Secret #7 Lying is Acceptable When a PR is On the Line

I am firmly opposed to lying for two reasons. One, I hate being lied to. I'm not an idiot and I will believe all of one time that your story actually is as complicated as described, but if frequently your life falls apart at the hands of the rest of the world all of which is surely out to get you, I'm probably going to assume that the facts have been stretched, something has been left out or quite possibly your pants are on fire. I don't judge you for this. The tales you weave for your friends, family, and coworkers are your own business. I just don't buy your story personally and will most likely take that into account the next time you begin another story of the "you'll never believe this variety" (fyi-probably you are correct). But for me, I don't enjoy trying to decipher the facts from the sludge of fiction, it wastes my time and in addition I've found myself making the wrong move because of what I thought the truth was. And because I don't like it, I don't want to force other people to wander aimlessly through a web of my own lies.

And secondly, it rarely ever works. The truth always has a way of coming out and most often when it does come out, it doesn't come quietly. It comes roaring out and people end up getting hurt in the process. And I have found as painful as the truth may have been, it would have been far less so had I just come out with it in the first place. Furthermore no matter how good a liar you are, really you can never ever know for sure who has bought your story and who is just humoring you for the moment.

So because of this I rarely ever lie (unless we're talking about with my kids, them I lie to all the time. Things like no I don't have anymore cookies, or that terribly annoying toy has run out of batteries, or the swimming pool/park/chuck e cheese is closed today, and yes, President Obama's daughters are still sick because I'm not planning on making any trips to the White House soon no matter how desperately and often my daughter begs me to go for a little play date. Call me a bad parent if you wish. I like to think of it as developing the logical side of my child's intellect. Once I am found out, I will know I have done my job and will then be forced to seek alternative strategies such as because I said so, when you grow up you can make the decisions, and sure you can go if you spend your own money that you don't have. Oh yes, I'm already planning this).

But apparently I do not take my moral compass along with me during a race (wonder if the newest Garmin comes with one already built in?). This is the funny (or sad..so so sad) story of mine from the Bayshore 1/2 Marathon.

Turns out one 8oz bottle of water between the hours of 4:30AM and 6:30AM before a 7:00AM start is FAR too much for me to drink prior to racing. Not only did I brave the desperately long lines at the port-a-potty at the very last possible minute (ok 2nd to last possible minute...I did in fact here the starter from INSIDE the port-a-potty say 2 minutes to start...talk about panic since the start was more than a 2 minute walk...geez), but I still found myself needing another break almost immediately after I crossed the starting line (what the heck is up with that?) Only one problem, I had a time goal and it was one I knew I was going to have to stretch myself to hit and potty breaks had not been factored in especially not ones involving lines (because apparently I was not the only one who can't handle 8 ozs before a race) and every port-a-potty had a good 4-5 people waiting. So I kept on running hoping that just perhaps it would somehow magically be reabsorbed.

This was not the case and by 4 miles I was getting desperate and now with no port-a-potty in sight I was starting to consider popping a squat or possibly asking one of the local residents if I could use their bathroom. But with nowhere to discreetly take a break (unless I went up onto somebody's lawn behind a tree or a garage or something...just imagine that gorgeous morning view) and the fear of entering some hospitable stranger's house, I remembered I had heard once that runners just sometimes let loose and will hide their dirty little secret by dumping water over themselves. Now besides the fact that this is just gross and I had no water to cover my crime, at just about that moment where I was thinking I was no longer going to be in control of the situation, a ray of light came shining through the clouds (imagine a heavenly chorous of Alleluia here) in the form of a blue port-a-potty.

And here is where it gets good. While my sweet little daughters were patiently waiting for me at the finish like this:

And like this (with my dad):

Their mother was about to shamelessy become a lying thief. You see as I rounded the corner and saw this little jewel of a port-a-potty just a tad off the course near the construction site of a new house, what I also saw were two women, one who went in and the other who stood by outside waiting for her to finish. And while I would like to pretend I knew not what was happening, the truth of the matter is I plotted as I approached. A little something like this: "you know lady #1 is probably going to be finished by the time I run up there, but I think lady #2 is going to go in. But she's kind of standing far away, so maybe she is just waiting. Oh nope, she's taking off her racing pack. Oh look, there's lady #1 one, just finished. WHAT IS lady #2 doing? Is she going in or not? Now she's taking off her sweatshirt. Geez why isn't she ready to go in? No port-a- potty should be left unattended when there are people waiting to use them whether they know I need to or not. They should realize people are weighing their options from afar. Seriously, how much potty prepping must you do?"

And then what happened next I am not proud of, but it all happened so fast...I ran by the both of them and slipped into the port-a-potty while they were both looking the other way. Really, they were powerless to stop me. And for the full 30 seconds I was in there (seriously, I am in and out in a flash) all I could think was "OH MY GOD! I CAN NOT BELIEVE I JUST CUT IN FRONT OF THAT WOMAN!" and "What am I going to do when I get out of here?" Now you may think to yourself the story ends here... Perhaps the woman shot me a disgusted glare as I ran off to rejoin the race, but oh no, not in my world. In my world the story gets better, in my world the woman confronts me.

As I ran quickly out of the port-a-potty being careful to look only straight ahead and not at my victim, she stepped in front of me. Now it's on like donkey kong right? Nope. Lady #2 who's bathroom I stole heartlessly out from under her, is WORRIED about ME!

"Oh my gosh," she says to me, "are you ok?" This takes me completely by surprise and for about two seconds I have no idea whatsoever she could possibly be talking about. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks. Yeah, she's talking about the fact that I came running out of nowhere into the potty with a complete disregard for everyone else around me. Insert knife in heart now, I would have preferred the dagger stare I think.

And my response, you may be wondering, what do you say to that? Well, quite frankly, the only thing that popped into my head when I realized what she was talking about. (here's where the lying comes in) "I'm fine...oh my gosh we're you waiting? I'm so sorry." And then you run away quickly before you're found out to be the filthy stinking liar you really are hoping to never see them again.

But like I said before, since the truth always comes out, I figure it's better you hear it from me rather than the word on the street. And if you happen to be lady #2 at the Bayshore 1/2 Marathon blue (all the rest were green) port-a-potty near the house being built, than please accept this as my sincerest apology. All I can say is I really had to go, I really wanted to run 2:11, and I was temporarily insane.

I would like to say this will never ever happen again, but have I mentioned I hate liars...

PS. I actually am not lying about my time, in case you noticed the 2:22:40. Being that I was almost the last person to cross the starting line (you know because of the whole pre-race potty stop that helped me not), my gun time is far slower than my chip time.

