Coach, I'm In

I got an email yesterday from Steve with two important pieces of news.

1. Registration for the Bix 7 is now open.
2. Steve refuses to "almost die" at the race this year.

Take a look at this picture, taken before last year's race by the lovely Amy from Runners' Lounge:



Steve looks cute, happy, and ready to tackle one of his favorite races. Steve likes to run, though isn't as obsessed with it as I am (he has obsessive hobbies of his own). But the Bix is special, a fun event that most of the Quad Cities participates in, and he doesn't ever want to miss it.

The trouble is, it's a really tough course. Seven miles is a lot, especially if you're used to running about three. Add to that a ridiculous number of hills and typically hot weather.

The result was that after the race last year, while I happily chatted with fellow Loungers, Steve was red faced, knocking back drinks, trying to get some food into his system, and generally feeling like hell.

Not this year, he vowed.

As you can imagine, that made my little ears prick right up. I asked if I could coach him, and he agreed.

Steve's goal is simple: run the race with no walk breaks and without feeling like he's going to die afterwards.

I'm going to keep the workouts equally simple. We'll gradually increase the miles of his long run so that seven doesn't feel so daunting. Many of his running routes will incorporate hills - in the beginning, the middle, and the end, so that he'll be prepared for that aspect of the race. Because Steve isn't concerned with his time, I see no need for intervals or tempo runs, so we'll skip that, instead adding elements to keep it fun - the occasional weekend 5K and Bix at Six training runs.

This time around, when I meet Steve at the hill with the flag on it after the race, both of us will be smiling just like in Amy's Before picture.

Side note: Thanks to everybody for your support of my plan to replace marathons with triskos ("half marathons") this year. Because I am a marathoner, I have to admit that part of me feels like I am not going for the full glory by focusing on a shorter distance. I know it's unreasonable, and in fact if someone else said that, I'd tell them that running half marathons is nothing to sneeze at, especially since I am planning on not just running them, but racing them. Still, it feels good to have my decisions validated by runners who I respect. Thanks, guys.

The Trisko Kid

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my running goals and how to best fit them in with the rest of my life. My new job, while awesome in many ways, poses some challenges. The frequent travel (so far we’re at four trips in six weeks) is the biggest one. In one way, I’m working that out. I have resolved to still go running when I’m travelling, even though it means having to wake up extra early. It’s worth it to me, because starting a hectic day with a run is a great way for me to feel centered, and to really feel like me, even in a strange environment.

The trouble comes when I get home. Steve and Jack have been incredibly supportive of me in just about every possible way. That includes both work and running. And because the boys are so great, when I am home, I want to spend time with them.
Right now, I can, as the great Tim Gunn would say, make it work. I’m using the FIRST plan to train for a trisko (“half marathon”) on May 10, then another on May 24. Tuesday nights I do a track workout, then Thursdays I do a tempo run – unless I am travelling, in which case I do those workouts whenever I am on the road. On Sundays, I start my long run at 7:30 in the morning, and with the longest pre-race run planned at 13.1 miles, it doesn’t eat up my entire day – both with the time to run and the time to recover.

But when my thoughts turn to marathon training in the fall, I get a little worried. My mid-week workouts will be about the same, but those long runs on weekends are a lot tougher. If I go out and run a 20 miler, between running, an ice bath, eating a giant pile of food, and recovery time, half my day is shot. I love the time I spend running, but if I’ve already been away from home for a couple of days in the week, it’s a lot of time spent away from Steve and Jack.

That’s why I’m thinking that 2009 may be the Year of the Trisko (which, again, sounds much cooler than the Year of the Half Marathon).

A trisko is, of course, a respectable and challenging distance. But my long runs won’t take so long. I’ll feel ready to hang out with my guys after a sandwich and a shower, rather than an ice bath and a nap. And because it’s easier to recover from the race itself, I could do more of them. I can also set more aggressive goals, knowing that it’s easier to sustain 13.1 miles than 26.2.

My calendar is already starting to fill up. There’s the Quad Cities Distance Classic on May 10, followed by the Madison Half Marathon on May 24. And I just convinced Steve that it would be really fun for the three of us to go to Chicago on the weekend of June 7 so that I can run 13.1 Chicago. I could run the Quad Cities Half Marathon in September, but then follow that up with the half marathons in Des Moines or Kansas City.

The marathon will always have a special place in my heart, and I know I’ll go back to it someday. But for now, triskos may be the way to go. Just call me The Trisko Kid.

Beer, Brats, and Running

I got an email from my brother on Friday announcing that he is running the Madison Marathon on May 24 and that I should do it, too.

My immediate response was that no way could I be ready for 26.2 miles in that short an amount of time (despite Andy’s arguments that Steve Runner is training for Boston in just five weeks). But then I realized that although I couldn’t do the full marathon, I could run the half.

The more I thought about it, the cooler the idea was. I am running a trisko (“half marathon”) two weeks before at the Quad Cities Distance Classic, but that seems like plenty of time to recover from 13.1 miles. My favorite aunt and uncle live in Madison, so we’d get to stay with them. I'll get to hang out with my brother. The race is at the same time as the bratwurst festival in Madison, so a post-race beer and brat is a done deal. And the race is Memorial Day weekend. Steve will be working that weekend, so Jack and I could take a road trip and have a Mommy-Son adventure.

Next thing you know, I’m signing on the dotted line and registering for the race.
There has also been an interesting side effect to all of this.

I went for my long run yesterday. Since my mojo’s been missing for a couple of weeks now, I decided to just run 10 (rather than the 11-12 I had planned) and to run it at a very relaxed pace. Paula-Garmin went in my pocket so I wouldn’t be distracted by her. The fact that it was cold and windy out reinforced that decision.
So, I did it. I ran 10 miles. And guess what you guys? It felt good! It was not a miserable suck-fest slog. I felt happy and strong and awesome. My 9:30 pace (Paula-Garmin may have been in my pocket, but she was still on) was not as fast as my previous sub-9:00 10-miler, but it was still totally respectable for me.

The mojo was back, and all I needed was a little extra something to be excited about.

It's Gotta Be The Shoes

Buying running shoes fills me with anticipation. They are not just Asics 2140’s in a size 8-1/2 with blue trim. These are the shoes that will support me for hundreds of miles, whose brilliant white color will be grayed with puddles, splattered with mud, and caked with dirt. These shoes may be the ones that I wear when I run an amazing, inspiring workout on the track, that will suffer with me on a wrenching tempo run, and that will triumph when I PR at a race. $100 is a small price to pay, 100 words too small a tribute.

Chasing Mojo

Good morning, interwebs. I am still in Minneapolis for work and still, as faithful sexy readers know, trying to regain my Running Mojo after some disappointing sessions.

I went to bed last night planning on getting up at 5:30 and running again. At 5:30? I reset the alarm for 6:00. But then at 6:00, I decided to lace up the shoes and give it a go on one condition: no treadmill.

My strategy for regaining that elusive Running Mojo is to make running fun, and let's face it: that is not going to happen on a treadmill in a hotel gym where I have nothing to look at but a tiny screen playing Saved by the Bell and a wall of mirrors.

I layered up and headed outside, where it was in the 30's (yes, in April) and snowing lightly (again, Minnesota). I brought Paula Garmin with me, but kept her in my pocket, reminding myself that the point wasn't speed or distance, but the joy of running. This being Minnesota, I quickly found a beautiful lake, surrounded by snow-covered trees, and ran around it.

The setting was beautiful. I have heard many people muse that they can't imagine living in the Midwest, especially not the upper Midwest like Minnesota, but I can definitely see its charms. I saw bunnies running across the path, and for much of the way, the only footprints on the snow were mine.

As for the run? It was not one of those runs where, at the end, you feel amazing and want to spend the entire day telling everyone about how great it was. But it was pretty good. A solid, average effort.

Next up is Sunday's group run. I'm going to run 10 miles, which should be plenty far in advance of my trisko ("half marathon") on May 10, and I will run it at whatever the hell pace I feel like.

