A Running Mom

Do you know someone who constantly surprises you with incredible feats of brilliance, strength or character? I do. I feel lucky to know him, let alone be married to this guy for 14 years, tomorrow. 

This weekend, he overcame a bunch of obstacles which would have become a deal-breaker for most people, and he finished the Pittsburgh Marathon! He was hardly sore the next day. He’s amazing.  

Hats off to all runners who participated Sunday. You all rock!

Let’s all use these inspirational people in our lives to achieve something great. Maybe we’ll inspire someone else! And you can see how that goes… : )

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

Just ran a fabulous, hilly 4 and I feel wonderful. This song is stuck in my mind. I love it. And it bears a significance to me right now, as I reflect on the past few months in the life of our daughter, a 6th grader.  She’s found “the greatest love of all” this year. Maybe you’ll understand better when you read the story.

Over the past few months, my husband and I have learned about our daughter’s struggle to confront a bully in her school. Good news is that she did it. Now she’s establish herself with a group of happy and helpful friends who believe in the goals she’s setting for herself for the end of the school year. Her strength to move away from the bully didn’t come from watching role models of mean girls on tv or today’s mean girl movies. She didn’t read about what to do in the “chic lit” stories that the bully loves to read. And candidly, she didn’t follow any specific advice from me or my husband. We had no idea that she was even being bullied. But something we’ve been saying did help to spark her inner voice. This, coupled with a few anti-bullying initiatives at her school, seemed to help her identify the bullying problem.

See, we always discuss with our kids how important it is to choose good friends. We’ll ask them, “Which friends are helping you become the best ‘you’ that you can be?”  Well, this year, as our daughter started to meet some new girls in middle school, she found herself thinking about her friends. She started to evaluate which ones were helping her become the best kid she could be. I find this amazing. But this is what she tells us. Then, her school started to educate the kids on what it means to be bullied.  So she found herself struggling with her friendship with a girl who, unbeknownst to us, constantly degraded her, insulted her, and started even physically pushing her. Sometimes she was nice. Most of the time she created havoc. Our daughter came to realize that this girl who she had known for years, wasn’t a friend at all. Our daughter realized, on her own, that she was actually being bullied. She told me that she thought to herself, “I don’t have to put up with it anymore.” And she spoke with her school counselor and made arrangements to be moved away from the bully. My husband and I did notice a dramatic change in our daugher: She became happier. More fun. Nicer to her siblings. Started doing better in school. Wearing more creative clothing. And now she’s even taking better care of herself. Unbelievable.

Now that we know the whole story, we’ve gotten involved with the school, with our daughter’s ongoing interactions with the girl, and to an extent, even the family. It turns out, this girl had been bullying more girls than just our daughter. The parents seem incredibly surprised at their daughter’s behavior. And since we all agreed that it does no good to allow anyone to continue behaving this way, the family responded quite pro-actively. Hopefully this experience will end up having a positive impact on many more than just our daughter.

So you see, it’s been an amazing few months.

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

Photo Credit: www.wickedrunningclub.com

I don’t know these people, but don’t they look like fun? They look like a bunch of friends who have run a few races together. They’re probably the kind of group of friends that gets together to run a couple of races a year. They email back ‘n forth their training schedules. They offer each other motivation to keep running. And they most likely have a blast when they run those races.

The NYRRC has a fabulous crowd of runners who get each other out all winter, spring summer, and fall, with a variety of races in all kinds of distances. You get a bunch of people to sign up and run a race together, meet up at a local, fun restaurant or pub afterwards, hang out and enjoy some good food, drinks and a bunch of giggles, and the whole thing becomes a fabulously fun time. I just love it. And I miss it, now that I’m not in NYC any more!

In my town, there are a couple of groups who get the races going and I’m now discovering a whole new world of friends who lace up their shoes on the weekends for a good run. Maybe I can get them to meet me and my fave person out for a celebratory snack, toast or beer. These people in this picture have inspired me to get out and make my next long run a really festive one. I can’t wait to deserve the celebration that will follow. Shall I try and run 9? Too soon to tell.

I’m up for some wicked good running, aren’t you? 

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

my favorite run

The start of the race is important to me. Sometimes race directors line you up in some random, tight space that feels more like a cattle chute than the beginning of a race that required some training on your part. The Chicago Marathon has a start that is a little like that. The Marine Corps Marathon lacks a bit in the starting arena, too. Both races are phenomenal in total, but the start? Not so fabulous.

For me? The New York City Marathon start is unbelievable. Bam! You’re running over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. In an instant, your memory-making begins. It won’t matter how well you run that race, there are 2 points in running the New York City Marathon that you won’t ever forget: the start and the finish. 

The Fairfield Half Marathon used to have a start that left quite an impression, too. Same with the Shelter Island 10K. Even the Hoboken 5K (I think?) offers a lasting impression of the neighborhood-all-out-in-the-street-to-support-the-race kind of feeling that makes every runner happy to be out on the course and taking part in the run.

All it takes is a key visual, like a peek at the ocean or a downtown full of spectators, the race gives the runner a feeling of something special; unique; memorable.

What are some of your fave starts of races? Why? What should my half marathon training race?

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

Photo Credit: http://farm3.static.flickr.com

My friend, Karen, and I, used to run together in New York City. We both loved to chat and run, so we made perfect running companions. She joined the NYRRC and began training for longer and longer runs. Next thing I knew, I started running longer and longer runs, too. If Karen could run that far, I started to think, then I can too. Before I even realized how far we were running, we were training for the NYC Marathon.

