by Katie Newingham

The Finish Line

The morning of the race my internal clock went off at 5:35 a.m. and my heart was already racing. The adrenaline was pumping and eating was out of the question.  I drank some OJ and left for the bridge run.  I wouldn't say I knew I was prepared.  I hadn't run in ten days and my training didn't include inclines.  You would think that is what scared me, but it was something entirely different.

I wasn't scared of the run.  It was the sight of the port-a-potties is what struck fear in me.  There are three reasons I avoid mobile toilets at all costs: the stench, the sight and the lack of wipe.   Peeing is tolerable, but number two is out of the question.  The only problem is I'm regular, and 7 in the morning is my potty time.

Can you guess what motivated me to finish the Cooper River Bridge Run?  I held it to the very end of the race, and it was just a little tinkle.  I was out of there in a few seconds and I'm happy to say there was toilet paper and hand washing stations outside! 

But more importantly, I never stopped running, even when my toes went numb and my feet cramped.  I stayed the course, even climbing the inclines at a steady pace.  I finished in record time for me: 1 hr, 13 min.  I proved something to myself that you can be a mom with multiple responsibilities and and achieve your goals.  It just takes being flexible with yourself and everybody else and realizing that a little bit of discipline goes a long way. 

Weeks 11 & 12

Leading up to the bridge run, my mind was on other things, like my daughter's birthday, the manuscript I'm writing and multiple out of town visitors!  Needless to say, in the last two weeks I only ran twice for a total of six miles and I was experiencing knee pain.

After some wise direction from a marathon runner, I decided to give myself a break from running and focus on my family.  I used the time to throw my daughter's birthday party, host a family of seven overnight and edit my manuscript.  With our busy schedule leading up to the race, my head hit the pillow on Friday at 10:30 p.m. and I was out.

Weeks 9 &10

The Cooper River Bridge Run is only 18 days away!  I've run 24 miles since the start of the New Year - that's including five miles during week 9 and six miles during week 10.  Last week, you may remember I lost focus and didn't achieve my weekly goal.  I was able to get back on track by not beating myself up too much about it, and just making time for myself, instead of making excuses.   

I did learn one thing over the past two weeks that will help anyone training for a race or just taking up running for the first time.  Get fitted for a pair of running shoes.  Ask around, and go to a reputable shoe store that has a track or a treadmill where you can run in front of a specialist.  Don't be like me and wait till a few weeks before the race to get a new pair of shoes.  A friend of mine did this and wound up with a stress fracture, making it impossible to run at all for six weeks. 

Shoes are important for health reasons but also for comfort.  Before my visit to a local shoe store, I had been wearing the same discount pair of shoes for over four years and they were a size 7.  By the end of my runs, the tops of my feet were always sore and I didn't know why.   The shoe specialist helped me realize I wear an 8 1/2 in running shoes!  Shocked - it took me a minute to accept I have big feet.  Then he had me run on a treadmill to measure my pronation,  marking the curvachure from my ankle to my knee.  Based on his observations I needed a neutral shoe.  I tried on several pairs and ran around the building before settling on a pair of Asics that felt like butter on my feet.  I purposely didn't look at the price tag, since they were all more expensive then I would have liked. 

As I checked out, I realized something.  As moms, we don't always want to invest in ourselves - our goals and dreams go by the wayside if anyone else in our family has a need.  We see this as being good mothers.  But there's a reason when we get on a plane, a flight attendant tells us to put on our own mask before placing a mask on our children.  We're no good to our kiddos if we don't take care of ourselves.  Yesterday, my daughter ran 1/2 mile with me.  I looked over at her and realized, by watching me run, she's learning that excercise is fun and by watching me reach my goals, she learns she can reach hers too.  All of the sudden, it didn't seem so selfish taking care of my own needs.


Weeks 7 & 8

You might be wondering why I'm combining weeks 7 & 8. The reason is simple, I ran into a ditch in week 7 that bled into week 8. My daughter came down with an ear infection, and my husband was out of town, so that meant Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were out. I ran two miles on Thursday, and get this, my husband insisted on running with me! I've been trying to get him to run for years, but you know how it has to be their idea. Well, now it is. While he was out of town during week 8, he ran around his hotel - that's after waking up at 4 a.m. to drive from Charleston, SC to Pascagoula, MS. Good for him - I wish I could say the same for myself.

