Congratulations to our Flyer of the Year, Gabi D.!

Gabi writes: Wow – that pretty much sums up my surprise to being named Flyer of the Year. I honestly never expected to win the award.
I’ll have been a Flyer for ten years in August and I can honestly tell you that I have been blessed with incredible support and friendship from the club. From the 2003 Executive Board celebrating my birthday and wedding at a meeting, to singing in a video to convince you to vote for a change in the By-laws while 7 months pregnant in 2005, to scaring the daylights out of the Powergel folks that same year, but now 9 months pregnant and 5 days before my due date, to celebrating my half marathon P.R. at the More in 2008 by passing out water to the marathoners, to last Saturday night, were I got more texts and calls then AT& T knew what to do with.
The Flyers have been there for me through many times and for that I thank you, the members. While I could not make it on Saturday as my extended family is going through some very difficult times, my goddaughter Grace tells me that she is looking forward to meeting all of you and crossing the finish line in Central Park with me.
To you new members, treasure the times with the club, make wonderful friends, run strong and volunteer much. It is so worth it.

Thank you all again.
Go Flyers - Gabi

Gabi joined the Flyers in 2001 and was elected Treasurer in 2003. In this role she secured various permits and aided the social chairs by taking charge of entrance and raffle fees at most social events. Additionally, in 2003, Gabi was a member of the Coach Search Committee after the retirement of long time coach Cliff Held.

The following year she was elected club President. During her tenure, she supported and facilitated the expansion of the club’s volunteer activities with the Central Park Conservancy, and the NYRR Long Training Runs which have continued to this day. She went to the NYRR with the idea of a Flyer aid station at the NYC Marathon, subsequently creating, organizing, and staffing the first-ever Flyers PowerGel Station which is now in its 7th year. She has continued her involvement in this effort to the present time, including the recruiting an management of 100+ volunteers each year.

As co-Chair of the Bylaws Committee in 2005, Gabi successfully helped lead the Flyers through the passage of Stage I of the badly-needed Bylaws changes which were enacted the following year. Gabi also helped research and resolve legal issues, liability issues and other insurance concerns, and confirmed compliance with RRCA policy in these areas.

In 2006, Gabi continued to take a huge role in the club, by taking over the weekly email editor role and management of the announcements page. She continued the job of the "voice of the weekly email" until the blog was established this year, when she became a regular blogger. Her unpretentious manner of dealing with running, professional and family obligations as conveyed in her writing, is inspiring.

As a volunteer, she is indomitable. A few years back Gabi ran in the More Half Marathon and achieved a big PR. Many runners would celebrate such an accomplishment by treating themselves to a big post-race meal (or at least a nap). Gabi quickly changed at the finishing area near Tavern on the Green, then made her way over to the Flyers’ Water Station behind the Metropolitan Museum and volunteered for the duration of the More Marathon. She has also and served as a pace leader for the Long Training Runs for a number of years and has participated in the Flyers’ volunteer events with the Central Park Conservancy.

Congratulations, Gabi!

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Balance

Gabi D.

Balance – one of things that we should be able to do as runners is actually balance on our two feet, right? Well this past week, not only have I had to rethink my personal life balance (more on that later), but I’ve been struggling with one of those absolutely moronic, stupid, dumb injuries.

I fell last week - well, not so much fell, but bellyflopped – on a driveway. You know how your mom always said, don’t run in flip flops? Well, I forgot that advice. I ran to the car as my husband was urging me to “hurry up, we need to get going”. I still can’t figure out what I did, but one second I was upright and the next second I was sliding across the driveway as though I was Derek Jeter sliding into home. I think I would have preferred the dirt to the driveway. Needless to say that I had road rash in a few places. I nailed my face, which looked nasty, but made a great teaching point and has healed nicely. My knee on the other hand, had the very pretty underlying bruise in purple and the big scrape across the bulk of the skin. Tender yes, but didn’t seem so bad.

Until I went to run on it. Did you realize that when you bend your knee, road rash has this tendency to rear its ugly head? Yep, that silly motion of bending your knee as you run seems to exert more pressure on one’s knee then simply walking on it. Never mind the bruise hurt too. One week later, I finally was able to run without the darn thing stretching open.

