Why I Run

My wonderful husband got me a NOOK for Chistmas and the book "RUN LIKE A MOTHER." I realize some people think I'm a bit crazy for all the running I do, considering how little time I have and how much I complain about the number of hours there are in the day (we need at least five more.) I devoured the book and was inspired to write about why I run. I haven't blogged in a long time, but I wanted this on record. Here goes....

I always thought of myself as a failed runner. In middle school my dad made me sign up for cross country to “build my self confidence.” Ever supportive, he was there at each race videotaping my close-to-or-dead-last finishes, even the day when I got lost in the woods and clocked a 60+ minute 5K. I loved being outside and enjoyed the team comraderie, but I quit running in 10th grade when things started to get competitive and I didn’t have the drive to get any faster. I rarely exercised throughout high school and college and put on a solid 20 pounds that stuck. I moved to the DC area after college and met a co-worker who ran marathons. That sounded like a good way to lose that weight I’d put on in my six sedentary years – so I signed up for Team in Training’s Honolulu Marathon and vowed to go from 0 to 26.2 in four months. At first I was loving it, losing ten pounds easily and actually looking forward to long runs with new workout girlfriends. Three months in, however, I had only acquired $400 of the $2900 I needed to fundraise in order to participate – on a teacher’s salary I was not going to be able to pony up the remainder – in addition to a nasty case of plantar fasciaitis. Humiliated, I returned the donation checks to my generous friends and family and put away my running shoes. For good, I thought.

Flash forward five years. During that time I took a year off of teaching, moved to Europe where I met my husband (who is not European, but Australian), and finally quit the only job I’d known (and loved!) outside of college to support him through a two year graduate degree in the Midwest. My new job was not my old job, and quite frankly I was miserable. I was already overweight from five years of absolutely no exercise, and I consoled myself with ice cream and chocolate. Oh yes, and Wellbutrin. When the yearbook proofs came back in November and I saw myself in a pose with my class where my hands were over my head and extra 30 pounds on my 5 foot 4 frame was blaringly exposed, something inside me snapped. I drove to Barnes and Noble on the way home and grabbed the book Running for Womenby Claire Kowalchick and read it cover to cover. It changed my life. I started with the 0 to 30 minutes of running in 10 weeks program and followed it religiously. I found that although I still wasn’t very happy at work, I had something else to focus on. I joined a running club at the gym and trained for the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in May. I joined a marathon training group and signed up for Chicago – and convinced my father to do it with me. We crossed the finish line holding hands in 4:36:58. A moment I will never forget.

When my husband finished graduate school and we returned to the DC area, I took my newfound love of running with me. I ran three marathons during that first year back, always running “to finish” (but did manage to break 4:30), and became pregnant with Susanna soon after that race. Everything I read told me to keep on running and so I did. Though I had started running to lose those extra pounds, it had become so much more. A stress outlet. A social outlet (long runs with my girlfriends, or “the sistas” as we dubbed ourselves.) A mood stabilizer. During those nine months I did the Baltimore Half Marathon, the Marine Corps 10K, and plenty of shorter races. I got lots of stares of bewilderment and “Are you sure you should be doing this?” She was 9 days past due and I kept running right until the day I finally went into labor. She was born a healthy 7 lbs 4 oz and a remarkably calm baby.

In the next 18 months, I continued to run “to finish” races. I didn’t really train, I just ran – at least three times a week, but with no specific goal other than distance. I completed a couple of half marathons with pretty pitiful times and clocked my worst marathon time to date (in my defense, I had nursing-induced osteopenia which contributed to a stress fracture at mile 17, and I hobbled to the finish. At least I finished, right? My podiatrist told me I shouldn’t have!) Unable to run for 6 weeks, I started swimming and biking and of course was bitten by the triathlon bug. It started with the DC Sprint Triathlon in June and somehow turned into an Olympic distance in August and a Half Iron Man in September. I got pregnant a week later.

I had already registered for the Marine Corps Marathon, so at eight weeks pregnant I figured I’d be fine if I took it easy. I finished the race doing a combo of walking and running and was feeling like a superstar, until I started bleeding three days later. I was convinced I had killed my baby and cried all the way to the ultrasound clinic where I was sure they would tell me I’d miscarried. Instead they showed me a healthy baby waving at me, and a blood clot. A subchorionic hemorrhage. No exercise allowed until it resolved. Nothing I did caused the blood clot, they told me, but exercise could irritate it. Great. I didn’t tell them I’d irritated it for well over 5 hours just a few days prior.