PPS. In order to prevent such bathroom thievery from happening to you, might I suggest if you are waiting for the port-a-potty two things...1) stand NEAR the port-a-potty, 2) be prepared to enter the very moment the person using it is finished. Otherwise I can not be held responsible for my own actions ;-)

My Bayshore Race Report

So I ran 2:14:28 officially at the Bayshore 1/2 marathon. :( Yes I missed my goal. But all and all, I'm happy with that time. Mostly because I gave it all I had. Partly because since it was the first time pushing myself at that distance, I really had no idea what to set as a goal and now I have something to measure myself up against. And a little bit, because somehow the chicken penne w/ light alfredo sauce I ate the night before I would later discover had a secret bean ingredient I was not aware. At least I can only assume this was the case because of the belching/gas that started shortly before the gun went off and plagued me throughout the entire race. (yep, I was that pleasant runner to be around. Is this way too much information? Let's leave it at that).


After a night of only about 2 hours of sleep, not because I couldn't get to bed early(11Pm & that's about as early as it gets for me), but because I can NEVER EVER sleep under the pressure to sleep (seriously, it doesn't matter if it's pressure because I've got to get up and do something the next day or pressure to get to sleep before my husband so as not to have to listen to a symphony of snoring. If there's any pressure, I don't sleep. I just lay there and say to myself "go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep...for HOURS. And the more I tell myself to go to sleep, the wider awake I get, but still I do it anyway). We (my mom was running the 1/2 too) hopped a bus to the start of the race just before 6AM to meet up with some friends. On the way, we noticed a little something we hadn't expected...hills. (why is it that I still haven't learned my lesson and never ever check the elevation map. WILL I EVER LEARN?)

So I mentioned this to our friends who are old Bayshore pros (they ran it last year) and one of them who shall remain nameless (Jen, Jen, JEN!) waves me off saying, "No, there are absolutely no hills anywhere to be found on this course. It's flat as a pancake. You don't run the same way the buses took you up here. Nothing to worry about." Ok so maybe I'm exaggerating a little here. I think what she actually said was more along the lines of "it's just a nice rolling course, but it's so scenic you won't even notice it."

Now there's not much you can do anyway when you're 13.1 miles away from where you left your car, but just FYI if someone uses the phrase "nice rolling course" realize what that means is yes, there will in fact be sucky stupid hills. And those hills WILL take there toll at some point.

So here's how my race went, pretty much as planned (except for two potty breaks...what the crack? I mean it was only 2 hours and I don't think I even took two breaks when I ran the Detroit Marathon which was much much much MUCH longer) Miles 1-4, loosening up about 10:30 per min miles which I knew I would have to make up for later(I needed a 10 min mile pace to hit my 2:11 goal), but still hanging on to the hope that the course was flat, I figured I could do it. Miles 4-8 were by far my best about 9:30ish give or take for each mile. Started to have things get a little rough 8-10 but still hovering right around 10 m/m. Then 10-12 were slowing down a bit, back to around 10 1/2 ish and I started to realize I was probably not going to hit my goal and began toying around with the idea that I would just give it up and walk that last mile + .1 in. I mean if I wasn't going to hit the goal who cares right? Only thing is this...I couldn't because of you guys. I mean how could I come back here and tell you all I missed 2:11 but I gave it all I had when my time was substantially slower. So then I started thinking, maybe I'd keep my time secret. But knowing you all too well, I figured somebody would just look it up and I'd be busted. So I pushed on.

But I was really needing to make a pit stop again and I spotted my chance to take one without having to wait in line so I went ahead and took it. That little pit stop seemed to rejuvenate me and then I became a little bit of a crazy woman (as if I'm not already). You see when I checked my watch I saw if I could run that last mile in around 8 1/2 minutes I would still hit my goal (well at least it would have been 2:11:59 or something like that, which in my book would count since I did not specify seconds). Now it's not like I have never run an 8 min mile. I have in fact a few in a row. But I've never tacked one onto the end of a 12 mile run. Perhaps it was a moment of delirium, I don't know, but I flat out decided I was going to do it. And for about 1/2 mile, shocker of all shockers I was. Then my legs revolted reminding me that ahh yes, I had run some hills, and quite frankly they refused to turn themselves any faster than about an 11-12 minute per mile pace no matter how hard I forced them and I began to fear that I would have to walk my sorry but to the finish line in front of my family and the roaring (or maybe more like purring by the time I got there) crowds. But then with only about the last .1 to go, there was my sweet husband, who had woken up at 2:30AM to drive 4 1/2 hours with my dad and my daughters to come see me run. So the legs kept turning and then onto the high school track for the last 200meters, there were my little girlies and my dad. And although my daughter was far more interested in the grass, than she was in my actual running she did ring her little cowbell a bit and yell go mommy (after my dad told her too), and so I ran a little faster, crossing the finish line at 2:14:28.

And that my friends was Bayshore, gorgeous (although I mostly look straight ahead and so therefore missed most of the stunning views of Grand Traverse Bay and the gorgeous houses) a little bit hilly in a slow "rolling" sort of way, lots of aid stations(watch out for that last one though b/c the highschool boys drink more than they hand out I swear), and lots of port-a-potties (although, can there ever be too many of those? I think not), not too heavy on the fan side until the end (but definitely a few spectators all throughout), and best of all Coldstone Creamery ice cream at the finish.

But the very best part of the whole weekend for me was that night after the race. I went to bed at 9:15PM and didn't get up until after 8AM the next day. Now I know this isn't a big deal to most, but I'm a mom and a mom of young girls, I rarely get to bed early and if I do I most often am going to get woken up sometime in the middle of the night with a potty emergency, bad dream, sudden reminder of something in my daughter's bedtime routine that she thinks I forgot (although usually I haven't) or a baby who's rolled herself into the corner of her crib which she's not happy about and can't quite figure out how to remedy, but even if I don't, you bet your booty I'm getting woken up very early. An uninterrupted full night of sleep is like Heaven on earth for me and I'll take it even if I have to run 13.1 miles to get it.

So now...I'm onto planning my Chicago Marathon training schedule. 4:30 is looking mighty ambitious to me right about now, but then again Chicago IS flat right?

'Til next time...

PS. My mom PR'D by about 6 minutes AND she stopped right at the end to try to get my daughter to give her a kiss...SHE'S A STUD! Way to go mom!!!

