Next Race: Seacoast Half Marathon! November 14th

So I did it! I pulled out my credit card and signed up for the Seacoast Half-Marathon today.

And yet another a few months pass...

...without writing on my blog. I realize having a more mobile baby makes it hard to type when she wants to "play" with mommy's toy (the laptop).

I also haven't written much because I haven't run much. I looked at the calendar and realized that Reach the Beach is just a month away! Yikes! I better up my mileage if I am to run the race and live to tell about it.

This past week is the first week that I have been somewhat consistent with running. I really got discouraged a couple weeks ago when I could barely do a four mile loop - I even had to stop and walk a couple times - with my friend. I decided after a bout of self-pity that I just needed to get out more even if that means having to wait until after dinner, bathing the little Z, and putting her to bed at 8PM. Or getting up a little earlier in the morning (somehow that doesn't seem to work out as well). Fortunately, the big Z is very supportive and can usually handle the bedtime routine while I head out the door.

Today I did 5+ miles with some serious hills without stopping or walking. I forgot just how great a really good run can feel. It was so freeing just to be a runner for that hour that I was on the road.

Now, I am looking for next half marathon to run this fall...

The reason why I haven't blogged in a while...

This is my daughter, little Z, who was born on September 30, 2009. As you can tell, she is enjoying the finisher's medal from the Great Bay Half Marathon.

Although I tried to keep up with running while I was pregnant, I gave up somewhere around the middle of second trimester. Not that couldn't do it, I just got frustrated because I would get winded from going a couple of blocks. So I kept in shape by walking and doing yoga.

Alas, I was itching to run about 4 weeks after she was born. It's been a slow progression back into running since then. The question is no longer how long I will run today but if I can even fit a run in today.

While I was still on leave in December, I decided to sign up for Great Bay Half Marathon in April. I was feeling pretty good at the time and managed to fit a run in most days either before the big Z went to work or when he came home. I thought I could handle a half by April. I forgot to factor in one big component into my schedule : WORK. I returned to work in January and lost the ability to "sleep when the baby sleeps". So by the time I got home, I would be exhausted and be in no mood to run. She was still not sleeping through the night so the days were just one endless cycle of getting up, going to work, getting home, nursing her, eating dinner, nursing her again, getting her to sleep, throwing in a load of laundry, going to sleep, waking up a few hours later, nursing her, getting her to sleep, going to sleep, and getting up again for the morning. Throw in a few night meetings on a top of that, it became next to impossible. Finally, we got into a better rhythm, she started sleeping longer, and I was able to get out a couple times a week plus fit in a semi-long run on the weekend.

I still felt ill-prepared as the race date neared but I knew I could do it. I kept the following quote as my mantra from Dean Karnazes' book, Ultramarathon Man :

Run when you can
Walk if you have to
Crawl if you must
Just never give up.

Except for crawling, I did exactly that and made it to the finish. I purposely didn't time myself because my goal was just to finish. Although not the best race time-wise, it was certainly one of the most rewarding :-)