I'm coming after you, Running Mojo. Prepare to be chicked.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

Not so long ago, I was at the top of my game. I was blazing out tempo runs and track workouts, then turning around and rocking out 10 miles at sub-9:00 pace. I was amazing, Kenyan-fast, invincible!

Then, it turned out that I was very much... vincible.

My fall from grace started with a 4 mile tempo run. To put it succinctly, I sucked. I felt slow, heavy, and leaden. I couldn't step things up to save my life. What should have been a relatively easy run turned into a slog.

I tried to shake it off. We are all allowed one bad run, right? I resolved to make my next run as fun as possible. I was scheduled to do a 5 x 1K track workout, so to mix things up, I ran on the path by the river, rather than on the track. That way I'd have beautiful scenery to admire, geese to dodge... all that good stuff.

It turned out that run sucked, too.

It was ridiculously cold out, and within minutes, my frozen paws were shoved into my gloves and my butt felt numb. The wind was so strong that I had to bend my head forward to drive into it. 5 x 1K turned into 5 x "Okay, I can run to that tree up there and then stop."

I have said a million times that everyone can have a bad run every now and again, and I mean it. But two in a row really felt lousy. I was in a bad mood all day, and on Sunday, I decided to skip my long run. It was still cold and windy out, and I wanted no part of yet another discouraging workout.

I really need to get my running mojo back. Complicating matters is the fact that I am in Minnesota for three days this week, so my normal routine is thrown off. My plan is to get in two runs while I'm here and to just make them fun. To hell with distance, pace, all of that. I need to get out there and feel good about it, period.

Today was the first attempt, and I can only give it a C-. Cold weather and wind are still plotting against me, and rather than face my kryptonite, I headed for the treadmill in the hotel gym. Running on the treadmill is un-fun by definition, but I really needed to get my legs moving. I mixed it up a bit by throwing in some fact quarter miles.

It felt okay. Not great, not strong, not invicible, but okay. Which is at least better than lousy.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

What about you? How do you regain your running mojo?

Your Mother

So, a couple of weeks ago, I participated in a Runner’s Lounge podcast all about Running Moms, which you can check out right catlicking here.

It could be argued that I am a giant slacker for not getting around to promoting this on my blog until now, but I prefer to think that I am working to sustain the fabulous buzz already surrounding this endeavor. Did that sound convincing?

Anyway, it was supercool to talk to a bunch of my fellow running moms about the perils of Mommy Guilt, why there is apparently no such thing as Daddy Guilt, how to bribe our children into letting us go running, and our dream jogging stroller, which would include a built-in DVD player to quiet down the kiddies so we could keep on going.

In related news, during Jack’s and my weekly trip to the library, we found a book called My Mom is a Runner by Mary Gallagher Reimold. I found this synopsis of the book on Amazon:

The rigorous training involved in long distance running is depicted in sharp, well-reproduced color photographs of the lifestyle of a family of four. Although the mother is dedicated to the sport and works at it daily, she does not isolate herself from her husband and young sons. She is shown caring for the boys, running with them on a track, sharing her tee shirts and other prizes, and celebrating the end of a race with a visit to the ice cream parlor. In turn, her husband and sons are her enthusiastic and supportive fans.

As I read the book to Jack, I found myself doing some selective editing. I chose not to point out to him that the cotton t-shirt that the mom was wearing out on her long run would cause chafing, since that would require more explanation than I was willing to provide. But the part about how sometimes the mom lets her kids wear her race t-shirts to school the next day? Or how the mom actually gives her finishers’ medals to them?

Hell no!

If Jack wants a race t-shirt or a finishers’ medal, then he needs to hit the pavement and earn it his own damned self.

The Power of the Group Run

For the most part, I love the solitary aspects of distance running. It's my favorite time to de-stress, work out problems, or even just hang out and listen to music and podcasts.

But at the same time, it's good to have friends. I adore each and every one of my BRF's (seriously), but I recognize the benefit of having some running friends who I can go out with not just in spirit, but in reality. That's why one of my 2009 running goals was to get to know some local runners. And guys, it's working.

I joined my local running club and started going to events. That was a good start, but even better was joining in the training runs that the club is having for the upcoming Quad Cities Distance Classic trisko ("half marathon").

Bright and surly every Sunday morning, a large group of runners descends upon McDonald's, standing out in the crowd with our brightly colored jackets, tights, and low percentage of body fat.

This week, I ran at my own pace and found myself smack dab in the middle of two packs - one running a bit faster than I was, the other a bit slower. But at the turnaround, I ended up running with John, a guy I met at a previous training run. Since John and I are both, you know, runners, it wasn't exactly hard to find things to talk about.

The miles flew by, and our conversation turned to our goal times for the upcoming race. I said that I wanted to run it in two hours or less. John said that, with the pace we were running, I'd surely be able to do it.

I laughed and said, "You are really making me work right now." Then, he admitted that he kept expecting me to drop him and take off.

Neither of us slowed our pace. Instead, we pushed a little faster up the final hill to the parking lot, where a jug of water and our fellow runners waited. I was rewarded for my efforts with a chance to hang out and talk about running - just what I wanted.

My average pace for that ten mile run? 8:47. That may be a walk in the park for some of you Speedy McSpeedersons, but for me, it is Kenyan fast. I feel amazing... and I can't wait for the next group run so I can do it again.

Runners Report

Seeing as how it's been a shameful number of weeks since I have contributed to Take It and Run Thursday, I'm going to dive right in:

Spring is one of the four most glorious seasons of the year for running. After months of layering up, trying to avoid icy patches, or worse, running indoors, it is wonderful to be out among the singing birds and new flowers.

It is so wonderful that all of a sudden, everybody's a runner. I've heard gym devotees complain about the influx of new people joining up, using the equipment and taking all the good lockers right after making New Year's resolutions in January. The same is true for runners in the spring.

The new runners are, of course, welcome to join us out on the road, and I hope they stick around (unless they are women in my age group who are faster than I am). I want to make a good first impression.

This brings me to my most valuable spring training tip:

Start taking allergy pills before you think you'll need them.

If I hit the Claritin a week before it gets good and gorgeous outside, then I will avoid the portion of my run where I am sneezing with such intensity that it knocks down those new runners, trying to see through my watery eyes how to get home so I can get a shower and some kleenex as fast as possible.

With a little prevention, I can just skip that.

What about you? How do you train in the spring?

On the Road Again

Devoted (and therefore sexy) CoffeeBetsy readers will recall that New Job is causing me to spend quite a bit of time traveling. Two weeks ago found me in exotic Chanhassen, Minnesota, where I got up in the wee hours of the morning and ran on a trail around a frozen lake. It was astonishly beautiful.

Right now, I am traveling again, this time in Seattle (which thus increased the population of runners named Betsy in the city to two). I spent a pivotal summer here living with Steve, and this is the first time I've been back. I knew that, thanks to work, there'd be little time for sightseeing, but there was one easy solution to that.

I got up early, laced up my shoes, and hit the road.

I started off at my hotel, which by sheer coincidence is connected to the mall where I worked that summer. Then, I headed to the Space Needle. The Space Needle is surrounded by museums that we could not afford to go to because we were incredibly poor, so I paid tribute to that by not going in any of them (that and it was 6:00 in the morning). I also visited the carnival area where Steve and I used to walk and eat cotton candy. There is a wee little roller coaster there that we dubbed The Pissy Mouse, because that was about how threatening it was.

From there, I headed back towards the hotel, running past Pike Place Market. Most of the booths weren't set up yet, but the smells of freshly baked bread and hot coffee filled the air. In fact, I regret that I didn't keep an ongoing tally of espresso places that I passed along the way. It verged on parody.

Next, I ran to Pioneer Square, more great coffee places and bookstores, and a bunch of bars that are probably now teeming with people drinking green beer.

Back to the hotel with a few added twists and turns, I was filled with memories. I felt completely connected to the city again - and to Steve, far away though he may have been.

