Run Like a Mother winner...

From the random drawing... pulled from the hat by my daughter... Amanda!  I've emailed you Amanda!  Congrats and happy reading!

Hope you all are running someplace great this weekend!

Summer running adventure!

Well, maybe adventure isn't quite the right word for this, but, I did run someplace new.  There is a hill here in town where the tv/radio stations have their transmitters, the local university has research stations, and there is even a large telescope.  Wildlife is all around.  There is a paved path up to the top.  It's not long, only 3.1 miles roundtrip - but - it's a great hill workout!  It has an elevation gain of 730 ft... which means you get that gain in about a mile and a half as you zig zag your way to the top.  Yes, my lungs were burning.  Yes, I walked a few feet when I got near the top.  But, the view when you get to the top is beautiful, especially at sunrise, and going down is a breeze!  I made the trip in 33 minutes total, and better yet, I lived to tell about it!  I don't get to do hill workouts that often.  My neighborhood is about as flat as it gets.  Surprisingly, I am not really sore this morning!  I can tell that I did something different than normal, but I don't have that horrid "I don't want to stand up much less move" pain that you get when you've truly overdone it.

I knew about this hill for years but never made the effort to go check it out.  Maybe because from a distance it's ugly?  Or maybe because it reached out of my comfort zone?  I shouldn't have put it off because now I've found a great place to do hills.  Lesson learned!

*Photo - not the acutal hill but the view of the path from the bottom.  I'm kicking myself now for not getting a picture of the actual (ugly) hill or the view from the top!

Run Like a Mother Review and Book Giveaway!

Have you ever seen a book and just knew that it was a book you HAD to read just from the title? That’s what I thought when I was reading Runner’s World and noticed that Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea were coming out with a new book called Run Like a Mother. It sounded like a book that was meant for me! I have followed Dimity and Sarah for a few years, back when they ran a blog called Marathon Mom’s through the Runner’s World website. Though they decided to move on to bigger and better projects, I still miss their commentary so I was thrilled to hear about their new book!


Their publisher, Andrews McMeel, was kind enough to send me a copy of the book to review. I have had this book for over two months now. I have been trying to read it. But, like any book I seem to pick up lately, I get through about five minutes of it before I am waking up two hours, and one stiff neck later! If I was reading this book in my young and single years, I would have probably blazed through it in an evening because it was so fun to read, but, then, if I was young and single, I probably wouldn’t have been reading this book!

Dimity and Sarah tell it like it is. You can tell they have walked these Running Mom trenches for a few years and know exactly what they are writing about.  They know and share how challenging it is to be a runner and a mom.  I found myself nodding my head in agreement throughout the book because what they said was so familiar.  They talk about everything from running while pregnant to sports bras and everything in between. They take turns writing different chapters and have also included quotes from running moms around the world on topics ranging from “What’s your ideal racing distance?” to “How do you cope with time away from running?” Even if you are a seasoned mom runner, just knowing there are hundreds (if not thousands!) of other moms out there trying to balance running and motherhood is a great reason to read this book!

You can follow Dimity and Sarah through the RLAM website, Run Like a Mother

Want to win my copy? While I love this book, since it was a gift from the publisher, I have decided to give it away to one lucky reader. The corner’s aren’t even that bent from me falling asleep on it so often!

How to enter – leave a comment below and tell me why you would like this book. Earn an additional entry by becoming a Running Around on Empty follower and leaving another comment to let me know (or if you already are a follower, let me know that too!).  Contest closes Thursday, June 24, 2010 at midnight MST. Winner will be randomly drawn from the posted comments at that time.

Why I love running in summer!

Yes, you heard me right - sometimes I really love running in the summer... even though I live in a climate that June, July, August, and even September can melt the rubber right off of your shoes midstride. As I was running along this morning, I was thinking of all the reasons I really like summer running...

* The sun comes up early. OK - maybe I have to get up and run early as well, but this gives me a couple of uninterrupted, kid free hours to myself that I wouldn't have if I slept in. You know I love the darlings, but quiet is nice too!

* I get to run something other than my little neighborhood. I get to go places and see other people run, walk, and bike. While I am not a huge social runner (perhaps because of my crazy times to run and having to work around family schedules), it is nice to see other people out and know that I'm not the only person out there.

* My everyday runs are now as long as my winter "long" runs. I don't have to be at work by a specific time. I don't have to make sure that the kids have gotten out of bed. I have time to actually spend running, instead of dashing through a run to speed home and make breakfast and haul kids out of bed.

