me that being six weeks pregnant meant Absolutely No Running the New York City Marathon in 10 days. No matter that I had trained for it all summer. No matter the three 20-mile long runs under my belt and the weekly track sessions that were supposed to help me run an under-4.

I was looking forward to motherhood. But sob. Would it change running? Forever?

And so for the next three years, it did. Lack of sleep was exhausting. Raising an overly active baby – and then toddler – while working full time was all-consuming. There was no time to train! Hardly any time to run! The few four-mile races I signed up for, I did mostly as an excuse to watch our son do the kids’ runs afterwards. (Too cute!)

All those excuses were later used to justify running a half marathon with no training, then sleeping through the alarm for the next one. I needed a kick in the buttocks like I need those first three cups of coffee in the morning.

That kick came earlier this year, courtesy of those two books: Run Like a Mother
and Train Like a Mother. I don’t remember how I found them, but as soon as I looked over the reviews and peeked at the first pages, I was sold. Read more

A Personal Best!

A Personal Best!
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My 2012 San Jose Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon began like many other races: in close proximity to a porta-potty.

No, really, here’s a photo of my view just as the gun went off. The porta-potty was to my immediate left and in front of me were several dozen runners, patiently waiting to walk onto the course from the side of the street. (Note for next year, San Jose, if you plan to have a record 14,000+ runners again, do allow more space for each corral, will you?)

So anyway. Having taken care of all bodily needs at another porta-potty (one featuring a line of at least 50 people, may I say), I said a quiet little prayer that I wouldn’t have to pee again for at least 13.2 miles and tippy-toed across the start a mere 2 minutes, 24 seconds later.

I started my RunKeeper, pushed shuffle on my favorite Spotify playlist, and the second the first song started — Savage Garden’s Affirmation — I knew, I just knew that this race was going to be epic. Read more

Winging It

Winging It
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A couple of years ago, I had the following conversation with a coworker:

Coworker: How’s it going?
Me: Good, good. Busy. You?
Coworker: Oh, I’m good. I ran a marathon this weekend so I’ve been sore for the past few days, but I’m doing better already.
Me: A marathon? How did I not know you were training for a marathon?
Coworker: Oh, I didn’t. A buddy called me on Saturday, asking if I wanted to do the San Francisco half marathon with him. So I said, sure. But I felt really good at the end of the half, so I just decided to keep going and do the whole thing. Read more