Wonder Mom Wednesday...Back to ScHoOl?

I am super excited to be joining This Mama Runs for Cupcakes, Mom Who Tries and Mom Swim Bike Run for the first ever Wonder Mom Wednesday link up party!!! Oh yeah a bunch of moms, a bunch of bloggers and I am certain a bunch of wonderfully amazing tips that will be shared.  What is not to like?

Anyway this Wednesday the topic is Back to School.  Say what?!  This time of year for me usually means, I pass school supplies in the aisles of Target and have a huge urge to buy a box of crayons and a beautiful blank notebook.  It means that I can start taking the kids back to places like the Children's Museum without fighting lines of every other mother and child doing the same thing. And it means I bring out my long sleeve running gear (Hello my beautiful sunny yellow long sleeve Swirlgear shirt!!!) to start enjoying the perfect 45 degree crisp morning runs.  I never have to worry about making lunches and signing papers.  I don't need to know the bus schedule or whether it is an early release day or not....

except this year....

This year I am a kindergarten mom.  Yes that is right.  My baby, my precious first born who is pretty much suffering enjoying a summer of Frozen EVERYTHING!) I will be without my oldest sidekick for 6.5 hours a day 5 days a week (Not that I am counting the hours or anything).
my exact mini in attitude and looks is off on the big yellow bus heading straight for her all day kindergarten classroom.  For the first time in forever (come on you know you sang that, I can't be the only one

No longer will those morning runs have her along in the double stroller talking to me about everything and anything.  No more will we have dance parties while we fold laundry, or push back lunch while we do science experiments.  No more nail painting and designing while her younger siblings nap.

Now we will have long days of me missing her.  Me counting the minutes until I can park the van in the pick up lane or do an afternoon run instead of my morning one, making sure I end at the school for pick up where we can walk home and chat about her day.  We will have lunch packing and homework time, early bedtimes and school schedules to work around (Ummmmm this schedule thing is going to be my biggest challenge since her second Friday of school I already am pulling her for my Reach the Beach relay race, whoops!) I have a feeling my weekends are now going to be so much more special yet go by so much faster.

My baby is off to school.  My 6 pound baby girl is growing up and I can't stop it.  But what is my plan of attack for that first day?

Well I will probably wake up, ha! If I sleep at all I will wake up.  Put on my running clothes and a smile.  A huge HUGE smile. I will chat through breakfast and as we wait for the bus, making sure she has everything she needs a billion and two times.  Once that bus pulls away I will run.  I will RUN until the tears slow and I can't run anymore.  And I will repeat that sequence as many times as I need too.  Making sure that when I go to pick that beautiful, smart, creative, imaginative girl up at the end of the day that smile is right back on my face.  Then I will run late into the night and get ready to do it all over again the following week when my middle has his first day of preschool.

All I can say is thank goodness for running.  It is what saves me from all of these crazy parenting emotions that no one warned me about!

What is are some tips for surviving your kids first day?  What are some traditions you do?  Any tips for this kindergartner mom?

Birth Story

At 38 weeks I stopped running.  At 39 weeks I stopped walking my 3 mile loop.  At 39 weeks plus 2 days I went into labor.  All of my labors before this one has lasted for days.  And by days I mean DAYS of intense labor where contractions were every 3 mins lasting a min.  Well, at least my first one.  I labored for 56 hours with my oldest.  When all was said and done I had been awake for 74 hours when they placed her in my arms.  My son was a bit shorter.  His labor was 14 hours and pretty intense the whole time.  However, he was born in a water birth and it was amazing.  Even pushing his gigantic off the charts chunky head out was easier in the water. 

 This time around, I knew my labor would probably be long, I was prepared for it.  My only complaint was that the hospital had taken the water birth option out.  I was devastated because I knew the difference and how much more I liked laboring naturally in the water versus out of it.  When I started having some contractions on the 25^th of June, I took note but thought nothing of it.  Then around 2pm I decided to time them.  They were sticking around.  By 3pm I tried calling my husband.  Thanks to a huge power outage he was on base with no way for me to get a hold of him.  I put the tv on for the kids and just hung out.  When he finally got into his car to head home he called me from his cell, I told him I thought I was in labor…. When he got home we packed up the older two and sent them to Nana’s house.  But guess what? Oh all contractions stopped by 7:30pm.  Fizzled out to nothing.  I wasn’t in labor.  D went to get the kids and I went to bed, exhausted and defeated.