Race Report: St. Patrick's Day 5K

Dawg, I don't know. You went up there, you did your thing, but it was just all right for me. It was kinda weird, dawg; I don't know. I'm not mad atcha, but I'm not jumping out of my chair, either. You know?

--Randy Jackson

Okay, Randy Jackson might not have said those exact words, at least not in that order (and has anyone else noticed that if Randy is forced to give an opinion first and can't just agree with one of the other judges that he's reduced to a lot of stammering, "dawg," and "How do you think you did"?), but the point is that he could have. And I could have said that about my experience at the St. Patrick's Day 5K.

The St. Patrick's Day 5K is not a race I've run before, but I figured, what the heck. For one thing, as I've discussed before, it's only 5 kilometers long. And in perhaps the most kick-ass job benefit of all time, New Workplace has a program in which they sponsor 50% of all of my race fees. Yes, seriously: I run a race, they pay for half of it. Yes, it is awesome. I know. Yeah, I know: awesome.

Anyway, I arrived in plenty of time for the 9:00 AM start... only to find out that the giant 9:00 AM on the entry fee and on the website referred to the children's races, and that my race did not start until 10:00. That kind of sucked, because I could have either slept for another hour or done some work around the house. But whatever; I hung out with my running buddies and watched the kids run.

When it was time to line up at the start, I discovered some weirdness about the course. It was an out-and-back... kind of. We had to walk about 200 meters away from the finish line to start the race. We then ran to a turn-around, and about 100 meters away from that turn-around was the actual half-way point of the race. It wasn't a huge deal, but it was a tad disconcerting. The course had some rolling hills, which made it more challenging. I followed my usual technique of running up the hills saying to myself, "I am really strong on hills, and I tend to catch up with a lot of people on them," which I swear to Yoda makes it true.

Also annoying was the fact that after the finish line, you had to walk about a quarter of a mile (up a really steep hill, by the way) before you could get to the water and post-race food. True, I hadn't exhausted myself to the point where I couldn't go that far, but it seems not only inconvenient but potentially hazardous for a beginner who might really need a water and a banana quickly after the race.

And you guys, the t-shirt was LAME. It's a long-sleeved white cotton tee with a little shamrock on the front where a pocket would be. On the back is nothing but sponsor logos in black. Bo-ring.

The positive? I freaking rocked this one out, you guys. I finished in 23:44. At first I thought that was exactly my previous PR, down to the second... but then I looked more closely and saw that I shaved a full minute off of that time. It was good enough for third place in my age group. I need to investigate how I can pick up my trophy, because I believe that it is actually a beer mug. Kind of makes up for the lameness of the t-shirt.

Running Like Crazy

So, yeah. It has officially been forever since I have posted anything. I have been so catlicking busy that although there is plenty to report, I just haven’t managed to find a second to sit down and write anything. Clearly, this situation calls for some bullet points.
• The new job is going well, but it’s keeping me very busy. I am learning a lot, as evidenced by my getting on a plane my second week of work and flying to Minneapolis, coming home for the weekend, then flying out again.
• I didn’t get to go to the Mall of America, nor did I run into Prince.
• However, one morning I got up early and went for a run. I discovered a park near my hotel where there was a running path that surrounded a beautiful frozen lake. Running around a frozen lake felt very Minnesota to me. I’m sure if I’d gone for another mile or two, I’d have run into Garrison Keillor.
• The boys and I went out for dinner the other night and Jack, with no preamble, picked up a crayon and wrote his name, all by himself, for the very first time. I am incredibly proud of him. He now has a Spider-Man notebook that he calls his sketchbook where he practices drawing and writing.
• Jack has also taken a step into kid-dom in that he is willing to help me clean the house for money. He will gladly accept any coin for any job and keeps them all in a bowl in his room. He thinks he is totally rich, though the amount of money he has amassed in his four years is about six bucks.
• Jack’s class at school has a new pet guinea pig, and I am delighted to report that her name is Miss Piggy. The teacher read them all a book about guinea pigs, and Jack pretty much committed it to memory. Steve and I have now deemed him The World’s Foremost Expert on Guinea Pigs. Jack will be delighted to bust out a number of facts about guinea pigs, such as that they need to chew on hard things to keep their teeth from getting too long, that when they are excited, they bounce up and down, which is called “popcorning,” and that celery is dangerous for them to eat because of the strings.
• Two new catch-phrases have entered the lexicon at Stately Wasser Manor. Instead of making sure, we are “make suring,” and if you want to tell someone you’re being honest, you’ll say, “I’m really true.” Jack’s turns of phrase really tickle me.
• I’ve decided not to run the half marathon I was planning on in early April. With the new job, I’ve been getting in decent miles in my weekend long runs, but I haven’t been as consistent in speed work. So, then new plan is to just train for the Quad Cities Distance Classic in May. I will have plenty of time to train for that, buying me time to miss a few training sessions as I need to.
• As part of that goal, I went on my first group training run on Sunday. We all met bright and surly in the morning, despite Daylight Savings Time and the fact that it was pouring rain. It’s nice to be with a group of people who are also crazy enough to think that’s a good idea. I hung with some nice people for the first 3.5 miles, but they were ready to turn around before I was , so I kept on going. Trouble was, the people ahead of me were WAY ahead of me, and the people running slower than me had turned around earlier, so I got a little lost. I was trying out the “return to start” feature on Paula Garmin when one of the faster runners joined me and helped me find my way back.
• After the training run, we all hung out at McDonald’s. Let me tell you, a group of runners really stands out in the crowd there. It was a lot of fun, and everyone was really friendly. Internet, if you are reluctant to join a running group because you don’t know anybody, don’t be. Runners are really nice people and are always willing to welcome another into the fold. Seriously.
• The day before that training run, I went to my Local Running Store and got a new pair of shoes (Asics 2140’s, if you care). My husband went with me because he was curious about what the store was like. He followed me in and listened for a few minutes while I chatted with the guy there. About one minute in, Steve realized that he had no clue what running store guy and I were talking about. All kinds of Asics serial numbers, discussion of “hot spots” on the feet, and he decided to wait for me outside instead!

Those are the highlights of what's going on here. I'll try not to be such a stranger!

Pass It On

The deadline for the Runners' Lounge book project is rapidly approaching. When Tom and Amy announced the project, everybody and her sister said, "Wow, cool! Count me in!"

I am pretty sure that not all of you have submitted yet.

It is time to get cracking. Write your submission. Come on, it's only 600 words, which is basically the literary equivalent to an easy three. Be part of something special.

But I'm going to ask you to do a little bit more.

Choose five friends and tell them about the project.

Let's get as many people as we can to contribute to the book!

And because I'm putting my money where my mouth is, I have already told five people about the project: my very talented writer friend, who ran her first marathon a few years ago because it was the hardest thing she could think of to do; my friend who I never in a million years thought could run a mile, yet just ran his first marathon; my writer/runner brother; one of my favorite bloggers; a friend who is a college student, humor writer, and runner; and a college friend that I recently reconnected with - and discovered was a runner.

I did it, and so can you! Pass it on!

Race Report: Freakishly Flexible 5K

Just like many of my friends across the Internet, I embarked last weekend on a 5K for someone very special: our friend Non-Runner Nancy.

Nancy, as you know, recently got the news that an injury may well prevent her from ever running again. US Jogger hosted a virtual 5K in her honor.

I kept my 5K simple - I ran my standard "easy three" course from home, throwing in that extra .1, of course. I put on my happiest running music, and thought of Nancy. I also thought of the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, and how Nancy must have felt upon hearing the bad news from her doctor.

Such a shame to throw it all away
The images grow darker still
Could I have been anyone other then me?


I know how sad she must feel, having to give up something she enjoyed so much... not just a hobby, but a lifestyle.

