Showing posts with label Running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Running. Show all posts
Monday, August 22, 2011
6 Miles with the Double Stroller
On Saturday, I ran 6 miles with the double stroller. That was the furthest that I have ever run with the babies. I didn't have the Garmin on that day, so I'm not sure what my pace was. Today, I ran 6 miles with them again. My pace was 9:53. It's fun to feel like I can still run strong with my two sweet babies in tow.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
I Wanna Be Like Daddy
Seriously, he just can't get enough of Daddy's book.
I'm hoping to start running with the babies in the morning before their first nap. It has been too hot to run with them in the afternoon. I tried it yesterday and it worked well. Today it was "cool" enough to run with them around 4 o'clock. I think I'll try the morning run again tomorrow and see how it goes.
I'm hoping to start running with the babies in the morning before their first nap. It has been too hot to run with them in the afternoon. I tried it yesterday and it worked well. Today it was "cool" enough to run with them around 4 o'clock. I think I'll try the morning run again tomorrow and see how it goes.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tobacco Road Marathon: Race Report
This is Jason's race report from the Tobacco Road Marathon that he ran on March 20. I'm so incredibly proud of him. He inspires me to do things that I never thought I could. He reluctantly agreed to let me post this on the blog. =)
After major competitions I find it useful to write a race report where I can reflect upon my training and how the day unfolded. There are so many valuable lessons that I want to preserve for future races. These reports are mostly for myself (I often re-read old reports in the days leading up to a race), but I thought I would share this report in case you are interested.
The Summary
As always, I am indebted to my lovely wife, Leslie. She continues to support my athletic endeavors and the training required to complete them. I would not be able to race without her love and support. Every Saturday morning she watched the babies until I returned home from my long runs (usually by 10 AM). Leslie - you are a rock star mother and a great wife and friend. I love you!
My previous marathon record was 3:18:59 (Chicago 2008). My goal going into the race was to meet the qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon (3:10:59). My "stretch" goal (which didn't come about until mid-way through my training when I realized it might be possible) was to break 3 hours.
I crossed the finish line in 3:00:21 (1:30:22 first half, 1:29:58 second half). The final miles were brutal, but I honestly thought I was on pace to break 3 hours. It wasn't until somewhere just after 25 miles that I realized I was going to fall just short. And at that point there was not much I could do change that.
Overall I am satisfied with my performance. I ran a well executed race and left everything out on the course. Now I only need to focus on achieving a 22 second improvement for the next race :)
The Details
On Sunday March 20, 2011 I competed in the Tobacco Road Marathon. It was the culmination of a focused 16-week marathon training program. This is by far the most I have trained solely for a marathon. It was also my first major competition since Ironman Canada in 2009. After that race I needed some serious recovery time. As a result I did not enter any races in 2010 (but in other fantastic news, 2010 was the birth year of our amazing twins Miles and Vivienne).
In September 2010 I started again with structured training (I put it off until the babies allowed us to get consistent sleep at night and the sleep deprivation wore off). As always, I needed a goal to keep me motivated. I find it hard to train just for training's sake. That gets boring real quick. The Tobacco Road Marathon offered a local race on a fast course, so I signed up.
6 weeks out from the marathon, I competed in the Goldsboro half marathon. After not racing for all of 2010, it was a much needed tune up race. Without a taper, I ran a 1:23:31 (6:23 per mile avg) and was extremely satisfied with the result. Based on this time as well as my longer tempo training runs, I started to believe that a sub-3 hour marathon might be possible. At my first job 10 years ago my office mate happened to be a sub-3 hour marathoner. I distinctly remember thinking that it would be near impossible for me to achieve that goal :)
I set my alarm for 5 AM on race morning. I had half a banana and one vanilla Ensure drink (250 calories) for breakfast. I immediately started sipping on a 32-ounce bottle of orange gatorade. At the race site I would nearly finish another vanilla Ensure drink as well as most of my gatorade bottle (needless to say I took a few trips to the port-o-potties that morning).
The race start was delayed about 15 minutes due to shuttle bus issues (luckily one of my friends scored us a VIP parking pass so we didn't have any trouble getting to the race venue with plenty of time to spare). I positioned myself about three-deep back from the starting line. After the gun went off, I made a concerted effort to go out easy. As a result, I was passed by many folks ... but I am not racing them today. I am racing myself and I am racing the clock. Besides, there is nothing to gain in the first mile of the marathon. I would rather be a little slow than too fast.
The first mile ticked off in 7:05. To hit my goal of sub-3 hours I need to average around 6:52 per mile for the entire race. After the first mile I slipped in behind a good group of about 5 or 6 runners. They were running very controlled and I heard them mention something about a 3 or 3:05 goal. So I decided to stick behind them for a while to see how things went. The first 8 miles were pretty easy. Around mile 9 we hit a slight uphill. Nothing major, but I guess everyone in our group was not paying very close attention to our pace on the hill. While we had consistently been hitting between mid 6:40s to mid 6:50s for our miles, mile 9 was 7:09 and would actually turn out to be my slowest mile. I remember that concerned me a little bit but not too much ... I simply resolved to not let that happen again.