PPS. I do have a funny story for you (that I actually feel a little bit guilty about in all honesty), but that will have to come later as I'm still on vacation time and wanting to make at least a lame attempt at getting to bed early and getting some more rest. That and the fact that this is another long long post and your eyes probably need a break by now.

So unofficially 2:14ish (hence the ish) Gave it all i had guys! Going to go recover now w/ a nap & mongolian bbq. More details later...

On our way to the race! Supposed to be mostly cloudy w/ a high of 60 something. Gun goes off at 7am. So I'll be needing your prayers at 830 or so!

As Promised...

Ok as promised, let's start you off right with a little bit of yummy

CHOCOLATE!!!!!

That's right! It seems Mars is trying to provide a little "chocolate relief" for us all during this economic recession. And I for one am not going to, let thier charitable contributions go uneatan. And yes, I do realize that a candy bar costs less than a dollar, but it's the principle: chocolate + free= happiness.

So just click on chocolate and it will take you over to Mars' site. You can do it on 4 Fridays, and sadly you do have to wait for your coupon to arrive in the mail (but just think of how excited you'll be when you get it) and the 2nd time you go there it'll take even less time, just your email.

So enjoy...and remember...who's your favorite blogger? ;)

PS. just set myself up so I can do blog posts, so I'll be able to send you a little update or two from the race TOMORROW!!!(yikes...did I just say that?)

It's Just TOO Good To Not Mention - THE BETRAYAL RUNS DEEP

Ok I had no intention of making so many posts this week, especially not about the contest since my house (shocker of all shockers) is a complete disaster and I'm headed out of town this weekend for the 1/2. I absolutely hate going out of town and leaving my house of mess. So I've had this goal of getting everything cleaned up by Friday, but it seems that I have a 3 year old who's walking around behind me undoing everything I've done (although she's currently working her magic right now and trying to convince Daddy why he is on her "team" and needs to help her because cleaning up is "really really hard".)

But this is far too good to pass up, a little contest play by play for your reading pleasure. Here's an update on the My Sister V. Best Friend rivalry. The long and the short of it is this, my sister signed up this morning as a follower finally and threw credit for her signup to...wait for it...BETH! WHAT?!

That's right. Turns out my sister felt sooooo guilty about spilling the beans on Beth's strategy last night that she wanted to make amends with a runfastmommy t-shirt (or at least a little boost in the contest ratings to help get her one) while in the process she completely turns her back on HER VERY OWN MOTHER. You heard that correctly. The very woman who gave birth to her will NOT get the credit for referring her to my website. (perhaps the reason she has chosen her photo to be the wicked witch of the west)

Let's see you talk your fancy talk out of this one sis...

The Funniest Thing I Never Expected

Never for a second have I doubted the intelligence of my followers. From all the witty banter in the comments that goes on here, I of course assumed you all are card carrying Mensa club members and that of us all, I am perhaps the one here who is a little on the slow side. This is why I thought so much about this contest before I posted it not wanting to suddenly somehow find myself indebted to you all for a new running wadrobe by way of some silly overlooked arbitrary opening I left in the rules. (not that it matters really since you've already seen that I change them at will ;-)

But something was brought to my attention earlier today by my disgruntled sister, that I never expected and I think may quite possibly be the funniest thing I've heard of recently. One of our newest additions to the follower club, sent here by my sister happens to be my sisters best friend, Beth. But I never got the credit email lavishing referral praises on my sister. Mere coincidence? There are other Beths in the world and perhaps ironically (although unlikely) one signed up as my follower at the same time my sister referred her.

Not so...This is in fact one in the same Beth. She is purposely withholding her referral credit because she has firmly decided to give the C(K)athies a run for their money and is gunning for the free shirt. So basically a new follower is trying to smoke the very follower who sent them in the followers contest. Looks like we may have another rivalry shaping up. The real question...will my sister stand for it?

Welcome to Runfastmommy Beth! You are definitely one of us!(and also welcome to Mimi, bdkz, atalaski who are also new followers and may quite possibly be employing the same strategy, we'll just have to wait and see)

PS. I just yelled "walk away from the salt" to my 3 year old. I'll give you one guess what she was doing oh so quietly while I thought she was playing with blocks and I typed. Yep and now I just asked "what are you eating off the floor?" think it's time to go...

I Do Believe I Have A Little Explaining To Do...

So if you've been to our little watering hole as of late, you know I've been moving some things around here, adding a bit and just doing a little tidying up in general. But rather than risk offending any of my crew, by making them get up off their comfy reading chairs so I can move them to vacuum without any sort of explanation, I thought I'd take you all on a little tour of words so you can see what's going on here.

Let's start at the very top and flashback to earlier last week. The assigned stick figured has been replaced by my very own artistic masterpiece and has become our official runfastmommy logo. Hope you all like it! (If you know what is good for you I suggest you at least nod in agreement...you have no idea just how long it can take to draw a stick figure with a mouse on a computer screen when you have zip experience and virtually no knowledge of MS paint only car seats can possibly be more frustrating)

Moving to the far right column, I've adjusted placement of our exciting widgets (really I just like saying widgets, is there a funner word? And is funner even a word? hmmm...the things we ponder here, truly life's greatest mysteries!) The followers box has temporarily moved to the top for easy access to those who want to participate in the contest and hopefully help eliminate a little bit of confusion. Underneath which is our contest leaderboard so you can track all the action as it happens. The latest of which happens to be a slight nudge ahead by Cathy over Kathy. Will the move go unanswered? Or will Kathy add a follower of her own and send the ball speedily back into Cathy's court? Will non-C(K)athies remain trembling in fear of virtual domination? You'll have to stay tuned for details...

Then we have the newly added Zazzle shop where you can purchase fabulous runfastmommy wear. And the winner of our contest will be given the distinct privilege of their choice of ANY one of the available RFM or RFD shirts for FREE!

RFD? What's that? Well...so glad you asked! Because it seemed pretty silly to have men running around with stick figure ladies and the word mommy on their shirts, I went ahead and re-designed our newly designed logo for the guys. So you'll see some shirts there that might be a little more to a man's liking and since we are running an equal opportunity contest (unless you are Ollie Collins, his opportunity has been viciously snatched away as he may not under any circumstances participate...So stop asking MR!)it's possible a man could win the shirt(although as it seems right now, we have no men secure enough in their masculinity to send their friends to a mommy website. OUCH! Did I just say that? Is it wrong to talk smack on my own website about my own contest to my own followers especially one in which I'm not participating? This might possibly be the only followers contest in the history of blogger that results in LESS followers).