But I also know that Nancy has many, many other things in her life to be happy about. She has a husband who adores her, two fantastic little boys, and a legion of fans who will think of her as a runner even if she never runs another step. The words to that song go on:

And then I'll
Sing and dance and I'll play for you tonight
The thrill of it all
Dark clouds may hang on me sometimes
But I'll work it out


No matter how bad things may seem at any given moment, they will get better. The world we live in is full of beauty and love, even at the darkest times. I hope that Nancy can see that, if not now, then soon.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 26:05
Lipstick: Red
Song: "Dancing Nancies," of course, by Dave Matthews Band

The Nightly Surprise

Every night, Steve and I peek in and check on Jack before we go to sleep. He's so cute cuddled up to his tigers, and it gives me an opportunity to give him and extra kiss.

Lately, this ritual has also been an unexpected source of entertainment.

A few nights ago, we checked on Jack, only to discover that this pajamas were crumpled at the foot of the bed and he was sleeping stark naked.

I have a four-year-old who sleeps in the nude, apparently.

I actually do know where he got the idea of sleeping naked. In Star Wars, Episode III, we see a shirtless Anakin sit up in bed after a nightmare. Jack wondered why he was naked; I explained that he just wasn't wearing a shirt and that sometimes grownups do that.

As would naturally follow, Jack did the same thing... in the dead of winter, on a night that I pretty much slept in a parka.

A few nights later, we heard some commotion up in his room, but since he stayed there and settled down pretty quickly, we let it go. Then, when we went to check on him, Jack was not in his bed. Instead, he had dragged his pillow and blanket onto the floor next to his bed, where he was sleeping, clutching a flashlight and surrounded by boys. The next morning, he explained that he went on a campout in his room.

Last night, again there was a lot of commotion (Jack does not have a future career as a ninja). It went on for so long, that Steve went upstairs to talk to him. Jack had locked his door and got very quiet when he heard Daddy's approach. He said in a wee, innocent voice that he was up to "No-sing" and agreed to settle down.

About an hour later, Steve said he wanted to go check on Jack - the suspense was killing him.

Jack was in his bed...

Dressed...

in his Santa Claus suit.

The Future of the Academy

I never expected that this would happen so soon, but that ample free time I've had on my hands, due to circumstances not of my choosing? Is soon coming to an end.

I feel extremely grateful and fortunate. I am absolutely thrilled to move on to the next thing - and to get my normal life back.

I am also sad that I won't have as much time with Jack as I have had. Betsy-Jack Academy has been, as Jack would say, very special to me. We have one more week left, which will be spent focused on Valentine's Day and love, which seems appropriate.

My new goal is to keep the Academy alive, with weekend sessions. I will plan out different activities for the two of us to do together. We both love it, and it beats the heck out of spending my Sundays doing lightsaber battle-fights.

Are You Freakishly Flexible?

There are running heroes all around us. There's Usain Bolt, who can run at superhuman speeds and make it look easy. Paula Radcliffe is a kick-ass marathon mama. Lance Armstrong decided to ditch that silly bike and try his hand at a real sport.

But then, there are ordinary runners who are just as worthy of our admiration. Without a doubt,
Non-Runner Nancy is one of those people. Nancy may not be the fastest runner out there, but she has more heart than anyone I know. She works hard at her running - and has inspired countless other runners with her virtual races. She's also not afraid to slide on some lipstick and have a good time with a race.

But our girl Nancy just got some bad news. Thanks to freakishly flexible hips, she has an injury that may keep her from ever running again. My heart breaks for her, though I know that she'll be okay and will find another sport she loves just as much.

To honor Nancy, Jog America has created a virtual race in her honor: The Freakishly Flexible 5K. I will join Nancy's legion of fans in running 3.1 on Valentine's Day.

I ask you, my devoted and sexy readers, to join us on the road. Lace up your shoes and give up the love for someone whose dedication and love of running is bar none. Run 3.1 for Nancy, who wishes she could. Let her know how much we care.

Betsy-Jack Academy

Due to circumstances not of my choosing, I suddenly find myself with a lot of time on my hands. I've been working hard to use that time wisely - taking care of Stately Wasser Manor, running, but above all, spending more time with Jack.

Instead of going to school on Wednesdays, he now spends the day with me. I know that if I left things to chance, Jack and I would wile away the entire day having lightsaber battle-fights and I would completely lose my mind.

This was the inspiration for Betsy-Jack Academy. He may not be going to school on Wednesdays with his friends, but he is spending the day with me learning. I choose a theme for each week and pull together activities, projects, and books to go with that theme. So far we have studied snow, the five senses, and yesterday's huge hit, Fairy Tales.

We start the day with a trip to the Family Museum, where they have an exercise class for kids Jack's age that is completely free. Unfortunately for me, the activity mainly focuses on dance. I suspect that I am objectively the most athletic mom there, but you sure wouldn't know it to look at me when I struggle to touch my toes and repeat my one dance move over and over again. I kept wanting to ask when we were going to do the 400 meter track repeats. To make matters worse, I actually strained my left calf galloping like a horse. But no matter - it's fun to get out of the house and do something active.

After the museum, Jack and I made lunch together. He is very interested in learning how to cook, which is excellent, because as far as I'm concerned one of my main duties as a parent is to make sure I don't raise some dumbass college student who doesn't know how to fold laundry or make anything other than spaghetti and ramen noodles.

Next, we read books. With the fairy tale theme, it was really easy to find great reading material. I was impressed by how quickly Jack understood fairy tales as a literary genre - he came up with the fact that most end with "and they lived happily ever after" all on his own. He also understood that they include elements of magic and often feature princes and princesses and was able to come up with several examples. Future English major? We also talked about how these stories have been told and re-told for a very long time, so there are often different versions of the same story. Again, Jack got the concept right away, giving the example of how, sometimes the Big Bad Wolf eats the first two pigs and sometimes they escape to the third pig's house.

We took a movie break, but that too was within our theme. I rented a DVD of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse stories with a fairy tale bent, which gave us another opportunity to talk about different ways of telling these stories.

The most fun part of our day was Art. First, we made piggy noses for The Three Little Pigs. I cut out pieces of egg carton, then we colored them, added pig nostrils, and I attached elastic to them so they'd go around your head. Jack decided we should make them in all different colors, not just pink, so Jack made a red one for himself, orange for Roary, and so on. Garfield (Roary's daddy) was the Big Bad Wolf.


Then we made puppets. Jack has really enjoyed The Frog Prince, so we made the frog, the princess, and the prince.




Finally, no Betsy-Jack Academy is complete without some baking. We made sugar cookies in the shape of frog princes (I have a tremendous collection of cookie cutters).


When Steve got home, we presented The Three Little Pigs as a play, starring Emmy as the Mommy pig, Nicey, Roary, and Jack as the three little pigs, and Garfield as the Big Bad Wolf. I was the narrator, but I wore a pig nose of my own. Jack did a fantastic job, and Steve was really impressed.

It was a great day at Betsy-Jack Academy.

Red Pants

Jack is capable of dressing himself (mostly, so long as there aren't any buttons or whatever involved and if you are flexible about which shoe goes on which foot). It doesn't happen every day because it takes him so catlicking long to focus and get something done on his own that usually I just dress him. Cause, you know: I've got things to do.

But when he does dress himself, there is one element that is always present: Red pants.

Jack will emerge from his room wearing whichever shirt strikes his fancy - often something with a hood so he can be a Jedi, or maybe with his favorite character of the moment, but it is always joined by a pair of red sweatpants.

Yesterday, he dressed himself in an ivory sweatshirt with an orange and blue camping motif... and red sweatpants. It really didn't work together at all, but whatever; I let it go.

In the course of the day, his outfit got dirty, so I asked him to change. Sure enough he managed to find, buried in his drawer, another pair of red sweatpants. I didn't even know he had another pair.

Why red sweatpants? I have no idea. His favorite color is blue, and I don't think I've ever said or done anything to encourage this particular satorical choice.

But I'm not going to say anything. I like seeing what he comes up with on his own.

Race Report: Frostbite Footrace

It has been bitterly cold here on the ice planet Hoth, also known as the midwest, so I was happy to see that the weather on Saturday was going to be a relatively balmy 25 degrees - it would be a shame if the "Frostbite" in the Frostbite Footrace turned out to be literal.