* Sweat. Well, maybe it's not my favorite part of summer, but it sure makes me feel like I've actually done something... and really deserve a shower. Truthfully, I don't just deserve a shower, I need one - I can't even stand myself! Today was one of those days!

* Weight loss. Ha! It's not true weight loss, but have you ever weighed yourself before a run and then gone on the just talked about sweaty summer run? You've never lost weight as fast as you do this way. So, may it's not so permanent... but a girl can dream - right?

Yes, there are probably a lot more reasons out there than this as to why I hate running in the summer, but why worry about it? Summer's here and I have to opportunity to get out there and go! If I could only figure out how to embrace why sunscreen running in your eyes is good as well!

Still running...

Yes, I'm still around. The end of the school year with all the kid activities kind of put a limit on my posting, but now that's all done with and I'm back! The best part is that I can run everyday on a local river trail here... well, mostly trail because it is just a big ditch 99% of the time. This makes me happy because it gets old running 9 months out of the year around and around and around my neighborhood. Good to know that Shirtless Man with Weights is still walking the trail and so are Lady with Knee Braces and Dog. And how could I forget Man Who Sounds Like He's Having an Asthma Attack? I wonder if they've missed me?

No Sugar month is up!

We've been so good around here avoiding sugar... walking past cake and doughnut covered tables at work, avoiding the jelly bean bags at my mother in law's house, even subbing a fruit smoothie for an ice cream on our date night. My one cheat day for my birthday was great - Cheesecake Factory and really yummy ice cream cake w/peanut butter crunchies in it! Other than my birthday, self control has been queen!

Today, it being May 2nd, my friend Ann called to tell me that a package was out on my car... and I went out thinking that it was just a plain old FedEx box... only to get back in and open it to discover... well, I'll just say that six hours ago this was a whole cake. Complete with cherries and chocolate shavings. She's been in with us on the whole no sugar experiment and told me that she's dropped 1.5lbs, me, about 2 lbs, and my husband, he's told me he's been dropping about 2lbs a week! It just goes to show what complete sugar addicts we are!

And it came at a perfect time... we've had bad colds here this week - mine getting worse this weekend - I now sound like a frog - but - I spent the day lounging around napping and reading a book I got for my birthday - quite a guilty pleasure actually - I usually at least pretend to be busy - today I let it all go and had no excuse except for my headache and croaky voice.

Thus, I haven't run since Tuesday... since Wednesday was my "off" day and by Thursday I was starting to feel cruddy. I'm hoping for better this next week since it's great weather for running right now - especially at 5am and the sun is just barely peeking over the mountains and the air is just cool enough to feel great once you get warmed up!

So, lesson learned... I really shouldn't eat as much sugar as I do, so, I am going to try and do better - not only because of the weight lost, but because I really do know deep down it's not that great for me and that in the month off from it, I've eaten a lot more fruits and veggies to a)get my mind off of dessert and b)because I could ingest the extra calories since I wasn't having to avoid them because of too much dessert!

Dear Johnson & Johnson,

I am writing to tell you how much I like your bandaids, especially the large, knee sized ones. I have used your product on my children for years. Your bandaids have covered their cuts and scrapes, both real and imagined. They even loved to wear them as badges of honor even when they really didn't have a cut, but it made them feel better anyway. In the past couple months though, I have come to appreciate them myself. For instance, the month of February saw me using a very large amount of them due to the knee injury I incurred while trail running. They covered my wounds and kept other infections out.

Unfortunately for me (I guess not so much for you), I had to get the large knee sized bandaids out again as I tripped and fell in the last two steps of my run while trying to hit the "walk" button at the intersection so I could cross and go home (yes, no one stopped as this did happen in front of a bar and I'm sure the passing drivers thought I had just had one too many!). This was not nearly as serious and my last fall, and only resulted in a skinned knee and elbow, but it was very embarrassing to have to tell my friends and colleagues, so it was nice to be able to hide the scrape under one of your bandaids. I even went and ran the next day with one of your bandaids attached to my knee just to prove I am not a complete klutz. The good news is that it stayed on for the whole 4.7 miles. Maybe you should start advertising in issues of Trail Runner magazine?

Thanks again for a great product!

Amy

P.S. I have since run six times and not fallen once.!

P.P.S. I have enclosed the picture of my shoe with two large drops of blood on it as I didn't think you probably wanted to see what my knee looks like!