We still had a good group together at the half way point. We crossed 13.1 miles in 1:30:22. Seeing that time didn't bother me too much, but I did obviously realize that I'd have to negative split the race to break 3 hours. Negative splitting is my typical race strategy, and it was my plan for this race. I ran the first half very controlled without a lot of exertion so I was fairly confident that I could bring it home fast enough for a sub-3 finishing time.
Knowing that we'd have to negative split, 3 of us in our group picked it up a bit and left the others behind. Miles 14-20 averaged 6:43 per mile. It was also during these miles where we started to pass a few folks that took it out too fast.
A small note about nutrition. I don't really like taking solids during a marathon. I was relying solely on the aid stations for my calories. Water and sports drink at every aid station. The cups were rather small (think Dixie cups) so it made it hard to get a lot of fluids. And I missed the aid station at mile 16 completely. That might have turned out to cost me at the end ... who knows.
This course has a turn around at mile 19. It was around 18 miles that I started "feeling it" for the first time. The miles weren't getting slower, but they were getting harder. I knew it was too early to really start pushing hard. But it was around this time I realized how much the final 8 miles were going to hurt. I was hoping to delay that hurt until 21 or 22 miles, but here it was earlier than expected. It also didn't help that our group of 3 had broken up. 2 of the guys went on ahead of me, but I was satisfied with my pace and effort level at this point in the race so I didn't chase them (I would ultimately re-pass one of the two at mile 23, but the other guy beat me by nearly a minute).
Just prior to the turnaround at mile 19, I passed an older gentlemen (50 years old). He looked to be struggling. But soon after the turn around he popped up again on my shoulder. We ran together off and on up until about mile 23, and it was nice to have someone to push the pace with. Somewhere between 22 and 23 I dropped him for good.
There is a long sloping hill for miles 23 and 24 (see the elevation profile at the end of the report). Once you get through this you are pretty much home free. These two miles were very brutal. Looking back at my splits for these two miles, this is where I probably lost the sub-3 finishing time (along with my slow mile 9). These miles were 7:01 and 7:04... exactly 21 seconds over the pace needed to hit 2:59:59. But I didn't really realize at this point that I was off the pace. You see, my Garmin had been nearly perfectly aligned with the course mile markers for most of the early race. I'd pass a mile marker and my Garmin would beep (indicating another mile complete) and display the time for the previous mile. Well, somewhere after the turnaround at mile 19, my Garmin and the course got out of sync. But it happened gradually rather than all of a sudden. So my average pace according to my Garmin around mile 20 was 6:50 ... which should be good enough for sub-3. After mile 24 it ticked up to 6:51 (and stayed there for the rest of the race). 6:51 should be good enough as well, but the problem is that my Garmin now indicated that I had run farther than the course mile markers indicated. Thus the pace it indicated was actually faster than my actual pace. Something I did not really realize the impact of until mile 25... which by that time it was too late.
The course turns off the Tobacco Trail at mile 23 and you are then on the city streets until the finish. But as soon as I turned off the trail, there was a pretty stiff head wind and a hill. These two things contributed to the slow mile 24 time. And also at this point I am now running all alone. Sure I am passing a few late half marathon finishers, but there is only one other marathoner I can see and they (okay, it was a "she" ... exactly 3 woman beat me on this day) are pretty far ahead of me and I am not catching them ... ah ... her. So for the final 3 miles it was just me. Not much crowd support and no other runners to pace me along. And it hurt ... really ... really ... bad! There were so many times I wanted to quit. So many I lost count. What really kept me going was the hope of a sub-3. After all, my Garmin told me I had a 6:51 average pace for the race up till that point, and I really thought that was going to be good enough ... even with my Garmin measuring the course as a little long. I kept thinking how the intense pain was only temporary and how good it will feel to finish. This is what I trained for. I did not expect it to be easy, right? I thought about the post-race meal ... really anything I could think of to keep me from slowing down.
So when I hit mile 25 and saw that I was in real danger to miss breaking 3 hours, I gave it one last effort to pick it up. Mile 26 was a 6:48 ... and it was all I had left. Somewhere during that mile I became certain that I would not make it and somehow just knowing that took all the air out of me. My body starting failing. My hands were going numb. I kept hoping that I wouldn't face plant. I seriously had visions of my body totally giving out and me literally falling on my face during some of the final turns.
I rounded the final turn just in time to see the official race clock tick over to 3:00:00. A few seconds later I passed a cheering Leslie on my right. She was holding both Miles and Vivienne. But I couldn't even muster a smile or a wave. I just wanted to get across that finish line as fast as possible. I crossed in 3:00:20 on my watch (3:00:21 official chip time) and immediately was looking for someone to help me walk. The guy handing out the finisher medals was smiling and walking towards me with my medal and he soon realized that I needed some help. He and a friend helped me (i.e., carried me) to the medical tent where I hung out for a while. But after some gatorade and a few minutes of rest I felt like I needed to at least walk. So after a rather uneventful stay in the medical tent, I started walking off the race with Leslie and the kids. It was a fun time as we saw many friends who had run either the half or full marathon. We stuck around for the awards, but it turns out I just missed getting an age group award (I got 4th and the awards went up to 3rd place).
Overall I am very happy with my race. I knocked nearly 19 minutes off my personal best, I met the qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon by over 10 minutes, and when it got tough at the end I didn't quit. How can I complain?