Furthermore, we went and started a new blog at runfastdaddy.com. Now don't get too excited, because runfastdaddy himself is not quite ready to make posts (possibly b/c he just had an MRI done on his knee Sunday that we are still waiting for the results on. PRAYERS PEOPLE! He's supposed to be running Chicago with me this fall) So right now it's just setup with one post that refers people over here (well that and the RFD logo, and ok pink borders b/c I haven't quite figured out how to change their color yet...NOBODY tell Ollie!) Although if you do go sign up as one of his followers, he might start feeling a little pressah (that's pressure typed dramatically like I'm saying it in my head right now in case you were wondering) And you never know what to expect when Ollie Collins has the floor.

Moving on...so under that is About Me (in case anyone cares), How to Comment (in case anyone's lost), an ad (in case there's a slim chance I could make money here), a Kickrunner's button (this is an online running community kind of like tribal running, although I've found people are a little more hardcore here), running articles archive (where I'll post my published stuff about running and or mommyhood for your viewing pleasure), my blog archive, my tribal running widget (still trying to win that silly contest by the way, so go sign up there and tell them I sent you. Oh and they're running a contest for the 1000th member and it's getting close. I know we all love free stuff so I thought I'd mention it), my photos, my newly added amazon store (so you can have easy access to buy stuff that I talk about from time to time without having to hunt it down), Spirit of the Marathon video clip (sooo good, love this movie), a translation tool (b/c obviously somebody who doesn't speak English would scroll all the WAAAAAAAAAY down to find it and translate my nonsense), and finally another ad that doesn't always show up courtesy of google.

Across the bottom: my favorite links, and a banner ad for our home business that in all honesty I've actually only got on there so another website can use it. It's too big for anywhere else on my blog and for crying out loud there seems to be no way humanly possible to shrink it and maintain both images (suggestions welcome).

Moving over to the left from the bottom up we've got categories for all my posts (this is probably not staying, as it is getting far too long. You see even though I really only blog about running, I like to categorize my posts under a variety of topics such as: toe thumbs, pretend running, and terrorist geese. (You know...all things people would commonly type in a search engine)

Above which are three of my favorite mom blog groups: The Mom Blog Network, The Mom Blogs, Blogamama. These are preceded by all my favorite blogs about moms and/or running that I'm following with their latest post title. Then there are ways to get in contact with me via twitter or facebook (took mySpace off btw b/c I'm hardly ever on there), a list of my upcoming races, a countdown to my next race, the actual ad I meant to have for our business on this site (although I do wish it had the running legs like the other one...oh well!). And finally a way to subscribe and/or share my posts...whew!

Now our tour is coming to an end. Please remain seated and safely buckled until we come to a complete stop. We're happy you've chosen runfastmommy.com and hope you'll join us again, for our next long awaited for post...another running mom secret (seriously what's it been like two months since I spilled it with Secret #6 and the chin fat). Secret #7...coming soon.

'Til next time...

PS. Could there BE anymore links in this post? (my Chandler Bing impersonation for the day)

PPS. If you have read this far you will now be rewarded. First thing Friday morning, I am posting a super secret special surprise and although this is the same phrase I like to use with my 3 year old to get her to do what I want before I ever actually have any kind of surprise in mind, this is not the case here. I really have something for you that you are going to LOVE. Here's your hint...YUM!

Why Your Ebay Strategies Won't Work Here

Don't think I don't know what's going on here people. I'm on to you all. I know you're sandbagging. I've place enough bids on Ebay (not many due to one particularly unfortunate incident involving a set of Baby Einstein DVDs and a PayPal account connected to a bank account that we had closed...let's just say I paid way more in bank fees then I did for the actual dvds)to know the strategy you all are employing in this followers contest. But prepare yourself...I'm about to expose your little scheme.

There's a method on ebay to bidding which involves keeping a close eye on an auction item but not placing a bid until the very last minute before the auction closes. Reason being if you bid early, undoubtedly someone will outbid you and you'll have to place another bid, then they'll bid again thus engaging yourself in a bidding war and forcing you in the end to pay far more for that one of a kind Elvis nighlight that sings Love Me Tender (or some other crazy item like that)than you ever intended. No, one of the ways (one b/c I'm sure there are others. I'm not schooled enough in the ways of ebay to speak as an authority on strategies) to get your item for the least amount of money is to place your bid just minutes (or even seconds if you're fast enough) before the bidding deadline, snatching that prized item from the very clutches of some unsuspecting ebay novice.

Since of course I know that nothing is wrong with me and my blog (pausing here to review my list of self affirmations in the mirror...;-), I'm thinking the reason that our little contest is off to such a slow start is that you are all Zen Guru Ebay Masters because certainly almost everyone on earth has enough power and influence over ONE person to convince them to do your bidding (haha..no pun intended, you know ebay...bidding...ok maybe it's only funny to me). And being the ebay masters that you are, you're figuring you will reserve that one person until the very last minute so as not to drive up the numbers of followers you will have to get to win that exquisite, exclusive, running shirt (by the way...noticed the logo up there at the top yet? I mean come on where else are you going to get fine priceless artwork like that on a shirt?)

Here's the problem though...It's not going to work for two reaons. First, you've just been busted. Now everybody knows what everybody else is doing. And since all 21of you are using the same strategy, you've got to know you're taking a risk here people. I mean what if one of you in fact has two people, or three people in reserve just in case? Don't you want to know what you're up against? Plus, I hate to break it to you, but blogger (the service I use to bring you this fine literary piece of work) is a free service and even I'm not sure what exactly it's capabilities are (why is the phrase "you get what you pay for" ringing in my head right now?). So come June, 6th at 11:58 PM if all 21 of you force that one helpless soul to become my follower, what if the system can't handle 21 followers at once and yours doesn't get in? Or what if you all DO get your one follower signed up and there is a 21 way tie. Uh Oh...

Ok so new rule. Aaaawwww that's not fair(stomp, stomp) you say? You can't change the rules like that. Sorry :( The plan was only to buy one shirt. Until runfastmommy is sponsored by the likes of Nike, Garmin and Runners World, we've only got the extra bucks to enhance one person's running wadrobe. Besides, don't think of this like the way my daughter changes the rules of Memory or some other well established game, think more like the way she invented the game "What's Under These Covers?", a game she plays with her Daddy where she hides under a blanket and pretends to be something and he tries to guess what. Then he pretends nothing is there and throws the big wad of covers (and my daughter) onto the bed. It's a new game, she invented it and the invention processes is ongoing so as to perfect the fun. That's what I'm doing here, perfecting the fun being it's the first contest and all.