This was a new race for me, which is always an exciting thing. I love that I live in an area where there are actually a few races available in the winter months - it really shows that we have a dedicated running community. It was also a new distance, an 8K, which we all know means an automatic PR.

The race was held at Scott County Park, the same place where I ran the Governor's Cross Country Race in the fall. So, I knew that I could expect a beautiful setting... and lots of hills. Although I haven't done any focused hill training lately, I have been making sure to include hills in most of my runs, so I felt semi-prepared for it.

After I got my race packet, I did a short warm-up run. I never used to warm up before races, but I have started doing so, and it really seems to improve my performance. And on a cold day, the warm-up also served as an opportunity to check what I was wearing. I started the warm up with a pair of tights under a pair of fleece pants, a long sleeved technical shirt, a windbreaker, a vest, and a hat and gloves, with my buff around my neck as an option to pull it over my face. I'm glad I did the layer check, because I ended up ditching the vest - if it felt a tad warm running just half a mile or so, it would be a mistake for the race. The other layers stayed, and I felt fine.

I was chatting with some friends at the starting line when all of a sudden, the gun went off! Oh, all right then - I guess it's time to start running! A minute or so later, I remembered to start my Garmin. Race results haven't been posted yet, so my final time is a bit off. I'll have to update later.

The course had been semi-cleared. That is, there was no ice and no real danger, but much of the road was covered in packed grey snow. It is much harder to run on uneven terrain like that - I really notice a difference in my effort. I tried to run in the clearest parts of the road whenever possible, even if that meant a bit of weaving.

As I expected, the course was very hilly. Most of the hills were longer, gradual slopes, but around the 3 mile mark, we went through a big dip. I heard pretty much every runner around me groan in anticipation of that hill. I tried to focus on the positive - that although it was steep, it wasn't too long, and that I was over halfway finished with the race.

The weather was not too bad, especially compared to what we've had for the past week or so. As always, once I started running, I wasn't cold at all. The wind posed more of a problem. In the middle miles, there were some cross winds that blew snow on us. It looked really beautiful, actually, like sand blowing in the desert. I resisted the urge to find another runner to use as a human shield.

The hardest part of the race was the last half mile or so. It was uphill, and a wicked headwind arrived just in time to make a hard hill even harder. I ducked my head to drive into it and played my "I love hills" mental game. I told myself, "You're really strong on hills. The other runners are struggling right now, so this is your chance to pass them. They're tired, but you are strong." (Whether or not any of this is true is really beside the point.) I also invoked the spirits of Frayed Laces and The Running Laminator, telling myself, "DDYA: Don't Deny Your Awesomeness."

My awesomeness allowed me to kick past another runner, chicking him into the finish chute.

After a short walk to catch my breath, I went inside to drink some hot cider, which was fantastic, then swapped my base layers for dry ones. I am also happy to report that my efforts were good enough for third place in my age group!

Paula Garmin gives me a finishing time of 42:25, with an average pace of 8:47/mile, which is awesome, albeit a tad inaccurate. Again, I'll update when I have my official finishing time.

Hilly challenging course at a time of year that guarantees lousy weather? I'll be there again next year.

Scenes from Stately Wasser Manor

Steve: You're not going running tomorrow, are you?
Betsy: ...
Steve: Betsy, the weather report used the words "dangerously cold" to describe tomorrow's temperatures. It's not even going to get to zero.
Betsy: But...
Steve: Seriously, it's a bad idea. Promise me you won't do it.
Betsy: Fine, I'll go to the gym and run on the catlicking treadmill.

In Praise of the 5K

You know what's great about a 5K?

It is only 5 kilometers long.

I know, it may seem like I'm stating the obvious. But there's something great about running a race that's such a short distance.

For one thing, it just doesn't take very long. If I need to, I can hire a babysitter to hang out with Jack while I run and it doesn't cost me a fortune. And this year, I actually ran a 5K, then came home and hosted a birthday party for approximately one zillion four-year-olds. Try running a half marathon or more and doing that.

A 5K is also a great place to experiment with race strategies. Should I start off easy, then pick up the pace? Attack the hills and try to pick off people there? Or try running a really hard pace and see if I can sustain it.

If a strategy like that goes awry in a half marathon or marathon, you are pretty much screwed. But in a 5K, if you really make a bad choice and wind up sucking wind, hey, you only have a couple of miles to go. You can still finish.

Finally, a 5K can still afford you the all-important bragging rights. It's a short distance for runners, but to a non-runner, it can seem insurmountable. You ran 3.1 miles? Voluntarily? All at the same time? Unthinkable!

So, all hail the mighty 5K! And to see what other runners think of this race, and it's big brother the 10K, head on over to Runners' Lounge.

Night Training

Jack (shown above with his two robot friends) has been succesfully potty-trained for quite a while now. He's also been dropping hints that he would like to ditch the pull-ups at night and wear his awesome Star Wars underwear to sleep, too.

So far, I have smiled cheerfully and said, "You're doing so great with the potty, buddy, and I just know that soon, your body will be ready to go all night. But until then, we'll wear the pull-ups just in case."

But let's be honest. What I really mean is, "Mommy really does not like having to wake up in the middle of the night to clean pee off of you and change the sheets, so suck it up and put on your pull-up."

It has been, literally, months since Jack last had a nighttime accident in his pull-ups. I have been throwing away $15-20 a month in unused disposable underwear.

So, I told Jack, "Guess what! Your body is now ready to go all night without a pull-up! And guess what else? I bought you a new mattress pad to make your bed even more comfy! You are such a big boy!"

This roughly translates to, "Guess what! Mommy figured out that a one-time investment of $20 in a waterproof mattress pad is a better deal than buying pull-ups that you don't need!"

The key, it seems, to effective parenting, is occasional laziness.

Race Report - Indoor Track Meet

On Friday night, I got to do something that not many people get to do after high school or college: I ran in a track meet!

The meet was the Augustana Indoor USATF track meet. For a mere $13, I was able to enter as many events as I wished... not to mention relive those old days of running track meets.

"Run your own race" is a bit of advice that we runners often offer up to one another, and it could not have been more valuable to me than at this race. I was guaranteed age group wins in every event that I entered because there were no other women between the ages of 30 and 34 there. That was cool in that I like to take home blue ribbons, but less cool in that there was no one there who was appropriate competition.

I lined up to run in the slow heat of the mile. My fellow runners included college students, kids, and two older women who are elite local athletes (I recognized their names from course records at races I've run). And in that race, each and every one of them passed me. I came in dead last.

That might have been disheartening, but it wasn't, because my finishing time was 7:09:05. That is an outstanding pace for me! I may have been last, but in running my own race, I could not be happier with my finish.

I was also reminded very quickly of why I always hated running indoor track meets. The dry air is just miserable. You know how it feels when you have a cold, can't breathe through your nose, and wake up completely parched? That is how I felt just one 200 meter lap into that race. My fellow runners and I stood around between events just hacking.

I ran the 800 next, and I'm happy to say that this time, I didn't come in last (I came in second to last, if you must know). Better was my finishing time of 3:08:08.

I had good intentions of running more events. The 600 meter, maybe the 200 for the heck of it, along with the longer distances of the 2000 and the 3000. But that dry air was hard on me, and my paces had my legs burning. So I opted to just run the 2000.

Throughout the race, I hung behind three college-aged women. I was happy just to be able to keep up, but in the final lap, I pulled past one, then another. Better still, when the race was over, one of the girls I passed puked.

Any event that allows me to pass a girl in her 20's... and make her vomit from the effort... is a victory in my books.

Ignoring Your Coach

Take It and Run Thursday is nothing if not timely for me this week. The subject is "Training Plans Do's and Don'ts." Next week, I start officially training for the two triksos (aka "half marathons") I'm planning on running this spring. I've spent some time choosing the right training program for my schedule, adding it to our online family calendar, working to incorporate some group training runs (as part of my goal of getting to know local runners) and generally geeking out with excitement at the great runs I have ahead of me.

