If you live in the Fairfax County, Virginia area, come meet me and my family at the
3rd Annual Costume Halloween Run at Burke Lake!
(A Fairfax County Park Authority event.)
*Must be in costume to participate.*
Date: Sat. Oct 31, 2009
Place: Burke Lake Park - Shelter A
Race start times:
Group A - 9:00 am 13 and older
Group B - 9:15 am children ages 12 & under (plus their parents if running as chaperones)
Distance: Group A will walk or run around Burke Lake (4.5 miles)
Group B will run to the dam and back (approx 0.75 miles)
Cost: $10 children 12 and under; $15 ages 13 and older
Goody bags, refreshments and a raffle following the race in Shelter A.
Shelter A is next to the big playground with the rainbow twisty slides.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Racing with a Stroller
I have found that East Coast races pretty uniformly prohibit the use of jogging strollers. When we moved back here from Hawaii, we were so disappointed since we ran with our jogging stroller in half-marathons and 30K races out there. Just to make sure, I checked the Marine Corp Marathon and 10K race, and they don't allow strollers either:
http://www.marinemarathon.com/FAQ.htm#theStart
The race organizers generally cite the liability as the reason why, but I'm not sure who they are worried about - the kids in the strollers or the other racers. While it is certainly easier to run a race without the stroller, sometimes the hassle of finding a sitter makes it look highly desirable.
If it softens the blow at all, though it was fun to run with the stroller in relatively LONG and SMALL races with the stroller, I also brought my stroller for a Race for the Cure 5K and it was a disaster! Shorter races with big fields - and the MCM 10K definitely falls in this category - never spread out enough so that you can comfortably run with the stroller anyway. Either you have to hang out in the back of the pack or CONSTANTLY call out "Passing on your left" and maneuver past other runners. It was not fun.
I got a little jealous when I read about the man who ran some awesome time with his jogging stroller in a marathon because,
1. He practiced with his stroller like two times before the race and I have to push this stroller nearly every time I jog.
2. He probably got special permission to run with the stroller in the race because of the good publicity, but whenever I've asked race organizers, I just get, "No."
3. If I hadn't had a baby every two and a half years, I'd be pretty darn fast too!
Good luck finding a sitter!
http://www.marinemarathon.com/FAQ.htm#theStart
The race organizers generally cite the liability as the reason why, but I'm not sure who they are worried about - the kids in the strollers or the other racers. While it is certainly easier to run a race without the stroller, sometimes the hassle of finding a sitter makes it look highly desirable.
If it softens the blow at all, though it was fun to run with the stroller in relatively LONG and SMALL races with the stroller, I also brought my stroller for a Race for the Cure 5K and it was a disaster! Shorter races with big fields - and the MCM 10K definitely falls in this category - never spread out enough so that you can comfortably run with the stroller anyway. Either you have to hang out in the back of the pack or CONSTANTLY call out "Passing on your left" and maneuver past other runners. It was not fun.
I got a little jealous when I read about the man who ran some awesome time with his jogging stroller in a marathon because,
1. He practiced with his stroller like two times before the race and I have to push this stroller nearly every time I jog.
2. He probably got special permission to run with the stroller in the race because of the good publicity, but whenever I've asked race organizers, I just get, "No."
3. If I hadn't had a baby every two and a half years, I'd be pretty darn fast too!
Good luck finding a sitter!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Longest Mile
The other day we dropped off my daughter at school and #s 2 and 3 and I set off for a routine 5-mile run. I felt like it was the longest run of my life. For a while, we ALL felt like we were not ever going to get home. I wasn't actually running much slower than usual. I think that time just stood still for a while.
We did eventually make it home about 48 minutes later, but this run reminded me that running with a jogging stroller really is as hard as it looks. There is no easy way to start. Either you have a tiny (i.e. light) baby, but you just had a baby after being pregnant for 9 months or you are starting up when your kids are a little older (i.e. heavier). Regardless of how you begin, it will be hard, but you will rise to the occasion!
You will get used to only swinging one arm at a time and you will become accustomed to the slightly different posture of pushing a jogging stroller. You will also get stronger. You will gain mental toughness - especially uphill! I'll let you know what happens to the physics of the situation when the stroller/passenger unit actually weighs more than I do....
We did eventually make it home about 48 minutes later, but this run reminded me that running with a jogging stroller really is as hard as it looks. There is no easy way to start. Either you have a tiny (i.e. light) baby, but you just had a baby after being pregnant for 9 months or you are starting up when your kids are a little older (i.e. heavier). Regardless of how you begin, it will be hard, but you will rise to the occasion!
You will get used to only swinging one arm at a time and you will become accustomed to the slightly different posture of pushing a jogging stroller. You will also get stronger. You will gain mental toughness - especially uphill! I'll let you know what happens to the physics of the situation when the stroller/passenger unit actually weighs more than I do....
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