 However, in the middle of a HUGE thunderstorm around 1:30am I was awoken with a very intense contraction, I thought nothing of it and went back to sleep.  I kept semi waking up with them until about 4 am when I knew it was time to keep track of them.  I got in the tub, I contracted.  I walked, I contracted, I laid down I contracted.  Yet they were so sporadic that I couldn’t get a pattern on them and they were ranging from every 2 minutes to every 14 mins.  At 7am I called the midwife.  I explained that while they were not consistent the intensity level was increasing and they were now almost 2 mins long.  She told me to come in, third baby plus being group B positive they wanted to check me.  I have been down this road before, and have gotten to the hospital only to be sent home.  I told my husband if we drive there I am staying I will NOT make the trip twice this time around.  We again shipped the older kids to Nana’s and arrived at the hospital at 8am.  Well, by now when I was standing the contractions were every 2 mins. apart.  I am pretty sure I freaked the receptionist who was registering me out.  I was brought in and checked 3 cm.  They were NOT sending me home but would start antibiotics. Now the contractions eased up again.  Coming every 15 mins and there was talk that if no progress was made I may be sent home.  I was checked at 11am, still 3cm.  I got up I got in the shower, contractions picked back up.  At 12:30 pm I talked with my midwife, she decided since she was the one to check me the first time she should check me again because not all people check the same.  She checked me.  I was a 3 maybe a 4, there was some progress minimal but some.  They gave me my second round of antibiotics I was STAYING!!!!!!

 Here is where it all gets interesting.  I knew at 12:30 this labor was looking more and more like my first one.  Very slow progression, so I was in it for the long haul.  I climbed in the bed and tried to close my eyes between contractions.  Well, at 2:30ish I turned over and got on my hands and knees.  My husband asked what I was doing.  I had no clue, it just felt more comfortable.  I had no control over it I really didn’t.  At 3:05 my water broke.  D very calmly went and got the nurse.  I immediately told her, I was going to push.  She sort of freaked and found the midwife who happened to be standing in the hall outside my door.  The midwife put on her gloves to check me but instead caught a baby.  A beautiful 6 pound 11 oz baby girl who was born in just one push.  I had thought I still had hours and hours ahead of me but apparently she wanted out sooner than her siblings.  I was in active labor for just about 2 hours and that includes the 5 minutes of pushing.

We are now home, a family of 5 and things are just so perfectly complete! Lucille Anne is a champion nurser and sleeper.  She is sleeping from 9pm to 3:30ish eating then sleeping again until 7.  My older two are just so so so smitten it fills my heart with love every time I watch them all together.  Did running through my whole pregnancy help with the labor?  I am not sure but I know that this was my shortest easiest labor of them all and also the pregnancy I ran the most and longest through.  I can say that I am pretty sure that running gets the credit for me already just about back down to pre-pregnancy weight.  I have 9 pounds left to lose, but because of nursing I will probably hang on to them for a bit until I know what her feeding schedule is like and how much milk I need to make.  I have to start over on my abs, but coming from a girl who never had nice flat abs in her life I am up for the challenge of making them as flat as I can after three kids J.  I am taking a few more weeks off but hope to be pounding the pavement again on July 18^th, I am excited to see what my base is and how far I can go.  Training for my first Ragnar starts as soon as I get the all clear from the doc and as of right now I have my first 5k on the 26^th! What a perfect little summer this is shaping up to be!!!! Baby snuggles, new running goals and pure contentment! 

Friday Five Link up!

It's Friday, yay!!!!! And what a good day it would be to have a baby no?  HAHAHA! Wishful thinking I am sure but she has to come eventually ;)

So this Friday Five link up brought to you by You Signed Up for WHAT?!, Eat Pray Run DC (newly married!!!!!) and Mar on the Run! is Five Ways to Beat the Heat.  Summer is fast approaching and I know
that after the winter of Polar Vortex conditions we all are trying so hard to NOT complain about how hot it is.  This extremely pregnant mama is having a really hard time since the heat, humidity AND this gigantic "speed bump" of a belly has me nothing short of miserable, but I really *am* trying to embrace the heat and enjoy it....

Anyway, one of the easiest ways to beat the heat is to bring it inside (AIR CONDITION!) and run on the "mill" but if you are anything like me, that really isn't an option.  Not only do I not have access to a treadmill, I hate them. Like can not stand being on them and would rather run in any weather condition there is.  Here in Maine I often get 2-4 of those weather "conditions" during any given run, so I have learned a few things. Here are my 5 tips for beating the heat while still getting out there and pounding the pavement!