In my last marathon I focused on someone close to me for each mile starting after mile 20. I started to do the same this race. Miles 21 and 22 (both 6:53 miles) I focused on my kids. Mile 21 was for Miles. To take my mind off the current pain I thought about my precious son the day he was born and how he had to spend 24 hours in the special care nursery. I remember how much we wanted to hold him but could not. I tried to put myself in his shoes to feel what he was feeling. Was he scared? All he knew was the warmth and comfort of mommy's womb, but now he was out in the world on his own. He hadn't yet felt the warmth of our embrace. I also thought about what kind of man he will grow into. Only time will tell...
Mile 22 was for my baby girl Vivienne. I thought about how precious she was the first time I saw her and thought back to the first days in the hospital. I also tried to hear her infectious laugh in my head. It helped power me through the mile.
Mile 23 started out for Leslie but that is also when the hill started and I lost all focus on my thoughts and had to concentrate on just not slowing down. Sorry babe :)
Now I am just trying to decide what's next. I am looking into racing in a local open water series this summer (a series of 3 1-mile swims and 1 2-mile swim). After that, I'll probably start training for a November or December marathon. And then (if I get in) Boston 2012!
Below are my splits (according to my Garmin) and the elevation profile from the course:
After major competitions I find it useful to write a race report where I can reflect upon my training and how the day unfolded. There are so many valuable lessons that I want to preserve for future races. These reports are mostly for myself (I often re-read old reports in the days leading up to a race), but I thought I would share this report in case you are interested.
The Summary
As always, I am indebted to my lovely wife, Leslie. She continues to support my athletic endeavors and the training required to complete them. I would not be able to race without her love and support. Every Saturday morning she watched the babies until I returned home from my long runs (usually by 10 AM). Leslie - you are a rock star mother and a great wife and friend. I love you!
My previous marathon record was 3:18:59 (Chicago 2008). My goal going into the race was to meet the qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon (3:10:59). My "stretch" goal (which didn't come about until mid-way through my training when I realized it might be possible) was to break 3 hours.
I crossed the finish line in 3:00:21 (1:30:22 first half, 1:29:58 second half). The final miles were brutal, but I honestly thought I was on pace to break 3 hours. It wasn't until somewhere just after 25 miles that I realized I was going to fall just short. And at that point there was not much I could do change that.
Overall I am satisfied with my performance. I ran a well executed race and left everything out on the course. Now I only need to focus on achieving a 22 second improvement for the next race :)
The Details
On Sunday March 20, 2011 I competed in the Tobacco Road Marathon. It was the culmination of a focused 16-week marathon training program. This is by far the most I have trained solely for a marathon. It was also my first major competition since Ironman Canada in 2009. After that race I needed some serious recovery time. As a result I did not enter any races in 2010 (but in other fantastic news, 2010 was the birth year of our amazing twins Miles and Vivienne).
In September 2010 I started again with structured training (I put it off until the babies allowed us to get consistent sleep at night and the sleep deprivation wore off). As always, I needed a goal to keep me motivated. I find it hard to train just for training's sake. That gets boring real quick. The Tobacco Road Marathon offered a local race on a fast course, so I signed up.
6 weeks out from the marathon, I competed in the Goldsboro half marathon. After not racing for all of 2010, it was a much needed tune up race. Without a taper, I ran a 1:23:31 (6:23 per mile avg) and was extremely satisfied with the result. Based on this time as well as my longer tempo training runs, I started to believe that a sub-3 hour marathon might be possible. At my first job 10 years ago my office mate happened to be a sub-3 hour marathoner. I distinctly remember thinking that it would be near impossible for me to achieve that goal :)
I set my alarm for 5 AM on race morning. I had half a banana and one vanilla Ensure drink (250 calories) for breakfast. I immediately started sipping on a 32-ounce bottle of orange gatorade. At the race site I would nearly finish another vanilla Ensure drink as well as most of my gatorade bottle (needless to say I took a few trips to the port-o-potties that morning).
The race start was delayed about 15 minutes due to shuttle bus issues (luckily one of my friends scored us a VIP parking pass so we didn't have any trouble getting to the race venue with plenty of time to spare). I positioned myself about three-deep back from the starting line. After the gun went off, I made a concerted effort to go out easy. As a result, I was passed by many folks ... but I am not racing them today. I am racing myself and I am racing the clock. Besides, there is nothing to gain in the first mile of the marathon. I would rather be a little slow than too fast.
The first mile ticked off in 7:05. To hit my goal of sub-3 hours I need to average around 6:52 per mile for the entire race. After the first mile I slipped in behind a good group of about 5 or 6 runners. They were running very controlled and I heard them mention something about a 3 or 3:05 goal. So I decided to stick behind them for a while to see how things went. The first 8 miles were pretty easy. Around mile 9 we hit a slight uphill. Nothing major, but I guess everyone in our group was not paying very close attention to our pace on the hill. While we had consistently been hitting between mid 6:40s to mid 6:50s for our miles, mile 9 was 7:09 and would actually turn out to be my slowest mile. I remember that concerned me a little bit but not too much ... I simply resolved to not let that happen again.
We still had a good group together at the half way point. We crossed 13.1 miles in 1:30:22. Seeing that time didn't bother me too much, but I did obviously realize that I'd have to negative split the race to break 3 hours. Negative splitting is my typical race strategy, and it was my plan for this race. I ran the first half very controlled without a lot of exertion so I was fairly confident that I could bring it home fast enough for a sub-3 finishing time.
