See Mommy Runners

Hey Stephanie and Karen! Awesome runs at the 10K last weekend...we're all proud of you. And you look awesome in your SMR Race Team Jerseys!

Women's 30-34 Karen: 1/13 Karen Franklin Fredericksburg VA 00:43:48/7:03/33 and Stephanie: 5/13 Stephanie Hayden Fredericksburg VA 00:50:41/8:09/32. And our other See Mommy Runners:

5/10 Sabrina Stringer Fredericksburg VA 01:01:32 9:54 33

5/12 Laura Maple Fredericksburg VA 00:54:43 8:48 28

Run on runner mommas!

My Training Partners

So I've finally managed to strap my 3 y/o son back into the jogger - we went through a phase where he wanted NOTHING to do with it. Since then, my 6 y/o has learned to ride his bike all over our neighborhood. First thought should have been, "Yeah I'm so proud of you little man, such an accomplishment to finally ride without training wheels, a major milestone." I of course had that thought first, followed immediately by, "YEAH, FINALLY they can BOTH come running with me!!" No more excuses for me to sham...I have no excuses (maybe that's a bad thing)? I have to admit, I quite enjoy having my boys with me on my runs. Little guy and I sing whatever song he starts to belt out and I truly enjoy watching my oldest ride into the sunset so confident and sure of himself. The part I don't enjoy as much is when he stops way ahead of us and shouts, "can't you go any faster mom?!" As if I'm not already busting my tail to keep up while pushing 50+ lbs of kid and jogger! I have a whole new appreciation for those of you moms that run with double joggers, I don't know how you do it!!

Getting out there again

So I haven't run in almost 3 weeks. That's the longest I've gone without running since I was pregnant and then recovering from having my first son. Although initially I enjoyed getting to drink soda and eat a lot more junk food than usual, it didn't take long until I started feeling pretty terrible.

Last month I ran the Shamrock HM with my sister. My other sister came for moral support. The race started off really well. We ran 11 min miles for the first 5 or 6 miles but then my sister's foot got injured. I had no problem staying back with her since she had done the very same thing for me a few years ago...plus, the whole point of the race was getting to hang out with her, which I thoroughly enjoyed. But finishing in 2 hours and 51 minutes was totally discouraging to me. I ran a bit the couple of weeks after the race and then just stopped. Now, this week, as I am out there doing my 2 mile runs and gasping for air again, I regret it. I remember why I never stop running. Starting again feels horrible. But I am glad to be getting back into things and starting to feel like myself again.

Thanks for all of the encouragement from my team mates which got me out there and running again. :)

John Robbins 8 KM Results

It was a cold race day today! 30 degrees with a bit of wind...brrrrr! It was a fun race though and everyone did really well! All of the runners are in our See Mommy Run group and the ones with asterisks are part of the race team.

*Jamie Caldwell Fredericksburg VA 00:38:51 7:49 31 960

*Stephanie Hayden Fredericksburg VA 00:41:28 8:21 32 942

Suzanne Bain Fredericksburg VA 00:42:44 8:36 41 934 (Won 1st place in the Athena Division AND was 4th in her age category!!!! :)

Erin Wescott Fredericksburg VA 00:48:00 9:36 (running chipless)

*Anne Hoffman Fredericksburg VA 00:50:52 10:14 35 824

Laura Maple Fredericksburg VA 00:51:31 10:22 28 814

Sabrina Stringer Fredericksburg VA 00:53:44 10:49 33 804 (Sabrina’s first race!!! WOOHOO!!! Great job!!! :)

Astavita Rocks!

Okay, I am not a fan of supplements. I figure we can get most of what we really need from food and don't like to put anything that's not food in my body. I don't even like taking Tylenol unless I seriously am in pain.

But I am trying to increase my mileage. My son was born almost 4 months ago and as I increase my mileage, I can feel that I am still not back to normal. I was planning to be running in the 30s for mileage per week by now, but I am still only in the lower and mid 20s. I had to revise my schedule due to my body starting to feel like I was pushing it too hard and I definitely do NOT want to get injured. I am training for the VA Beach Shamrock Half Marathon (just to complete it) and did a long run about a week ago and was pretty sore afterwards and took a couple of the Astavita supplements along with Advil. And I felt AMAZINGLY better. I chalked it up to coincidence, or maybe that it was just in my head, and didn't take it again. Yesterday I ran my final long run before the race...11 miles. Instead of driving to our downtown area, which is pretty flat and good for long runs, I decided to run where we live and ran 11 miles on some very large hills. I finished late afternoon and was having trouble walking, I was so sore. I'm normally sore the day after a long run, but it was ridiculous how much I hurt. So I decided to try that Asavita again. And I just woke up. And....WOW! Nothing hurts! I'm not even a little bit sore! I feel like I could run again this morning! I decided to walk again and to run tonight instead, just as a precaution. But I am so impressed with this stuff! And it couldn't have come along at a better time. I am hoping the 90 day supply we recieved will get me through the post partum training period until my body has adjusted to how much I want it to train. And I've decided I am not against supplements if they work that amazingly well and can keep me doing one of my favorite things in the world....running.

Thank you, Astavita!

Maybe if I can increase my mileage and actually lose the last bunch of baby weight that seems determined never to leave, I may even fit into that cute little race shirt they gave to us. Until then, I will have to pin it on as a race number. :)

Spring is coming!!!

Well, right now it is 17 degrees, so it doesn't feel very spring-like! But next week looks like it is going to warm up and right now they are predicting temperatures to go up to 68 degrees on Monday! I really hope THAT happens!

Things have been going really well with our racing team. At least, I think they have! :) I would love to hear other team members' input (HINT, HINT :) ) It's been really great to see everyone's times improving and the mileage increasing every week. I really look forward to those evening track workouts! We have a race coming up on 3/9 that most of us are going to be able to run. I can't wait to see how everyone does.

I am still recovering from the whole childbirth thing from November. I get really frustrated to be working so hard and still going so slow. I know my weight is part of the problem. But I know from past training I really just am slow, even when I am a good running weight. I just keep hoping though when I lose the weight and as my mileage and speedwork increases, some sort of post partum miracle will happen and I'll get speedy. :) And at the very least, I will get faster than I am now!

It always impresses me to see really fast runners like Stephanie, Jamie, and Karen. It's been really rewarding to see them get even FASTER! I can't wait to see where they are by the end of the year. And I am always so grateful to Julie so I am not running all alone! The conversation and laughing is what makes the running so much fun and makes being a running sloth worth it! :)

First Race of 2008! :)

Here are our results from our first race of 2008, the Sweetheart 4 Miler on 2/10. It was a chilly one! Although the temperature was 35, the 25 mile per hour winds made it feel much colder and made it a challenging race. We all had a great time though!

Finishers by Category
2008 Sweethearts 4 Mile 02/10/2008

Cat Time Place Name City ST Time min/mile Ag
4/17 Karen Franklin Fredericksburg VA 00:30:17 7:34 32
9/17 Jamie Caldwell Fredericksburg VA 00:33:27 8:22 31
10/17 Stephanie Hayden Fredericksburg VA 00:33:32 8:23 32
8/28 Suzanne Bain Fredericksburg VA 00:36:17 9:04 41
19/20 Anne Hoffman Fredericksburg VA 00:43:13 10:48 35 17/17
Julie Appleton Fredericksburg VA 00:52:06 13:02 30

Suzanne isn't an official race team member, but she is a group member who participated so I included her results as well.

Great job, team! :)