Earlier this week, I read this very hysterical and very true article called ““.  It was SPOT ON.  Then on my run today I thought why not take 5 minutes from my “run thinking”…it can be pretty insightful as well for knowing how moms think.

When I run, I try to release my stress, and I normally get rid of some of it.  But I also make to do lists, remember things I forgot to do, brainstorm ways to be a better person/wife/mom/runner, daydream of empty calories…you get the idea.  So I decided to make my own little list…Keep in mind, I am normally pushing my 3 and 5 year old while I run. And honestly, this is really just ONE minute…not five.

5 Minutes in a Running Mom’s Brain

• Did I give the boys enough snacks to get my miles in?
• Why is the wind always pushing against me? Seriously!
• Did I cut the clothes dryer off before we left? Great, the house will be burned down when we get home.
• Did my son REALLY just tell me to go faster?
• I should have put more Body Glide on….everywhere
• Pushing my kids is HARD…but I feel pretty badass.
• Are the kids getting too much sun?
• My pace tomorrow is going to rock when I am running alone.
• Do my kids not realize how hard it is to answer their questions while I’m running and PUSHING them?!
• omg…must delete that song from running mix, not kid appropriate
• ugh, I forgot to make my appt, it’s been like 2 weeks since I got the reminder!
• I should have brought some more snacks for the kids.
• Could it BE any hotter?
• Yes, buff guy running in the street, I DID just pass you running while pushing my kids…take that!
• Did my son really just throw his bear in the street?!  I would totally leave that there if it didn’t mean crying at bedtime.
• What part of “Don’t cross the center line of the stroller and touch your brother” do my kids NOT understand?
• An incline…really?!
• Where are the trees with shade?
• My boys need to learn to ride their bikes-both of them…right now.
• WHAT is that car doing? Can you NOT see me pushing a freaking huge double stroller ?!
• This is not the mommy/son bonding experience it used to be when they were babies.
• Pushing the kids will make me faster, it will make me faster, it will make me faster.
• How can a stroller shade cause such drama?
• When is the last time my husband tried this? I’m sending him out here tomorrow!
• Snacks, they need more snacks.
• HOW is this making me less stressed?
• I will never push them on a run again.
• At least the kids are learning the importance of exercise.
• Why do my boys think running time is also the time to practice your yelling?
• There has got to be a vending machine nearby to get more snacks.

It should be noted that the above picture is from a local run this past weekend called the Wicked 10k. The boys actually did an AMAZING job on the run and fun was had by all….and my husband shared pushing duties with me.  

Now…..back to running I go. And of course more thinking.

What are some things you think about while exercising?  Does your mind mellow out or race with you?

I’ve mentioned a few times in the last couple of months that I was running the .  It was my 3rd half marathon and I trained the hardest I had ever trained for a race.  Here’s a little recap of the race and my results.

My wonderful sister came into town to babysit for us so my husband and I were able to leave the house extra early, arriving at our parking spot right after 6am.  We had a mile to walk to the start but since it was freezing, we jogged and this served as a nice warm-up.  We dropped our dry bags off and headed for the bathrooms.  While standing in those lines we were able to get our Garmins straight (after some issues with my husband’s).

After the National Anthem we were off to find our corral!  We were in corral 3 but ended up in the back of corral 2 and it was perfect.  We got our music started, gave our kisses of good luck and were off!  My husband and I separated shortly after the start and I settled in on a pretty nice pace of under a 9 minute mile.  I easily kept this pace until about mile 9 when I went up a few seconds to about a 9:10 pace.  Then mile 10 my music started bothering me and while messing with that I dropped to a 9:30.  I realized I had lost some time so got myself back to about a 9:10 pace but had messed my pace all up and struggled to keep below a 9:30 until mile 12.5.  Knowing the end was near I jacked it back up and finished the race at 8:29 pace.

I was THRILLED because my Garmin watch had me at my goal-a sub 2:00 half marathon (barely)!  The Garmin had me at 1:59:48 which had me nervous because I know watches and official times don’t always jive.  I decided that no matter what, I was ecstatic about my finish-it was 12 minutes faster than my previous time!  I waited at the finish and gulped a water and Gatorade while waiting for my husband who also had a PR of 6 minutes!  It was a successful race for both of us.  When getting the “official time” later in the day, I learned I had finished in 2:00:36 but that’s still a PR of 11 minutes and I am still wanting to say I met my goal of a sub 2:00 half!

Many of my friends had PRs that day too,including one who was in the top 500 racers!

Did you run?  How was it for you?  I am already looking forward to next year!

If you’re a runner, you know what I’m talking about when I say carb loading.  If you’re not, let me explain…

I am running the tomorrow and started my carb loading yesterday.  Basically this is where I REALLY “up” my carb intake so that my body doesn’t shut down on me during the race.  Because carbs are not my stomach’s friend, carb loading is hard for me.  I am feeling guilty and bloated from today’s menu but I know it’s what my body needs. Last year I didn’t change my diet except for having pasta the night before the race and I hit a wall BIG TIME!  This means I ran great the first half of the race, and then crashed….I am not even sure how I finished the last 6 miles! I don’t want that to happen this year.