Knowing that we'd have to negative split, 3 of us in our group picked it up a bit and left the others behind. Miles 14-20 averaged 6:43 per mile. It was also during these miles where we started to pass a few folks that took it out too fast.
A small note about nutrition. I don't really like taking solids during a marathon. I was relying solely on the aid stations for my calories. Water and sports drink at every aid station. The cups were rather small (think Dixie cups) so it made it hard to get a lot of fluids. And I missed the aid station at mile 16 completely. That might have turned out to cost me at the end ... who knows.
This course has a turn around at mile 19. It was around 18 miles that I started "feeling it" for the first time. The miles weren't getting slower, but they were getting harder. I knew it was too early to really start pushing hard. But it was around this time I realized how much the final 8 miles were going to hurt. I was hoping to delay that hurt until 21 or 22 miles, but here it was earlier than expected. It also didn't help that our group of 3 had broken up. 2 of the guys went on ahead of me, but I was satisfied with my pace and effort level at this point in the race so I didn't chase them (I would ultimately re-pass one of the two at mile 23, but the other guy beat me by nearly a minute).
Just prior to the turnaround at mile 19, I passed an older gentlemen (50 years old). He looked to be struggling. But soon after the turn around he popped up again on my shoulder. We ran together off and on up until about mile 23, and it was nice to have someone to push the pace with. Somewhere between 22 and 23 I dropped him for good.
There is a long sloping hill for miles 23 and 24 (see the elevation profile at the end of the report). Once you get through this you are pretty much home free. These two miles were very brutal. Looking back at my splits for these two miles, this is where I probably lost the sub-3 finishing time (along with my slow mile 9). These miles were 7:01 and 7:04... exactly 21 seconds over the pace needed to hit 2:59:59. But I didn't really realize at this point that I was off the pace. You see, my Garmin had been nearly perfectly aligned with the course mile markers for most of the early race. I'd pass a mile marker and my Garmin would beep (indicating another mile complete) and display the time for the previous mile. Well, somewhere after the turnaround at mile 19, my Garmin and the course got out of sync. But it happened gradually rather than all of a sudden. So my average pace according to my Garmin around mile 20 was 6:50 ... which should be good enough for sub-3. After mile 24 it ticked up to 6:51 (and stayed there for the rest of the race). 6:51 should be good enough as well, but the problem is that my Garmin now indicated that I had run farther than the course mile markers indicated. Thus the pace it indicated was actually faster than my actual pace. Something I did not really realize the impact of until mile 25... which by that time it was too late.
The course turns off the Tobacco Trail at mile 23 and you are then on the city streets until the finish. But as soon as I turned off the trail, there was a pretty stiff head wind and a hill. These two things contributed to the slow mile 24 time. And also at this point I am now running all alone. Sure I am passing a few late half marathon finishers, but there is only one other marathoner I can see and they (okay, it was a "she" ... exactly 3 woman beat me on this day) are pretty far ahead of me and I am not catching them ... ah ... her. So for the final 3 miles it was just me. Not much crowd support and no other runners to pace me along. And it hurt ... really ... really ... bad! There were so many times I wanted to quit. So many I lost count. What really kept me going was the hope of a sub-3. After all, my Garmin told me I had a 6:51 average pace for the race up till that point, and I really thought that was going to be good enough ... even with my Garmin measuring the course as a little long. I kept thinking how the intense pain was only temporary and how good it will feel to finish. This is what I trained for. I did not expect it to be easy, right? I thought about the post-race meal ... really anything I could think of to keep me from slowing down.
So when I hit mile 25 and saw that I was in real danger to miss breaking 3 hours, I gave it one last effort to pick it up. Mile 26 was a 6:48 ... and it was all I had left. Somewhere during that mile I became certain that I would not make it and somehow just knowing that took all the air out of me. My body starting failing. My hands were going numb. I kept hoping that I wouldn't face plant. I seriously had visions of my body totally giving out and me literally falling on my face during some of the final turns.
 |
| Leslie and Babies at the Final Tur |
I rounded the final turn just in time to see the official race clock tick over to 3:00:00. A few seconds later I passed a cheering Leslie on my right. She was holding both Miles and Vivienne. But I couldn't even muster a smile or a wave. I just wanted to get across that finish line as fast as possible. I crossed in 3:00:20 on my watch (3:00:21 official chip time) and immediately was looking for someone to help me walk. The guy handing out the finisher medals was smiling and walking towards me with my medal and he soon realized that I needed some help. He and a friend helped me (i.e., carried me) to the medical tent where I hung out for a while. But after some gatorade and a few minutes of rest I felt like I needed to at least walk. So after a rather uneventful stay in the medical tent, I started walking off the race with Leslie and the kids. It was a fun time as we saw many friends who had run either the half or full marathon. We stuck around for the awards, but it turns out I just missed getting an age group award (I got 4th and the awards went up to 3rd place).
 |
| Family at the Finish Line |
Overall I am very happy with my race. I knocked nearly 19 minutes off my personal best, I met the qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon by over 10 minutes, and when it got tough at the end I didn't quit. How can I complain?