I soon realized how much I relied on running as a prescription for sanity. I became irritated, depressed and quite frankly a total grouch. They did another ultrasound at 13 weeks and gave me the go ahead to resume normal activities. After five weeks on the couch, I was thrilled to lace up my runners and dash outside for a two mile jog… and four hours later I was bleeding again. No exercise allowed until the 20 week ultrasound. Those 7 weeks were excruciating for me. With the stress fracture months prior, I still had the pool and the bike to keep me sane. I can’t believe I went through the first 27 years of my life without exercising because this was now torture. I also can’t believe my husband didn’t sell me on Ebay. At the end of January they did a high level ultrasound and verified that not only did my baby look healthy and have male parts, but the subchorionic hemorrhage was gone. Gone gone gone. “Are you sure?” I asked the radiologist about 13 times. And then I went home and laced up my runners again. I only did a half mile. No blood. The next day I did a mile. No blood. After a month and no bleeding, I started doing “longish” runs on the weekend. I was happy again. And my husband decided to keep me. Jack was born at 38 weeks about 12 hours after a 5 miler. He was healthy and gorgeous.

And that’s just the beginning. I really need to write a whole new chapter on the six months since he has been born. Because somehow with two kids and a full time job, I have learned that not running isn’t an option. I am too busy. I don’t get enough sleep. But I get my runs in, or I go crazy. Going from one child to two is a much bigger jump than I imagined, and I have to coordinate my workouts with my husband’s schedule or they don’t happen. Because of that I’ve become really focused on “quality” runs – a speed session, a tempo session, a long run, and shorter recovery jobs on the off days. I noticed a couple months ago that I was able to squeeze 5 miles into my 45 minute post-work run sessions – never had that happened before. The pace on my GPS was dropping dropping dropping. For fun, I signed up for a Turkey Trot five miler and finished in under 41 minutes. WHAT?!?!? I was shocked. So I decided to see if I could do my 13 mile training run the next weekend in under 2 hours. And I did, just barely. All by my lone self, and on a trail, with the last mile uphill. I’m not one to make race goals because I know I’d be devastated if I didn’t meet them, so I just said I wanted to finish a half marathon in under 2 hours. Someday.

Almost six months to do the day Jack was born, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and drove an hour south all by myself to run a little half marathon that I told myself wasn’t a big deal – just a little get in shape motivation race I registered for because it was only $39, within driving distance, and would give me a nice tech shirt to wear through the winter. When I hit the 5K in 24:16, I started to get excited. I was pretty sure I’d meet the 2 hour goal. And when I crossed the finish line and my watch said 1:51:44, I didn’t know what to think. I ran a half marathon when I was 5 months post partum with Susanna, and finished third to last (we were in Australia and though my 2:17 time would probably have been midrange back home, those competitive Aussies don’t race unless they mean it ) – how had I managed to shave my time by a whopping 26 minutes? And 15 minutes better than my personal best? Never in my wildest dreams did I think this possible. I was 6th out of 34 in my age group. Not a slowpoke anymore. That was three weeks ago and I’m still on a high, even if no one else cares.

So what’s next? Well, I’m not one for time goals, at least not outwardly spoken. I have a
marathon coming up in March, and my goal is to be as ready as I can. For now I’m going to make sure I do my 16 miler tomorrow morning, and come home a calmer happier mama.

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Pregnant, and getting on track... again

Pregnant, and getting on track... again

Baby Boy Lynch, Coming in JUNE!

Baby Lynch #2 at 14.5 weeks

Why I Love Weekends (in the fall)

Working just makes me appreciate my weekends a thousand times more.

Today:

Susie wakes up at 8am (YAHOO!), we watch a little They Might Be Giants DVD while I check my email, then we have breakfast and I bake peanut butter cookies. Jamie's still asleep because he spent most of the night at the Australian Embassy watching their version of the Superbowl in Realtime (I think he crawled into bed at 3:30am.) At 10am, we head to Bull Run Regional Park for the Buddy Walk, a festival to raise awareness for Downs Syndrome. The walk is very short and followed by an outdoor concert with our favorite band, Rocknoceros. They also have a petting zoo with a humpback cow, alpacas, donkeys, a huge tortise, chickens, and little bunnies. Susanna is in heaven! 12:30pm we head home, have a nice lunch, and then head to to W&OD for a 15 mile round trip bike ride to the Reston Town Center. At the midpoint, we have the best gelato in the world. We stop at Safeway on the way back, pick up steaks, and grill outside.

