A preggers pause

I’m about 2 weeks away from having this kiddo (eeek!), and I was feeling bad for neglecting Stride & Joy as it was such a big part of my life over the past couple of years. I fully intend that it will be again, but for now running has taken a backseat to teeny tiny clothes and trying not to go insane finishing things up at work. (Running is still a massive part of Hubby’s life, so I am living vicariously through him, but it’s not quite the same. Although part of me is grateful to be spending much less time sitting in parking lots.)

I am not planning on writing much about babies/parenthood once the big event happens as there are about a gazillion blogs that do that way better than I ever could, but I was on the train the other morning thinking about the past nine months, and I figured one preggers post would be OK. So, here goes …

The best and worst things I discovered about being pregnant

Best:
1. I can finally take that seat on the train right next to the door (you know the one) without feeling like I am going to get hairy-eyeballed by a little old lady.
2. I can enjoy watching my belly expand without worrying that it’s from too many dirty gin martinis.
3. I can claim a really, really good reason for only being able to run two miles of a half-marathon. (My usual reason is lame.)
4. I can spend inordinate amounts of time online looking up things like “breast pump bags that aren’t completely hideous” and “baby wall art that doesn’t make me want to barf” without feeling as though I am wasting my life on the internets.
5. My hair is awesome. I know it’s about to all fall out, but I’ll take it for now.
6. People are amazingly, astoundingly generous.

Worst:
1. I rarely get that aforementioned seat on the train because no one stands up. I can count the number of people who have given up a seat for me (or tried to) on one and a half hands. (Granted, I have been wearing a giant puffy jacket that until about two months ago revealed little unless I turned sideways. But still.)
2. The puffy jacket. It must be the least unflattering item of clothing I have ever put on my person. And I have spent a decent amount of time in running tights with shorts over the top.
3. I have been told that I am tiny. I have been told that I am big. I wish people would make up their minds. Or better yet, just stop commenting on my size. I don’t tell you you’re having a fat day.
4. I am at my sleepiest at 3.30 in the afternoon, which of course always seems to be just before a big meeting.
5. It takes me twice as long to walk anywhere right now, not because I am having to waddle—although that is true—but because I am so worried about slipping on the dang ice (it’s happened twice). No one can tell from behind that I’m preggers, so people get peeved when they get stuck behind me on the sidewalk in between impassable snow banks (I’ve heard the harrumphs). If I had a do-over, I’d make a sign and stick it on my back: “I’m this slow because I’m walking for two.” 

That’s all for now. Wish me luck!

  

A bump in the road …

Hello in there.

This is what happens when you stop running …

OK, perhaps not. But it sure does look that way.

Savvy readers may have noticed that there hasn’t been much striding on Stride & Joy lately. I have found that running for two isn’t nearly as easy (or fun) as eating for two. (I don’t like feeling as though my insides are about to fall out every time my foot hits gravel.)

Since entering this state of stomach expansion and new-found wobbly bits, I have done a couple half-marathons and a handful of smaller races, so at least I feel like I gave the whole running-while-preggers thing the old college try. (Although, given that what I normally do barely constitutes running, I’m not sure how to qualify what I was doing on my knocked-up races. But, hey, I always crossed the finish line.)

For the past couple of months, it’s been couch city for the most part, although I have been working out on Hubby’s new Elliptigo, which we turned into a stationary trainer (more on that later). I was swimming, but then our YMCA sprung a massive leak and ended up shuttered for three months. Perhaps it was a sign. I thought about yoga, and then thought about it some more. But by the time I get around to going to a class, this kid is going to be ready for higher education. I’m just not cut out to be bendy, especially not now, when putting on my shoes is about as unattainable as doing crane pose.

I fully intend to be back out there when I can (Stride & Bundle of Joy?), red-faced as ever, jogging stroller at the ready. Until then, happy 2014, everyone! May the road rise up to meet you.

Runner’s World Festival 2013 recap, aka, 10K is really, really far

Given that Runner’s World CRO Bart Yasso is currently stalking my husband (seriously, he seems to be at EVERY one of Hubby’s runs), it seemed only fitting that we should go to the Runner’s World Half and Festival in Bethlehem, PA.—Yasso’s hometown—last month.

OK, so I may have got that stalking bit backwards, but we were pretty excited about this event. Hubby especially, because he got to do the Hat Trick (there was even a hat to mark the accomplishment)—a 5K, 10K, and half-marathon over the two days of the fest, otherwise known as running for crazy people. I, on the other hand, was signed up for the 10K, which was possibly 10K more than I should have been signed up for, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Runner’s World Half Marathon and Festival at the SteelStacks in Bethlehem in Pennsylvania.

The festival was held at the SteelStacks, a cultural/recreation center that has been developed in the shadow of the former blast furnaces of the Bethlehem Steel Plant (Bethlehem is an old steel town that is being revitalized). It made for a very cool backdrop. I love how we keep winding up at these places we would never have visited otherwise.

Bart Yasso has a saying: “Never limit where running will take you.” (When he autographs something, he signs that. I know this because of the stalking.) It’s so true.

I put my name down for the 10K long before a 10K became out of my grasp due to a lack of preparation and other reasons. But I didn’t want to be a piker so I figured I’d do what I did for the Wineglass Half and walk the majority of it (the Wineglass tech shirt got quit a bit of love as I was waiting at the start).