FIVE WAYS TO BEAT THE HEAT

Go Early or Go Late:

The summer sun gets pretty darn intense as soon as it rises and stays that way all day.  So go when the sun
has yet to come up or has gone down.  These non sun times of day can still have high humidity and high temps but without the blazing sun beating down on you, you will feel cooler.  My run affair actually started with hot humid night runs back in August of 2010.  The pre dawn hours and post dusk hours can also be super peaceful and reflecting.  You are out there as the world is waking up or going to sleep and it's like you are transcending time.

Hydrate WELL and bring water:

You are hot and it's worse with dehydration.  So make sure you get that water in before you run.  Your body needs to be fully hydrated so that when you are out there you stay that way.  Sweating is good!!! When you stop sweating that's BAD!!!! And go out carrying some water with you.  It is good to drink even on your short runs in the heat and splash on your head if needed.  Speaking of splashing, I like to go out when I know the neighbors will be watering their lawns.  Running through those sprinklers is pretty fun!!!!

Cool off before or during:

Do not be afraid to jump in a cold shower or a pool before your run.  Starting out cool will help you get through some of your run before you start to warm up.  And if you can, take that opportunity to run in the rain.  Nothing beats a good summer rain storm where you get to run, and cool down! Just remember, that visibility in the rain lowers so make sure you stay visible and alert!



Dress Appropriately: 

Dress in loose, moisture wicking clothing.  Do NOT decide that your high socks make you look cute or that the long sleeve matches your sneakers the best.  You do not need to add the extra warming layers now that the vortex is over.  Carefully, pack them up and put them aside until the weather cools OR decide to rock them in the comfort of your AC once your run is over.





Pace Yourself

As the weather heats up and the humidity strikes your pace IS going to change.  Do not force yourself to run your best pace at each run.  Take your time out there and get the distance in.  Pace doesn't need to be top speed all the time.  And if you are out there and feeling faint, dizzy weak or all of a sudden ice cold with goosebumps stop and walk for a bit.  There is nothing wrong with walking, moving is moving and it is always better to be safe out there then be breaking records.


Now have some summer running and enjoy this season of running.  We all know that once the cold kicks back in we will be back to the complaining... ;) What kinds of tips do you have to avoid being too hot out there?

FOUND: One AMAZING Mother Runner

Today is National Running Day! All over the running media community you will find signs declaring why we runners run. You will find post after post about getting out and putting down the miles today and you will see runners everywhere hitting the road, the trails, the treadmills to honor our commitments to run. Little motivation is needed today to get out there, there is a huge adrenaline filled excited sweep of people just getting out and getting it done. Even though today is the day to RUN, there are some who made that push to take that first step and to challenge themselves to become runners in the quiet of a normal day, a day that was no different than any other except for the fact that they just kept at it and didn't quit. Being Wednesday today is also WICKED INSPIRING WEDNESDAY over here at Crazy Mama Runner. Today we meet Alexis. Her story left me sitting in awe and respect of such an amazing mother who has conquered huge obstacles and found herself and saved herself. My words can not do her story any justice so I will just let you see how strong and determined this mama is! If I had an ounce of her determination I wonder what kind of runner I could become!


I hated running when I was young. Avoided it like the plague, cursed and sulked during track and field season. If you fast forward I was active, rode horses and trained them. Did some treadmill stuff to shift weight but hated it with a passion. At 27 I became a mother, I gained 60lbs and it stayed after pregnancy. I had this awesome baby boy and then? then I got sick. I couldn't walk, staggered and stumbled. Weak and tired I finally woke up with numbness in my left arm. I had already been diagnosed over the course of my little boys first year with Fibro. This was something else. By the end of the month I was blind in one eye and in agony in the hospital. Optic Neuritis was the cause and the MRI said I had Multiple Sclerosis. Once they had figured it out I was 30. My lesions affected my motor control and my gait. I needed physio. I was walking with a cane. My husband sent me on a cruise and told me to soak the quiet. In the islands no one could believe a pretty 30yo woman could look okay but not be able to walk three hundred yards. We lived in Texas and the heat made everything worse. Everything. I was housebound. But that

wheelchair had been promised to me. the lesions were already there, dormant now but still waiting to pronounce me crippled. I couldn't walk a mile. I had to do something or my son would never see me out of the chair or without a walker. I would be a quitter before I had even tried. I did push ups. You don't need balance and the floor