A great day.

I love Saturdays with nothing planned and amazing weather!!!!!!

Race Report - My first HALF IRON TRIATHLON!

Well, it's been about 5 months since I updated this blog.... since then, I fractured my foot, had an aircast for 6 weeks and started biking and swimming, figured what the heck why not become a triathlete, and did two triathlons (sprint and olympic) over the summer. Today - September 12 - I finished my first half iron distance tri -- the longest race of my life! Here's the report.

EXPO AND SWIM PRACTICE - THE DAYS BEFORE

The triathlon was located about 7 hours from me and 5 hours from my wonderful mother, who graciously offered to babysit Susanna for the weekend. We arrived Friday night at midnight, and I contemplated sleeping in the next morning since Susie was pretty sleepy and I never get that luxury, but I used my better judgement and decided to get up and do the practice swim since I'd never swam in this kind of open water -- the kind with waves and currents. I didn't want my first time in Lake Erie to be race morning.

When I arrived at the beach and saw the massive waves, I began to wonder if this was an ocean and not at a lake. I asked some of the people coming out of the water how it was and the reponse was "I'm not going to lie. It was terrible." Okay. Not promising. They had two turn buoys to choose from -- one was a quarter mile out and one was a half mile out. I decided to go for the first one. I ran into the water... and the three feet waves kept pushing me back. I could not seem to get over the breakers. I was using an awful lot of energy. After what seemed like eternity, I finally got to the bouy and turned around. About a minute later as I turned to breathe, a huge wave went right into my mouth and I started choking. At this point I was pretty sure I was going to drown then and there. I started treading, coughed up the water, and continued towards the shore. Which seemed to take forever, because a current was pushing me down the lake. When I could touch the ground, I stood up and realized I was about .15 miles away from where I had started. Totally off course.

I started to have this forboding feeling that maybe this half-iron dream was a bad idea. I mean, what crazies swim in scary open water for almost 2000 meters, then get out and bike 56 miles and THEN run a half maraton? I started to wish I could just go home and sleep in my nice warm bed and not wake up at 5am to torture myself. And I had nightmares about those waves.

When we arrived at the lake the next morning, for some reason I started to feel a little bit better. I felt a lot better when I looked at the lake. A storm had passed through that night, and it looked like it took the three feet waves with it. It was a different lake. One I could swim in. Thank God.

I headed to transition and set up. We had to be out at 7:30, and at 7:20, as I went to pump up my tires, I managed to rip out the tube stem and get a flat. Fabulous. I cannot change a tire in 10 minutes. What the heck was I going to do? Plus, I only had one tube, so if I got a flat I during the race I was done. Luckily triathletes are usually the nicest people in the world, and some guy saw me and apparently the look on my face, and told me he could change a tube in 2 minutes. I gave him the biggest smile, and he told me to run over to the bike booth while he did it and buy another tube. He also lubed my chain for me. We were all done by 7:30 and made it out of transition just in time. Whew.

I still had over an hour before my swim wave (the full Iron distance folks started at 7am, and we had to wait til they were well on their way), so I hung out with my mom and Susie for awhile and then headed down to the beach. I was starting to feel a little better. I chatted to a bunch of women in the red wave -- 30 - 45 year olds -- and met many who were also doing their first half-iron. As we lined up to start, I was really feeling good!

8:40ish -- THE RACE BEGINS! (For the red wave, anyhow.)

We got in the water and ran through the (much smaller than yesterday's) breakers. And then we started to swim. And then I started to get kicked in the face, whacked with arms, and swum over. And then I started to panic. WHAT THE HECK HAD I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO? I quit freestyle and decided I was not going to drown, so I'd just tread water til all these read caps were out of the way. If I lost two minutes there, that was fine. Once I had some room, I very slowly went back to freestyle. And you know what? It was downright pleasant. I kept reminding myself that I did 2300 yards in the pool on Tuesday, which is a little more than the distance I had to swim, so I had in in me to do this -- I just didnt' have walls to hold on two every 25 yards. Eventually the first turn bouy came. As I rounded the corner, my confidence grew. Time seemed to be going pretty quickly -- I could see the second turn buoy! I turned the corner, and could see the finish! Seriously! I was going to make it! The last leg was the hardest as the current wanted to push me back out to the lake, but I just kept on swimming. When I hit the breakers, I stood up... and ran! Leg 1 of the triathlon was complete! I gave my mom and Susanna a big smile as I ran past them and into transition.

