A month to go, a year to celebrate.

I can't believe that it poured with rain all night long and yet I don't think a single drop fell on Cristal and me as we ran this morning. How lucky is that? Well, I suppose we made up for it by battling a nasty headwind down by the water on Dallas Road. I told Cristal that there are a lot of similarities between stroller-running into a headwind and stroller-running uphill. Either way, it's good practice for thinking about body alignment, stride length and arm positioning; efficiency is your best friend.


The TC 10K is set for May 1st, so we have a month left of training. This morning we ran a portion of the race route, running out along Richardson, Moss, May, Memorial and Dallas. We cut back up Cook Street to head back to the store. You can view a map of our run here. Cristal and I stuck to our usual intervals of five minutes running, one minute walking and ran a total of around thirty-five minutes, not including the walk breaks. Our total distance was just a hair under six kilometres.

 My plan for next week is to run the finish-line portion of the race route. It's nice going into a race knowing what the final few kilometres look like, that way you know what to expect. It's not a hard finish exactly, but it can be mentally tough since you have to turn a series of corners and you keep hoping that the next turn will be the last. If you're really spent, it can be a little demoralizing, so let's hope that a little preparation will go a long way... 

Today is a special day for Cristal, since it marks one year since she became clean. We're all so proud of all that you've accomplished, Cristal and can't wait to celebrate this milestone with you every year. Here's to hard work and determination! Here's to you!

Super glue.

It's my absolute favourite type of running weather: wet, but not really raining, cool, but not really cold, and no wind. Ah, Springtime in Victoria.

We welcomed our first Mom-without-a-stroller today, my good friend Adrianne left her baby boy, Finn, at home with his Dad and joined us for our run. I always say, if you're lucky enough to be able to join us without your stroller, then you might as well take advantage of it!

Today's run was a carbon copy of Wednesdays run. You can check out our route here. Once again, we ran intervals of five minutes running and one minute walking. Our total run time (not including walks) was 26.5 minutes, one minute quicker than Wednesday's time.

As you can see by the photos, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. When Cristal and I ran through Beacon Hill park on Wednesday, we also saw all the Mallard ducks paired up and it reminded me that we may soon have to give the right of way to parades of ducklings crossing the road. At least I hope we will; there are few things cuter than parades of ducklings.

I'm really pleased that I remembered to pull out my camera and take a series of photos on the run. It's something I've been meaning to do since we started and I plan to do it more often. Many thanks to the Ladies for flashing a smile... Moms thinking of joining us will be more inclined to do so if you guys are smiling, right?

I had such a great time this morning. As always, I'm reminded that the social, friendship aspect of group running is the super glue that can hold the achievement of your personal running goals together. I suppose it's no accident that we call it "creating a bond".

Easy does it.

Cristal is attempting a comeback. Most people, including myself, think it's a little early for her to be running again, since she is still experiencing quite a bit of pain in her knee. But I have to admit, she was a sight for sore eyes this morning. 

As we left the store, Cristal commented that I seemed preoccupied and I laughed a little because I wasn't preoccupied, I just felt half asleep even after a whole pot of Earl Grey. A Running Mom is first and foremost a Mom and I spent a good portion of last night awake with an unhappy baby. Nights like last night are one of the reasons I started Running Moms; without the group to look forward to, it can be really tough to get out for a run when you really need the stress release and mood boost. Nothing wipes the slate clean like a good run.

We took things slowly today and ran our usual intervals of five minutes running, one minute walking. You can view our route here. We ran a distance of 4.5 km and our total running time (not including walk breaks) was roughly 27.5 minutes. The pace was considerably slower than our previous runs and it will stay that way until Cristal is able to sort out what is going on with her knee. She wore a brace on it today and although she said she was doing well, I still noticed some limping, particularly when running downhill. We (and by "we", I mean "I") talked a lot about training paces, levels of exertion, and the differences between workouts and long runs. Cristal has her heart and mind set on training for the Half Marathon in October and I'm committed to helping her achieve her goal as long as that darned knee will allow it.

For those Moms out there who read this blog and think you may want to join us for a run, please feel free to contact me anytime at joy_sara@hotmail.com with any and all questions. I'm a down-to-earth sort and I have your best interests at heart. I tailor all runs to the Moms in the group, so all levels and abilities will be accommodated. When you run with Running Moms, the run is your run, not mine. I'm just there to talk your ear off (ask Cristal).

Here's some post-run pics from today:

Sick kids, injured runners.

I was the only Mom who showed up for the run this morning, although I know that there were a couple Moms who wish they could have been there. Normally I would have gone out on my own with the girls in the Chariot, but I opted out. Haven is on antibiotics, still getting over her ear infection, and Sonja has had a horrible cough with a fever that keeps coming back. So instead of making them sit in the stroller while I got to run (even though they would have been toasty warm and would likely have had a nap), I decided to head home. Sometimes it's important to remember that things are not about you.


