Mountain Mother Runner

Last summer, my husband was out of town (hellooooo Vegas) for his birthday. His trip happened to land on the same weekend as the Greater Bellingham Running Club’s Race Beneath the Sun . Instead of letting the Race Director know that I wouldn’t be able to attend, I asked them if a baby stroller could handle the course. They quickly replied that yes, people had previously raced with off-road/trail strollers, but there was one steep, single track hill that might be difficult. We ended up finishing the 5 mile trail race in 47:45 (9:33 min/mi pace) and I was surprised to place 2 nd Female 19-29. You can read last year’s recap while racing with the stroller, HERE ! Photo by Joy Love Our daughter is much taller and heavier now, so the idea of pushing her up that steep C. Moore Loop already had me exhausted. I opted out of taking the stroller and wanted to try the race out ‘for myself’. I convinced my stepson to run the race with me, knowing that he would totally beat my time witho...

I’ve been enjoying the magic of hemp hearts for the last four years of my life, and I plan to continue this love-love relationship we share. Manitoba Harvest recently launched some new, oh-my-goodness, tasty products including their Toasted Hemp Seeds . My experience of eating hemp foods has mainly been hemp hearts (aka hemp seeds that have been shelled), hemp oil, and hemp protein powder, but not the whole seed. They are a little larger in size, are crunchy from being toasted, and pop when you bite them! These little guys come in two flavors, either Sea Salt or Sriracha. After a long run, I like to “treat” myself with food that’s yummy AND healthy. My hangry self doesn’t like to wait on cooking and I need to eat something, like now ! Smoothies are definitely my main squeeze as post-workout food, but other times I enjoy actually eating instead of drinking. One of the many awesome perks of toast is how versatile it is. Do you want it for breakfast with sprouts and a fried egg...

As I’m sitting here in our house with a thermostat currently reading 81 ° F, my mind is dreaming of cool waters and wondering why the heck people in Washington “don’t need air conditioning”. It was the same story when I grew up in Colorado, but we were one of the lucky ducks who did have AC. Call it needy, spoiled, whatever floats your boat. The biggest part that irks me is how this heat affects our toddler’s sleep, which in turn affects my sleep, and then we end up sleeping together in her bed, getting even hotter from each other’s body heat. In other news...week 7 of this training cycle is over and I managed to finish with a whopping 40.97 miles. I can be happy with that! The only way is to go up from here, right? Practicing for her 50 yd dash at next week's track meet :) SUNDAY: RAN 1.09 miles @9:26 pace MONDAY: RAN 3.20 miles @9:23 pace w/ stroller TUESDAY: RAN 10.07 miles @8:39 pace (incline intervals) on treadmill WEDNESDAY: Walked 1.5 miles THU...

It’s pretty wild to think about finishing the first six weeks of this training cycle already! Distance wise, the furthest ‘long run’ has only been 15 miles, which isn’t much more than a half. Hearing that sure makes a 50k sound soooo far away, but the weekly miles have been steadily increasing while helping to build a solid base. My legs have definitely been getting stronger. I notice the change of effort required to run up steep hills that used to be very challenging and energy consuming. Besides the usual hilliness of the training runs thus far, the plan is now incorporating one day of hill repeats during an 8 mile run. This past week, my ‘hills’ day called for 7 miles, but I went ahead and did 9.06 stroller miles. My pace sure slows down while pushing the little one, but when we pick a route including some wicked climbs, it’s the perfect mix of strength training, endurance, and mommyhood. SUNDAY: Hiked 1.25 miles MONDAY: RAN 4.76 miles @10:12 pace w/stroller TUESDAY: R...

Have you ever created a goal, became organized, and planned out the steps necessary to achieve it? How do you handle road blocks or hiccups that may alter those plans? Well, we can allow it to upset us, or we can adapt and overcome. When I decided to start training for this endurance race, I had to research different training plans to figure out what might work best for me. The “Running Your First 50k” plans all recommended that you have a few marathons under your belt. The “Intermediate Marathon” plan seemed to have a nice layout that could be tweaked for further distances. I figured, “Hey! These are both great and can be combined for the ultimate plan!” With the Race Beneath the Sun on Saturday, I had to rearrange my runs for the week. I hadn’t been training for this race specifically, but I also didn’t want it to suck because of a super long run a day or two beforehand. Wednesday seemed to be the best option for my long run since it gave me enough time to recover from the 14 mi...

When I was in college, Friday nights were made for partying (and Saturday nights, Tuesday nights, ladies’ nights, way too many nights). I would get off work around 10:00 or 11:00pm, go to my apartment, get ready, call my friends, and the wild ruckus would continue til the wee hours of the morning. It seemed like some sort of accomplishment if we made it to watch the sun come up, wondering what the heck people were doing waking up so early on the weekend. A lot has changed since then, fairly quickly and in a short amount of years. I got married, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and discovered that running is pretty awesome. This past Friday night, I was happily lying in bed before 9:00pm. My bedding had just been washed, relaxing 432hz music was softly playing, and lavender essential oil filled the air. I knew that if I was asleep by 9:30pm, I’d get a good 7 hours of rest before my alarm would sound off at 4:30am. My hemp + coffee chia pudding was prepped in the fridge, clo...

Hemp + Coffee Chia Pudding…need I say more?! Since I’ve started training for my first ultra, I have also been experimenting with nutrition. How much do I need to eat before heading out for a long run? What does my body require as fuel mid-run? Besides these questions, what are you supposed to do when you wake up WAY TOO EARLY for a normal human being to be hungry? I’m not sure about you, but when my alarm sounds off at 4:30am, food does not seem appealing. After forcing myself to eat something, I half consciously stumble out into the chilly morning and spend the first two or three miles waking up. There has to be a better way…oh wait, there is! The Hemp + Coffee Chia Pudding has become the ultimate pre-run fuel! Not only does the caffeine wake you up, the hemp hearts and chia seeds give you sustainable energy for your workout/run/race/day as a mama. Real ingredients for a tasty treat! *Exciting news!* Recently, I was selected to be a Manitoba Harvest brand advo...