I Ran a 20K/Half Marathon With My Mom

It’s come and gone! My mom and I successfully ran the 20k this past weekend (just shy of a half marathon, my watch actually said it was 12.69 miles).

Leading up to race day I was really nervous it was going to be over 90 degrees out because that’s what it had been for the few weeks prior.

Thankfully last week the forecast trended towards rain on race morning. I would much prefer to run in the rain rather than the heat.

Race morning came and I got a call at 4 a.m. from my mom. There was lightening down by her house and she was curious about the contingency plan for the race. I said it would probably get delayed if anything and to finish getting ready and head up to town.

I went back to bed for another half an hour before getting up and ready.

By the time she picked me up, just after 5 a.m., it had started to rain in Des Moines, and by the time we made it to the shuttle it was coming down pretty good.

At some point, we heard the race was delayed 30 minutes, which I had a feeling it would be.

We got off the shuttle, made a bathroom pitstop, stood semi-under the trees for a few minutes before making our way to the start line. It started on the top of a dam, so pretty exposed. We hunkered down under a bridge coming off of the dam for about 10 minutes not knowing the race had started for about 4 minutes.

But there was still a steady stream of people making their way to the start line so we just joined in, crossed the start and began running. We stuck together for about the first mile, but it was crowded and hard to weave through everyone together so we got separated for a few miles.

I felt great, was keeping a good pace and stopped to go to the bathroom at mile 3.

It stopped raining shortly after we started running and I found my mom again in between mile 6 and 7.

My knee had started hurting at this point, and when I caught up to her she mentioned her thighs were sore in the new shorts she was wearing. We both looked down at her legs and I’m pretty sure I gasped out loud because her thighs were raw and red with blood. It legit looked like she had started her period and was bleeding down her legs. 

We adjusted the rain jacket around her waist to cover up her poor thighs and started running again until we passed a firetruck with a group of EMT who we asked for some sort of vaseline or bandages. They gave her KY Jelly and wrapped something around my knee. 

We hobbled on. 

My knee was screaming at this point and I’m sure her thighs felt about the same. 

Around mile 9 maybe, we finally ran by an ambulance. 

Perfect, I thought, they’ll have some sort of bandages. We wrapped them up with some gauze and stretchy bandage tape stuff and kept running. 

We were so close at this point that you just kept running because why not. 

The last two miles were rough. It was pretty toasty, but not nearly as bad as it could have been that day. I was grateful for the cool, rainy morning at this point. 

The home stretch of 7 blocks (about half a mile) was the hardest part of the race. They had these signs up “400 meters to go!”, “200 meters” and “100 meters to go!” 

What I found most incredibly infuriating was that the rest of my body (minus my knee) felt great. I was conditioned enough and in shape, and that race should have been a piece of cake. But because my knee wasn’t having it, that made it much harder than it should have been. 

You alter the way you run when a certain body part is in pain, and after the race, my calves were cramped because of how I was running to baby my knee. 

But we made it across the finish line and just kind of walked right into the medical tent.

We re-bandaged my mom’s legs and I got a little glove of ice to wrap around my knee. After that, we went and said hi to everyone before going to my apartment to eat some leftover rice and veggies I had. 

I think the thing that always surprises me is how it can almost depend on that day to how your run is going to go. 

I had an absolutely brilliant run in San Francisco two weeks ago. I remember the mile markers ticking by and wishing it would slow down so I could keep enjoying it. 

The biggest similarity between this race and my full marathon last year was my knee, which really bummed me out. My mom and I have been training for 10 weeks and I didn’t have any issues whatsoever with my knee this whole time. 

But I have confirmed my belief that I run better in cooler weather and am not much for warm weather running. 

I haven’t decided whether I’m going to go for a full marathon this fall (at the moment I don’t think I will), but I’ve got plans to run plenty of 5k and 10k’s this summer because I find I like races a lot more than training. 

What races are you doing (have done) this year? 

I'm Going to Say It...I Enjoy Running

I ran track in junior high and high school. I was never an all-star, nor did I enjoy it all that much. 

I ran sporadically throughout college and after. 

I would run with my dog Bob (R.I.P. Bob), and then when I moved in with Michael I liked to do a bike/run combo most days. But it was never more than a few miles. 