Which leads me to my other balancing act. I’ve been working part-time as the controller for a small structural engineering office (ok, so it’s my husband’s, but they still have books and accounts). Anyway, all good things must change and I’ve taken a job as the Finance Director of our local school district. It will put me on the front lines of our local budget (less then a Wall Street CEO used to make in the good old days), and it will cause me to add one more thing to the balance of a runner. Now I am mom, wife, runner, worker bee, Flyer, daughter….

So how is this going to affect marathon training? Good question. I haven’t quite figured that out yet. Do I run in the mornings, which we all know I hate and with our rural roads and lack of sidewalks and streetlights can be a tad dangerous as we head into the fall (plus the school buses and the 16 year olds who just got their licenses). Can I run at lunch? Or as public employee, will people think that I am slacking off, even though it would be clearing my head? What about after work? Hmm, that mom thing might interfere. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

Balance – there’s a lot of that in our lives – ranging from staying on our own two feet to how to squeeze our runs in when new jobs are in the offing. I’ll keep you posted on when my runs get in and how my knee holds up. Right now, it’s looking kind of ugly again. The job, well, that looks like it could have it’s moments too. It’s going to be a long two months to the marathon. - The Gabster

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What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I’ve been suffering a serious case of the summer doldrums lately. You know, those days where it’s so darn hot and humid that the breeze created by the subway rushing into the station seems cool? Where it’s so hot that the icy cold temperature of 80 degrees seems like a pleasant respite? Where taking a cold shower before a run seems like a good idea. Yep – those kind of summer doldrums. What’s a runner to do?

Head to the Midwest!!! Yep, I took advantage of grandma’s free babysitting service and hubby’s board meeting to haul my running shoes out to Wisconsin this past weekend in the (mistaken) notion that humidity does not visit the Midwest. I figured that rolling hills and diary farms would make for a welcome relief from the swelter that the tri-state region has become.

Heading out on Thursday morning at 6 a.m. to beat the traffic over the Whitestone Bridge to LaGuardia, it was a beautiful summer morning in New York – low humidity, decent temps. Perfect for flying. Our flight even pushed back from the gate on time and only sat on the tarmac for twenty minutes. We even landed in Chicago ten minutes early! When’s the last time that happened?

When we stepped out of the terminal, we were greeted with northeastern style humidity. Not what I was expected, but I chalked it up to proximity to Lake Michigan. Wisconsin, that was a different story, or so I thought.

One hour and thirty minutes later, we arrived at Lake Geneva, a midwestern resort town on the shores of Lake Geneva. Our hotel was the Grand Geneva, on the site of the former Playboy Bunny Mansion (my husband spent a lot of time looking for rabbits and didn’t find any, thank goodness). But stepping out of the shuttle, that darn humidity had followed us from Chicago. What the heck?

Now if you haven’t experienced land humidity, it’s different from our coastal humidity. I’m serious, it’s a lot heavier and sits on your chest more then the stuff here in NY. Now think how that’s going to feel out on a run? Hmm. My running plans were changing by the minute. The rain was also playing havoc on what I was going to do. No way did I come this far to hole up on the treadmill at the fitness center. Nope – not going to happen.

After dumping our bags, my husband announced he had some work to do, so I decided to first make an appointment for a massage (hey, I wasn’t going to be able to shop in Chicago, so I had to do something to pump the local economy) and then go out for a run before the massage. Sneakers on, shorts on, singlet and sock on, Visor on, card key in shorts pocket. Off I go – but to where?

The front desk looked at me as if I had lost my head when I asked about running outside, they politely suggested the treadmill in the fitness center. Nope. I asked about the golf course (running on the cart path), which they thought was a good idea, so they called the pro shop to ask if the course was open. It wasn’t, as it had already poured outside and they were still expecting more rain (more on that later). To the course I headed.

Hot, humid and rolling hills, but very pretty. I was on the perimeter of the course as I wasn’t sure how lost I would get and this was meant to be a short run just to get acclimated (which given our weather here, I already was). No one else was out – great I’m thinking, what a fabulous way to get an easy, quiet run in before my killer massage.

So there I am, chugging up a hill around the back nine, heading toward the 12th hole (no one is playing, but the flags are up) and suddenly there’s a golf cart screeching to a stop in front of me with two irate gentleman in it. Who are you? What are you doing here? You can’t run here, this is private property!! I’m thinking to myself – what the heck? Did I wander onto another golf course patrolled by the KGB? Is Obama around? Cheney shooting birds? Huh?