You know it's funny, as I write this blog, I'm realizing I lost momentum when I lost focus. I traded one goal for another, one I have not mentioned to any of you. What I mean to say is, my major hurdle wasn't my children getting sick. Instead, it was a decision to pursue a long-time goal of mine to be a published author. At the beginning of this year, a friend sent me a link for a writer's conference in Asheville, NC. I disregarded the event, thinking I'd be unable to go. My son was still nursing. I had no desire to be away from my family for a weekend and I really had not thought of attending a conference. Having read my book, my husband encouraged me to sign up and said we would all go up to the mountains and stay in a cabin. I'm always up for an adventure, so I paid the fee and booked a cabin at Willow Winds.

What I didn't realize was there were assignments each week, and because I signed up late, I was already behind. I realized this at the tail end of week 7 and spent the seven days leading up to the conference doing homework: Three bio's, a 2-page synopsis, and a proposal. There was no way I could finish it all before the conference, but I had to try so I could prove to myself that I'm not just a dreamer, I'm a doer, gosh darn it.

I brought my running gear to Asheville. I actually thought I'd get a chance to run trails in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Needless to say that didn't happen. But where I feel like I failed my faithful followers, I have peace that I accomplished something this past weekend. I walked away with clarity. I received a formal edit from an author whose written more than 50 novels: Her latest, Hearts that Survive, a novel of the Titanic, just came out.

I also walked away having met 77 like-minded souls. I didn't stay at the conference the entire time, but I stayed long enough to reinstate my passion for writing and my reason for pursuing the craft.

Even more important to me - my husband actually had a great time with the kids. They visited a nature park where my daughter saw otters and donkeys, but not bears, she said, "because they're hibernating." And my son got to see the world from a whole new perspective too, since he was attached to the back of his daddy.

Week 6

I'm half way finished with my training and still haven't started running inclines to prepare for the Cooper River Bridge Run.  It's been nearly impossible to complete my goals with sick children, a traveling husband, my own work schedule and company in and out of town.  But we all have these obstacles, don't we...

That's what hit me this past week, when I was inches away from accepting defeat. I started thinking of single parents.  My own father had three children on his own with no respite.  No one was coming to rescue him on days when we were misbehaving and no one was present so he could have 30 minutes to himself. 

I found myself incredibly thankful to have a loving husband who pitches in when he is home.  But even though I was thankful, I also felt like a hamspter spinning in a wheel by the time he got home on Thursday.  I was exhausted from the non-stop duties of motherhood: nightly feedings and breathing treatments for my infant, followed by the early morning risings of my almost 3-year-old.  I literally couldn't have a conversation with a friend, because I couldn't remember simple words like see saw or what's that thing, oh yeah, salad! 

I needed a run, but four pages of follow up calls prevented me from doing this on Thursday and Friday. And once I did finish my work, I had to clean and straighten since my in-laws were coming to town.  Oh the joy, right! 

Once again, Sunday, a day I usually try to rest, became THE day I could run.  So I did.  I ran and ran and ran and it was a glorious respite for my soul.  In fact, I had 45 minutes to myself and ran 3 miles.  This plus the mile I ran on Tuesday and I achieved my goal and proved to myself I can run three self-directed, non-stop miles!!!

Week 5

Just a little update. My son started wheezing at the tail end of last week. When I took him to the doctor, he tested positive for RSV. This is a respiratory virus that causes wheezing and coughing in infants. We own a cute penguin nebulizer now, and started by giving our 7-month-old breathing treatments every two hours. On top of this, I'm still nursing and my almost 3-year-old was sick and needed mommy too. That being said, I've learned a little bit over the years about the rewards of determination in the eye of a storm.

Plus, I was accountable to all of you faithful followers to run the distance. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I was at the doctor in the morning and the afternoons were spent treating both of my kiddos. By Friday, the stress of it all was building up in my back, and I needed a release. That morning I began mentally preparing myself to run two miles. By that afternoon, I was ready to pounce the pavement.

I tried to download the app, Map My Run, but it's not accessible on my Palm Pre. So I mapped my journey the old-school way: I drove the distance...again.

After about a half a mile, my head started to clear and my back loosened up. Just like my overachiever friend Kristy says, my second wind kicked in after one mile and if I didn't need to get home, I probably could have run another mile. The truth is, my run was a little bit of a retreat, time away from my crying son, my exhausting daughter, both irritable from their sicknesses. I had thirty minutes to gain strength... Strength that I would need for the weekend, since my husband was leaving town on Saturday.

When I got back home, I was ready to take care of everyone. My fuse was lengthened, and our families last night together was joyous. I can't speak enough about telling friends and family what your goals are, because you were my only motivation to run again on Sunday. I ran two miles, pushing both of my still sick children in their heavy duty stroller. Their reward was the park, mine was a row of cookies!