Lining up for the 10K start, and not freaking out at all …

I think I jogged for about 10 minutes before I decided I’d had enough. I used to joke when I first started doing these races about coming last and being at the back of the pack. But now I really am at the back. I turned around at one point to see only a handful of people behind me. Crap! (On further observation, it turns out that there were also a handful of people behind them, so it wasn’t as dire as I thought. But still … )

Lovely old town.

Man, why is 10K so far all of a sudden? This run seemed to take an eternity. The route was great, very pretty, and flat, but such. a. long. way.  I’ve done two half-marathons in the past few months, and it STILL seemed like I would grow old and die before I finished this race. Man, I really need to start running my runs again.

When I got close to the finish, Hubby met me to encourage me in (read: give me a shove), which meant I went from a walk, to a slightly faster walk, to a sort-of run across the finish line. He even managed to capture some pictorial evidence of my, er, triumph.

Check me out, I’m, um, running! I don’t look like a moose from this angle.

Apart from the 10K torture, the festival also had a bunch of panels and keynote speakers (Dan McGilvray, who directs the Boston Marathon, was there). We went to a few, including a talk by Yasso himself about his life on the run. The man is one compelling speaker. He’s a lot of fun to listen to,  and very passionate about what he does. I mean, his title is chief running officer! Everyone should make sure they get to one of his talks.

Oh, and there was also a dog run. You’ve got to love an event that has a dog run.

Hopefully we’ll be back next year. And hopefully by then I won’t feel like a complete running fraud!

One of us is a real runner. Can you guess who?

The event: Runner’s World Half Marathon and Festival
The location: Bethlehem, PA
The date: October 18-20, 2013
My time: 1.30.22 (best not to think about it too much)
Hubby’s time: 20.39; 43.42; 1.41.21
The T-shirt: Blue tech long-sleeved shirt
The aftermath: Lots of good eats at the expo

Wineglass Half Marathon recap, aka, Slow and very slow with hints of plodding

Last year, I ran the Wineglass Half Marathon in Corning, New York, and did pretty OK. Of course, “pretty OK” is all relative, and my version of it is probably many other people’s “not so hot.” But I I set a PR that I have a feeling I’ll never be able to beat, and I was really happy.

The Wineglass is my kind of run. It’s mostly flat or downhill and you get a free glass and a bottle of bubbly along with the shirt and the other bits and pieces. No wonder I set a PR. Although, the PR may have had something to do with the fact  I had spent 2012 running so many races every weekend that I had by default trained for that one (shock!), but still, bubbly booze is a powerful motivator.

Smooshed way in the back at the Wineglass Half Marathon start.

This year, Hubby had the brilliant idea of suggesting this race as a destination run for our group at the Quincy Y. There ended up being nine of us who traveled from Boston. So fun! The rest of the group like to do wild and crazy things like train consistently, which means they were all infinitely more prepared than I was, so I said goodbye to them and sneaked into the back of the pack where I belonged (Hubby and our trainer Mary were doing the full marathon). Last year, I was propelled to the finish by the 2.30 pace runner, but once you consign yourself to 3:00 and above, I feel like you’re pretty much on your own.

Into the mist.

I had decided that I was going to mostly walk this one, as I didn’t want to injure myself coming into the race cold. Unfortunately, there’s no such program as Couch to Half Marathon in Two Weeks. I could really use one of those.

I did start off jogging, for about a mile, but it felt pretty torturous, so I decided to stick with the original plan. I’m a pretty fast walker, so I thought I could maybe knock it over in about three hours. (I did the Mad Half Marathon last year in around that time, and figured that given that the Wineglass is a net downhill course and the Mad is crazy hilly, it would be a cakewalk.)

I guess I should learn how to bake.

I remembered this course really well from last year, and I remembered exactly where I was before I finally petered out and had to walk. It was at about the nine-mile mark. Man, nine miles is a long way when you’re walking as slowly as I was this time around. And don’t even get me started on 13.1. For the first time in many, many races I felt … and I can’t believe I’m saying this … kind of bored. Don’t get me wrong, this is an amazing event. I love it and would happily do it every year regardless of the shape I’m in. But it was tough for me for many reasons.

Thank goodness it’s pretty. I was out there long enough.

I kept going even though my legs were turning to jelly and my brain to mush. I was so relieved when I turned the second-to-last corner that I even broke out into a little jog (that may have been mostly for the camera), but I couldn’t sustain it. For the first time ever (apart from the Mad, where I was in a walkers division), I resigned myself to walking across the finish line.

But that’s OK. I was just so glad to cross it that I didn’t really care that the race wasn’t my finest hour. All the others from the Quincy contingent did amazingly well, and everyone had a great weekend. I’ll toast to that.

The event: Wineglass Marathon and Half Marathon
The location: Corning, NY
The date: October 6, 2013
My time: 3.28.40
Hubby’s time: 4.02.29
The T-shirt: Purple tech long-sleeved shirt
The aftermath: Bagels, soup, chocolate milk, bananas

Gone soft. Again.

Earlier this year, just before I didn’t do the North Carolina Half Marathon, I wrote about how my running plan had gone slightly awry, and that I was planning on starting from scratch.

My “program” was chock full of rest days and not much else.

Well, things have gone slightly more awry, if that’s at all possible. But at least I have something new to remind me of past glories. We recently got a second T-shirt blanket from Project Repat, which creates fair-wage jobs in the U.S. by upcycling T-shirts. This one is made of tech shirts, and I love it!

New blanket!

The scary thing is that we still have at least another blanket’s worth of shirts thanks to Hubby, who continues to accumulate them at a rate of one a week (and sometimes two or three times a week). And this is after we gave a huge bag of shirts to charity. I think someone needs a run-tervention.