So I explain, I’m running (as if they couldn’t tell, but sometimes stating the obvious is worth a try), I’m a hotel guest, the front desk called the golf club and asked if it was OK, it was, here’s my room card key, etc. No dice. They tell me that running isn’t allowed, even if the course is closed, because you can’t walk the course. OK – call me crazy, but I’m running, not trying to walk the course. I don’t have clubs with me, I’m running. Nope, they don’t get it – they tell me again that I can’t walk the course.

Fine – I’ll cut my run short, can they give me a lift back to the golf shop or the main building? Now this is where it gets comical. No they can’t as they only have a two seater cart. Hmmm, How do I get back to the hotel then, I ask, since according to their logic I can’t run because I can’t walk the course (I didn’t actually tell them that their logic was off, they were bigger then me and had a cart). Yep – they suggested I run back. Huh?

To me this is a head-scratcher – I can’t run on the course (or the cart path) because the course prohibits you to walk the course. The course is currently not open to golfers because the greens were saturated. These guys drove out in a two person cart to yell at me and then tell me to go back to my room using the same mode of transportation as I had started out with – my legs. Go figure.

On Friday, I ran into town and did a loop on a two-lane country road – no golfers, just some flies chasing me. It was sunny, hot and humid. I was thrilled to get back to the northeast and go for my not too hot, not humid, no golfers, no golf carts run yesterday. Home sweet home. - The Gabster

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Willing to Tri

No songs this week – my lyrics transformation creativity has run dry

Way back in 2002 I did the run leg of the Tupper Lake Half Ironman Triathlon with Scott S. (nice guy did the swim and the bike leg!). It was my first exposure to triathlons and I was sort of hooked. I say sort of only because in the intervening eight years. I’ve managed to complete five tri’s, including one this past weekend. I took a six year hiatus. Actually I don’t think that qualifies as a hiatus. I think that qualifies as “not doing those things any more”.

This time I have to say I think I bit off slightly more then I could chew (coach Scott C. is going to groan). You know that whole balance thing that I talked about a few months ago? Well add biking and swimming into the mix and the balance goes out the window along with the baby in the bath water. Now I know there are a lot of mom’s with more then one child who manage that balance. Me, well, not so good at it. I don’t know if it’s because despite my attempts at being truly organized, there are more occasions then I care to admit to when at 5pm I am still thinking about what to make for dinner, rather then making it before I need to rush off to the pool for my truly greatest multitasking achievement: swimming laps during Elizabeth’s swim lesson. Getting home at 6:45 with fifteen minutes before the hubby walks in the door with no dinner leaves three cranky people on the home front. I digress though.

Back to biting off more than I could chew and balance. So here’s the thing about tris that I noticed way back in 2002: they are incredibly family friendly. Granted, I have limited experience, but even on tv, you see the athletes surrounded by family, you see moms and/or dads running across the finish line holding onto two children and carrying one more (I am assuming the children are theirs and not rented for the photo op). Up at Tupper Lake, I saw parents high fiving their children as they crossed the finish line. Even at the smaller sprint tri’s that I did over the next year I saw similar scenes. Perhaps I got sucked into the “family spirit” when I signed up for my first ever Olympic distance tri. More then likely, not. I think I signed up because a) I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and b) I wanted to prove that I could balance everything.

Well, the good news: I finished, so I proved that I could do it. The bad news? The balance part, for training that is, didn’t go so well. Here’s what I realized, after having a few days to mull over what didn’t work so well. Running – went fine from a training perspective. I’m a runner. It’s easy to lace up those sneakers and put on the right clothes for a run.

Swimming, that actually worked out too. I was on top of getting my daughter signed up for swim lessons at the high school and I was able to swim for the half hour she was attempting to swallow half the pool. When she got moved up to the next level, which meant an hour long class for her, I had plenty of time to do the workout and shower before her.

Triathlons have three disciplines you say? Right, the bike. That’s just not my thing. See, while I have a nice road bike from 2002, my gear is mostly summer. I wasn’t ready to invest in “winter” clothes if this wasn’t going to be something I pursued (my free wheeling spending habits have changed since I got married – that darn husband!). Plus I really couldn’t figure out how to get the necessary rides in while juggling child, part time job and volunteer work. I’m not complaining, but I really couldn’t justify spending money on a babysitter while I went out for a ride. It wouldn’t go over that well with above mentioned husband!