So the new rule is: NO TIES. In the case of a tie we will go to sudden death overtime which will be fully explained in the event of a tie so as not to allow anyone to begin working on their strategy just yet (and me the time to figure out exactly how that will work). I'll be headed to the contest page shortly after this to amend the contest explanation in the comment section to reflect the new no tie policy.

And the second reason your ebay skills are useless here is: WE HAVE NEW FOLLOWERS from the contest. On Friday, Cathy drew first blood with the new follower SE Buckle(welcome to insanity SE) but she was answered back Saturday night by a follower from Kathymphelps (I'm not making this up...we've really got Cathy Vs Kathy going on right now) Kathy sent us Gary Krajewski (glad to have you Gary, who also happens to be my Dad sent by my Mom. I know. Pretty sad right that he had to be forced over here as part of a contest rather than come willingly on his own, but he's here nonetheless and the craziness will really ensue if he ever figures out how to make a comment. We'll all be in BIG BIG trouble.) So that's the contest status update: Cathy Vs. Kathy, 1 to 1. Anyone gonna break through the Cathy barrier and prove that there is no such thing as a glass ceiling for non-Kathies? (this is highly debated in the world of bloggdom...in fact there's talk of a whole contest quota system, but my fear is that this would just establish animosity b/n the Cathies and non-Kathies of an already bi-partisan world so I'm hoping my followers will be able to show the entire world of blogger that non-Kathies are fully capable of winning contests or at least making a good run for it without any sort of extra favors to do so. You are the hope of ALL Blogger).

So there you have it. Oh and one other thing that might be of interest to know, the shirt is done basically and actually you'll have yourself a couple of options to choose from. The hold up is that it has been brought to my attention that the fellas may not be to excited about wearing a shirt with a stick figure in a skirt on it, and since we do have some guys following along who are fully eligible to participate in the contest, I want to be sure they've got something they'll like too. So I'm adjusting the logo a bit for them (you'll never ever guess what that's going to look like I'm sure ;-) and there's some url stuff to be worked out to get this all to make sense (details details details) But possibly by later this evening, I'll have that shirt posted for your viewing pleasure. I'd do it now, but sounds like the girlies are already asleep and I've got my 5 mile long run to do still (YIKES! You know your race is close when your long run for the week is only as long as some of your speedwork has been). So it's off to the treadmill for me in a few.

PS. Almost forgot! We did get another follower of her own accord, Heather. Heather's also a blogging running mamma and you definitely are going to want to go check out her very inspirational story here. Welcome to the silliness Heather!

PPS. Look I'm doing it again with all these afterthoughts..AAHHH! Anway,one other contest note: following (in the right hand column)is not the same as subscribing (top left column). They don't tell me who subscribes, so while that's cool for you that you can get posts delivered directly to your email inbox, reader, etc., I have no idea who's doing that. Followers however get updated for the world to see as long as they follow PUBLICLY (I also don't know about the PRIVATE followers) I'll make a note of that on the contest post also. So your crew will need to be signing up as a public follower anything else unfortunately can't count.

How Running Forces Me To Eat Ice Cream...A BIG Fat Stinkin' Bowl of Ice Cream

Ok so maybe I use the word force a bit arbitrarily here. Not so much force as in when someone holds a gun to your head and forces you to give them the money in your wallet or when the government under the threat of jail time forces you to pay them taxes. We're talking a little more like the way car seat installation forces me to go take a nap, or football forces me to leave the house and go shopping or maybe even the way my 3 year old forces me to take all of her toys away because "picking up is hard mamma" (funny...I don't remember there being anything "hard" about making the disaster even the part where she had to figure out how to get all the dvds off the top shelf of the entertainment center, but when it comes to returning everything to its home, now suddenly that is hard.

But last night running, or rather a lack of running, did in fact force me to eat ice cream (butter pecan, with more pecans, caramel and hot fudge to top it off...three big scoops...I spare no expense when it comes to cheating:-)

It all started pretty much right after I woke up. After the regular morning routine of feeding, changing, and dressing the girls, I got myself dressed opting for my running clothes. The thought was, I'll go run during the baby's 1st nap and get it out of the way. Now I've developed a little science to this because there's no guarantee just how long Miss Madelyn will sleep during that first nap anywhere from a half hour to 2. And although I have figured out ways to keep both of my girls entertained while I'm on the treadmill, I would much prefer to only have to entertain one (well really neither of them but that doesn't happen often). Mainly it goes a little something like this, get every single thing possible ready BEFORE I lay Madelyn down for her nap. Meaning I've got running clothes and shoes on, I've got Chloe's movie, drink, snack, my gatorade and/or water and gu (if necessary, usually not though on days when I'm running while entertaining) and Chloe has on her running shoes (she likes to run around the basement while I run) and has been made to use the potty (otherwise mid-way I'm going to be forced to stop for a bathroom break). Then and only then, I lay Madelyn down and make a mad dash with Chloe to the basement. The goal is to get the whole run in before Madelyn wakes up (and on really really good days also a shower) without having to stop and run up two flights of stairs and finish my run entertaining now TWO little girls.

So yesterday, I only had 4 miles to get in...totally doable. But I did what I would later live to regret. I checked my email. And I read one of THOSE forwards...the kind that make you think and (sniff, sniff) maybe even cry a little. It was all about appreciating what you have today because it might be gone tomorrow. So when I finished that email and Chloe came over and asked please pleeeeeaaaasse can we play memory, how could I refuse? (Memory for a 3 year old, or at least mine, is a little like this: 12 cards face down, she picks one and says "I'm going to find a match for..." and then turns every card over one at a time until she finds it. Once she's done, she yells "I FOUND TWO KAYAKS!" I have no idea why. There's not a single kayak on even one of her Dora the Explorer Memory cards and I don't even think she knows what a kayak is, but nonetheless, she yells it every time. Oh and it is NEVER my turn. My role is to set the game up over and over and cheer each time she finds her two kayaks) And I enjoyed every minute of it throughout ALL of Madelyn's nap.

During lunch, while feeding a mess of sweet peas and cereal to my little baby bird that I can't seem to shovel food in fast enough, and still in my running clothes I might add, I plot my next attack on the treadmill. Madelyn's nap #2 in the afternoon seems to be the most opportune time. Only one problem...I crashed HARD at about 3PM which was Madelyn's nap. Crash in a way that even the energy drink 3 feet away on my counter seemed much too far away to make my legs get up and go get(must have been all that intense memory playing). The run just wasn't happening. Instead Chloe and I had a little quiet time and watched a movie (Allison Wonderland...you know the one with the Treasure Cat. Feel free to try to correct my 3 year old if you like, Chesshire Cat & ALICE in Wonderland...she's not buying it) and I pushed the run to the evening, my fall back position (and most often when I find myself running).