I spent awhile in T1, but I figured it was best to make sure I was comfortable for the bike. I used the port-o-john, ate a cliff bar, put on my bike shoes and helmet -- and off I went!

THE BIKE

Now, as you all know, I do not have the best bike handling skills. And I was still a bit disoriented from the swim. As I biked out of transition, I managed to wipe out almost immediately. Into a sand dune. Well, I guess if you are going to wipe out, doing it on a sand dune is the most opportune place to do it. Not a scratch on me! Just a very sandy bike! I got myself up, and then decided I was going to pass all the people who watched me fall. So there.

The first 15 miles or so were very very VERY bumpy! Every time I took a drink, the straw would bounce and whack me in the roof of my mouth. Fluid intake became a bit dangerous :). Once the road smoothed out, it also got pretty hilly. I became very thankful for the insanely hilly (near mountainous) century ride that I did three weeks ago. My pace wasn't nearly as fast on the hilly parts as it was on the flats, but according to the computer I averaged between 17-18 mph total. I started to get a little tired towards the end, but was very excited when I looked at the computer and saw that it was still under 3 hours when I hit 50 miles. Rock on! I really started hammering it.

As I approached the finish, I heard someone yell "Your race number is gone!" I put my hand on my back, and sure enough, it was. I am not sure how strict they are about penalties in this course, but there was no way I was going to risk being disqualified on the run becuase I didn't have my number. I clipped out, leaned my bike against the fence just before the finish, and started running the opposite direction. I yelled "Has anyone seen my race number?" About a tenth of a mile down the way, a police officer had picked it up. A volunteer ran to me and pinned the race number on my shirt. I ran back to my bike, hopped on it for all of about 30 seconds, and crossed the finish. I lost about 6 minutes because of the race number, but oh well. :)

TRANSITION TWO

Again, I took my time, used the bathroom, stretched, and headed on my way.

THE RUN

Susie and Mom were standing just outside T2. Susie was smiling and clapping, so I ran over and gave her a kiss on the lips, which seemed to amuse all the spectators. I started out and what felt like a very easy pace. A man jogged up beside me and fell into step. After a few minutes he commented that we were doing a ten minute pace and just started chatting to me. It felt good to talk to someone after all the solitary feats from the past four hours! Over the next six miles, I found out that he was 44, he had two kids in high school, and he did triathlons in his pre-child years and was just getting back into them. The run was absolutely beautiful, along the shore of Lake Erie. Right before we hit the halfway point, my running buddy started to look tired. I was still feeling really good -- I felt better at this point in the race than I did 2 miles into the run at the Olympic. I just kept running. I then fell into step with a guy about my age and ran with him until the last mile. I had a massive blister on my left heel, but aside from that I was feeling good. I asked him what time it was, and he said just before 3. I told him "Awesome!" - I never thought I'd finish in under 6:30 - and then I started really pushing it. I pretended I was on a treadmill doing a mile interval. Except I was running down a beautiful causeway into Cedar Point Amusement Park. I could feel the adreneline kick in, and as soon as I saw the finish I started to pound the pavement -- it was exhilerating and of course as I crossed the finish and they gave me my medal, I started to cry (just like I did at my first marathon.)

RESULTS:
Total time: 6:28:10
Overall Women: 94/267
AG: 24/39
Swim: 45:11
Bike: 3:16:13
Run: 2:17:20

THE AFTERMATH

After dinner, Mom had to go back to Indy, so I was left with a very energetic toddler whose bedtime wasn't for another two hours. Whoah. That was a challenge. I. Am. So. Tired. She is now asleep, and I am about to join her in dreamland, but I wanted to have a written memory of this day while it was still fresh in my head. Of course, the question is, will I ever do a full Ironman? I don't know -- they started an hour before me, and many of them are still out on the course right now at 10pm. In fact, it doesn't close til midnight! That seems like insanity! For now, I think this distance is by FAR a major challenge.. but I'll never say never.