In my last marathon I focused on someone close to me for each mile starting after mile 20. I started to do the same this race. Miles 21 and 22 (both 6:53 miles) I focused on my kids. Mile 21 was for Miles. To take my mind off the current pain I thought about my precious son the day he was born and how he had to spend 24 hours in the special care nursery. I remember how much we wanted to hold him but could not. I tried to put myself in his shoes to feel what he was feeling. Was he scared? All he knew was the warmth and comfort of mommy's womb, but now he was out in the world on his own. He hadn't yet felt the warmth of our embrace. I also thought about what kind of man he will grow into. Only time will tell...
 |
| Miles in the Special Care Nursery |
Mile 22 was for my baby girl Vivienne. I thought about how precious she was the first time I saw her and thought back to the first days in the hospital. I also tried to hear her infectious laugh in my head. It helped power me through the mile.
 |
| Daddy and Vivienne After the Race |
Mile 23 started out for Leslie but that is also when the hill started and I lost all focus on my thoughts and had to concentrate on just not slowing down. Sorry babe :)
Now I am just trying to decide what's next. I am looking into racing in a local open water series this summer (a series of 3 1-mile swims and 1 2-mile swim). After that, I'll probably start training for a November or December marathon. And then (if I get in) Boston 2012!
Below are my splits (according to my Garmin) and the elevation profile from the course:
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Tobacco Road Marathon
Today, Jason ran the Tobacco Road Marathon. His main goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which required him to run faster than 3:10. His stretch goal was to run the marathon in under 3 hours. He blew away his main goal and just barely missed his stretch goal with a chip time of 3:00:21. We are so proud of his accomplishment, though I think he keeps wondering if he could have somehow skimmed 21 more seconds off his marathon.
Jason got up this morning at 5 AM and rode with some friends to the marathon. I got up with the babies at 7 AM and we left around 9 o'clock to get to the marathon in plenty of time to see Daddy finish. While waiting for Jason to appear, I started chatting with a woman who was waiting on her husband to finish as well. (She's adopting a baby from Ethiopia, so we had a very interesting conversation.) Luckily, she offered to take a photo of me holding both babies and cheering Jason on.
 | |
| I'm holding Miles and Vivienne, watching Jason cross the finish line. |
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| Family photo after the race |
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| Daddy and Vivienne |
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| He'll always be her hero. =) |
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| Me and Miles at Wendy's |
Congratulations to Jason on an amazing marathon today! I love you so much, and I couldn't imagine a better daddy for Miles and Vivienne. We are all so proud of you!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Running and Food Poisoning (A Bad Combination)
This weekend started out great! I ran all the way to the 540 construction and back, which is just under 6 miles round trip. That's the farthest that I've run since before I was pregnant. I was running without the babies, because Jason offered to watch them while I got out for a little while. It was great to soak up the wonderful weather we've been having lately.
I also decided to eat some leftovers that were apparently a couple days too old. I hate throwing away food. But I guess I've learned that I would rather throw away food than throw it up (sorry, I couldn't help it). Sunday morning around 4 am, I woke up feeling nauseated. Let's just say it wasn't pretty. Then I managed to fall asleep again and woke up at 8 am nauseated again. Ugh. Nothing like hugging a toilet and then trying to breastfeed two babies at the same time. It wasn't pretty at all. *shiver*
Luckily, it was a Sunday, so Jason was home all day. He was an absolute champion of a daddy (as he always is) and watched them all day while I slept. I would come downstairs long enough to nurse them and then crawl back to my cave upstairs and pass out. I went to sleep last night around 8 pm and slept until 7 am this morning, only waking once to feed the babies around 3 am.
I seem to be back to normal today. I think I'll just walk today and pick the running back up tomorrow.
I also decided to eat some leftovers that were apparently a couple days too old. I hate throwing away food. But I guess I've learned that I would rather throw away food than throw it up (sorry, I couldn't help it). Sunday morning around 4 am, I woke up feeling nauseated. Let's just say it wasn't pretty. Then I managed to fall asleep again and woke up at 8 am nauseated again. Ugh. Nothing like hugging a toilet and then trying to breastfeed two babies at the same time. It wasn't pretty at all. *shiver*
Luckily, it was a Sunday, so Jason was home all day. He was an absolute champion of a daddy (as he always is) and watched them all day while I slept. I would come downstairs long enough to nurse them and then crawl back to my cave upstairs and pass out. I went to sleep last night around 8 pm and slept until 7 am this morning, only waking once to feed the babies around 3 am.
I seem to be back to normal today. I think I'll just walk today and pick the running back up tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Running with the Birds
It was barely warm enough to get outside with the babes. I bundled them up and put the weather shield on the BOB.
I had another good run today. I went 4 miles at a 10:13 pace - really surprised myself! That is an enormous improvement over my previous times with the BOB. I feel like my performance is going to plateau, though. I just don't feel like I can go much faster. I would love to go under a 10 minute mile (sustained for at least 3 or 4 miles). That's my goal, though I haven't really set a date at which I would like to reach that goal.
We saw some really neat birds today. We saw a red-tailed hawk. It flew very low across the trail and landed on a branch not too far above the ground. I did stop for a moment to watch it. I always wish the babies could understand me when I see things like this. I want to point things out to them, but they're too busy staring at their thumbs or making razzing noises or trying to pull off their socks... just being darn cute.