Finally, about 8:15PM or so, I put on my running shoes once again, sit down and have a little stretch and THE VERY MINUTE I stand up to go to my treadmill, the power goes out. Seriously. I got nothing. And this my friends, was why I was FORCED to eat ice cream. I mean what else are you going to do? To steal a line from my sister, "well, if you're gonna go down, might as well go down hard" (hence the caramel and hot fudge...well actually just fudge since I had no microwave to use) See...had I not attempted to go for a run 3 times, I would not have been so frustrated. Had I not been so frustrated I would not have turned to ice cream (really it was the fudge, I'm a chocolate freak but I can't just eat hot fudge with a spoon and I happened to have ice cream handy soooooo.....).

AND THAT is how running forces me to eat ice cream. See it makes perfect sense (in a desperate mommy sort of way)

Happily, got the 4 miles in first thing this morning and as of tomorrow I'll be back on schedule with the 1/2 right around the corner dum dum duuuuuummm (not really sure why I put that...maybe because the 1/2 marathon sounds so menacing...)

'Til next time...

P.S. Let's not forget about the free running shirt up for grabs. You know contest and all that. Right now all you need to win is a whopping 1 follower...surely SOMEBODY has enough power over ONE person to force them willingly (or even not so willingly) to sign up as a follower...SOMEBODY? ANYBODY? BUELLER?

Happy Day After Mother's Day Gift!

So ultimately I know I blew it here and I should have made a post yesterday on what was actually mother's day about how wonderful all mothers are and how appreciative I am for my mom, my grandmas and flat out all mothers I know (and even the ones I don't for that matter), but the simple truth is: I didn't. I suck. This I already know.

But let's pretend for a second I don't suck and did in fact make a post yesterday. It most certainly would have been something sentimental with the intent on making at least a couple of people cry while expressing how deeply grateful I am to moms everywhere and how truly and utterly lost I think the world would be without moms. But that was yesterday, and I'm sure you've all had your fill of that already. So today...today, I'm going with funny. Here is my belated mother's day gift to you:

Mom Song Click Here

I should also probably tell you that the reason I didn't make a post yesterday is that my husband and children (who are 3 and 7 months so really we're talking husband here) absolutely spoiled me rotten for mother's day (which was actually two days of fun).

Saturday, Ollie took Chloe, our 3 year old, shopping for me. And don't worry ladies, I had her fully prepped on exactly what I wanted and she did not disappoint. MY BABY!!!! :-) (that's right, we actually practiced "Now Chloe, when Daddy says 'what does mommy want for mother's day' you say 'mommy wants a new running watch'") So in addition to a new running watch, book, bag of peppermint patties, and an elmo card with the outline of both my daughters' hands in it,(awww...) I also had an exquisite meal of grilled crab legs (the best way to make them by the way) and aspargus prepared by my husband for me and BOTH our mothers (somehow my Dad and nephew also managed to finagle their way into dinner too. Not sure how that works, but we enjoyed their company so it was all good). And my mother-in-law brought along with her one of those to die for ho ho cakes. Chocolate freak I am, I could ask no more, but wait...Mother's Day was actually Sunday!

My gift for Sunday was first that hubby pretty much got the kids ready for church on his own which if you could see the crazy woman I am trying to get out the door Sunday mornings you would know just exactly how much this means to me. (although let me pause here for just one moment to complain about church for a minute...yeah, I know, I can't believe I'm about to do this either, but I am and you're going to agree so bear with me...Every year they hand out some potted flower arrangements on mothers day to moms who have the most grandkids, or the youngest kid, or the most kids in college or whatever. But dag knabbit (also mom cuss word), I deserved those flowers! For one reason and one reason only... I have THE LOUDEST infant on the planet I SWEAR. She's not even crying. No, not my happy go lucky baby. In true ladylike fashion my 7 month old in her little yellow sun dress was growling at the top of her lungs the ENTIRE time and of course it was packed and of course we were late and so therefore we had to sit in the only place left available which happened to be the 2ND row with not only a growling daughter but a tired growling daughter who does what I'm sure all 7 month olds do when they are tired...detect sarcasm here please...bounce and fling herself around in order to fight sleep with all she's got. I kid you not. I WAS DRIPPING SWEAT by the time we were finished but what did I get...NADA! Ok vent over...I'm just saying...when do THOSE flowers get handed out. You know the ones for the sweatiest moms due to child silencing/wrestling? Where is my freaking plant? Ok, for real, now I'm done)

Anyways, after spending the afternoon at my grandparents, later that day I went on my 9 miler with no babies! (although it was not so good guys in all honesty, it was actually supposed to be 10 but long story so I'll skip it for now)and finished it off with pizza waiting for me at my parents. YUM! So when I got home, I took a little bath, read my new book and decided to top the night off by going to bed early rather than hoping on the computer.

Really I had to...I did it all for you. I hear the longer you're a mother, the less a big deal your family tends to make of it so just in case any of you got shafted I figured I better get all I could out of mine in your honor. See what a giver I am ;-)

Truly, I hope all you mommies got spoiled at least a little bit yesterday and if not...then you just send the culprits my way and I'll have a little word ;-)

And just in case you missed it because you were in fact being spoiled all weekend don't forget to check out our contest. Free stuff is involved and you don't want to miss that, especially because it's cool free stuff too and as of right this minute there's not a whole lot a competition in order to get it so you might as well jump in and see what happens.

'Til next time.

Follow Me To The Edge of Insanity Contest

Or da da daaaaaaa....announcing our inagural contest! The winner of which will not only receive bragging rights AND a virtual trophy, the best of which my imaginary money can buy, but also the first Runfastmommy swag...a running shirt. And this is by no means one of my husband's stolen undershirts dipped in tie dye (or rather left over Easter Egg dye)by my 3 year old. This is an actual technical running shirt with wicking fabric adorned by the new and soon to be released (as soon as I can figure out how in the heck I can change my header graphic without the rest of my blog magically disappearing) runfastmommy logo drawn by none other than yours truly (don't get too excited, I'm no Rembrandt although I am a certified master of the artistic style known to some as minimalist personnas...aka stick figures...hint hint as to what our logo may be)

Here's our contest goal: Double...no let's say triple the size of runfastmommy.com. So we can spread our fun (or germs) to the far reaches of the globe and ensure that every mom, mamma, mommy, mother, ma who runs, wants to start running, or has ever even thought about running can share in our silliness and get at least a little giggle out of an otherwise hectic day. And so that all the non-mommies can further understand and develop at least a mild form of appreciation for what it is exactly us mammas go through to slap on those shoes and get our run in (and ok maybe they'll chuckle a little too...chuckle not giggle b/c I'm thinking chuckle sounds much more masculine and alot of these non-mammas happen to be fellas)

So Get to It...What Do You Do To WIN?