On another note, my husband Peter is heading home today and you can bet I'm going to get a solo run in very soon... I'm going a little batty!


I do have a bit of an update on the lovely Cristal. I thought she had Runner's Knee. Looks like I couldn't have been more wrong. The day after the last run, she emailed me to say that she had not slept at all the night before due to the pain. I was so alarmed by that and I've felt guilty ever since that I didn't send her straight back home when she told me her knee was hurting. Lesson learned. 


She's seen a couple doctors, one told her she had cartilage floating around in her knee (!) and the other said it was a problem with the ligaments. One of them also told her she should never run again, since it appeared she wasn't meant to be a runner. I restrained myself from asking the doctor's name so that I could go tell them what I think of their diagnosis and suggestion. 


Cristal was told to wait three weeks to see if there was any improvement before they would order an x-ray and then told to use crutches. Yeah right, crutches while caring for a seven-month-old baby. Needless to say, that lasted about five minutes.


Ever the giver of advice (when will I learn? I really do mean well), I said she should go back and ask to have the x-ray done ASAP, since it's unrealistic to use crutches while being a mom to a small baby, so the chances of improvement are not great. I personally think the x-ray should have been ordered right away, given the amount of pain she has suffered. And in all likelihood, something like an MRI will be more useful, but I know waiting lists are huge. My other suggestion was to request a referral to see a physiotherapist, since I put more stock in their ability to help Cristal in the long run. 


Sigh. I miss Cristal's infectious energy and enthusiasm about running, so much so that I phoned her this morning to get an update (I'm a Nosy Parker, but I'm a caring Nosy Parker) and to tell her that I miss her. I just hope that she gets some answers soon and gets on the road to recovery so that we can run together again soon.


I don't have any new clinic photos, but since I can never post without a pic, here's another one me and the girls (ho-hum). 

The group is growing.

My daughter Haven has a bad cough, so I left both kids home today and ran solo with the Running Moms clinic. What a strange feeling... But the nice thing is I was able to help out the other Moms by pushing their strollers for awhile. That's right, I said Moms, plural!

Today we welcomed Elise and her Mom Christy. Elise was born very premature and although she is over a year old (around nine months corrected), she still has some medical considerations, so Christy brought along one of her helpers Tori. Wow, three women to run with today! I felt spoiled.

Christy, Tori and Cristal, with Elise and Tegan in the strollers.

An absolutely perfect day for a run: no rain, no wind, mild weather. Add great company and you've pretty much made my day.

We ran east on Richardson, cutting back on Foul Bay and back along Fairfield Road. View a map of our run here. We ran intervals of five minutes running and one minute walking and our total run time (not including walks) was around forty minutes. 

It wasn't until we were running that Cristal admitted that her left knee was giving her trouble. I was initially surprised that she waited until we were running to tell me, but then again, I know how determined and motivated she is. 

We talked about it and it sounds like a classic case of  Runner's Knee, a pain that settles under the kneecap and can be extremely painful. Indeed, it wasn't long before Cristal had a noticeable limp. Not good. Runner's Knee and other overuse injuries like Shin Splints are not at all unusual for folks like Cristal; people who get really excited about being a runner and may do too much, too soon. In the end, Cristal had to walk much of the last couple of kilometres, but she is going to follow my advice about rest, ice and elevation and hopefully her knee will soon feel a lot better.

I'm really looking forward to the Running Moms community growing and I'm excited to welcome more and more Moms. The addition of a Monday run at 1pm is a step in the right direction and I'm so thankful to fellow Running Mom Jaymie McGowan for volunteering to lead that group.

As the weather turns toward summer, I'm sure more and more Moms will be coming out to join us on our runs. I can't wait to meet you all and I hope to accommodate as many Running Moms as possible by adding more groups, more run times and different meeting places. Stay tuned!

New wheels.

People are amazing. Well OK, not everyone and not all the time, but when conditions are perfect and inspiration strikes, people can be really incredible.

My committed runner Cristal, who is quickly becoming the star of this blog, has been running with a stroller that is... well, let's just say it's not a running stroller. Cristal had no problem running with this stroller, but I knew from experience that she was having to put out a lot of extra energy to run with it, energy that a true running stroller would help her to conserve. Let's face it: running while pushing a stroller is tough enough, so why make it harder than it has to be? But it definitely speaks to Cristal's determination that she was going to be a runner no matter what.