We also saw a great blue heron. He (or she?) frequents the pond in the subdivision next to ours. I have seen this bird, along with many Canada geese and maybe a king fisher, many times at that pond, because it is always on my way home while I'm running.
I had another good run today. I went 4 miles at a 10:13 pace - really surprised myself! That is an enormous improvement over my previous times with the BOB. I feel like my performance is going to plateau, though. I just don't feel like I can go much faster. I would love to go under a 10 minute mile (sustained for at least 3 or 4 miles). That's my goal, though I haven't really set a date at which I would like to reach that goal.
We saw some really neat birds today. We saw a red-tailed hawk. It flew very low across the trail and landed on a branch not too far above the ground. I did stop for a moment to watch it. I always wish the babies could understand me when I see things like this. I want to point things out to them, but they're too busy staring at their thumbs or making razzing noises or trying to pull off their socks... just being darn cute.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Running & Walking at Lake Pine
Today was a great day with the babies. They had their first solids (more on that later). We took a long nap together - Vivienne in her crib and Miles slept with Mommy and Daddy. It was at least an hour nap... heaven, just heaven. Then we went to Lake Pine. We had never been there before, but we wanted to check it out. It's a really beautiful little lake nestled in between Cary & Apex, with a 2-mile loop around the lake.
Of course, Jason got up at 6 AM and ran 18 miles averaging a 7:20 pace. I can never come close to what he does, but I wanted to get in a little run for myself. So he walked with the babies at the Lake Pine trail while I ran. I ended up running a full 4 miles, the farthest that I have run since the babies were born (especially without a stroller), and it felt great.
It was really nice to run without two babies and a huge stroller in tow. My average pace was 9:25 with the last mile at 9:11. I am really proud of myself, and relieved to discover that I still have a little bit of horsepower (even though it's nothing compared to Jason's Ironruns).
Of course, Jason got up at 6 AM and ran 18 miles averaging a 7:20 pace. I can never come close to what he does, but I wanted to get in a little run for myself. So he walked with the babies at the Lake Pine trail while I ran. I ended up running a full 4 miles, the farthest that I have run since the babies were born (especially without a stroller), and it felt great.
It was really nice to run without two babies and a huge stroller in tow. My average pace was 9:25 with the last mile at 9:11. I am really proud of myself, and relieved to discover that I still have a little bit of horsepower (even though it's nothing compared to Jason's Ironruns).
Monday, January 3, 2011
Do Twins Run In Your Family?
I get asked this all the time. As a matter of fact, they do. They run very, very slowly apparently.
Before having babies, I was a fairly frequent runner. When we lived in California, I ran almost every day. On Saturdays, I would run up to 11 miles (usually at least 8 miles) at the peak of my running "career." (I use the word "career" here with a lot of liberty.) I ran a couple of half marathons with my best time being just over a 9-minute mile pace for the entire 13.1 miles. For me, this was a huge accomplishment, considering that I used to think that people who ran "for fun" were masochists.
I stopped running when I was around 4 months pregnant. I had started to get considerably larger, and the weather was really heating up here in North Carolina as summer approached. I transitioned to taking a long walk (around 4 miles), which seemed much more manageable for my doubly pregnant body. Eventually, my OB suggested that I walk no more than a mile a day - ONE MILE a day. I found that really depressing, but by the time I was about 7 months pregnant I didn't even want to walk from my car to the grocery store door (more less all the walking you have to do inside the grocery store).
After having the babies, my little trio has done a ton of walking together. Miles, Vivienne and I got a lot of mileage out of both our Snap n Go and, more recently, our Bob stroller.
The Bob stroller website recommends that you wait until your babies are EIGHT months old before you run with them. I assume that they are just saying that for liability purposes, so I asked our doc. Our pediatrician suggested that we wait until the babies are about 6 months to take them for a run, because he wanted to be sure that they have good head and neck control. Well, they aren't 6 months old yet, but I think they have great head and neck control.
During our Christmas vacation, I ran a couple times (for the first time since I was pregnant) with Jason while my parents watched the babies for us. (Thank you, Mom and Dad!) Needless to say, my legs were extremely sore on the days after those runs.
Today, I decided to finally take Miles and Vivienne for a real run in the Bob with the weather shield. At first, I was worried that they would feel claustrophobic behind the shield, but they didn't even seem to notice that they were in their own little bubble. It was in the high 40s today, but the weather shield kept them nice and toasty (as did their ridiculously cute fleece-lined matching bear trapper hats).
Miles and Vivienne slept through our entire run. We went 3.22 miles according to the GPS. My average pace was about 11.5 minutes per mile, which is honestly just depressing. I did walk in the beginning to warm up and walked after the biggest hill, but I would still hope that my average pace would be higher than 11:30.
I will say that running a double stroller up a hill is no easy task. I think my legs definitely get a better workout when Miles and Vivienne are there to "help" me.
It feels so nice to run again. It's liberating to know that I can run with the babies now. I really enjoyed getting out in the brisk air and taking a little time for myself. I got to stretch my legs, say hello to my wonderful neighbors, soak up the natural beauty of North Carolina and enjoy a little This American Life. I'm already looking forward to our run tomorrow.
Before having babies, I was a fairly frequent runner. When we lived in California, I ran almost every day. On Saturdays, I would run up to 11 miles (usually at least 8 miles) at the peak of my running "career." (I use the word "career" here with a lot of liberty.) I ran a couple of half marathons with my best time being just over a 9-minute mile pace for the entire 13.1 miles. For me, this was a huge accomplishment, considering that I used to think that people who ran "for fun" were masochists.
