Born to run

A few months into my training, I was telling my friend Erin about how I needed some mental motivation and she encouraged me to read the book, Born to Run.  I checked it out of the library and found another friend was reading it as well.

It was a fascinating peek into the world of running, but from a different angle.  There is a tribe in Mexico called the Tarahmura who live in canyons far from civilization and they run everywhere they need to go, hundreds of miles a week or more.  The book took a look at this tribe and compared the natural running nature of this tribe to the running culture in the USA.  They compared the consistently injured and bruised runners to these pain free and emotionally stable people and wondered why we struggle and it is so easy for them.

From the shoes we wear to our diets and our mental focus, it was amazing to see the vast differences and how we truly injure ourselves.  We run to achieve miles, diet, fitness, time... in some way we run for a goal, a finish.  The Tarahmura run for their existence, effortlessly and for fun. 

As always, I wanted to jot down some quotes to remember before I take the book back.  If you have any interest in running, READ IT!!!!

p. 97
Let us live so that when we die, even the undertakers are sorry.  Z found a way to run so that when he won, other teams were delighted.  You can't pay someone to do anything with infectious joy. 

p.98
Was Z a great man who happened to run or was he a great man because he ran? ...  there was some kind of connection between the capacity to love and the capacity to love running.  The engineering was certainly the same:  both depended on loosening your grip on your own desires, putting aside what you wanted and appreciating what you got, being patient and forgiving and undemanding.  Sex and speed -- haven't they been symbiotic for most of our existence as intertwined as the strands of our DNA? We wouldn't be alive without love; we wouldn't have survived without running; maybe we shouldn't be surprised that getting better at one could make you better at the other.

the more he examined the compassion link, the more intriguing it became... was it just a chance that Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela (who ran 7 miles a day in his jail cell in place)....a tribe of natural born runners. 

Perhaps all of our troubles -- all of the violence, obesity, illness, depression and greed we can't overcome -- began when we stopped living as running people.  Deny your nature and it will erupt in some other, uglier way. 

imagine the payoff... What if you could run for decades and never get injured? and log hundreds of weekly miles and enjoy every one of them and see your heart rate drop and your stress and anger fade away and your energy soar?  Imagine crime and cholesterol and greed melt away as a nation of running people finally rediscovered its stride. 

p. 253 
But I had another reason to put my money on Scott.  During hte last, hardest miles of the hike, he kept hanging back with me and I'd wondered why.  He'd come all this way to see the best runners in the world so why was he wasting his time with me?  ... The reason we race isn't so much to beat each other he understood, but to be with each other.  ... it's easier to get outside of yourself when you're thinking about someone else. 

Milburn Orchards, Year 5

Today was the perfect fall day. 75 and sunny. We had heard that there was a group of week old baby goats and of course we had to go see them! We saw the animals, ate a picnic lunch, played with pumpkins and went on a hayride.

When we came home, I showed Noah some of the pictures of him here as a baby and I couldn't believe we have gone here every year since Noah has been born! 5 years of Milburn Orchards in the fall!

Maeve wasn't interested in posing much for pictures and her only goal was to run away from me as far and as fast as she could. She also did not enjoy the hayride because it was windy and the hay just kept flying in her face.

Asher and Noah don't get to see each other too much now they they are in preschool most days. They've grown!!!

It was a great day and it was wonderful to see the kids play and enjoy the orchard. Here's some back pictures from years past.

An ordinary day, Oct 5 2010

Isn't she beautiful? I think so.

Before school this week Noah said, Mommy, it's time for a picture of Maeve and I. He sat right on the step and smiled. I think I've got him trained! And it is certainly harder to snap as many pictures when there are two little ones around!

Maeve has still not mastered the pretty smile, and instead chooses to use the growling smile.

But, the days are good here. Noah and Maeve are becoming siblings and not just little boy and baby sister. They share toys. They color together. They chase each other around. Maeve is convinced she is 4 as well, but I recall being the same way when I was a little girl.

