Ok, I admit it.  I’ve been lying to my Garmin a lot recently.  It’s been so hot, and so humid, that I’ve been taking a lot more walking breaks during my runs than I care to admit.  You can barely catch your breath out there standing still in this heat wave, let alone running!  So I run for half a mile, I hit the stop button on my watch and rest for thirty to sixty seconds, hit the start button, and run some more.

The nice thing about this method is that I know how fast I’m running when I’m running.  The negative side is that on race day in September, they’re not going to stop the clock for me every time I need a break.  So when I come home and upload my Garmin and pat myself on the back for running my seven miles in sub ten minute miles, I’m lying to my watch and I’m lying to myself.  Because if I took five minutes of breaks in that seven mile run, my overall race pace would be substantially slower.

Hitting the stop button on the watch also removes any sense of urgency to take fewer or shorter breaks.  If anything, it adds incentive to take breaks, because then the running I do is faster and my Garmin times make me feel more awesome when I get home…. except for that little voice in my head that is starting to feel like I can’t do this without taking breaks, and I’m not really running those long runs as well as I’d like.

Yes, it’s hot.  Yes, runners should take breaks if they’re feeling dizzy and just be careful in general not to push so hard they get heat stroke.  But how am I going to have a good idea of my goal half marathon time if I keep stopping the clock?

From now on, the watch stays running on those long runs.  If I need a break, I can do a fast walk, and then run again as soon as I’m able to.  Every run is going to be a race against the clock to complete the miles as quickly as I can… no more lying to my Garmin.  If my thirty second water stop means I ran a 10:40 mile during mile three, I want to know about it, so I have more incentive to keep going longer next time.

The heat can’t be an excuse, because I’m running the half marathon in Virginia… which could be as hot in September as Massachusetts can be in July!  I should be grateful for the opportunity to train in challenging conditions, and I should be honest with myself about what I can do without stopping the clock.

Wish me luck…

This is a recent Garmin read from a long run.  I ran 7.02 miles and averaged 9:50 pace.  GREAT, right?  Well actually, if you factor in the breaks I took to get water, take some photos of the scenery, etc., my calculated pace with the elapsed time of 1:28:12 for that many miles puts me at a 12 minute and 33 second pace.  That’s a big difference when you think about the fact that the clock won’t stop for water and photo breaks on race day.  Yikes.

I’m pretty enthusiastic and positive about running, but that doesn’t mean it’s all good, all the time.  It’s not.  Sometimes when I have a bad run, I feel like a hypocritical failure because I write an upbeat running blog but there I am, standing on the side of the road a mile in, wishing I was home on the deck with my kindle and a glass of lemonade.

The heat and humidity have been brutal lately, and I actually gave up two miles into a run that was supposed to be nine miles.  It was 85 degrees, sunny and 90 percent humidity.  I was uncomfortable at a standstill, let alone running!  I was not real happy with myself, but I was less happy with the thought of continuing to run.

Spring and fall are much more enjoyable times to be running, but I’m supposed to be at the peak of my training for this half marathon during July and August.  That means I have to cut myself some slack and slow down to accommodate the weather, or I need to get some great movies lined up to watch while I’m on the treadmill.

After giving up on my long run last week, I decided to take an unplanned recovery week.  The heat wave had sucked all my enjoyment out of running, and my half marathon in September left me feeling trapped into a training plan that didn’t take the weather into account.  I was tired of using all my baby-sitter hours running, and never getting a chance to just sit and relax.

A few days off and no long run this week has made me feel better, given me the chance to miss running, and reminded me that this is all optional.  I can be flexible, I have a few months before that half marathon.  Better to take a break when I’m mentally drained than to push through and burn out.

That said, I’m a little nervous about my lack of internal drive to keep going when I’m out there and it starts getting hot.  I’m thinking that sometime soon I may drive nine miles from my house, lock my keys in the car, and run home so I have no option but to keep going.  Greg can bring me back to get the car later.  I’ll put a little Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” on my running playlist, and think of it as a great adventure!

Now that sounds kind of fun.

Let you know how it goes….

After my first 5k, September of 2012

It’s my running anniversary!

A year ago today, on July 3rd of 2012, I started the Couch to 5k program and went for my first run. You can read more about my experience here. At the time, I had a 5 month old, a 21 month old, and a distinct lack of energy.  Juggling nap-times, nighttime wakings, nursing, family meals and constant cries for attention had me sleeping every time I had a moment to myself and screening borderline for postpartum depression.  I knew that lack of exercise wasn’t helping, and I was really inspired by how much Greg enjoyed running, so I emailed him the link to Couch to 5k with a question mark, and started that very afternoon.