Last summer Michael challenged me to run a marathon, something that had literally never ever crossed my mind. I laughed at him and initially said no way. But I think it was an hour later that I said, Ok, I’ll do it. 

So I trained for and ran a marathon last fall, doing a 5K and sprint triathlon in the process. But then I took a break over the winter because running in the cold is not my thing, and I had burnt myself out with marathon training. Now that warmer weather is here I’m running regularly again. 

A little over a month ago my mom and I started training together because I convinced her to run a half marathon with me. 

We just did a 10K this past weekend that was awesome. I think it's super helpful to not only have something your training for but to also do races along the way. It spices the training up and allows you to get jazzed up by the race atmosphere. 

But in the process of all of this, I’ve surprised myself with how much I actually enjoy running. 

I’ve found that once you get past that period of everything hurting, your lungs gasping for air, and to where you can run a few miles consistently, you get into a certain rhythm and it just flows. And that feels amazing. 

Running is a great way to work through things. If I’m feeling anxious or upset I’ll go run. It’s a great time to brainstorm or daydream. And it’s something that you can actually see tangible improvement at. You can run further or faster. 

And it’s an inexpensive thing to do. I recommend getting a good pair of shoes, and races are fun, but day to day you don’t have to go to a class or a gym to do it. You can just go outside. 

And speaking of outside, I love that aspect of running. It gets you outside, and it’s a great speed of travel. I love running trails through the woods or along the river. [Sidenote: I can't run on a treadmill. One mile feels like ten, and I just really dislike it.]

I love being able to cover different distances. It’s such an accomplishment to run your first mile, your first three, then five, ten and when you get to the point where you realize you can run for two or four hours straight that’s super cool. 

It’s something you can do almost anywhere you go. And it’s fun to do when you travel. 

I’ve discovered I really like trail running. It’s completely different than running on a flat surface like a road, sidewalk or bike path. And it feels like an adventure, which reminds me of being a child and playing in the woods around our house. 

It was hard getting into running last summer, finding my rhythm and all that but I was surprised with how quickly it came back to me this year. I was able to run that first mile and then three miles a lot quicker this time around. 

I know there are plenty of people who think those who run are crazy (I was once one of them), but it’s honestly something that anyone can get into. You literally go at your own pace and even if that means walking at different points, it really doesn't matter. 

If you’ve been wanting to get into it don’t be shy. Give it a go! 

Intuitive Exercise Throughout Your Cycle

The only time that I’ve ever stuck to a “work out plan” was when I trained for my marathon last year, and these past four weeks of training for a half-marathon at the start of June. 

Other than that I have always just kind of gone through spurts and phases of exercising. 

Things like yoga, weight lifting, biking, but the most of what I’ve done over the years has been running. 

Have you ever noticed that you’re drawn to different types, or amounts of, exercise at different points in your cycle? 

Leading up to and during my period I find myself wanting a much slower form of exercise, whether that be yoga, hiking or simply going for a walk. I’ve still go running during this, but I don’t push myself too hard. Thankfully, our pace this year hasn’t been very intense at all so it works out great. 

I don’t base my exercise on where I am in my cycle so much as just listening to my body as I go along. Because I’ve got a training plan to follow I usually stick to that for the most part. 

But last week around ovulation I found myself wanting to get outside more than once, or go further than originally planned. Three days in a row I ran 6 miles. 

Wednesday I went on a run with my mom, and then Michael asked if I wanted to go with him so I did. The next day I ran around two miles with my mom, and then decided to run the 4 miles back to my apartment. And Friday we had six miles to run. 

I’m more likely to head out on an unplanned run, hike, etc. because I get this urge to blow off some steam or excess energy (or lack of energy). 

One thing that I’ve discovered I enjoy a lot is running on trails. Not bike paths, but dirt trails through the woods, or when we were in Phoenix is was through the desert. 

Once I get into the habit of being active again (when it’s starts getting warm out) I just really try to focus on what my body feels like, combined of course with what I have for a training plan. 

I don’t necessarily switch up the type of exercise I do depending on where I’m at in my cycle, I just change the amount and intensity of running I’m doing that week. 

I do find that when I’m feeling in a slump, tired or things like that, getting out for a run really helps to balance me back out again. 

What is your go to exercise, and do you switch it up at all throughout your cycle? 