I stopped running when I was around 4 months pregnant. I had started to get considerably larger, and the weather was really heating up here in North Carolina as summer approached. I transitioned to taking a long walk (around 4 miles), which seemed much more manageable for my doubly pregnant body. Eventually, my OB suggested that I walk no more than a mile a day - ONE MILE a day. I found that really depressing, but by the time I was about 7 months pregnant I didn't even want to walk from my car to the grocery store door (more less all the walking you have to do inside the grocery store).
After having the babies, my little trio has done a ton of walking together. Miles, Vivienne and I got a lot of mileage out of both our Snap n Go and, more recently, our Bob stroller.
The Bob stroller website recommends that you wait until your babies are EIGHT months old before you run with them. I assume that they are just saying that for liability purposes, so I asked our doc. Our pediatrician suggested that we wait until the babies are about 6 months to take them for a run, because he wanted to be sure that they have good head and neck control. Well, they aren't 6 months old yet, but I think they have great head and neck control.
During our Christmas vacation, I ran a couple times (for the first time since I was pregnant) with Jason while my parents watched the babies for us. (Thank you, Mom and Dad!) Needless to say, my legs were extremely sore on the days after those runs.
Today, I decided to finally take Miles and Vivienne for a real run in the Bob with the weather shield. At first, I was worried that they would feel claustrophobic behind the shield, but they didn't even seem to notice that they were in their own little bubble. It was in the high 40s today, but the weather shield kept them nice and toasty (as did their ridiculously cute fleece-lined matching bear trapper hats).
 |
| Smiling Behind the Weather Shield |
I will say that running a double stroller up a hill is no easy task. I think my legs definitely get a better workout when Miles and Vivienne are there to "help" me.
It feels so nice to run again. It's liberating to know that I can run with the babies now. I really enjoyed getting out in the brisk air and taking a little time for myself. I got to stretch my legs, say hello to my wonderful neighbors, soak up the natural beauty of North Carolina and enjoy a little This American Life. I'm already looking forward to our run tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sleep Success and a Running Mommy
Last night, the babies slept very well. We fed them around 6 and then went to our Life Group at 6:30. I held Miles and our friend, Ian, held Vivienne. I'm pretty sure that this was the first time that Vivienne has slept at Life Group. Maybe Ian should hold her every week. =)
After Life Group, we got home around 9 and put them in their nursery (still buckled into their infant seats). Surprisingly, they slept until 1 AM. Whoohoo! I'm hoping that we have many more nights like this. Hopefully it wasn't an anomaly.
Today, while our amazing doula, Pam Diamond, was here, I went on my first run in a year. I went about 3 miles, and it was painful. I ran an average of about 11 minutes per mile. That's really depressing considering a ran a half marathon at about 9 minute mile pace 2 years ago. But I'm so glad that I got out and got my legs really pumping again. I'm hoping to run more frequently in the future. Once the babies have good neck control, I can run with them in the BOB stroller. I'm really looking forward to that.
After Life Group, we got home around 9 and put them in their nursery (still buckled into their infant seats). Surprisingly, they slept until 1 AM. Whoohoo! I'm hoping that we have many more nights like this. Hopefully it wasn't an anomaly.
Today, while our amazing doula, Pam Diamond, was here, I went on my first run in a year. I went about 3 miles, and it was painful. I ran an average of about 11 minutes per mile. That's really depressing considering a ran a half marathon at about 9 minute mile pace 2 years ago. But I'm so glad that I got out and got my legs really pumping again. I'm hoping to run more frequently in the future. Once the babies have good neck control, I can run with them in the BOB stroller. I'm really looking forward to that.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
What About BOB?
Today was the day - we finally got our BOB duallie (double stroller) from REI. Their Fall sale started yesterday, so we headed out to our local REI to pick up the mother of all strollers. Until today, I have been doing my walks pushing the babies in our Double Snap-N-Go - basically a frame stroller that our infant carriers can snap into. While the Snap-N-Go is very convenient with the snap-in infant seats, it's not the smoothest ride for a long walk (between 2.5 and 3.5 miles), and it is very heavy to push. With the BOB, it's like riding on air. It literally almost moves on its own without any effort from me or Jason.
We called ahead to be sure our REI had the stroller we wanted, and we found out that they are 15% off during the sale. This is actually a bad thing, because REI gives each member a 20% off coupon that they can use on any non-sale item. With the 15% off, you can't use the coupon. Apparently, this is the way that they are going to do it from now on. The sales clerk at REI today said that they did this because they realized that they were losing a lot of money with the 20% off coupons during the sale. He said that the BOBs are the #1 item that REI sells during their Spring and Fall sales.