Needless to say I did not spend enough time on it, so I have only myself to be annoyed at. Oh and the course, which when I went back and reread the description used words such as “technical”, “hilly” and “fast descents”, Ehm, see I have this thing about only having 2 skinny wheels of rubber between me and the road as my unchecked speed goes over 30 miles per hour on a country road with some bumps and a dump truck flying by me. BRAKES!!!!!!

So Saturday, I didn’t have the time that I should have with more discipline, but given the heat and humidity (and wet roads from the downpour as we were standing around the transition area). But I did have my family there; my husband and daughter were waiting for me at the beginning of the finishers chute and I had my daughter run across the finish line with me and put her arms up as we crossed for the photographer. She doesn’t know that mama didn’t do her best, all she knows and cares is that mama finished and mama got a medal. That’s the best thing in the end.

Does this mean the end of my tri career? No. It’s sort of like when you finish your first marathon – you swear you’ll never do it again and then you begin analyzing the race and by Monday morning you are ready to sign up for the next one. There’s a sprint one in July which starts and ends at a beach and I know that bike and run course will be flat. And then there’s another Olympic distance one in August. It also starts and ends at the beach and the bike and run course are loop courses in a park along the coast – also flat. And the bike training? Well, I think I can figure that out this time, especially since the weather is nicer and it’s light out at 5:30am…. The swim – yep, swim lessons are on the calendar again for my daughter. They are still an hour long, so that means I get to swim.

Balance and focus. Balance and focus. Stay tuned for how it goes over the summer. I still haven’t actually signed up for these races, but the mere fact I am contemplating them... - The Gabster

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Summatime!

The warm weather the past few days started me thinking about songs, and while I’m no David Kleckner when it comes to lyrics, here’s one to think about:

Summer runnin' had me a blast
Summer runnin’ happened so fast

Went on a run, slow as can be
Went on a run, hot as can be

Summer runs, joggin’ away, to uh-oh those summer nights

Uh Well-a well-a well-a huh

Tell me more, tell me more
Did you go very far?
Tell me more, tell me more
Like was there water?

Uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh

She ran by me, she got a cramp
He ran by me, splashed me with water
I saved her life, she had heat stroke
He showed off, sprintin’ away

Summer runs, something's begun, but uh-oh those summer nights

Uh well-a well-a well-a huh
Tell me more, tell me more

Obviously I’m not quitting my day job anytime soon, but running in the heat brings two things to mind. One, Water and Two, Heat.

First of all water. For those who run in Central Park or any park for that matter, you know exactly where the water fountains are, which ones have the best water pressure, which ones inevitably have gum stuck on the drain and which ones seem to smell. For those who run outside of parks, we know where there are water fountains, which delis or coffee shops are willing to spare a cup of water and what neighbors tend to water their lawns when we run. When all else fails, or it’s miserably hot, we carry water with us.

Carrying water adds a whole new dimension to running. Personally I can’t stand carrying something in my hands when I run. I don’t know why, I just can’t. Back in the day of Sony Walkmans, I never carried mine with me (forget the arm strap, that would cut off the circulation in my hand by the time I got it tight enough to stay on). Nowadays I rely on my trusty hydration belt, with room for 4 bottles, each with eight ounce capacity. With all four bottles loaded, it’s about right for a sixteen mile long run, and I can slide bottles off for shorter runs. Granted I hate the bouncing that I get with all four bottles fully loaded, but it beats dehydration.

I’ve seen a lot of people use a hydration pack system, you know, it looks like a knapsack, but has a hose sticking out of it that runners seem to chew on while they run? I’ve never tried it so, am curious as to how any of you who have it feel about it. My only thought would be on hot days, it would make you hotter and sweatier (if that’s possible) where it sits on one’s back.

Obviously we don’t need to carry water only when it’s hot out, but anytime we are out for longer then our usual “keeping” fit runs (whether they are two, four, six, etc. miles).

Onto heat. It’s forecast to hit ninety plus and stay warm over the course of the Memorial Day weekend. While ninety in May is unusual, it’s not as bad as the ninety plus we hit in early April. Our bodies were not acclimated to that at all. At least now we’ve had some time to get used to temps in the seventies and eighties, so while it’s still a stretch, it’s not that bad. Those general rules of thumb apply when running in the heat – slow down, don’t run at the hottest time of day (believe it or not, it’s not at noon, but rather between 3 and 5pm), wear light colored clothing, hydrate and my personal favorite, use sunscreen.