Running With My Mom

I convinced my mom to train for, and run, a half-marathon with me this spring. 

She got really into yoga after I introduced her to it, and I would love if running could become something she enjoys doing after this is all said and done. 

After I ran my marathon last fall I only ran a handful of times over the past three months (because I can’t be bothered to run outside in the cold.) But now that spring is here, and the weather has been teetering around almost warm, it’s been great to get back outside again. 

Normally, I don’t like running with other people. I like being in control of my own pace, walking when I want and choosing where I want to run. Thankfully, my mom lets me be in control of all that for our runs together.

We’ll be on our fourth week of training together at the time of this post, but we’ve been going pretty strong from the start. 

The training plan I chose to base ours off of was pretty mild, starting with 2 or 3 miles of a walk/jog combo that first week. But my mom is kind of an overachiever, always saying no let’s do more than 2 miles. There was one day we set out to do three and ended up running five miles. 

The place my mom works is on my way to the coffee shop I’ve been enjoying working from so I’ve been stopping in and saying hi quite a bit, but it’s nice to have this extra time to get outside, run together and chat about who knows what. 

And the best, most unexpected part of all this has been their new little puppy. She’s a little Dachshund named Martini (I call her Weenie), and she is the best little running buddy. We leave her in the car with my mom’s other little dog on the really nippy days, but if it’s in the 40’s she usually goes with us. 

There was a rare nice day in February after I got back from Sri Lanka, and I went for a walk around Grays with my mom and the two little dogs. Weenie was about three months old at that point and didn’t quite get the whole “walk on a leash” thing. Plus she would get pretty distracted by all the smells (and people) around her, just begging to get sniffed. 

Now she’s able to stay on course without getting tangled in your legs or stopping to sniff something new every 3.2 seconds. 

Not to mention she’s very popular when she’s running with us. People find it hilarious and oh so cute that this tiny little weiner dog is our running buddy. 

For now, we’ve got the one race booked for June, but I’m on the hunt for more this summer!

Easing Back Into Running

I thought that maybe I’d bundle up every now and then and continue running through the winter.

Yeah, right. I should have known better.

It was hard enough to muster the motivation to bundle up to just walk to the coffee shop to work. 

But March is here, which means spring is just around the corner, and with it warmer weather. 

I ran once while we were in Sri Lanka, it felt amazing. And I ran when we were in Phoenix, equally exhilarating. 

I’m obviously far from in marathon shape where I last was in November. But I know I at least want to do a half this summer, and possible a full marathon in October. 

So, here I am, out of running shape, but I feel like I’m still further ahead then where I started last July when I started training. And it’s because now I know what I’m capable of when it comes to running. But that doesn’t change the fact that I couldn’t go and knock out a 10 mile run right now. 

Where do I start? 

Here’s my plan. 

I know I’m going to run a half in June, and hopefully that full in October so I have dates to work towards. I’m going to start creating my training plan for those, but in the mean time I’ve started easing myself back into all this. 

There were a number of really gorgeous days recently and I went on a few long walks because duh, why wouldn’t I get out and enjoy the weather. 

That’s step one, to just get out there and start warming up the creaky joints again. 

After that I’m going to ease in with some walk/jog sessions. I’ll choose a distance or total time, and start with something like five minutes running, two minutes walking, on and off until I finish that distance/time. 

And I’ll just grow from there into things like 10 minutes on, 1 minute off, until I can run three miles straight. 

Something I am going to do more of this year is strength training for my knees, hips, etc. so I can hopefully avoid the knee problems I had last year. 

And while I plan on a half and hopefully another full, I plan to run other races in-between. 

Another thing I learned from last year is that you can burn yourself out mentally during training. By the end of it last year I was over running. I hardly ran my last month of training (not the smartest thing, but I still did my marathon). 

I haven’t really looked at what I want my training plan to be but I think I’m going to create one to work on for the half in June, then keep that base and have a “separate” plan for the marathon. Who knows yet!

What are your race/fitness goals for this year? What are the steps you’re taking to get there? 

My Winter Work Out Plan

This summer the majority of my “exercise” was running because I was training for a marathon. 

The next time I train for a marathon I will definitely “cross train” more instead of only focusing on running (while that is still obviously important). 