Susie in a cage

Susie's First Snowfall

Save our Fairfax County Public Schools band and strings programs - The Petition Site

Save our Fairfax County Public Schools band and strings programs - The Petition Site

HAPPY OCTOBER!

Baby Food

I've become obsessed with baby food. No boxed rice cereal or jars for me. I love to make it -- it makes me feel like a chef (but much easier that cooking gourmet meals!) AND I love researching how to keep my kiddo healthy. I owe much to the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron, but I've also done a lot of creating on my own.

For all you mama's out there who are thinking of making your own food, here are some tricks I've learned to making super healthy food for a fraction of the cost:

1. Skip buying anything from the "Make Your Own Baby Food" section of the baby websites, cause you probably don't really NEED a Beabo, or special baby food freezing trays, or even food storage containers. All you need is a blender (or food processor), cheapo ice cube trays, and used baby food containers. You're going to need to buy some baby food for when you're on the go anyhow -- I bought some Gerber organics and Target Up&Up stage one purees in the plastic container and used those to store food when I send it to daycare. (Note-- don't microwave the plastic. Thaw the food in a glass ramekin or small bowl, then spoon into the plastic container. Cover, stick in the fridge, and it's ready for daycare in the morning!)

2. If you spend about four hours on a weekend afternoon, you can puree all the fruits and veggies you need for the month! I'm personally into the whole Farmer's Market thing and we're lucky to have a year round Farmer's Market in Falls Church, near our home. I will go in the morning and buy what I need, then go home and spend a few hours chopping, microwaving (yes, I microwave, and from what I've read it retains the most nutrients, however, you can steam or bake if you're more comfortable with that! I DID invest in a couple $10 Pampered Chef microwave steamers, which I use to cook the veggies, and I find it invaluable!), blending, and freezing. (I should also mention that we are blessed to have two freezers. This might not work as well if you're low on freezer space.)

3. For grains, I use regular old adult food and puree it. Right now, I'm doing a lot of oatmeal and brown rice. Every Sunday I cook up a few cups of the grains I plan to use, and refrigerate in canning jars for the week. It stays fresh and tasty -- I don't recommend freezing the grains because the texture gets a little funky.

4. Yogurt is a great healthy mix in! I buy Trader Joe's European Style Organic Whole Milk Plain Yogurt, and mix it into cereals and fruits. It's so healthy, and she loves it!

5. YES constipation can be a problem for babies that were breastfed exclusively for close to six months and then begin solids. YES it was a problem anyhow for Susie, and the solution I found was to mix in pureed prunes into one of her meals every day. She LOVES bananas, so what I did was for every banana I stuck in the blender, I also added one prune. I poured this mixture into the ice cube tray, and I add one banana/prune cube into her cereal every morning. She loves the taste, and I'm always happy to read "Dirty Diaper" on her daycare report each day.... before, her wonderful childcare provider was saying "No dirty diaper, not one!" and I wouldn't have any either, and the poor child would scream until I finally would have to resort to Pedia-Lax... no more! Yay prunes!

Here are some of Susanna's regular food mixes that she eats at six months of age:

Baby Food Recipes by Gretchen

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Sorry there haven't been a lot of posts here, since our trip to Australia and then going back to work, I just haven't had time to update this. For photos, either check out my facebook site or email me and I'll send you the facebook photos directly.

My Review of PeaPod - Red

Diapers.com

KidCo PeaPod® - Red

Indoor/Outdoor Travel Bed

Features:
-Includes inflatable mattress, pump, washable sleeping pad and storage bag
-Easy fold, 3-hoop design
-For ages: birth to 3 years

Product Dimensions: ...

PeaPod - Red

Wonderful!

Gretchen Fairfax, VA 8/4/2009

 

5 5

Pros: Lightweight, Easy to set up

Best Uses: Travel

We just returned from a 32 day trip to Australia with our now 4.5 month old daughter. We had used an Arms Reach Co-Sleeper at home up until this point and wanted something that we could keep right next to the bed that was safe and comfortable, but it needed to be lightweight and fit in our luggage. This was perfect -- completely worth the money! It sets up in about 2 minutes, including inflating the mattress, and is also easy to put away. It was so nice to have a consistent sleeping place for our daughter despite being in a different place every few days!

Susanna in her KidCo travel bed

: Using Product

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My cutiepie green dress from Great-auntie Greta

I can kick things!