I love training plans. It's like having my very own coach who tells me how far and how fast to run each and every day. There is no doubt in my mind that the training programs I've used for my longer races have gotten me to the starting line prepared and in as good of shape as was possible for me on that given day.

At the same time, an important lesson I've learned is that sometimes, you have to ignore your coach. That is to say that although the training program is important, it's not carved in stone, and some degree of flexibility is vital to my sanity.

For example, sometimes I'm just going to have to take an unscheduled rest day. It could be because I don't feel well, because Jack has pulled on his Cranky Pants and is being a total nightmare and I can't ditch Steve with him, or just because. And if my training plan calls for me to run 10 miles, but there is a 5K that day that I really, really want to run, I am going to make that work.

Running is one of the most important things in my life, but it's not the only thing. As much as I love training, sometimes, I've just got to ignore my coach.

Winning and Losing

As Jack grows up, I see it as my duty to teach him a number of important lessons. Lessons such as where it is, and is not appropriate to bring a lightsaber, will surely serve him well as he becomes a productive member of society. One of his most recent lessons was that when you play games, sometimes you do not win. This is, of course, especially true if you play against me at a trivia game, even if the trivia game is just Disney Scene It.

Jack reacted to Mommy's recent victory (which I swear was free of trash talking) by punching me.

Steve and I immediately declared "bedtime" and scooped him up.

Now, Jack is of a mind that if you ahve already hit Mommy, you are pretty much in as much trouble as you can be, so you might as well keep going. His ensuing rampage included throwing a toothpaste covered toothbrush at the wall, pouring a cup of water on the floor, and an impressive overall level of bitchiness.

When he finally calmed down, it was time for the Parental Lecture. This time, I stepped in:

Jack, you know how sometimes Mommy likes to run races? Well, sometimes I win, and it is awesome. I love the feeling of winning, of knowing I ran a great job. And I get to bring home a trophy or a medal, and that's really cool, too. But sometimes, even though I tried my hardest and ran really fast, I don't win. And that makes me mad, and it makes me sad, because I really wanted to win, and I really wanted to get that trophy. But, the other woman beat me fair and square, and that's just the way it is. And it would not be okay for me to hit the woman who beat me in the race, would it?

Jack agreed that it would not.

With the Parental Lecture over and the lesson (hopefully) learned, I tucked him in and kissed him goodnight.

But, you guys?

I cannot get out of my head the image of punching some chick who beat me in a race. She sprints past me to the finish (no doubt 'roided up), and as she turns to congratulate me on a good race, I punch her square in the ear.

That, my friends, would send a message far more clear than the one I tried to impart on Jack, that message being: Do not pass me in a race. I like to think that the word would get out, and other women in my age group would think, "Well, I would like to win, but I would also like to not be punched in the ear. Maybe second place is not so bad."

I'm In

I just got the world's coolest email: my local running club is sponsoring an all-ages indoor track meet on Friday.

Obviously, I'm in.

I mean, how cool is that? I haven't run a track meet since the early '90s, and that fact has me so excited that I am willing to overlook how much I always hated indoor season. It is not very often that, as an adult, you get to do something that is so simply fun. Plus, for a mere $13, I can enter as many events as I want.

I think I'll skip the really short 55 meter race, and I don't do hurdles because I think we all know I'd face plant and break my nose. So, we're looking at the mile, the 800, the 200, the 2,000, and the 3,000.

So, who wants to come on out and join me in the 4 x 400 relay?

2009 Goals

It is clear to me at here on the interwebs, all of the cool kids are posting their 2009 goals, and I am nothing if not cool. Here's what I'm thinking:

1. Run at least two half marathons triskos. Set new trisko PR of 2 hours or less (down from 2:05).
2. Run at least one marathon, setting a PR of 4:30 or less (down from 4:38).
3. Get a Fuel Belt and a Road ID. That should be easy enough, but they are important things to do nevertheless.
4. Run at least three new races.
5. Here's the big one: get more involved in running locally. I love my online running friends, but I also want to make some real life running friends. To that end, I am working to participate more in my local running club. I am also planning on joining the group track workouts on Tuesday nights, and anything else I can think of. I want to go to races and see people I know.

Best of luck to everyone for a great 2009!

Best of 2008

This week's Take it and Run Thursday challenge is an easy one... maybe Tom and Amy think we'll all be hungover or sleeping late today. It's easy - favorite post of 2008.

I just glanced through this year's posts, and the final installment of my Quad Cities Marathon race report got the most comments by far, with 23. I guess I can understand why - I went through a whole lot of emotions in that post, which recounts the last 6.2 miles of the race. I was in pain, I struggled, I accidentally talked to myself, I met an angel, and I had a triumphant finish with Jack at my side. Crossing that finish line with my little guy was one of the peak experiences not just of 2008, but of my life.

But I don't just want to share one of my own posts. A favorite post from a fellow runner that immediately comes to mind is this one from my fellow running Betsy, Eat, Drink, Run, Woman. Betsy had been sharing a tireless account of her incredibly hard work in her quest to qualify for Boston. In this post, she gave her race report from the marathon where she met her goal and made plans for Boston. Betsy had shared so much about her training, her BQ attempts, and the challenges therein that when I read that she was headed to Boston, I was almost as happy as if I'd done it myself.

Happy 2009, everybody.

Looking Back

My goal for running in 2008 was a simple one: Take it to the next level.

When I announced that to my husband, he was preplexed. Hadn't I just run my first marathon in 2007? What more is there?

There is, as my fellow runners know, much more (without even getting into the concept of ultras). By training for that first marathon, I was born again as a runner. 2008 gave me the opportunity to take the next steps.

In the winter, I didn't stay inside and let my fitness level lapse. I bought cold weather gear, toughed it out, and discovered the joy of running in the snow.

I added speedwork to my training and altered my goals so that they weren't just to participate in and finish races, but to perform better. Instead of avoiding hills, I sought them out, even during tough long runs.

When I piled on the miles in marathon training, I didn't use that as license to eat giant chocolate chip cookies every day. Instead, I considered better sources of fuel and ate a heck of a lot of chocolate chip cookies.

I learned more about running, devouring books on the subject, seeking out the advice and opinions of fellow runners.

The results include a multitude of accomplishments that I'm proud of. I scored PR's in almost every distance, added a new distance - the trisko - to my resume, ran somewhere in the neighborhood of 780 miles, and came home with four age group awards. But those numbers don't tell the whole story, not to me.

The best example of having my running be at a higher level came on Mother's Day. I was registered to run my first trisko, and I'd had some rough going in the weeks leading up to it. I had an injury that forced me to take a week off of running and to eliminate speedwork in the time leading up to the race, forcing me to revise my goal from 2 hours to "whatever."

The morning of the race greeted me with horrific weather. It was cold and pouring rain. I knew that running a long run would be a tough, possibly miserable experience. "Why am I doing this," I wondered. I could very easily make the decision to just stay in bed. No one would really blame me for it, and I could just spend Mother's Day being pampered.

Instead, I got out of bed, laced up my shoes, and made my way to the starting line with the other gluttons for punishment. I realized that it was times like this that showed what I was made of, not just as a runner, but as a human being. I was making the choice to do something even though it wasn't easy, even though it would be downright unpleasant at times. I had worked hard for it, and I knew that I could - and would - do it, for myself.

I had to run portions of that race with my head ducked down to keep my hat from being blown off my head. The rain soaked my feet before I even started the race. There were no spectators for most of the race, only volunteers trying to stay as dry as possible. A hill at mile 12 had quite a few other runners walking. But I pressed on, doing my best to savor the experience and all of its challenges.

I finished the race proud, not just of my time of 2:05 - not too shabby considering what was working against me - but of the fact that I made the choice to go to the starting line, put one foot in front of the other, and keep running.

Runabout

In Australia*, there is a rite of passage in which Aborigines wander about the wilderness for an extended period of time as a spiritual journey/test type of deal. Wasn't that an awesome opening sentence? Ultramarathoner/ass-kicker Dean Karnazes recommends that runners train by going on their own sort of walkabout, this being more of a runabout. Dean says to leave the house with a credit card and a pair of running shoes and just run wherever the mood strikes you. Wander, stop at Starbucks, run some more, walk if you feel like it... the point is to spend a lot of time on your feet, moving in a forward motion.