With all that said, I went out at 11:30am, simply because that’s what fit into my schedule (I was planning on going at 5:30am, but a certain four and half year old decided that it was a good morning to snuggle in with mom and dad – who could resist?). It was hot, I had a light colored top on, I sunscreened my face, shoulders, arms and legs (no hat). I was running on a trail, that is pretty well shaded, I know where the water fountain is. I took it slower then normal.

I survived. It was hot, but in the shade, there was a slight breeze (and not that nasty hot breeze you get when the subway comes into the station) and when I was done, there was air conditioning! I guzzled Gatorade and water when I was done. I cooled off in air conditioning (boy that was great). And I kept thinking how back in January on that same run, there was snow on the ground, it was twenty degrees and I couldn’t wait for summer. As they say in Disney, “Wishes can come true”.

Summer runs can be fun, but make sure you are prepared, both with your gear and your expectations. Safe running. - Gabi D.

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Mother’s Day

Waking up to streaming sunlight, the smell of coffee and no pattering of small feet. Ah, it must be Mother’s Day (or I went to sleep in the wrong house last night).

My husband and daughter insisted on making breakfast for me this morning, which is a nice treat. The funny thing is that now that our daughter is four and a half, I no longer get to choose my breakfast. Well, I can choose it, but it should be along the lines with what she wants. Who said mothers have pull on this one day?

Anyway, that sunshine and brisk temperature was calling my name along with my sneakers. So on they went and out the door I went, confident that my eight miler would be just the right thing before banana pancakes and bacon.

Now my husband and I have a tacit agreement about my long runs: I can do them as long as I am back for breakfast or by the time he’s back from hauling Elizabeth to gymnastics on a Saturday morning. Bottom line, I have a decent window depending on what time I haul myself out of bed. Today, I needed to be back by 8:45 or so to get the pancakes while they were still hot and bacon while it still lasted on the plate.

I remember when I lived on the Upper East Side and would do the Mother’s Day run in the Park – I remember when the run was a half marathon put on by one magazine or another (who else remembers those days?). I think the race in 2003/2004 was the first time the Flyers volunteered as a group – we were race marshalls and also timers (you know those people who stand at the mile markers and yell out the splits). Those races always seemed to be hot and humid, not exactly today’s weather.

I went out for that eight miler in 44 degree temperatures this morning – anything but hot and humid. It was also a bit breezy (ok – make that howling wind) straight out of the northwest, which made me wonder why in the world I didn’t wear gloves. But gloves? In May??? You would think I lived in northern Minnesota (they had four inches of the white stuff on the ground last night – honest) and not Fairfield County, Connecticut.

The nice thing about running in the suburbs on Mother’s Day? It’s quiet. Really quiet. You don’t have to worry about traffic and getting run over by all those mom’s in their SUV’s rushing to some lesson or another, perpetually five minutes late (disclosure: I drive a Volvo cross country and strive to be five minutes early). You do have the dads rushing to pick up that one ingredient they forgot to get yesterday and the card and flowers that they also forgot about, but they seem more sleep deprived then anything.

So it was a quiet run, a little hard with the breeze against me on a few stretches, but peaceful. Not that different from a morning run, but nice because I knew that I didn’t have the responsibility of getting breakfast on the table, packing a lunch, getting said child out the door so that we weren’t five minutes late or just getting home in time for hubby and said child to be home after gymnastics. It made the run ever so more peaceful and relaxed. Just the right way to start mother’s day and another year of being “Mama”. - The Gabster

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Running and Family: Vacation Time

Vacation, all I ever wanted….

Do you remember that song by the Go-Go’s, circa 1982 or so? And yes I am dating myself. That song goes through my head whenever I am about to embark on the epic suburban vacation – the long drive in the car vacation.

I just got back from a great week in North Carolina, Bald Head Island to be exact. Yes, the same place that Jon and Kate Plus Eight, sans Jon spent two weeks at last year. However, we’ve been going there for several years, so I consider myself a local rather then an interloper. Plus, I don’t have the need for body guards.

Anyway, vacations and running are always an interesting mix, especially when the vacation involves spouse, child and another family. Now don’t get me wrong, I love where we go. Love it – it’s relaxing, peaceful and stress free. The most stressful thing is making sure the golf cart was charged overnight so you don’t get stuck in the “parking lot” of the market during the morning milk run.

