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! :)

Gearing up training

It's been really fun meeting with my See Mommy Run team mates and some of our other group members as well. I definitely would not be braving the cold temperatures without the extra motivation of my team mates being there. We've been doing interval and speedwork, but I've had to cut out the sprinting and drills for now since I started feeling pretty strained afterwards.

This past week I saw 'Spirit of the Marathon', the documentary about training for and completing the Chicago Marathon. I totally loved it and it was pretty neat being in a theatre full of runners who had the same reactions I was having. Plus, it was a child free evening and sometimes staring at a blank screen with a popcorn and a soda would be an enjoyable event. :)

To commemorate the movie, I signed up for a marathon the day before I saw it. It will be my third one, but this one will be on my birthday in January of 2009 and it will be in Disney World...woohoo!!! My goal is to break 5 hours, which means cutting about 15 minutes off of my best marathon time. I would eventually like to qualify for the Boston Marathon. My plan is to just keep running and somehow to manage not to get any slower so that some day my times will qualify when I reach a certain age category...probably when I'm 90. :)

The other Moms I run with are predominantly really fast runners, which I love! Julie and I are the slowest in the group and Julie is faster than me on most days too. I love having a training partner though and am glad she's there! I'm really fortunate to have so many running partners, whether I can keep up with them or not. Fast or slow, we all love running and we're working together to reach our goals. And just knowing someone else is depending on me to be there is enough to get me out the door. I used to be able to run at a respectable middle of the pack running pace and my goal is to get back there this year, hopefully by the end of the year. My other dream is to go to sleep one night and to wake up after being visited by the running fairy and to suddenly run as fast as Deena Kastor. Until then, hopefully I will improve enough this year to at least FEEL like I'm running fast sometimes so I can at least pretend. :)

Jamie vs. the Treadmill Part II - Safety Briefing

Our Safety Officer here at work felt the need to remind me how to safely run on a treadmill:

1) "Don't Monkey with your iPod, Walkman, Zen MP3, running shorts, singlet, sports bra, heart monitor etc. without first, at bare minimum, stepping on the platforms on either side of the spinning treadmill mat."

--- OK, got it! I usually do that, but never was so distracted while changing tunes on my iPOD. In fact, the issue this morning was with my earbuds....the cords are so freaking long (I was in the process of tucking them in when the treadmill tripped me {arms crossed/pouty face} humpf!!). Does anyone have any suggestions for a great pair of earbuds that don't have a ridiculously long cord? I always have to try and tuck some of the excess cord under my arm band. I've gone through 2-3 sets so far and have yet to find one that doesn't drive me nutso!

2) "Connect the emergency stop magnetic strip lanyard to your clothing so in the event that you lose your footing the treadmill will not suck you inside. Treadmills are like belt sanders if you lay up against them while spinning with no way to reach the stop switch if you are hung up. Would you believe that people have been strangled by getting clothing stuck in the treadmill after falling."

--- Does anyone actually use that lanyard thing? I know I've always felt way too cool to strap the bright red EMERGENCY strap to my clothing, I would never need it. LOL. Lesson learned. Treadmill score 1, Jamie score 0.

3) "Sleep later. You are way to groggy to do PT by yourself that early in the morning. That is why you have formation runs in the Army, so no one gets lost."

--- OK, first of all I don't have many options when I work 40+ hours a week. And second of all I'm not in the Army anymore. Maybe I was sleepy. But when am I supposed to sneak in running and Bodypump classes other than the butt crack of dawn? My hubby is sweet enough to take the boys to daycare/school Tuesday and Friday mornings so I can get my classes in before work leaving my evenings free and clear for family time. I also lift and take spin class with my hubby twice a week. The other times I fit in running: after 8pm two nights a week with my neighborhood running buddy (we're like night running ninjas circling the neighborhood under the cloak of darkness just to get our runs in- Thanks Lara!); and my SMR team, 6am Saturday mornings with SMR (before the kids are awake), and I usually sprinkle a run or two here and there throughout the week during my lunch break or at the very end of my day before heading home. My boss gives us up to 3 hours a week for physical fitness, so I'm starting to get better at taking advantage of the blessing of having time to work out at work.

Moral of my story, please be careful on the treadmill and use that emergency strappy thingy (would have saved me a few layers of skin)! I still probably won't use the strap, just be more cognizant of what I'm doing while the treadmill is in motion, i.e. super duper sprint mode. Should have been a no-brainer to slow it down...guess I really was sleepy? How am I going to explain that scar (I'm sure it will scar) to folks? "Hi, I'm Jamie and I'm a klutz and fell off a treadmill scarring myself for life." It is my hope that there won't be a 'Jamie vs. the Treadmill Part III!'

Jamie vs. the Treadmill Part 1

Imagine Jamie cruising along on the treadmill at the gym at 0500 this morning at 8.0 doing intervals, completely oblivious to the world around her...Jamie then decides to monkey with her iPod. Imagine her flying off the treadmill, scrambling to maintain her composure hanging off the side...still yet, the treadmill won- I have the battle scars to prove it!!

