eSpecially Ben

New Year, New Challenge: Run four 10K races. Lose 10 lbs and keep it off. What's your challenge to yourself this year? Write it down and you will feel obligated to carry it through. Make a pact with a friend or relative and you have accountability. Make it public and then you really have to follow through with it. Happy New Year and Good Luck with your resolutions.

This was the epitome of an anticlimax, but typical of how my life usually goes. I was diagnosed with bronchitis on the Wednesday before the race, and even I was thinking about ditching it. BUT the husband, who knows me well, said I better go. "You will be sad to have worked hard all year long not to finish the last one" were his last words as he nudged me out of the bed. I have a feeling he wanted more room in the nice warm bed and a few hours to dilly dally around the house. Without me around, there's no hanging lights, fixing angels on trees or making more fudge. So I got out of my warm bed, and while hacking up half a lung drove 30 minutes into the boonies. I got lost, did not have my cell phone, and most likely, I was on my last gallon of gas. Eventually, I found the location, conveniently next to a cemetery, because I was going to need it after this race. I ran the race, mostly. The route was through a Greenway in Kannapolis, NC, although mostly brown this time o...

On Thanksgiving morning, my brother, sister, step-father and I woke early to run a 5K in the town of Shoreham Wading River. I have been looking forward to this event for some time - running with family would be a fun way to complete my 11th race of the year. I would like to tell you about how fast I ran the race, but there were no timers anywhere. I would like to write about the numbers we wore on our clothing, but alas, there were no numbers. Perhaps I could mention the chips we wore on our shoes to help determine our pace and time, but no, those did not exist either. I know, I could tell you about the people on the corners cheering us on as we climbed hill after hill, but even that I cannot do because the one small crowd was silent. This was absolutely the strangest race I have run. No chips, numbers, clocks, timers or cheering fans. Even the finish line was weird - a makeshift narrow passageway between cars.  As a runner passed by, a volunteer handed them a small piece of p...

I started writing this post before race results were up, and I am trying to remain calm as I write this... I placed 3rd in my age group Okay, back to being calm. Running a race a month this year has been challenging - it takes time and money - resources scarce in our household. Ryan has been supportive from the very beginning, traveling 2 hours  to another city and even walking in the first race on New Year's Day morning with three kids in tow. My October race was in South Carolina, specifically, running over the Isle of Palms Connector near Charleston. Ryan agreed to run it with me, and we made it a vacation present for my 40th birthday. So we left the boys at home with an army of caretakers and stayed away for three nights. The race course was definitely the most beautiful I have seen. The views from the bridge were amazing. The rest of our vacation - watching a polo match in Hyde Park, hiking the wetlands, gazing at the stars on Sullivan's Island, eating prali...

This weekend I ran my ninth race of the year - Run for Mercy - at Reedy Creek Park. It was a 5K trail race, organized by an international organization, Mercy . They raised over $21,000 for the local chapter. If you are not familiar with this organization, check it out. They do amazing things for girls in crisis world-wide. And they also know how to plan a race. With "door" prizes, kid games, a fun run, kind-of superheroes ( Captain Salvation , Monkey Joe and the Cow from Chick-Fil-A ), food and drinks, the race was a true family event. The race was well-orchestrated with water available on the trails and volunteers directing us at every turn. I have been running these trails with a friend so I was prepared for the terrain. The best part of the race was Ryan and the three boys cheering me on. It was a big boost to know that they were waiting for me at the finish line. The kids took part in the Fun Run. Sean ended up running way ahead. He rounded the bend and the trees...

Let's just say I finished in a respectable amount of time and that I look forward to running in cooler weather. And perhaps it was divine intervention that I forgot to collect my timing chip at check-in...so no one really will know my "respectable" time. You will just have to take my word for it. To hear how I got to this point, read about my 12 Race Challenge .

Not only did I run my first trail race today, I saved a life. The same type of turtle pictured above was crossing the street on the way into the US National Whitewater Center . Traffic was fairly heavy at 7:30am on a Saturday because of the race. The turtle's head, legs and arms were completely withdrawn into its shell so it really looked like a rock in the road. I passed it at first, then realized what it was. I hesitated, then thought of my boys and how we saved another turtle once while driving to the park and how they still talk about the experience. I did a U-turn, scooped up the turtle and placed him in the grass, far from the road. Hopefully, he was able to get his bearings after that frightening experience. Back to the race - so different than the road races I have been running. Less people running, but most participants were athletic. On a road race, there may be people who will walk and run the race. This was strictly a running race. Luckily, before the race started, a...