Life is just a whole lot easier than it has been with the ages they are at now. I know it will continue to get easier as they are able to do more things.

Some snapshots into this moment in time:

Maeve has started having tantrums. Like when the gate is at the steps she stands at it and screams because she doesn't want it there. We chuckle at her.

Noah is obsessed with spelling and insists on helping me spell out my grocery lists, which is a LONG endeavor but neat to see.

Maeve loves shoes and will go up to her room and bring me her shoes so I can put them on. 

Noah has taken to sleeping in many mornings.  We're not sure why, but at least 3 days of the week we have to wake him up.  On Saturday it was at 9:30AM.

On her own accord, Maeve has developed an affinity for dolls.  It is really cute and she hugs them and pats them on the back and kisses them.  Noah never did this which is fascinating to me. 

That's all for now. 

A runner?

On Sunday, October 3rd I ran a half marathon.  13.1 miles.

I simply cannot believe that I achieved this feat.

I didn't really tell anyone that I was even trying because, honestly, I didn't believe that I could do it.  I never posted it on Facebook, never proclaimed it anywhere.  I had to tell work because I needed the day off.  I told my parents a few weeks ago.  People knew I was running a lot but didn't really know why.  I didn't want to make a big deal of it because then I wouldn't have to be as ashamed when I couldn't do it.

I had a lot of reasons why I wouldn't do well.  Honestly, the past few years have been pretty rough for me physically.  I spent 2 months on bedrest with Maeve, as if my muscles weren't already atrophied from pregnancy, bedrest insured that I had lost all muscle tone in my body.  After her birth I was determined to get back in shape, only to tear my third ACL and find myself on the couch for 10 weeks.  When I finally got the okay to stand, my exercise was so limited and I just felt that I would never feel strong again. 

My good friend Jane turned 40 this July and she was determined to do something big this year.  She entered the DIVA half marathon on Long Island and invited a bunch of us to do it with her.  When she signed up I still hadn't received clearance for full physical activity, but in my heart I really wanted to do it. Jane had been running 2-4 miles a few times a week for about 2 years.  I kept dancing around the idea as more of my friends signed up.  I wanted to do it, but I really didn't believe that I could.

I started running as much as I could and I told myself that if I could get to 5 miles then I would sign up.  Sure enough I was able to do it and the doctor gave me the clearance to register. 

As the weeks of training went on I felt very mentally weak.  I would stop during my runs out of boredom, not out of exhaustion.  I couldn't get myself to keep going no matter what I did.  I could not find a way to convince myself to keep running.  But, I did keep trying.  I did many many 2-4 mile runs.  I did a couple 9-10 mile runs. 

From almost the beginning of my training I was having a dull ache in my right heel.  It was mild and would go away a few hours after I worked out.  As the training went on the pain got worse.  One week before the race a few of us signed up to run the Oxford 5K.  I was also in charge of much of the Apple Festival in town that day and I just had too much to do.  I arrived at the start line as the runners were taking off and I just kept telling myself I couldn't do it.  Sure enough about a mile into the race I just turned around and went home.  The pressure of work and the race was all too much for me.  The worst part was that my heel went crazy and it hurt so badly I couldn't stand the rest of the day. 

My family doctor was nice enough to prescribe some steroids for my heel to help me get through the big race and that took away the pain. 

As we drove up to NY last Saturday I was clear about my intentions.  I was planning on running as much as I could and then walking the rest.  I just hoped to cross the finish line.  When we drove the course it looked insanely long.  I didn't have any doubt that I would need to walk.  I was injured, unprepared, weak, and out of shape.

We arrived early Sunday morning at the race site.  We got ready and it was a freezing 50 degrees.  Even my clothes seemed incompetent compared to the "real" runners around me. 