It’s been a month since my marathon, and while it’s good to give yourself a break afterward I don’t want to “lose” all my training and hard work. 

But I do want to switch it up a little. So I took a look at what I’ll have available to me over the winter, and what I’ll actually enjoy doing. 

And the three main activities I want to focus on are yoga, running and lifting.

Yoga — I dabbled in yoga in college, and consistently went every day for a six month period after graduation. But the circumstances that led me to have an affordable pass to that studio ended and I can’t afford to hand out that chunk of cash every month. Although hot yoga is delectable in the winter. My compromise has been hitting up a yoga class every now and then but then utilizing videos online for a little yoga session in my living room. I don’t have to trek to a studio and I save myself a lot of money.

Running — I’ve come to realize that it’s more work to get myself dressed and outside when it comes to running in the cold. If I bundle up appropriately it’s all fine and dandy. Your lungs burn a bit, but it’s manageable. And I’ve been running for months so why stop now just because it’s getting cold? Running is a great way to get outside and have some time to just freely think without needing to have some form of entertainment. 

Lifting — While I sometimes feel like a monkey lifting weights I do actually enjoy the challenge. Our apartment building has a decent little exercise room with a few machines and a full set of weights. And just like with living room yoga, I’m not forced to go outside to get to the gym so that’s a major perk. I want to focus on getting stronger overall but also focusing on my joints or whatever it may be so when it comes time to train again my knees, and such, are stronger. 

Ideally, I would like to do each activity two or three times a week. So, one sample week would be: 

Monday: Yoga

Tuesday: Run

Wednesday: Lift

Thursday: Run

Friday: Lift

Saturday: Run

Sunday: Yoga

I find that having a “plan” really helps to motivate me and be consistent with exercise. If I can look at something and say “Ok, today I’m going to go run 5 miles, or today I’m going to do these arm exercises in the gym” I find that actually getting there and doing it is much easier. 

I’m curious to hear if you have a particular work out plan as well as the winter, and if where you live has had an impact on what you plan on doing. 

Recovering From My Marathon

I’m about five weeks out from the marathon, and I would say that after three or four days I felt basically back to normal. 

My knees did seem to bug me for a week or two after.  I’ve been on a couple easy three mile runs, and my knees were definitely cranky that first run after. 

So, here’s a list of things I’ve been doing to “recover”:

+ Epsom salt baths and just hot baths in general are my go to “feel better” activity for every situation. Have a cold? Take a bath. On your period? Take a bath? 

+ Using my heat pad or a bag of ice on my knees and ankles. Towards the end of training, I got much better about icing my knees thankfully. But there was a lot of heat and cold applied to my knees, ankles and feet for the two weeks following my race. 

+ Stretching and rolling out. Boy oh boy can I get stiff, especially now that we’re into the colder months. But before running as well as after I’ve tried to do a better job at stretching and then rolling out my back, hips and legs. 

+ Yoga is the perfect exercise for all seasons, but especially in the winter. I’ve been working on doing exercise a few mornings a week, and I’ll definitely be incorporating it into my training plan next time around. 

+ Something I started doing a few days after my marathon was walking places. If I was going to a coffee shop, the library, or anything less than a 20 minute walk away I would skip the car and bike and walk there to work out some of the kinks and pains. And I’ve continued doing this as a little break in the day to get outside. 

+ I’m not always the greatest at this but the two days leading up to my marathon and ever since I’ve made it a point each day to make sure I’m staying hydrated. 

+ While I woke up the day after my race feeling like I’d been hit by a train I found that the week following my race I was a bit knackered. So, I made it a point to make sure I was getting enough, if not more than enough sleep afterwords. 

+ And the final little thing I’ve been doing to recover but also keep inspired is watching little documentaries on YouTube about running. And I’ve found watching videos on ultra-marathons quite fascinating. While I can’t imagine running 50-100 miles I’m amazed and inspired by those who do. 

In the end it’s really not a big feat to recover from running a marathon. You just have to make sure you’re taking care of your body, take a few days to slow down. Refuel your body with food and water and stay inspired for the next one!

Running a Marathon on Your Period

The week before my last period I had a moment of “oh crap”. And that was because I realized I was most likely going to still have my period during my marathon that weekend. 

Why hadn’t I realized that before? 

Well, when I originally did my calculations I was supposed to just have finished up my period when it came time for the race. 