Right now, I am in the midst of base training, which is a fancy term for "Look, Betsy, you need to start training for a half marathon trisko in a few weeks, so let's not slack off." Because I don't have any particular mileage to get in, I have been experimenting with going on runabout.

There may be some slight variations in the way I do it and the way Dean Karnazes does, in that he will go out for 8-9 hours, whereas I am more like 40-50 minutes, but whatever; the point is that Dean Karnazes and I are pretty much the same in terms of our training and athletic performance.

Going on runabout has been pretty cool. I was able to check out a used bookstore that is half a mile from my house, but that I have never gotten around to visiting. I've explored a number of cool neighborhoods and found some hidden parks.

And thanks to the inconsistencies in terrain (cleared sidewalks give way to packed snow, which gives way to black ice), every step is an adventure. This has also taught me that if I am running through most residential streets in my town, if I start slipping and yell, "WHOAH!" I can pretty well count on no response.




*If you have not seen the movie Australia, please do so, as it is outstanding. And I am not just saying that because of the scene in which Hugh Jackman showers in the wilderness, though that would be totally worth the price of admission. You're welcome. Also, is Nicole Kidman not one lucky girl for having Baz Luhrman cast her in movies that allowed her to make out with not one, but two of my boyfriends (the other, obviously, being Ewan McGreggor in Moulin Rouge!)? Baz, if you'd like to cast an actress who is able to move her forehead, CALL ME.

Merry Christmas!

Scenes from Christmas at Stately Wasser Manor!








Both Steve and Jack wanted to wear their new clothes right away.


Yes, that is a clone trooper who gave me that cute mug. Thank you for noticing.





Merry Christmas, everybody!

Jack's Birthday

It's been a great Christmas at Stately Wasser Manor.



As my devoted readers know, Jack's birthday is on Christmas Eve, and this year he hit the big oh-four. He and I spent the morning at my mom's house baking and decorating cookies for Santa... and also secretly getting Jack out of the house so that Steve and my stepdad Doug could put Jack's new Big Boy Bed (as opposed to the Medium Boy Bed, or toddler bed, that he had been sleeping in). We made both gingerbread and sugar cookies, giving Steve and Doug ample assembly time. The sheets are the Empire Strikes Back sheets that Steve had as a kid, plus a set of Spider-Man ones for when those are in the laundry. Jack was suprised and thrilled with it...



and with the Millenium Falcon that we hid under it. The Falcon has been on his wish list for a while, but we weren't about to get him the new one we saw at Target. The thing is $250, and for that, it should come with Harrison Ford. Instead, we got him a vintage one, just like Steve and I played with in our own childhoods.


The rest of the day was spent playing with Jack's new toys. We decided not to go out for lunch or dinner this time, instead spending the day eating various snacks - meatballs, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip - stuff like that. It was actually a good idea on our part, since if you call food a snack, Jack is much more likely to eat it than if he thinks he's eating a meal.

Instead of a birthday cake (which creates a whole lot of leftovers when the house is already full of cookies and I'm about to make some dessert the next day for Christmas dinner), I made birthday cupcakes. They are snowmen, and they turned out really cute.



After cupcakes, Doug got out his guitar, and we (badly) sang Christmas carols. Jack, of course, did some dancing.



Then, it was time for our annual reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Steve and I barely had to read it, because Jack has the thing pretty well memorized. It was wild - we're not just talking "visions of sugarplums," but also "the moon on the breast of the newfallen snow."



It was an incredibly fun day - not just for Jack, but for all of us. Best of all, we had absolutely no problems getting him to settle down and go to sleep, even with the excitement of the new bed. Perhaps if I tell him every day that if he doesn't go to sleep, Santa won't come?

Not-So-Terrible Threes

I still remember a phone conversation I had with my sister, even though it was ten years ago. I asked her how Devin, my nephew was doing. Jenny sighed, paused, then said, "Eh, he's three. I'm waiting it out."

Today is the last day of Jack's third year, and he has definitely had moments that made me just want to wait it out, like Jenny did with Devin so long ago. The whining that he did when he was two years old has not disappeared so much as it has become more articulate. And there have been times in which he was so unreasonable that I literally had no idea how to respond to him. For example, when I cheerfully remarked that it would not be long before Santa came to our house, Jack fumed, "That was really mean, Mommy. Are you trying to say that I am not the real Santa?" Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

That aside, Year Three has really been pretty great. Jack has developed the most amazing imagination. He loves his costumes and will spend hours pretending to be Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Captain Jack Sparrow, Buzz Lightyear, Cinderella, Diego, Santa Claus, Mr. Incredible, Spider-Man, Superman, Batman... or a crazy hybrid of all of them. He assigns characters to Steve and me, then tells us what the situation is, like, "We're Star Wars guys, and this is our spaceship, and we are going to go buy a birthday present for Yoda." It got to the point where his teachers would greet him in the morning not with "How are you today?" but rather, "Who are you today?"

I am proud of how friendly and outgoing he is. When it was time to transition from the Turtle classroom at school to the Pre-K world of the Ladybugs, he wasn't scared to leave behind his friends or beloved teachers - he was excited, saying, "Ladybugs, here I come! Maybe I will make a new friend today." He will introduce himself to other kids at the park, looking for common ground by pointing out that he, too is wearing a Spider-Man shirt, for example, or opening with surefire conversation starters like, "Do you shop at Target?"When it was time to plan his birthday party, he insisted on inviting every single kid in his class because he wanted all of his friends to come to his house and eat cake. He is also really developing empathy. Yesterday, his friend Caeden was crying because his mom was leaving. Jack went over and gave him a hug.

Because he's so outgoing, he's not afraid to order his own food in restaurants. He will walk right up to the librarian and ask her if she can please help him find some books about Star Wars. He will get up and dance with Sully at a parade. And best of all, when he was selected for Jedi Training at Disney World, I had no doubt in my mind that even though he was the littlest kid on the stage, he would rise to the occasion. He did not disappoint. Jack immediately started posing, using The Force on the audience. And when Vader came out to battle-fight the kids, Jack was not afraid (Yoda: you will be. You will be). He unleashed 32 pounds of kid frenzy on Vader. The Sith Lord didn't know what hit him.

Jack is also growing up and becoming more independent. If he wants to, he can get dressed by himself, often coming up with sweet combinations of red shorts and red t-shirts. Diapers and binkies are now things of the past. He can get his own cup of water from the bathroom sink. And he even went on a trip without us, spending a week with his grandparents, and learning valuable things like that this is a good way to get someone to buy you that lightsaber that Mommy and Daddy keep saying no to. He is learning new things all the time - he is recognizing more and more letters, can help make a grilled cheese sandwich, correctly identifies (and rejects) Granny Smith apples, and knows the days of the week and months of the year. He asked me lots of very interesting questions about why we vote, and how I knew to vote for "Mr. Obama instead of Mr. McCain." He learns new songs all the time, too. Sometimes they're songs you'd expect to hear, like "Jingle Bells," but he surprised me recently by singing Europe's "The Final Countdown," which he learned from my cell phone ring.

I love the person that Jack is turning into, and I could not be more proud of him. I am looking forward to my fourth year of being his mom, starting tomorrow. Last night, as I tucked him into bed, we had this conversation.

Me: Jack, I love you so much. I feel really lucky to be your mommy.
Jack: I'm not Jack right now. I'm Anakin.

Happy birthday, Jack - or whoever you are right now.

12 Month Meme

The always cool Daisy Bones introduced me to a year-end meme. The way to play is to take the first sentence of your first post in every month of 2008. Ready? Let's start the show.

January: These past few days at Stately Wasser Manor have been tough.

February: Because, again, if you have a Captain Jack Sparrow costume, why wouldn't you wear it to the grocery store?