There were 8 of us total, 2 who were planning on walking the whole way.  The other 6 of us nestled in at the start block assuming we would run 11-12 minute miles.  Jane wanted to run together, even though I knew she was a lot faster than I was.  We ran together and chatted for the first 7 miles.  I couldn't believe I made it that far.  I was sure I would have given up by then.  At 7 miles I was slowing down a bit and encouraged Jane to keep going.  She made me promise I wouldn't drop out and I agreed.  I turned on my headphones and just kept going.  At some point I just told myself that I was going to do it and there was no reason to walk.  When I got to mile 11 and I realized that I was really going to do it I almost broke down in tears right there.  At mile 12 every runner got a tiara and a feather boa for the last mile.  As I approached the finish line my friends Erin and Shelley were waiting for me and ran accross the line with me.  Jane had finished 10 minutes earlier. 

We were all amazed that it really wasn't that bad! That sounds crazy, but none of us thought it was that hard! The course was long, but very flat.  There was so much support... all women, some dressed up in a crazy way.  There were cheerleaders at the rest stops and tons of people cheering each other on.   Everything about it was positive and uplifting.  

Out of 4000 runners, I was about #1800 which in my opinion is pretty darn good!!  The winner ran it in 1:24 -- 6.4 minute miles! 

I feel so incredibly overwhelmed with emotion.  I am stunned that I actually did it and did not sell myself short.  I overcame all of the obstacles that have been placed in front of me and I achieved a goal that most people will never achieve.  This is absolutely the most difficult and rewarding accomplishment of my life.  I don't mean to downplay my education or my children, but those things have come easily to me.  This is something I did completely for myself, that does not benefit anyone else, and that has re-centered me in a way that I could have never imagined.  

Amazingly enough, after all of this, I still don't feel like a "runner" but I do hope to keep going and run another race soon enough.  Maybe some day soon I'll own the title, but for now, I'm just so thrilled to have reached this achievement. 

Maeve, 15 months

Wild Maevey Gravy is now 15 months old.

We took her for her check up this week.  She is 23 lbs and (I think..) 32 inches.  She is a petite little thing. At the doctor's office she just bumbled around the office opening drawers, laughing, crawling on things, laughing, stealing the stethoscope, laughing.  The doctor was amazed at "how pleased she was just to be herself."  That pretty much sums up Maeve.

At 15 months she has definitely entered a hyper-busy stage and is in to everything.  She opens ever drawer and finds every lost thumbtack.  She is obsessed with phones and any make shift phone will do.  She was in my bedroom and found the cord to my electric blanket which had a grey controller on it.  She insisted this was a phone and held it to her ear to talk for a while.  Phones, shoes, bags... these are the things my daughter loves.  She is sneaky and sly.  She took my wallet one day last week and it was gone for almost 2 days.  We didn't know she had it and then suddenly when I was beyond despair, she brought it back to me, laughing... pleased with herself!

My days of enjoying picnic lunches are over again for a while as Maeve tries desperately to follow Noah down the fire poles and across the monkey bars.

She is finally getting more teeth, but her front two upper teeth and her back bottom molars are all coming in at once. She seems to have skipped many of the teeth in between.  Again, the doctor smiled at her progress saying "seems that this little one just does things her own way."  Yep.  I enjoy her thoroughly, though.  I marvel at her coy nature and her silly laughter.  She is a delight to everyone and can light up any room she enters.

At 15 months she is skilled at going up and down steps.  She can climb any mountain and is often found on top of the play table.  She found her way on to Noah's yard tractor the other day and even made it move.  She says a few words: mama, dada, baba (bottle), doggie, nowah (Noah), buh bye, uh oh, yeah, and banana. She has no interest in television and could care less about big bird and elmo.  She is much happier hiding remote controls and phones.  She snatched my phone the other day and somehow managed to turn on the video feature and taped herself walking around:

Though, as every one says, each child is dramatically different, we are enjoying the differences immensely.  It is amazing to watch them side by side and see how God has crafted two perfect children who are unbelievable different!  We are so thankful for you Maeve!!!

Crazy Kisses

Noah was lying on the kitchen floor and Maeve ran up to him and attacked him with kisses. She would not stop. It was the sweetest thing ever...

Squeaky Girl

I got Maeve a pair of squeaky shoes, I love them so much!!!! It just makes her even cuter!