I think I scared the crap out of the poor old woman next to me! I was laughing so hard afterwards it was difficult to get back to my interval training- seriously had tears of laughter in my eyes!! I then had a horrible time trying to get through my Bodypump class right after my disastrous fall due to the several missing layers of skin from my knees. Freaking hilarious!! I've been LOL all morning about it!! I wonder if they have security cameras there that may have captured my brief ailment of disequilibrium!?!? I'm serious, serious YouTube material!!

I'm only sharing this you all because I know that you will appreciate the humor of the perils of treadmill training. I will never again make fun of (not that I ever did, OK, maybe chuckled once or twice) someone else falling or (flying in my case) off a treadmill!!

I hope you all enjoy your laugh this morning at my expense- I certainly did!! :-) I'm sure there are many of you out there with stories just like mine, but how many are brave enough to actually admit them and share?? ;-) I'm off to see the safety officer- he's summoned me over for a safety brief!

Winter running

So, I am really happy to be running again! I had my 2nd son on 11/6 and the recovery has been pretty fast. Last week was my first week of 'real training.' It wasn't pretty but I have to say it was a lot of fun meeting with my runner mommy friends and it made the whole thing much less painful. So in my highly motivated state, even though our See Mommy Run group is meeting for a track workout tonight, I decided to go out for an easy run with my boys this morning. It took an hour and a half of screaming, preparing snacks and drinks, losing and finding favorite toys, and getting jackets, blankets, and pacifiers on and keeping them on where they belonged before we managed to get out of the house. We drove to a flat little path because I am not brave enough to even attempt the hills in my neighborhood with a double stroller yet. That took another 15 minutes. I loaded the kids and the incredible amount of stuff that goes with them for a 45 minute run. I then managed to get my thrashing 2 year old (he was tantruming because he forgot his favorite 'Little People' girl) into the stroller. Then I loaded my 2 month old in the stroller while trying to keep his pacifier in his mouth which he couldn't stop compulsively spitting out even though he really wanted it. So 2 hours after we had started to go out for the run, we were finally there....woohoo!!! And mommy started running! I had to stop about every 30 seconds for the pacifier spitting baby and then .55 of a mile into the trail, it started SLEETING! What was up with THAT! It wasn't even supposed to rain today. I don't mind running in the rain or even the sleet at all if it's just me, but with kids, especially an infant it's a bit different. So my sulking 2 year old and pacifier spitting baby and I jogged back to the car. All in all, it took 2 and a half hours to go a mile. At least improvement shouldn't be difficult...haha :) BUT, after that craziness, I went to the local running store and picked up a new pair of running shoes which I desperately needed and get to break in tonight. So that was exciting! And in less than 6 hours I will be running with my fellow runner mommies and we will be enjoying a great run, mommy war stories, child free time, and great conversation. I can't wait! :)

I'll take the first plunge...

This will be my first ever blog. Yes, I too am one of the blogging inept. I have to admit I'm rather excited about finally taking that plunge. I write all day long at work, but it's plans, policies, etc...nothing even remotely close to putting my own personal thoughts and quandaries into cyberspace for the world to read. My writing at work is very short, concise and to the point - very BORING to say the least. I'm looking forward to seeing what colorful thoughts may emerge from my experiences being a mom and part of the SMR 2008 team!


I'm relatively new to the entire seeMOMMYrun team. I joined my local team here in Fredericksburg about 2 months ago. As a full-time working mom, I unfortunately don't get to meet up with my mommy friends very often. But so far, I'm making our 6:30 a.m. Saturday runs/coffee and we've now added evening track workouts which i desperately need. I just got back to running for real this past March. I was a military police officer for 5 years and left active duty on 2003. Even while in the Army, I truly did not enjoy running one bit. I only ran because I had to as part of our Physical Training and being forced to and preparing to take the dreaded PT test (sit ups, push ups and 2-mile run). The only training I did was to ensure I ran my 2 miles in under 16 minutes in order to score a perfect 300pts on the PT test (my competitive side coming out)...other than that I ABSOLUTELY HATED to run. I ran in high school, but I was a sprinter. I used to watch those other girls run the 1600 and 3200 and thought they were crazy. I loved sprinting but was not all interested in any long distance running. With that all said back to year 2007. I was recruited to run on an Army 10-miler team from work. I figured what the heck, I'll give it a whirl. So I began training...and before I knew it I was running laps around my subdivision after my sweet hubby mapped out a 5-mile route. I became rather obsessed with reading the training links on runnersworld.com and MANY other running sites to include seemommyrun.com. And before long, I ran 10 miles the week before my Army 10-miler race just to prove to myself that I could actually run 10 miles and not embarrass myself by not crossing that finish line. Race day came and went and I truly surprised myself with a great finish. So now I figured, if I can do 10 miles, then a half marathon certainly was not out of reach....I did my first half marathon in Dec at 1:54...as I came around the corner to the finish line my thoughts were consumed with "Hey, I can totally do a marathon!" So 2008 Marine Corps Marathon here I come!! I'm hooked on running now and thanks to my SMR buddies I'll maintain a great degree of motivation and encouragement. Ok, so that wasn't so bad! I'm officially a blogger!!!