is close. I did burpees because hey, fall, push, get up... right? In the cool, after crying for days it seemed, my husband drove me to the park and in the shade as the sun rose I made myself walk. Physio had fixed the worst of the drop foot and the odd listing had stopped. I was fat. I was wheezy from a lifetime of asthma. The next day I ran. the little loop in the park was just shy of the mile. I ran it. it was torture. took me a ridiculous time. I came back. ran again. three times a week he would bring me and spend half an hour playing in the cool with kiddo while I bullied myself round that paved shady trail. But I won. I got stronger. I learned how to balance on numb feet. Learned to run and learned to love the freedom. the quiet in my head. I was able to write again but couldn't always read the print on the monitor. but I could do it. I mapped a loop in our shady but sidewalk-less neighborhood that winter and built mileage. the pounds dripped off. I ran each day that winter. That was a while back. I'll be 32 this summer. Since then I've moved country for my health, because I can't be trapped. Because I have to

be outside where I can run. I found myself. I saved myself. I am not a cripple and I have not wasted my warning. While I have my legs I will run. I will never forget that FB update the first time I logged 5 miles before breakfast and fulfilled that promise to myself. that I would do it, that I would want more. I did. Before I left Texas at easter I ran 8 miles in glorious crisp sunshine to say goodbye to the trails I found myself on. those miles healed the parts of me that had nothing to do with my body and had everything to do with strength. I am strong enough. I know what it is to be floored. I know how to get back up again. I've run into mailboxes and tripped over nothing. But I never once stopped. This summer I'll run my first half. Next month I'll run a 10k and call it easy. I regularly run better than that just to feel that all is right with something. MS will always knock me down. Running showed me how to get back up. My little boy has a strong mama. he's so proud of me. 'Mama Exercises.' he tells people. 'Good luck, I love you mama have a good run!' he calls. I won't run forever but for now, while I can? I will run. I will run back to that playground and my biggest fan runs to meet me so I can scoop him onto my shoulders and finish strong with him up high laughing and screaming his delight at his mama. That's my story. That's why I run.

No one should look down and say 'I could have. But I never learned how it felt.' I can run anywhere. (PS. I totally don't weigh 240lbs anymore. bonus!

Since Alexis has sent in her story she has recently completed her FIRST 10k!!! She was one of 40,000 runners and finished in just a shade over an hour!!!! Way to go Alexis you are the epitome of strength and inspiration!

5 gym bag must haves!

It's Friday!!!! Time for the Friday Five Link up with Eat Pray Run DC, Mar on the Run and You Signed Up For What?!  What are FIVE things you have in your gym bag?

Well, if I am completely honest with you, I do not have a gym bag.  I don't own one and I do not have a gym membership anymore.  Once I fell in love with running, I ditched the club and put the money towards my daughters dance class instead.  Now it is just me and the open road 365 days a year.  Heat, humidity, rain, blizzards and even hurricanes have not stopped me from pounding the pavement.  However, I still have a small arsenal of must have items when I head out.

First thing? My HipS-sister of course! Thanks to the amazing Linda at Traveling Light and Comfortable , I am the owner of the Global HipS-sister and it is a great addition to my running gear! Why?  Well it is a sleek, comfortable way for me to carry what I need too while I am out running.  No matter how many miles I go I wear it to hold the essentials.  It is light and I never even realize I am wearing it.  Best part?  The Baby Bump has grown to ginormous proportions and I am STILL able to use it!


Next up is the reason I purchased the Hips-sister in the first place.  I am a runner running with a severe allergy to any stinging insect so I must MUST remember to carry my Epipen.

On longer runs I need to carry two.  If stung, the Epipens buy me 40 minutes to get to a hospital so every second counts.  At first running with an allergy was terrifying.  I would be out and see bees everywhere and freak out.  But now that I have a way to carry my Epipens I feel much much more at ease and I can forget they are there in the HipS-sister.

Which leads me to the reason I had to buy the Global HipS-sister and not the Coastal, I also need to have my phone on me.  I have always run with my phone, in my arm band because I used to use it as a GPS device and a music player.  However, about a year ago I decided to just start running naked, after a race that my phone failed me on and I missed a PR by ONE second!!! Now I run to the sounds of the road or trail and I no longer need my phone for distraction.  It is now thrown in the HipS-sister as an emergency backup.  If I am in trouble out on the run, stung or you know having a baby or something.  I can stop, stay
calm and call for help.  I have an android phone so the wider HipS-sister was needed.  And a little secret?  There are a few occasions I still use it to blast some tunes.  Like for example, this past Christmas season I would head out for a run in the snow and just loop around neighborhoods looking at decorated houses and I would play Christmas songs.  It was very peaceful and fun!