After we started running together last week, I told her that I would stay on the lookout for a decent double running stroller, one that both her girls could fit into. She told me her budget and I started browsing through ads on Craigslist and Used Victoria. There are always plenty of running strollers for sale, but the trick is to weed through and find the real bargains. Some of the less-expensive strollers are pretty beat up and the ones in good condition can be quite expensive. One thing's for sure: strollers can have incredible re-sale value.

It didn't take long before I found a used double Chariot that was only a few years old and was selling for a great price. I told Cristal about it, but I knew that she couldn't afford to buy it right away. And that's when I decided to take action. The sellers would find multiple people willing to buy the stroller in the time it would take for Cristal to be able to buy it and I just couldn't see the point in letting this great opportunity get away. My mind was made up: I would buy the stroller and Cristal could pay me back when she was able. And I would buy it first and tell her later so that she didn't feel obligated to try to talk me out of it.

I went out for a great run with some friends on Saturday morning and got chatting to them about the stroller. I was just busting with excitement about it! I guess my enthusiasm was contagious, since one of the lovely ladies I was running with sent me an email later that day with a money transfer equalling a third of the stroller's purchase price. I was (and am) just so touched by her generosity, but I can't say that I'm at all surprised; it is simply in her nature to be so wonderful.

Well, the phone call to Cristal later that day was one of the best phone calls of my life. I was still high from all the fantastic things that had happened that day (the stroller, the run, the donation) and when Cristal thanked me, I could hear the tears of gratitude in her voice. It made everything worth it and just reminded me that giving is just as sweet, or sweeter, than receiving. 

Today's run was another awesome run for Running Moms. We ran down into James Bay and back along the Dallas Road pathways and Cook Street Village. It was raining pretty hard at times, but the temperature was mild and there wasn't a breath of wind. Indeed, the rain was falling straight down, a sight not often seen in Victoria. 

We ran intervals of seven minutes running, one minute walking (but started out with a ten or twelve minute warm-up, since I forgot to start my watch!). Our total run time was between thirty-eight and forty minutes. Check out our run map here.

I know that with this stroller, Cristal will have no problem achieving her goals: training for and running the TC 10K (May 1st) and the Victoria Half-Marathon (October 9th). And I'll be there to cheer her on, every step of the way.

Symbiosis.

To the uninitiated, it may seem like a strange thing to load your babies into a stroller and propel them down the street while you run behind. I've had my fair share of funny looks from people as I've thanked them for making way on the sidewalks, but I've also had plenty of folks offer wide smiles and words of encouragement as I've run past. 

There are days when one or both of my girls is squealing and/or crying as I run along and I often wonder if people will hear them and think I'm being selfish; forcing them to sit in the stroller while I run. Believe me, when Haven is wailing in earnest and I'm nowhere close to home, I wonder this myself. But I know something other people don't know: my running is my stress release and I firmly believe that it helps me be the best Mom I can be. If I don't run, I'm not happy and if I'm not happy, my window of patience just gets smaller. For me, motherhood and running is a symbiotic relationship.

And beyond that, I know that Sonja loves getting out and seeing the world go by as I run. Haven is younger and is still getting used to being in the running stroller, but she's a bright and observant sort and she loves being outside. She also takes fresh-air naps during our runs and I often think how nice that must be: getting pushed around while you're snuggled under a blanket, asleep with the cool air all around you.


Today Cristal and I ran with the kids through Beacon Hill park, along the pathways of the Dallas Road dog park and back up Moss Street. Perfect weather: overcast, not too cold, not too windy. We did intervals of five minutes running, one minute walking and ran a total of about thirty-seven minutes. It was just a great run.

Settling the mind, giving the body what it needs and wants, fresh air, chatting with a friend while the kids sleep or just check out the scenery. Yep, being a Running Mom is pretty fantastic.

Welcome.

I didn't wake up feeling very inspired this morning. I hadn't run in two weeks and I was complacent about the whole thing. I got the kids fed, loaded them in the car and headed off to the Stroller Fit clinic, sure that no one would show up. And I was very OK with that. 


As I was getting the girls out of the car, I had a sense that the mere fact that I didn't want to run meant that someone was definitely showing up today. And I was right. So I had to go back to the car and get the stroller and change into my run clothes. Of course.


I have never been so happy to be wrong. The Mom who came out this morning is truly inspiring. She is a recovering addict, almost one-year clean, with a six-and-a-half-month old daughter. But there's more: she has another daughter who is eleven months older who has been in care since she was born and this Mom is doing everything she can to reunite her family. She knows what she has to do and she is doing it, because she understands that things aren't just about her anymore. And it isn't easy. How could it be? On top of everything, she wants nothing more than to be healthy and start a new lifestyle with running. I honestly couldn't have met a more motivated woman.


Thank you for honouring me this morning. You are what Running Moms is all about.