Back to the running part. This is an island – so you can circumnavigate it for a nice 7.5 mile run. Add on some of the “cross streets” and you can easily get a good 12-mile run in. That’s of course if you can drag yourself away from the pancakes, french toast or eggs that my husband loves to make for breakfast (only on vacation – don’t worry he doesn’t cook like that on a weekday!). It’s also a great thing if you can drag yourself out of bed before 7:30 am every morning – this is of course after a luxurious 8 to 9 hours of sleep.

Oh right, running. Well, there’s always the possibility of a head wind, we are of course on the southern most island of the barrier islands of North Carolina, where the Cape Fear River meets the Atlantic. Swirling tides and winds are the norm here. And then there’s the humidity. It’s only April, so there’s no way one is acclimated to the humidity. But then the sun comes out and burns off that morning haze and the humidity seems to lift (how come it never does that around here?)

So did I run you ask? Yes I did and I didn’t even complain about it! I also managed to get a few good rides in (for that silly triathlon that I am training for). I also managed to not eat too much of my husband’s banana pancakes and french toast, but I did manage to scrape some skin off my shins and knees boogie boarding (does that count as cross training?)

Vacations and running can be a good thing, you just have to find that balance that you have at home, but in my case the balance isn’t about finding the time to run, it’s about not wasting the time that you do have to run. A completely unfamiliar dilemma 51 other weeks of the year.

Speaking of songs – David K. – can you get something running related going to the tune of Vacation? - The Gabster

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That's Life...

I sit here on a cold rainy morning, contemplating what happened to our glorious weather over the past week. Last weekend you guys were running in the NYC Half in balmy temperatures (for March at least). Remember last year? It felt as though we were in a sauna, rather then running down the west side of Manhattan. I actually got out of the northeast last weekend and took my daughter to Florida to see my in-laws for a few days. I had to acclimate my body to running in 80˚ weather with humidity levels in the 80% range. Not what I was actually prepared for.

The thing about running in temperatures that aren’t really in sync with what the calendar is saying is always a challenge. The first cold run, the first rainy cold run, the first really hot humid run. All these things tax our bodies, regardless of how well we’ve trained. For the speedsters, the time may only be a few seconds per mile pace, for us mid- packers and mere mortals, it may take off as much as a minute or more. Either way, it’s an adjustment.

Adjusting our running is something we’ve all had to do for various reasons, new job = new hours; new apartment = different commute; new relationship = well, that doesn’t mean too many changes, right? New baby = no sleep; preschooler = chauffer. Sometimes it seems that every change in life brings new challenges that we need to balance against our running. Or rather, we need to balance our running against those new challenges.

If you pick up any magazine that deals with staying in shape or exercise, one of the first pieces of advice they give you about any program that you embark on is to stick with and schedule it in. It sounds corny, but it works. Back in the old days (before Outlook), I would have my organizer and would pen (yes, pen, not pencil) in my lunch time runs. Once digital calendars came into being, I would block out my runs. There were plenty of times when I would get a call from someone trying to schedule a meeting, asking if I could move my “other meeting”. I would feel a tad guilty as I thought to myself, if they only knew… And yes, sometimes, I would move my run to later or earlier, but sometimes I wouldn’t.

Nowadays? Well, I still schedule my runs and workouts. It’s a little more complicated then declining a meeting about a general ledger issue. Somehow coordinating my husband’s calendar, my daughter’s and my own is trickier then setting up a meeting at a now defunct Wall Street firm. I think it’s because we’re not all on the same server and Outlook platform, but it’s also because it’s a little harder to decline a playdate for a 4½ year old or to postpone a swim because your husband had an unexpected meeting come up on the largest project he’s ever worked on (did you ever notice how every project is the largest ever?).

No matter what challenges we face as runners, as athletes, we all have our own way of dealing with the complications that arise. I would love to hear from some of you how you get your runs or rides or swims in. Do you block out time on a calendar? Do you tell you significant other that a certain hour or two is sacrosanct? Do you go to the gym at the same time every day and it’s just become accepted that if someone needs to find you that’s were you are?

Today’s challenge for me? Coordinating painting a bookcase with the 4½ year olds’ help, a yoga dvd (no way I’m making it to a class) and getting said 4½ year old to an ice skating lesson at 5pm. This all has to happen between noon and 5pm. Help! - Tha Gabster

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Mommy? No Problem!

I got my April Runner’s World on Saturday and what did they go and do? They wrote an article entitled “The Mommy Problem”. For those of you who read the article and thought “Gee, that’s too bad”, skip to the end. For those that read it and could relate on various levels, read on.