This morning, I was supposed to run a 5K to meet my June goal for the 12 Race Challenge I set up for myself last December. On Thursday, I read an email letting me know that a mistake had been made with the date of the race. It was actually scheduled for October 23. Quickly looking for another race this weekend, I found two options. One was canceled due to low registration. The other was a race in Puerto Rico. Ryan said I could use my birthday money to fund the trip. We have a long standing joke about how the cash gifts I receive for my birthday never seem to run out. Ryan thinks I am pulling a fast one. What can I say, I am frugal! And in fact, I do have some left of said birthday money, but not enough to jet off to an island. Left with the YMCA treadmill or a run in the 'hood, Ryan offered to map out a course for me. I pictured myself tripping over my own feet while trying to read a map telling me which direction to head. I decided to just run my regular 2 mile route twice. ...

  Friday night, I ran a 5K through the city of Charlotte. Let me get all my excuses out of the way first. It was unusually hot for an evening run in May (it felt like 90 degrees). I was not prepared for this run having thought it was on May 21. I had a terribly stressful week with MRIs and a long meeting with a neurologist talking about blips, white matter and other stuff I did not understand. So cut me some slack...I was slower than usual and I had to walk a bit. But I finished. The highlight, and too bad it was early on in the race, I needed it at the 2 mile marker, was a visually impaired man running the race with a cane . I wanted to say something like "Way to go!" but was unsure if that was an okay thing to do. Within the time it took me to summon up courage, another person said it, and by then the moment for me was lost. Perhaps because I missed my opportunity with the blind man, I did something uncharacteristic of me - I yelled a "WooHoo" when we were ...

 As part of my 12 Month Challenge , I ran the Cooper River Bridge Run on Saturday, March 27, 2010 in Charleston, SC with a good friend. This is my account of the experience. What a beautiful, fantastic, adrenaline-fused race . I have already contacted AAA about reserving a hotel room for next year. But at 4:30am, when the alarm went off, and even 15 minutes before start time, I swore I would never run this race again. EVER!   Image by www.islandphoto.com Then the race began and within seconds, I changed my mind. The excitement of being a part of 38,000+ runners was amazing. Helicopters circled overhead as race participants waved and hooted at them. Music was heard everywhere - from musicians on the side of the road to bands on rooftops. As we headed toward the top of the bridge, the helicopters still flew above us, but no one was waving back now. We were at a steep incline and all focus was on the goal. When I reached the top, I cheered, as did everyone else. It was...

This weekend is the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, SC. When I last did the race, I walked the 6.2 miles with a few friends. That was in 1995. I have been trying to get back to this race for 15 years, but my job responsibilities interfered and then when I was not working anymore, I was pregnant, between pregnancies or just not physically able to do it. This year I made a promise to myself that I would do it. Over 38,000 people are participating, and I will be one of them. In my moment of reminiscing about the past, I found these photos from 15 years ago... I am on the far right. About 9,000 people participated in 1995. Thanks for humoring me. Just in case you are interested in the history of the race: History of the Bridge

Cooper River Bridge Images   I asked my good friend to put together an exercise plan for my March race over the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston. It is a 6.2 mile run with a big hill so I want to be sure I can finish and in the time I have set for myself, under 60 minutes. My friend is a former Ironman participant and a triathalon trainer for the local YMCA so she is more than qualified to put something together for me. In fact, it was with hesitation that I asked. I know that whatever she put together would be serious hard work. Here I sit on the first day of my plan, psyching myself up for me strength exercising and 3-mile run. There's ice and snow on the ground and I must motivate to get to the gym. Yeah, there's no way I'm running outside. I am not hard core. But I will drag my sorry self to the gym...

If someone had told me that I would do the following things on the first day of the year 2010, I would call them crazy. Wake at 6am. Be outside in 30 degree temperatures. Wake sleeping children. Drive 90 minutes to run 5 miles up and down steep hills in the freezing temperatures with once sleeping children. But I did, and I do think I am crazy. Hair of the Dog was my first race of my 12 Race Challenge for 2010. The race was coordinated by a YMCA in another state, about an hour and a half south of us. I chose this race because it was the only one in January relatively close to our home - and it was warmer when I was planning this challenge. The race itself had about 100 participants, many wearing t-shirts from previous Hair of the Dog Races. This was the 28th Annual. It seems to be a big tradition with the regulars in this town. The course took us through beautiful neighborhoods with older bungalow style homes, a nature preserve and also crossed ov...

Turkey Trot 2009 * 5 Minutes for Special Needs , a blog I follow, had a posting last week about taking care of yourself. It basically said that we are so busy taking our kids to doctor and therapy appointments that we may overlook our own health. I do know that I need to stay physically fit as well as emotionally stable to handle the stress and physical work that is involved in raising Ben. I am fairly good about taking care of myself - I exercise almost every weekday, I read fiction to relax and get together with friends to unwind and share stories. It is sometimes a struggle to find the time to do the things I enjoy or even fight off the guilt of being selfish. I ran an 8k on Thanksgiving, not having run a race in more than two years. I forgot the enjoyment I got out of being with so many people also excited to be running. It was exhilarating. The best moment of the race was when I saw two kids pushing their dad, who was in a wheelchair. I wanted to say something positive to them,...