Simple. Get more followers. The person who refers the most followers to runfastmommy.com wins. Two steps here:

1. They've got to sign up as a follower over on the right hand side column. This might mean that they have to sign up for a google account which will take all of 30 seconds to do, but I need to see their smiling mugs on my site in order to count (or at least the vague outline of their profile if they would prefer to bask in anonymity using the default graphic and not upload a picture)ADDITIONAL NOTE: They MUST follow publicly not privately. If your people follow me privately, I won't know about it.

2. Then, they need to send me an email at runfastmommy@gmail.com with the name (or alias if you're not using your real name here) of the person who sent him/her here. This is important otherwise I won't be able to properly credit the person who sent them and it is possible for people not participating in the contest to sign up as followers too. So I won't know if that follower belongs to you unless THEY tell me (by the way, there is no claiming of followers. THEY have to tell me you sent them not you saying "oh yeah he's mine and she's mine and that ones mine too, etc.)

We will keep a running tally in the side bar so you can see your competition. I'll update it daily (no I won't. I can have every intention of doing that but just know now, it's not happening. We're talking semi-daily at best, but I WILL go ahead and put the date down that I update so you will at least know that)

Who Can Participate?

Anybody. Well ok...anybody...except my husband Ollie. Sorry babe. He's far too close and has way too much influence over me to participate. Plus, he knows my passwords pretty much everywhere and could just alter the results in his favor.

But even the newest person who stumbles on the website or perhaps who you've sent here can participate. In fact, you may have a head start because you are reading this now, but they may have a leg up because they will have an entirely new sphere of influence to find followers from whereas I know you all have already been talking to certainly everyone you know and they could quite possibly be sick of me by now (NO you say...yes, yes. It's true not all people love runfastmommy especially the diehard running purists we discussed earlier)

Who Can Be A Follower?

Anybody. They don't have to be a mom and they don't have to be a runner. They just have to be a living breathing person (not that I am certifying this or anything, I'll take your word on it) and if you have a dog who really thinks I'm funny than ok you can sign him up too (no you can't I'm just kidding...I want no Fidos or Fluffies on my followers list please). Because I have been told that even non-runners and non-mommies don't mind reading my ramblings. Although, I think you've got a better shot at people following through with signing up AND sending me the email if they are at least somewhat actually interested in what's going on here so that is probably a runner and/or a mom or at least somebody who knows a running mom.

But only one follower profile per person. In other words, not matter how many personalities you may have, you do in fact only have one set of eyeballs to read my blog with therefore, only sign yourself up one time as a follower. Any more than that is a little more like stalking than following and besides just being weird (and a little scary) this would also be a form of cheating. Oh and you may not refer yourself in case you were wondering.

How Can I Find These Followers?

However you want I suppose. Word of mouth, send an email, twitter, myspace, facebook, forums. Feel free to post my link anywhere. Well...almost anywhere...I ask that you please stay true to runfastmommy and do not post my link anywhere vulgar, hateful or obscene. (Now that 1/2 of the net is ruled out) feel free to post anywhere else.

ONE LAST RULE:

The winner of the contest MUST be a follower him/herself. Otherwise, that's just silly (although perhaps more fitting since most of what I do here is silly ;-)

CONTEST ENDS:

On June 6th at 11:59:59PM in order to get you your shirt in time for plenty of summer running. The winner will be announced on June 7th and will be the feature of my blog post that day.

I'll post pictures of the shirt as soon as it's finished being designed. If you have any questions on the contest that you think everybody might like to know the answer to, be sure to post them here. Otherwise you can feel free to send me an email at runfastmommy@gmail.com

Good Luck Everybody!

PS. THE CONTEST STARTS NOW!!!!

PPS. If you cheat you will be given a public timeout AND then banned for all eternity(aka grounded for life). And how will I know if you cheat? I'm a mom. I will know. I've got eyes in the back of my virtual head.

PPPS. (really do you keep adding p's or do you start with the s's? what's the protocol here? Maybe I just shouldn't have forgotten to put this stuff up in the body eh?) Email addresses-I WILL NOT be using any email addresses for spam. Nor will I be sharing them with anybody else. You have my solemn promise on that. Your followers are going to get one email from me asking them if they would like to receive my posts via email and that is it. PERIOD. Anything else from me will be at their request. With the only exception being if something (God Forbid) happens to my blog and I need to notify you all of it's disappearance and direct you somewhere else while the search is on.

Running Snobs...Don't Be That Guy AND DO NOT Let That Guy Get To YOU!

Running snobs. They're about the only thing that can get me worked up as much as government bailouts for companies who in turn are letting go of the very people who are bailing their sorry behinds out (but this is an entirely different subject that you DO NOT want to get me started on unless you've got plenty of time on your hands and you can handle high volumes, well I'm not really a yeller, let's call it intense debate instead).

For the most part, runners are friendly people, excited and happy to meet other runners and swap tales from the trails and talk running in general. Now there are some that prefer the more secluded side of running, a runner who's in his/her head and not really interested in the social running community at large. These are the people who can't even break focus long enough to muster up a two fingered wave when you pass them from the opposite direction. I have no problem with these people and from time to time tend to be one of them. No interruptions, no chatter...just me and the run. (Stop rolling your eyes, this really is true...rare..but true)

No, the ones that frost my cookies are the actual running snobs. These are the people who have somewhere in their heads defined what an actual runner is and have determined to turn their nose up or even worse yet rub your nose in the fact that you don't measure up. This usually consists of some arbitrary time or pace goal but can sometimes be determined by other random factors such as: you are not a runner if you stop; you stop to walk; you don't run races; you don't run far enough; you don't run often enough; you've never puked after a run;, you run on a treadmill or whatever other meaningless criteria the self-appointed king or queen of running happen to deem as important enough to properly label you as either a runner or non-runner.