Another race prep that is hard for me is the concept of “rest days”.  This sounds awesome right? Rest…who doesn’t want that?  I do want it, but it’s HARD for me.  I want to go run a few miles, or swing the kettlebell a couple hundred times…but rest is crucial.  I have failed at “rest days’ while training so I am hoping that taking 2 days off before the rest will aid in me rocking the Shamrock Half Marathon. I have trained more hard for this race than I ever have before and am really hoping to come in under 2 hours.  This is only my 3rd half marathon ever and my previous times were 2:21 and 2:11.  So my goal of under 2:00 is shaving over 11 minutes off my time!

Are you a runner? What is your next scheduled race? Are you running the Shamrock?

Have you heard of the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach?  It’s coming next month and right now it’s almost sold out!

I started running nearly 3 years ago and I have participated in the Shamrock Marathon races every year; the first year I only did the 8k but the last 2 years I have ran and LOVED the 1/2 marathon.  My goal is to run the whole marathon next year!

I’m writing to tell you that if you’re interested in running the 1/2 marathon, it’s almost sold out!  If you’ve been dragging your feet, this is the time to register!

Some of my favorite things about the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach:

•  is a Boston 2015 Boston Qualifier!
• The Anthem Shamrock Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) is limited to 10,000 runners and ALWAYS sells out!
• There is also a 8k, a Shamrock Final Mile (kids race), and a Leprechaun Dash (26.2 yards) so the entire family can participate!
• The Sports and Fitness Expo and the after race party ROCK!  You can get just about any running item you need at the expo and the after party is just like all of J&A racing events-a GREAT time!

So what are you waiting for? for the Shamrock Marathon Virginia Beach NOW!

Best Apps for Runners

Every time you lace up your shoes and head out on a run, you typically want to know how far you’ve ran and how many calories you have burned. There are so many running apps on the market these days, but there are the top four apps used by the running community.

Most runners just starting out with begin with RunKeeper and then progress to MapMyRun or Endomundo. TrainingPeaks is used primarily for serious runners who want to not only track their 20+ miles per week but also their nutritional data all the way down to the micronutrients of their food. All of these apps have social media components and some have strong communities right within the app with both MapMyRun and RunKeeper having the most active communities.

• MapMyRun tracks your distance, calories, elevation, and even your nutrition for the day. This app is the one used quite a bit of people in the running community because of how strong both the mapping and nutritional information is in it. It has a great social aspect to it as well and can autopost your workouts straight to Facebook and Twitter.
• Endomundo is tracks distance, time, and speed. When running a race, it will also track your splits and tells you what your estimated finish time will be. A great feature with this app is the ability to create routes, challenge friends and also challenge your own past times. It has a lot of really cool features including an audio coach, pep talks from friends, plus it can track hydration. This is also a very social app and plugs into all the different social networks and has its own right in the app itself.
• RunKeeper is one of the more popular running apps and includes different ways to track your runs and logs all of those stats online. It is easy to see how you are improving, check your pace, and interact with other runners within the app.
• TrainingPeaks is an online and mobile app best suited for serious athletes who are working with a trainer or coach. Your coach uploads workouts and monitors them when you upload your workouts via a fitness watch, like Polar. Not only does it mark down your split times, but how often you were in the different heart rate zones, elevation changes, and how many calories were exerted at each part of a workout. It truly is the Cadillac of programs. TrainingPeaks also logs nutritional data and do meal planning too by not only showing how many carbs, fats, and proteins something has but also the micro- and macronutrients. This program is excellent for runners, triathletes and IronMan athletes.

Wowsers!  It has been a day-but what a fun one!

Our day started with the Virginia Beach Wicked 10K (my most favorite local race).  We decided to save some bucks this year and instead of hiring a babysitter, we pushed the boys-for SIX POINT TWO miles!  I was very worried about how this would go since the longest I’ve pushed them without them trying to kill each other was 4 miles-but they did GREAT!  I am thinking the awesome costumes that you could see at every turn helped (and maybe the candy hand outs at miles 4 and 5)!

The boys decided this year they would be super heroes again so my husband turned our stroller into the bat mobile and the entire family dressed up.  Despite FREEZING at the start, this race definitely tops my list of favorite all time races!  We even managed to finish in under an hour; this is slower than our normal 10k times, but considering we were pushing around 100 pounds and dressed in costumes (mostly handmade by the way…my tutu was made by h we were pretty happy with this!  To top the race off, my 4 year old ran his first race and did a great job completing the Monster Mile!

After the race we decided to hit up Town Center’s and Fairfield Shopping Center’s Trick or Treat since we were already in costumes…you can always use more candy right?!