I ran my first marathon in 4:32, back in the days before running chips. I had to wait 16 minutes before I crossed the starting line, and then, at mile 2, I needed to relieve myself so badly that I waited in one of the hideous lines for a portajohn for 15 minutes! I finished that race with confidence that I could break 4 hours one day. I immediately began to plan for my next marathon.

After I had my first child, I ran my second marathon and managed to shave off 16 minutes. 

Then I ran my third marathon and somehow managed to add them back.

My fourth marathon was going swimmingly. I reached 13 at an 8:30 pace but found my hamstrings in full charlie horse mode by mile 22, and finished the race with a personal best by minutes.

All I need to do is keep a 9 minute mile pace, and I can do it. I can break 4 hours!

So I’m planning my 5th marathon. And I really think I’ll do it this time. 

Any advice?

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

happy friends make us happy

Photo Credit: www.entrepreneurthearts.files.wordpress.com

I love it when a study comes out that kinda makes you go “hmmm…” This is exactly the case with a recent study that shows that if you have sisters, you’re likely to be a happier person. How ’bout that? I think about me, as the youngest in my family, with 6 sisters, and I have to wonder, is this why I’m a happy person?

When I look back at growing up with 6 sisters, I cannot say it felt like a party. I often felt like I had 6 mothers. But according to a new study from England, growing up with sisters makes you happier and more optimistic. Professor Tony Cassidy from the University of Ulster explains:

Sisters appear to encourage more open communication and cohesion in families. However, brothers seem to have the alternative effect. Emotional expression is fundamental to good psychological health and having sisters promotes this in families.

Cassidy says that this may be because boys are taught not to discuss things the way girls are. Those who scored the lowest in terms of happiness and optimism were boys who had only brothers. Only children scored somewhere in the middle.

My sisters may have made me a happy person, but I bet there’s a study to be found to suggest that close, female friendships make you a happy person, too. I look at my life today and fully realize that I have a wonderful group of women in my life that inspire me, push me on and make me laugh on a daily basis. And isn’t that what happiness is all about?

It’s why I’m running in the morning around a little lake with hills, with a friend who makes me laugh.

Maybe she’s like a sister. Maybe I’ve been lucky enough to forge some great friendships that have become to me like a bunch of sisters who just keep making me happy.

In any case, I’m considering myself lucky. And happy. How do you find ways for emotional expression so you can enjoy “good psychological health.” Do you have sisters? Friends who are like sisters? Do you think this makes the difference for you?

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

Photo Credit: www.cfserve.org

I feel happy! Ecstatic! Clear-headed! Free!  

I RAN TODAY!

Ah. And the world has become a brighter, happier place indeed.

I owe it to a friend who rang this evening to catch me for a quick run, if I could join her. I had to ask my sick husband (yes, now he has the dreaded bug) to hang in there for a while longer and let me fly out the door. I had been wearing my running clothes all day long, hoping to sneak out for a quickie. But this one was sick… again… and that one needed that and before I knew it, it was SEVEN PM!  

When the phone rang, with that happy voice on the other end, begging me to steal out for a bit, I couldn’t resist. My poor hubby said he could manage (isn’t he the best ever?) and I bolted. It was just about 3 miles or so. But it was perfet. I had my happy, fun friend at my side. We told stories, complained, celebrated and pushed each other to run a little bit faster up that last hill, and shazam! I’ve got it back, baby.

I’ve got the power back! 

Not sure what’s next. But it just doesn’t matter sometimes, does it? I’m basking in the goodness of a good, honest run. It even felt a bit challenging, since I’ve been off my mileage for a few weeks now. Those 3 miles, with its few, long hills, will actually will leave me with a bit of soreness tomorrow. And you know what?  I will relish every slight twinge to the full. I ran. Boy, I needed that.

Here’s to you! Are you in a lull with your running? Have you found yourself in a bit of running cement? Don’t despair. You will overcome. You will get the power. Hang in there!

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

Photo Credit: downartimages.com

Can you say stomach bug? GADZ! My family fell victim to the strangest illness… sharp stomach pain, chills, feeling light-headed, no fever, and no other symptoms. Odd. We were down with it for 2 days.

Today we all woke up feeling fabulous. Beautiful day. Lots of great traditions in the works. Fun with friends.

Bad news? Today marks a full week of no running for moi.

Good news? My guys and I have a full week of bonding on the couch, relaxing, watching old movies and telling silly stories.  We’re in a rage for terrific performance this coming week!  Bring it on!

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

Photo Credit: Dudley Ladies

These ladies inspire me to keep running. They make a difference. They support each other. They stay healthy. Isn’t that inspiring to us all?

Here’s what I’ll be running to this weekend when I get the chance to lace up those shoes!  Try ‘em out and let me know if you run a little faster with these songs urging you on!

1. “Stronger” by Kanye West   

2. “Makes Me Wonder” by Maroon 5

3. “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga

4. “Live Your Life” by TI, featuring Rihanna

5. “You Found Me” by The Fray

6. “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga

7. “Sober” by Pink

8. “Love Story” by Taylor Swift

9. “How Far We’ve Come” by Matchbox Twenty

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

so: sick kids, spring break, traveling friends = no running for me.

eek!

more tomorrow. need to run to think clearly. all is kooky.

ever feel the same?

may your next run be a grand one.

rebecca