8 weeks after starting C25k, on the day of my first 5k (September, 2012)

Looking back at my photo memories from races and snapshots of the kids in the double jogger brought back all kinds of emotions.  I have run in fifty degree rain, twenty five degree sunshine, and eighty five degree humidity.  I have run with a single jogging stroller, a double jogging stroller, and on a treadmill.  Not simultaneously.  I have run up wooded hills, around a bay, across bridges, parallel to train tracks, and on an island.  I have run by myself, I have run with friends, I have run with my spouse.  I have run six 5ks, one 10k, and am training for a half marathon.  I have logged over 250 miles since I started running.

I am at a much better stage in parenting now than I was a year ago.  My children both sleep through the night (mostly), they go down for naps without a struggle, they’re both eating the same foods, Will can tell me what’s bothering him, and Andrew is practically walking.  Being a stay at home mom still requires constant energy, but I can do it now, and there are a lot of fun moments.

Things are easier because my kids are older, but I give running a lot of credit for my quality of life.  It forces me to make time for myself at least three times a week.  It gives me a runner’s high of positive chemicals from exercise.  It boosts my energy level during the day and helps me sleep well at night.  It gives me the metabolism to partake in a toddler’s snack schedule.  It’s pretty much awesome.  Even the kids like it, since they often get to participate in my shorter runs in the jogging stroller.  I am so grateful to be here, now, a year from starting C25k and still running.

One of my big fears of finishing C25k was continuing to stay motivated and keep running afterwards.  I stuck with it, even though there were some dry spells in the winter where I didn’t run much, and here I am on my way to a half marathon in September.

Most importantly, here I am, still taking time for myself each week and doing what I need to to be the most rested, energetic, and happy mom I can be for my kids and for myself.  One mile at a time.

If you’re thinking of starting C25k, I hope you go for it.  Just think about where you could be in a year 🙂

Rainy day run! Early summer 2013

Snacks = happy running, Spring 2013

First 5k as part of a team, May 2013

New Year’s Day 5k – my resolution was to keep running! Jan 1st, 2013

No babysitters?  No problem.  5k with the double stroller, April 2013

Winter stroller run, 2012

From one of Greg’s runs in Brussels

My husband went on a business trip to Brussels recently, and I was insanely jealous.  He packed his running shoes and planned a gorgeous run through Amsterdam on his way there, and then another run through the streets and city parks of Brussels itself.

What an amazing thing to be able to go for a seven mile, scenic run in a crazy new destination.  Picture running somewhere completely new and different, with beautiful buildings and a totally different culture and landscape than you’re used to.  Between the canals in Amsterdam and the old world architecture of Brussels, it must have been breathtaking.  (Or maybe the running is the breathtaking part…)

Being jealous of him doesn’t make me happy, and I like being happy, so instead of resenting his amazing running opportunity I created one of my own.  I went for my own gorgeous run around Back Bay in Portland, ME while the boys and I spent a week visiting with the grandparents while Greg’s gone.  My kids loved having the attention of their grandparents, and I loved having the time to myself.  It was a win for everyone!

I remember walking the 3.5 mile loop around Back Bay a lot the summer after my senior year of high school, and I really enjoyed going back to a place where I had wonderful non-running memories and running it.  I ran it twice, and it was so beautiful that I grabbed my phone for the second loop so I could take pictures.

One of the best parts was how much the scenery changes just in that three and a half mile loop.  Water views, views of the Portland skyline, ducks, a highway bridge with a pedestrian section to run over, shaded places where the view is predominantly trees, a pretty residential area, and several water fountains and fun people watching opportunities on top of the gorgeous views.  I loved running around a corner and hitting a sea breeze right when it was getting too hot.

Finding new and beautiful places to run, or visiting old places with special meaning, is one of the best things about being a runner because you can cover so much more distance than if you were walking.

Maybe Greg and I can plan a destination run together sometime 🙂

The steeple you can see in the center of Portland’s skyline is the Cathedral where Greg and I got married 🙂

I love running over this bridge because it makes me feel cool. I’m not sure why running over a bridge is cooler than running anywhere else.

Beautiful glimpse of the skyline through the trees

Beautiful road ahead

Will runs on the trail at Back Bay while we watch for Greg during the Old Port Shipyard Half Marathon last summer