Update--Marathon Training and More

So next to me sits a stack of race bibs.  I normally write on the back of them shortly after I finish a race.  I put the time I got, my splits, and my place.  Not now.  Life is just going way too fast.  Time with the baby is too precious for me.  LOTS of little things have slipped through the cracks, and this is just one of them.

But still.

I want to keep up this blog for me and anyone else reading who cares what a five-month postpartum mother's running looks like.

5Ks In the Fall
I picked up my miles in the fall, mainly starting after the baby began to consistently sleep through the night (around 2 months).  I was/am able to run 3-4 miles each morning.  Not back to my usual 6+, but I'll take it for now.  I also started adding in a longer run of around 12 miles in September, around 16 in November, and around 20 miles in November.

I raced Liz Hurley (October 18 21:42 1st AG), Spooktacular (October 25 21:23 1st AG), and the Krispy Kreme Challenge (that one with my son.  We did not eat a dozen donuts--he had 4 and I had 3.  We ran the whole time though--a little over 4 miles, and we had a blast!).

I noticed that I've placed in my age group or overall in every 5K I've done since having the baby (the other summer 5Ks were Twilight 5K (July 19 25:07 with my son 3rd AG), Run for Hope (August 2 23:33 2nd OAF), Monte Sano 5K (August 30 23:25 1st AG).

5Ks since baby:
25:07
23:33
23:25
21:42
21:23

I've also picked up my pace to around 21 minutes.  I'm happy with that, given that I'm not doing speed work.  I've been surprised to have gotten an age group or overall award at each of these 5Ks too.  It's been good motivation for me to run as hard as I can.

Running With the Kids

I've really loved the 2 races I did with my son, along with some other runs just for fun.  I love running with him!  Here we are before the Krispy Kreme Challenge.

My daughter ran a one-mile for her school and fell at the start.  What to do???  I'm so proud to say that she got right back up and kept running, even while blood was trickling down her leg and she was fighting back tears.  Her time was around 8 minutes, and she was 2nd place in her grade.  She's tough, and I love that about her.  

Rocket City Marathon Training

I've marathon trained (probably my worst training cycle ever), and I'm going to attempt pacing the 4:10 group on Saturday.  I still nurse the baby exclusively, and that adds TONS of challenges. Timing, wardrobe issues, etc. just to name a few.  I managed one 20-miler but felt some weird pelvic pain on and off the night afterwards.  I'm not sure if it's too early after having the baby to attempt it.

This will be my fourth time to pace, and it's something I find both challenging and rewarding at the same time!  Here are a couple of pictures of my favorite experience pacing, back in 2012.  Rick and I paced the 3:45 group (my fastest pace group yet), we were dead on-pace, he kissed me at the finish line, and they used our photos for race publicity.  A good experience for sure!