But because my Sept/Oct cycle was longer than normal (30 days instead of 26) the rest of my cycles had all been shifted back 3-4 days. 

Thankfully, my cycle was back to “normal" and I had a 26-day cycle, with my period starting on November 9th, and the last day of my period ended up being the day I ran, which was perfect. 

No need to worry about changing out my cup or leaking while running. 

But I wanted to share my game plan if I would have had a heavier day during my run. 

+ Use menstrual cup, which I did anyway. This would be my top tip. It would have been a pain to fit in tampons even though I had a little pouch on my hydration belt. With a cup, you don’t need anything extra. Just pull it out, dump it and put it back in. 

+ Wear your best, most “I’ve got you covered", pair of period underwear. Even though I knew it was one of my last days of my period I wasn’t going to mess around. My period has a way of doing mysterious things when I run. I grabbed my “thickest” pair of Modibodi underwear, which could have supported me through a heavy day without a cup.

+ Don't wear anything too tight around your waist. Not sure about you but I find I bloat and cramp when I’m wearing tight things around my uterus during my period. Thankfully the pair of Michael’s thick tights I ended up wearing fitting me nicely but not nearly as tight as my normal pair. 

+ Have a water bottle with you to clean off your hands if needed. Regardless of if you’re on your period or not you’re going to have to use porta potties on the run. If you need to rinse out your cup or your hands before using the hand sanitizer that’s where a water bottle comes in super handy. I had two on my race belt, and while I just drank out of them, I could have used them to spray off my hands (into the toilet). 

+ Go with it. The last thing you need to be worrying about when you’re getting through those miles is leaking. So go prepared, wear dark pants, and say, Well I’ve done all that I can and then just focus on the run. 

Has anyone ran a race on their period, what was your strategy, and what advice do you have?

Also, we're two and a half weeks out from the next session of Chart Your Cycle! S,o if you're ready to learn how to use the sympto-thermal method in all of it's greatness, grab you spot today!

Not Losing Your Cycle While Training

When deciding whether to train for a marathon I knew I didn’t want to screw up my cycle , and so I knew if I was going to do this I needed to do a bit of research.

According to a few different sites, at my current pace and weight I burn around 90 calories a mile, which means:

- 3 miles = 270 calories burned 

- 5 miles = 450 calories burned 

- 10 miles = 900 calories burned

While I’ve never really tracked calories, I have been more conscious of the need for me to consume more during this little adventure I’m on. 

Now, let’s talk about why it’s important to incorporate that information into your diet. 

Turns out that when you don’t have enough fuel, your body starts choosing to support functions that are vital to survival. And would you guess it? The menstrual cycle doesn’t make that list. So, your body can shut down your cycle if there’s not enough nutrition, which results in a hormonal stress response, lowering the levels of estrogen, messing up your healthy cycle. 

When you cycle starts not showing up it’s because you don’t have the necessary energy to ovulate. 

At first you might not notice anything, but that doesn’t mean it’s not affecting you. Low estrogen affects bone loss, which means stress fractures can be the first sign that something is wrong. 

If you keep training under these conditions it’s going to affect how your recover, your energy, and your running, which seems quite detrimental doesn't it?

I have found that my body (obviously) just naturally started needing more fuel as I started running more. I’ve gone from two meals and one snack a day to three meals and two snacks a day. 

I remember to eat breakfast, to fuel up before and after runs, and I eat when I’m hungry. And I’ve been keeping an eye on my menstrual cycle. 

Because I view the cycle as the canary in the coal mine. If things head south there then I know something is up. 

Loosing your period isn’t a good thing, it shouldn’t be a moment of success or relief, or a “I’m doing this right” moment. 

If your cycle disappears you need to reassess what you’re doing. Up the calories and lower the amount of exercise. And remember it took a few months or so for this to happen so it will take a few more for it to get back in order. 

While there are certainly other factors at play, time and time again it comes back to nutrition. So if you're having issues I alway suggest starting there. 

And it should be worth noting the quality of some calories over others. Make sure you are getting enough of your nutrients for good sources. Head to the produce aisle, through in some beans, rice is always easy and great, and happy eating. 

Not to mention, coming home from a long run and being able to replenish (stuff your face) with delicious, nutritious meals. 

Happy training!