Today, at the dentist, the hygenist (who shall remain nameless to protect her secret superhero identity unless of course she deems to break her cover on her own) and I started a little chat about running. She's thinking of picking running back up again, and in fact, taking on the daunting task of a 1/2 marathon for her first race back...let's pause here for a little group cheer...Go SuperHygenist!...She used to run and tried to pick it back up but got chased away by one of these running snobs. And in this she's not alone, I know for sure. I've run across similar people in running forums, or running groups and their tactics are more than enough to chase off a new or a "born again" runner.

If you meet them in person, they'll do things like roll their eyes or huff and puff while you're on the treadmill, or even pull out their best high school tricks like whisper and giggle. In a forum or group where they don't have to look you in the eye, they may even resort to snide comments. In the case of our dear SuperHygenist, one of them actually had the nerve to make the comment in person while she was on the treadmill "there are people here actually training for something" (And now just typing that, gets me revved up!)

Here's the thing people: DO NOT LET THEM BOTHER YOU! Not one teeny tiny ant's leg worth! They wouldn't have ANY of their precious races to run in without you! There simply are not enough elite runners out there to maintain all the local 5Ks, 10Ks, 1/2s, and even full marathons out there. Those runners up in the front of the pack NEED the back of the packers to fund their races. And more so, most of those front of the pack runners are in fact in the back of the pack somewhere at some race and if not now, then at some point they were. We all have to start somewhere and not all of us have the time, money, and/or talent to devote ourselves to becoming front of the packers even if we desired to do so.

Not that I am accusing ALL front of the pack elite athletes of being running snobs either. NOT BY A LONG SHOT! I know some. I've met some and they are some of the most down to earth, encouraging people you'll ever meet. (especially because I wouldn't want to offend my diehard blog fans Kara Goucher, Deena Kastor, Paula Radcliffe, and Ryan Hall who are all following along, just not publicly. They can't play favorites you know and besides then I'd be forced to pay them royalities and the advertising gets complicated, and there's copyright issues to deal with when they quote one of my little masterpieces...;-) In fact, I'd venture to guess, that these running snobs are more wannabes than anything else and as such they've got to make themselves better than somebody so they establish their "running criteria" to elevate themselves above some other poor non-worthy running soul.

So let me tell you what does in fact make you a runner...YOU! If you are making those feet move faster than you do when you take the dog for a walk in the middle of the night and you're doing so on a somewhat regular sort of basis. Then yes, my friend, you are a runner. We are all different, different body types, different fitness levels, different amounts of time we can commit, different capabilities and so what my pace is when I go out may be different from what yours is. And what my celebrity secret fans call a long slow run, I'd probably call a speed work out on steriods that somebody added an extra number to (15 miles should of been 1, 20 miles should have been 2, you get the picture).

But that's ok. Because running is all about you. You exercising, you improving yourself, you focusing on a goal (sometimes), you finding out just exactly what you are capable of. It IS NOT about what everybody else is doing and you are going to do yourself a major disservice if you let some running snob steal your thunder. (and also remember mammas, that it is highly unlikely that those running snobs have been through the phsyique changing process of labor and delivery and they most certainly are not getting up in the middle of the night to feed a baby going through a growth spurt or chasing around a three year old all day before they head out for their run) Don't get me wrong competing is good, but competing is far from being the only reason to run.

Whatever your reason for running may be, you just keep on. And the next time some running snob huffs & puffs, or tells you they're doing some serious training (which by the way is probably better done at home or some other training facility for elite athletes rather than the local YMCA or gym that you too in fact have paid the same amount of dues to access), you just smile and nod (in true mommy fashion) and say "I'll be finished in a minute" and let them huff off on their way knowing that you lady ARE A RUNNER TOO!

So much to write...so little time

Well, ladies and gentleman it's been a few days here, not for lack of writing material by any stretch of the imagination that's for certain. But frankly every time I sat down in front of keyboard to type you out a gem or two, I found myself faced with first a computer virus (apparently computers are not exempt from swine flu either), then the next couple of days, by the time I hit the keys I was so tired I was typing nonsense kind of similar to what I usually do except not on purpose and in a much more peculiar form that would have required some sort of language interpreter and since my google language translation widget doesn't translate exhausted mommy I thought it best to wait until I was feeling a little more rested (Oops! Sorry moms! Is that mommy taboo since moms are in fact NEVER well rested?)

But I do have some major accomplishments to report (at least I would consider them so, if you don't just nod in agreement like you do when you meet someone for the first time and they go into their whole life story without pausing for a breath or realizing that by backing away you are actually trying to end the conversation rather than draw them in closer...you'll need a fake smile on your face too by the way)

So first off...SPRING CLEANING! Yipee! Got the entire upstairs of my house cleaned up and out meaning I'm clearing out the stuff that I never ever use/wear although I hold onto as if by some chance although I haven't used whatever it is in the last 5 years, perhaps one day, my life might depend on whether or not I have it. Thank-you to hubby, for taking the day off work and taking the girls so I could focus and get it done. About the most cleaning I can do with them around is straightening up or dishes, but serious cleaning requires me and only me...no babies for distraction and no husband watching a ball game while I work on it (not that MY husband would EVER do that ;-)

And along with the cleaning I have (almost) caught up on laundry. Which means one thing and one thing only...I HAVE SOCKS! Sadly, I have discovered the only thing worse than having to steal your husband's running socks is having to match up nine million pairs of just washed socks (seriously, if you are ever wondering where that other sock has gone after you do the wash, I can tell you...HERE!) So I am now faced with a giant laundry basket of socks to sort through, but after 2 hours straight of folding clothes (I kid you not), I figured I'd save the socks for when Chloe, my 3 year old came home to see if we could make a game of it, you know fun family bonding time. Place your bets people.

But most excitingly...(pause here for dramatic effect)...my 13 miler is done and it was excellent! Great weather, beautiful trails, everything was feeling good and I ending up running only about 10 minutes off my 1/2 marathon goal time which was totally unexpected and I still felt like I had a lot left at the end. Now, I'm feeling much much better about that goal guys. Feeling doable. Just have to figure out how I can cut some time off those first couple of miles. They're soooooooooooo slow. I don't seem to catch my stride 'til about mile 6 or so. And I know I know...I should go do a warmup run. But...well...I just don't want to! 13 miles is far enough to run. Now walk, I could maybe walk a warmup. Think that would count? Let's make that the question of the week...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: If you just don't want to run a warmup, will walking do the trick?

PS. Almost forgot! I got that article published: 7 Tips for Moms Who Want to Start Running You can click that link if you want to check it out.

PPS. I keep forgetting to tell you all that you CAN now subscribe through email. It's over there in the top left column. If you can't figure it out and you need help or you just want me to do it for you, send me an email to runfastmommy@gmail.com