So, when we got to REI, we were ready to pay the 15% off price. They only had two floor models left (none in stock in the back), and the one that we wanted had a small tear on the foam around the handle. Because of this, we got an extra 5% off, so we really ended up with the 20% off price anyway - whoohoo!! (These stroller are expensive, so an extra 5% is something to get mildly excited about.) The other wonderful thing about these strollers is that you can resell them on Craigslist for nearly as much as you paid for them, if they are well maintained. We're already thinking ahead, of course. ;-)
The newest version of the BOB has a quick-release button that allows you to easily get your children out of the stroller. The problem with this design is that a child with any dexterity can very easily release their harness if they just learn to press the one button. Because of this, we opted for the "old" version of the BOB which includes the slightly trickier harness clips. I'm hopeful that this keeps Miles and Vivienne from escaping the harnesses and then freeing their sibling while I'm in the middle of a run! =)
You're really not supposed to ride a baby in the BOB until they have good head and neck control. Miles and Vivienne are 12 weeks old tomorrow, and they are still working on good head control. Miles has very strong muscles, and he has a pretty good handle on his head movements now. Vivienne is coming along as well, but she still bobbles her head around quite a bit. We sat them both in the stroller with the 5-point harnesses, and they seemed to be comfortable and well supported, so we decided to take them for a short walk to see how they did. I think they'll be fine using the new stroller for our walks. We'll probably still use the old Snap-N-Go for being out and about, though, because popping the infant carriers out of the car and into the Snap-N-Go without having to pick the babies up (and possibly wake them up) is so convenient.
I'm in love with someone, and his name is "BOB"...
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Walking Again
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, the weather was nice enough for me and the babies to get out for a long walk. Our town, Cary, has a series of paths called the Greenways. One of them connects right to the back of our subdivision. It's so nice to be able to walk on a path that's not beside a busy street. The trail near our home goes out about 4 miles, but there are also other paths throughout Cary.
On Tuesday, we walked for about 50 minutes. I think we probably went just over three miles.
Yesterday (Wednesday), we walked for about an hour and went about 3.5 miles. The babies were wonderful. Around the half-way mark (over 1.5 miles from home), they started getting a little bit fussy. This worried me a bit, but there was nothing I could do about it, so we just pushed through and headed home. Luckily, they calmed down pretty quickly.
The rocking of the stroller really lulls them to sleep. Even though they sleep through most of the walk, I like getting them outside and stimulating them with new things to look at and new shapes and colors and sounds. I can't wait to teach them about bunnies and birds and trees. We saw a rabbit earlier this week on another walk, right after I had read them Guess How Much I Love You. I'll be glad when I can point out a real "Nutbrown Hare" to them.
During the walk yesterday, I got my first "Oh, double trouble!" from a stranger. I'm surprised no one has said that before now. Most people ooh and ahh and say how cute it is to see twins. Other twin moms always let me know that we're a member of the same club and that they're happy for us. I saw one twin mom yesterday with grown twin sons.
Just before we got home from the walk, they started crying again. This time, they were really wailing. People started hearing us before we passed them. They would look back at us like "What the heck is that sound I hear approaching?" I think it was pretty clear once I passed them with a double stroller and two screaming babies. Of course, they quieted back down again just before we got home. I think I probably pushed it a little too long on that walk, but it was wonderful to get outside (for me and the babies).
So I guess maybe this means that I'm "working out" again. It's nice to have something I can do with the babies to burn some calories and get some fresh air. It is hard to remember running 5 or 6 miles a day, though, and now realizing that I'm probably lucky to get in 3 or 4 miles of walking in a day now.
We're going to get a Bob stroller in a couple months. I won't be able to run with the babies until they are something like 6 months old, though. So I guess I'll be doing a lot of walking in the meantime.
On Tuesday, we walked for about 50 minutes. I think we probably went just over three miles.
Yesterday (Wednesday), we walked for about an hour and went about 3.5 miles. The babies were wonderful. Around the half-way mark (over 1.5 miles from home), they started getting a little bit fussy. This worried me a bit, but there was nothing I could do about it, so we just pushed through and headed home. Luckily, they calmed down pretty quickly.
There are lots of ponds along the paths. We often see little ducklings or bunnies when we walk.
The rocking of the stroller really lulls them to sleep. Even though they sleep through most of the walk, I like getting them outside and stimulating them with new things to look at and new shapes and colors and sounds. I can't wait to teach them about bunnies and birds and trees. We saw a rabbit earlier this week on another walk, right after I had read them Guess How Much I Love You. I'll be glad when I can point out a real "Nutbrown Hare" to them.
During the walk yesterday, I got my first "Oh, double trouble!" from a stranger. I'm surprised no one has said that before now. Most people ooh and ahh and say how cute it is to see twins. Other twin moms always let me know that we're a member of the same club and that they're happy for us. I saw one twin mom yesterday with grown twin sons.
Just before we got home from the walk, they started crying again. This time, they were really wailing. People started hearing us before we passed them. They would look back at us like "What the heck is that sound I hear approaching?" I think it was pretty clear once I passed them with a double stroller and two screaming babies. Of course, they quieted back down again just before we got home. I think I probably pushed it a little too long on that walk, but it was wonderful to get outside (for me and the babies).
So I guess maybe this means that I'm "working out" again. It's nice to have something I can do with the babies to burn some calories and get some fresh air. It is hard to remember running 5 or 6 miles a day, though, and now realizing that I'm probably lucky to get in 3 or 4 miles of walking in a day now.
We're going to get a Bob stroller in a couple months. I won't be able to run with the babies until they are something like 6 months old, though. So I guess I'll be doing a lot of walking in the meantime.
This is just a cute picture of Miles' adorable baby feet. I took this with my phone at the end of our long Wednesday walk.
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