I’m like the first part –married to the non-runner husband. Now, he’s not exactly like Jack, he plays volleyball two days a week, never watches “Sports Center” and I’m the one who insists on going to 9am Sunday mass (long runs are reserved for Saturdays). But otherwise, I’m like Sarah Bowen Shea. I’m mommy. 24 – 7 (my husband is also a workaholic) and I tend to make dinner 4 nights a week (leftovers take up at least one and sushi is a family favorite another night – more on that another time)

I’m a terrible morning runner – terrible. In fact, I hate it with a passion. Tell me I can go swimming at 6am and I can do that (somehow getting wet that early doesn’t bother me). Tell me to put sneakers on that early and it’s just not a good scene. I don’t know why. But I digress. I’m back to running at lunch time; working part time for the hubby’s business does have some benefits. That works swell for me. However, unlike the days when I ran at lunch on the treadmill in the gym at Bear Stearns (remember them?), there’s no shower at this office. Luckily Target makes a great unscented baby wipe that I buy in bulk (what is the checkout girl going to think when I drag a teenager into Target with me and I’m buying baby wipes?). I’ll let you know how this goes in the summer – something tells me I’m going to have to learn to be a morning runner.

The second article, by Dimity McDowell had me laughing from the get go, but then nodding my head in agreement later on. My daughter, Elizabeth is 4 ½. She thinks running is cool. She runs everywhere, she rarely walks, unless it’s when I want to get one more thing at the grocery store, and then she literally drags her feet. She thinks running is so cool that this year she took my ING Hartford Marathon finisher medal to school for show and tell. Lord only knows what she told them (I probably won the race or something crazy) but that doesn’t really matter. She would rather come for a run with me then be left home, unless Daddy is making banana pancakes for breakfast (I would rather stay home then too).

She and I ran together for about 2 years, with her in the baby jogger. Now, she’s a little too heavy for me with the hills around here and a little too active to sit still for that long, especially when she would rather be running too.  This summer, we’ll probably do some fun runs together locally and maybe even a couple in Central Park. She’ll start her race finisher medal collection at an earlier age then I ever would have dreamed of. She’ll also start a life long (hopefully) trip down a path of healthy behaviors. As McDowell says “’force’ is not a verb that works well with kids.” I’m hoping that by ingraining activity in her brain, she’ll always be active and won’t have those super couch potato tendencies that her dad does (especially on a Sunday night).

So do we mommies have a problem? Other then the usual not enough time in the day to get everything done, nope, no problem, it’s just learning how to balance. Sometimes I wish they had a yoga pose for mommy balance. That would be a hit. In the meantime, I need to learn to be a morning runner, get my non-running spouse to be a tad more understanding, convince my 4 ½ year old, without seemingly trying to convince her, that being active is a good thing. Yep – all in a days work. That’s what runs are for – figuring out how to cram 25 hours of a day into 24. Piece of cake – especially for us mommies who have a problem. 
-The Gabster

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Why do I run?

Why do I run?

So many people have asked me that over the years, that I finally came up with my pat answer: “So I can eat ice cream every day”

I don’t necessarily eat ice cream every day, nor do I run everyday, but you get the general idea. I really should say that I run for sanity. I think I may eat ice cream for sanity too.

Running has been a part of my life since I was in high school, I played field hockey, lacrosse and ran winter track (hurdles if you can believe that a 5’4” person can actually clear them – I could even 3 step them by the time I was a senior!) . I then played field hockey and lacrosse all through college. Now, I just run.

When I became a stay-at-home suburban mom (so not what I had planned in my life when I was 25!) running became more important. It was a way out of the house. It was 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 3 hours of me time. Even those runs that I used a baby jogger and had my daughter with me, it was still me time. It’s a little difficult for a 15 month old to have a conversation with mom in the first place, it’s even harder when mom is behind you pushing a jogger and trying her darndest to breathe.   Let me tell you, the year that I ran with the jogger I think I built my speed through it . You try doing 10 minute miles on hills pushing 40 pounds.  I don’t run with it any longer, my daughter weighs 40 pounds and she’s not so quiet any longer.

Running is my sanity check, it’s my stress reliever, it’s my me time. Over time, I’ll be delving into different aspects of running, training, cross training, balancing family, career, volunteerism, etc. It applies to all of us – parents or not. Single or married. There’s a balance in our lives and running is a part of that scale.  I look forward to your comments and thoughts  -The Gabster

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