I Pass Myself Off As A Mother

A few weeks back, Cathryn pinged me about a reading / book signing at Sports Basement Presidio by The Mother Runners Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea, who you might know for their books Run Like A Mother & Train Like A Mother. It sounded awesome (read: wine, cheese, discounts, freebies, & socializing with other lady runners), but I wasn't sure at first whether non-mothers were invited. Cathryn assured me that mothering something (pets, boyfriends, plants, etc.) totally qualified, so I signed up (though I am the paranoid type & didn't want to be called out as a fraud, so I totally brought pictures of my nephew & prepared a back story just in case anyone questioned my legitimacy).

I had an awesome time! First, because I got to hang out with Cathryn in a non-race setting. We both looked so cute and non-sweaty that we took a few seconds to recognize each other. (That was pretty funny.) Second, I got to meet Aleks, which was awesome because meeting local run-bloggers is one of my favorite things in life. (If you need some tips for your first triathlon, Aleks has a few for you here!).

Me, Cathryn, & Aleks. Thanks to Cathryn for the photo!

Third, we got to hear Dimity & Sarah read from their books. I haven't read them, but from what I learned at this event, you probably don't necessarily need to be a mother to get something out of them. Part of the idea behind the Mother-Runner books is figuring out how to fit running / training / racing around all the other things you do in your busy life without losing your friends / job / relationship / sanity, so you could potentially read the titles as "Run / Train Like An Insanely Busy Person" & 90% of it would be just as applicable.

Dimity & Sarah reading

Fourth, everyone who attended got a sweet goody bag.

Everyone loves free stuff!!

There were also a bunch of raffles for running gear & gift certificates. Hellz yeah, Sports Basement! You are awesome. I will totally be at whatever book signing you host next.

Also, hey, I've been running lately! I'm a bit behind with blogging right now but here is how the week before last played out:

Grand Total: 48.3 miles

* 24 easy
* 4.3 tempo
* 20 long

Lots of lunch time meetings / working from home last week, so it was pretty much a yoga / Pilates / strength work fail. Hey, at least I got the miles in.

Monday 4/15: Karate. My first class as a shodan, which was freaking WEIRD AS HELL.

Tuesday 4/16: 6 easy. This day was supposed to be a track workout, but my legs were still too busted from the testing, so I just did some easy miles around Golden Gate Park.

Wednesday 4/17: 4 easy + karate. I was still kind of tired, so this ended up being a slow one. But hey, miles.

Thursday 4/18: 6 easy. "Hey, it's such a nice warm day! I've heard the Pure line works great sockless. Maybe I'll give that a try!" #fail #blistercity #trustissues

Friday 4/19: 2 warm up; 2 x (2 @ LT pace / 3:00 jog); 2 cool down. Seriously -- I just don't understand why tempo runs always end up feeling easier than my so-called "easy" runs (which are inevitably the hardest of the bunch).

Saturday 4/20: 4 easy. Kept it short & easy the day before my longest run of the year so far. Yet another unbelievably gorgeous day in the city.

Sunday 4/21: Off to Calistoga! 6.45 easy; 13.1 race; .45 easy. You can read about this one here.

Originally my marathon plan had me peaking in the low sixties, but with the testing & a few days out of town that resulted in missing two long runs, it's been revised downward a bit. That means that at 48.3, that week (4/15-4/21) was my highest yet. I was fully prepared to be wiped out going into this previous week (4/22-4/28) & have tired heavy legs, but was surprised to find that I actually felt great outside of a few minor aches & pains that have mostly resolved themselves. If all goes according to plan, this coming week will be my peak mileage.

Eventually I'll get around to recapping this last week....I hope.....:P

Congratulations to all you Big Sur / Eugene / Nike Women's DC finishers out there (and any others I don't know about)! Hopefully I will get some time this weekend to read all about your amazing exploits. :)