March: In these past few weeks of running, I feel like I have re-discovered My Special Purpose.

April: Jack: MOMMY! Roary poked me in the eye.

May: And babies, I've got questions.

June: Two years ago, a miraculous transformation took place.

July: Last night was a track workout for me, and let me tell you, the Moline High School Track is a totally hopping place on a Tuesday night.

August: Internet, I am starting to believe that all of this running might be good for my legs.

September: The last time we went to the library, Jack checked out a ton of coffee table style books about Star Wars.

October: Thank you to all of you beautiful, talented readers for your kind comments on my race report.

November: "Are you sure that thing is waterproof?"

December: 6 years to Master's status... Or, how a runner perceives turning 34.

2008 Bullets

This week's challenge for Take It and Run Thursday is to summarize your 2008 year in running in 52 words or less. Naturally, I turn to our friend the bullet point.

• Knee, shin worries; both okay


• Rocked first trisko despite weather


• New mantra: One Tough Mother


• Accidentally followed 20 miler with bike ride


• Bix!


• FIRST works


• Purchased Ridiculously Short Shorts; did not die of embarassment


• Marathon! 19 minutes PR! Jack ran me in! Joy!


• Cross country season! Fun!


• 5K PR's and Awards.


• Strong

Baby, It's Cold Outside

There's no getting around it: it's cold outside. So, what's a runner - who hates treadmills with a hot passion - to do?

Suck it up, gain some toughness points, wear the right gear, and go running anyway. Oh yeah, and share some tips with my fellow runners.

When I went out for my run tonight, the temperature was 9 degrees - with a wind chill factor of 10 below.

First, I put on a base layer:

My sports bra is Target's C9 (the official running outfitter of Betsy) and cost about $15. The tights are Asics Legato, which my brother got for me for my birthday. I believe they cost about $30. They are quite warm, and on most cold days are sufficient. The socks are by DeFeet, and I got them for free last February when I ran the Chili Chase. They're not the socks of my dreams, but they aren't bad.

Next, a long sleeved wicking shirt and a pair of fleece pants:

The shirt is by Asics and cost about $30. It is awesome. Besides being cute, see the little white holes in the sleeve? I can hook my thumb through there, which prevents a gap between my sleeve and my glove. How cool is that? The pants are by Under Armour and cost about $45. They are warm, comfy, and have a zippered pocket, plus they are roomy enough to wear the tights underneath if I need to.

We're still not dressed yet:

The vest is by the official running outfitter of Betsy, Target's C9. I probably paid about $20 for it, and at the time I really wasn't sure how much I would like it. Silly me - it is one of my favorite pieces of running clothing. It really helps me stay just that little extra bit warmer, it looks cute, and it has a ton of pockets. Then, we've got two pair of gloves, both of which I got for free from races. Yep, sometimes I wear both of them, and tonight was that kind of night. The blue thing? That's a Survivor buff that I got as a gift when I attended the finale party of Survivor: All-Stars. It's a handy little item that can be a headband, a tube top, pretty much anything. In the winter, I wear it around my neck, and when it's especially cold, pull it over my face. The only drawback is that eventually, the moisture from my breath gets it wet, but for shorter runs, it's nice to have. The hat is from the Des Moines Marathon, a great little souvenir that I believe was $10.

Speaking of race memorbilia...

I next put on my windbreaker, which is made by Brooks and has the Quad Cities Marathon logo on it. I paid $40 for it and I love it. It's lightweight, has plenty of pockets, and is, of course, red.


Finally, safety is important, and when it's dark and icy out, runners need to be extra careful:

My vest is by Jogalite, cost about $15, and is reflective. I always wear it when I run at night and am working to convince myself that it's so uncool that it actually turns the corner to be cool again. That really, unless I was a hardcore athlete, I would not own something so dorky. Play along with me. The little red thing is a clip-on light by Nathan. It was $8, and I wear it clipped to my hat to make me extra visible. Finally, attached to my shoes are Get a Grip Ice Joggers, which were $20 at Road Runner Sports. They are rubber, stretch over my shoes, and have small spikes in them to give a better grip on snow and ice. This was the first time I've used them, and I liked them a lot. I felt like my footing was a bit more sure, and they weren't obnoxious when I did run across a cleared area.

Altogether all of this gear set me back $233, which doesn't count my shoes themselves. On a cold winter night's run, I was comfortable and felt safe. $233 worth of running clothes isn't cheap, but it's a lot less expensive than a gym membership or a treadmill.

Best of all, running in the winter is a wonderful experience. First of all, anyone who sees you thinks that you are hardcore and is impressed by you, always a good thing. But better still, it's a beautiful and peaceful time to be out running. It's quiet, the snow sparkles, and there is no better way to see the Christmas lights in my neighborhood. Plus, you get to leave the house looking just this crazy:

Race Report, Jingle Bell Run 5K

On Saturday morning, as I got ready for the Jingle Bell Run 5K, I was a bit ambivalent about how things would go. After all, last week I surprised myself by rocking out a PR and age group award at the Reindeer Ramble which, given that the conditions for running were so lousy, felt like a bit of a fluke. Steve noticed my mood and said, "You know what? Just go out there and run it hard. Push yourself - it'll feel good." I figured, "Why not?"

I picked up my bib and race packet (which included shoelaces with jingle bells on them and a pair of gloves), then saw Sara, Chris, and Hadley - a group of runners who I met after last week's race. It's a great to have people to hang out with at a race, so I was happy to see them. The four of us chatted, compared gear, and so on before the race started. They asked me if I was going to PR two weekends in a row. I said I really didn't think so, since I was so happy with my time the week before. An age group award also seemed unlikely - the group was 30-39, twice as big as usual, and often including some very talented runners. But I said I'd do my best, because you just never know.

The weather was much nicer than the week before - in the 40's, with a bit of wind and a bit of rain, but nothing to freeze my toes like before. The course, however, was more challenging - an out and back with some hills, including a long slow hill just before the 3 mile mark that I knew would be tough.

We lined up at the start, and I did something I don't usually do - I moved up towards the front. It was a small race, and I told myself that I deserved to be up there as much as anyone else did.

And we were off! I blazed through the first mile in under 8:00, which is incredibly fast for me. The crazy thoughts crept in - was it too fast? Would I regret it later? I silenced them by telling myself that I was doing great, was on track for a PR, and was running a great race. I made an effort to relax my shoulders and just keep going.

A few women passed me, but they looked much younger (I later found out they were high school students), so I didn't let it bother me. I waved to the runners headed back, including the woman in the lead who was zooming through the course with a pair of red and white striped knee socks worn over her tights.

I hit the turnaround point feeling the fatigue of my efforts, but reminded myself how little there was left to run. I focused again on relaxing my shoulders, always a problem when I'm tired. I also listened to my iPod and gave encouragement to the runners heading to the turnaround (including my friends from before the race).

The long slow hill towards the end was indeed as tough as I thought it would be. When I run hills, I always tell myself that although they are challenging, they are easier for me than for everyone else and that I can plan on picking some people off along the way. This may not be true, but it keeps me going, and sure enough, I did pass a couple of people along the way.

Once the hill was over, I rounded a corner and sprinted for the finish line as hard as I could, especially when I saw the clock. I passed another runner and finished in a NEW PR of 24:44! I believe this record will stand for longer than the six days the last one did.

I was exhausted, so I walked around a bit, taking care not to stop. I went to my car and grabbed the race t-shirt (very cute long sleeved shirt with Santa on it) so I could change out of my sweaty clothes and not end up shivering like I did the week before. I watched Sara finish, then she and I cheered on Chris and Hadley.

It was a small race, so the food was limited to water, hot chocolate, and bananas, but that was fine with us. We hung out and chatted, waiting for the awards ceremony. Sara was positive I'd come in first in our age group and that she was in third. I wasn't so sure; there was a woman in front of me who might have been in her 30's, and I also didn't think there was anyone our age between me and Sara. Regardless, I was very happy with my time.

Turns out she and I were both right. I was first in our age group, and she was in second behind me. All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.