Last two items?  No they do not go into my HipS-sister although, gum just missed the list and I always have an extra piece in the pocket.  The last two items are my Nathan Reflective Vest and my Garmin Forerunner

110.  My vest is a total must have since being a mommy with a hubby who leaves the house at 4:30 am means that 90% of my time to get out there and run is in the fading light of day into the darkness of night. I love that I can have a reflective vest that I can count on to be visible.  It is also great to wear out on overcast and rainy days to give that extra pop of color for visibility through the gray and rain.  It gives me a sense of security that I am doing everything possible to be seen as a runner in order to avoid being hit.  And of course the Garmin.  I mean come on we all want to know the distance we have run and the pace at which we have done so.  Whether it is so we can push our limits and set records or so we can practice holding it at a certain pace for a certain distance.  The watch is fantastic! I love the fact that I can check in whenever I want to see how far I have gone and how long it has taken me.  I have this slight problem of always trying to better myself and that watch helps me see how I am doing.  Right now it is helping me to remember to take it easy and even on days where I have no pregnancy pains it helps me to stop at a distance I know isn't pushing it.

So what is in your gym bag? Or your must haves when you hit the road running?  Anyone else running with Epipens?  How are you dealing with that?

#TBT Link Up!!!!

These blog link ups are so so so much fun! I am so enjoying getting to know more and more blogs and blog owners! Today, I joined This Mama Runs for Cupcakes, How My World Runs, She Cooks She Crafts She Runs and Fitness Mom Wine Country for a Throwback Thursday post!

 I went through the blog and decided well why not link the throwback post I did? I happened to re-read it today, after a conversation over on Putting My Best Foot Forward.  What do you think?  What would your letter to your body say?

Run Happy

Sometimes we set out on becoming a runner not because we are happy, but because we are running from something.  Whether we are running from infertility, depression, loneliness, stress, or any other of the billion things that leave us feeling like we have no where to turn, no where to go.  We need outlets and running is most definitely an outlet.  At first it is hard, but while you are out there a sense of peace overcomes you and just for a moment you forget your fears, insecurities and worries.  You are one with your breath, your heart and your thoughts.  Running can and will get you through some very very tough times.  Meet Kassy! A fellow Mainer and this weeks WICKED INSPIRING WEDNESDAY feature.  Brave beyond words knowing that each day she could get news of her husband not returning.  Young and strong she took to running to get her through her husbands deployment and now continues running in honor of fallen military members.  She is one cool Mother Runner.  

I started running in June of 2006. I was 21 years old. I had been married for eight months and my husband had just left on his first deployment with the United States Marine Corps. I had run on and off in high school. I played varsity soccer so I ran with the team, when I had to, but never on my own. At 21 years old, newly married and scared out of my mind with the unknowns of deployments I needed an outlet. One day I just figured I would go for a run. My stress was relived as I pounded my thoughts out on the pavement. I was hooked! I ran almost every day of that deployment. In December 2006 my husband safely returned. I continued to run. I had started to enjoy it, plus the toned legs and arms I had was a huge bonus! In April 2007 my husband was again sent on deployment. This time to Iraq. Just four months after he got home. I was again overwhelmed with worries, frustration, and a little anger. I ran. Running kept my mind from thinking the worst thoughts when it had been days since I had heard from him. Running helped me celebrate on the days I got letters and phone calls. Running helped me count down the days. On November 10, 2007 he once again returned! Safe and sound!! Running helped me RUN to his arms when he stepped off that bus! Fast forward to today. May 2014. My husband has been out of the Marine Corps since August 2008. He served four years. We have moved from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to Maine. We now have an amazing 14 month old son. I ran for the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, but then had to stop due to severe hip and lower back pain. I walked my running routes every day. Running was a big challenge after birth. It took me a while to heal, and then I had some issues nursing him that kept my running shoes in the closet. Finally when my son was seven months old I ran a 12 mile race called "run for the fallen" to honor fallen military members. It was the best race I had ever run. I currently average about 12 miles a week. The cold snowy winter and a baby kept my running at bay the past few months. However now that spring is upon us and my son is happy to be in the jogger we head out every other morning to run together and I am looking forward to my next 5K June 7th. As I type this its crazy to think thatrunning has been my outlet for eight years! I love the challenge of running up a huge hill and feeling like you will never reach the top, but feeling elated when you do! It's a runners high for sure!!! It has its moments where it feels like work, and its hard to figure out how to work it in with kids, but we have a saying in my house "Momma is happy when she runs." My awesome husband, who runs his own gun business and helps his Dad run the family power equipment business, supports me and makes time for my runs when ever he can. My ipod running play list is called "run happy" because running makes me happy.