Week 4

It was the final week of my first month in training and my husband had to leave town for the week - perfect timing - NOT.  On top of this, January happens to be the month most small businesses and companies are renewing their budgets.  This meant I spent my Monday making phone calls and sending emails to potential clients.  By nightfall, I was struggling just to stay awake during my daughter's bedtime routine.

Tuesday, a friend asked me and the kids to stay at her house for a couple of days.  The main purpose for our short stay was to get my 7-month-old to take a bottle - the first step to getting him to sleep through the night.  Within 24 hours and a bait and switch trick (binkie for bottle), my son was freed from my breast. 

By staying at my friends, I gained a running partner and a grandmother who could listen for my son if he woke up early from his nap.  This meant I could take a jog around the neighborhood.  Failing to download the app, Map My Run, I have no clue how long our trek was, but I'm confident it was at least a mile.  I finished strong, sprinting the last 100 meters.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday went by in a blur.  My son came down with a cold and I barely had time to take a shower.  This mounted on top of no sleep, and my mind was getting mushy.  I had pretty much given up on running all together when I entered my church on Sunday.  There, I overheard our accountant telling my husband he didn't know if he would make basketball since he ran 15k over the weekend.  This from a man who didn't run at all one year ago.

That's when it hit me, if a man with a sedentary job, who sits behind a desk all day crunching numbers spends his Saturday running 10 miles, then I can surely go home and run a mile!  That was all the motivation I needed.  After the kids went down, I ran the distance meeting my goal of running one mile 2-3 times per week during the month of January.  Now I just have to get the motivation and time to inch my way up to two miles twice a week during February.


Week 3

Well, I did it!  I ran a mile.  First, I tracked the mile marker point in my neighborhood by driving the distance.  One loop around my entire neighborhood is 1/2 a mile.  Then, after procrastinating the first three days of the week, my husband finally said "Why don't you just go run, NOW, and I'll put the kids down."  He took care of the kids and I laced up my jogging shoes. 

Thursday night was brisk, so I wore a puffy vest over my hoodie, and jogged around my neighborhood twice.  It was actually a beautiful, clear night, with stars for miles.  The cool air went in my lungs and straight to my head, giving me the strength to finish my first mile since getting pregnant. 

A fun, but busy weekend kept me from running again.  But since I committed to all of you to run twice a week, I packed my two kids in their stroller and ran the distance again on Sunday.  Let me tell you, running with kids in tow is much more difficult than running solo.  My 3-year-old was complaining the whole time that she wanted to run with me.  The stroller was dragging, and I didn't realize until I got home, it was because I hadn't fully released the break.  One things for sure, the 50 extra pounds I was pushing, will prepare me for the uphill battle I'm facing at the end of March!

I also wanted to share this advice from my sister-in-law who is running with me:

"To help get back into shape for the race I have been running on a treadmill here at the house (again the time issue and usually when babygirl is sleeping). I was very discouraged at first b/c I am so out of shape and became winded quite easily. (I have taken 2 years off from running.) So to get back into shape quickly I am doing a combination of run/walk intervals. For example week 1 I ran 3 minutes then walked 1 minute. I did this for approximately 30 minutes. Then week two I increased my time to 4 min run/1 min walk intervals and so forth. As I increase the amount of time I run I am also increasing my speed. In less than 4 weeks I am already back up to running a 5K. (Yes it is a combination of run/walk but feels good and I am mentally psyched as each time I continue to beat my previous time.) In February I will increase the 5K to the 10K and then spend March adding inclines into my workout. Different things work for different bodies; but wanted to share this with you. Before taking 2 years off (due to knee injury and then getting pregnant) I was running over 60 miles each month."

Email me your suggestions or put them on our Facebook page to help other moms just like you reach their goals!

Week 2

My second week of training ended with the realization that the Cooper River Bridge Run is no longer a figurative mountain, but a literal one.  It was on Sunday.  I was running with a friend after the long weekend off, feeling reinvigorated, and focused on meeting my goal.  The street we were running on had a small incline.  That's when said friend mentioned running the Cooper River last year.  She said she ran the straights, walked the inclines.  "INCLINES?" I said.  "How did I miss that?" 

For over one mile, I will be running up a gradual slope (4%) to the peak of the bridge, which stands at 188 feet.  This means my former plan of running my neighborhood twice a week is not going to cut it.  Immediately, my brain went into expository self-defeating mode: "There is no way I'm going to be ready by the end of March?"  "How will I find the time to run the bridge every week? What about my kids? There's no way I'm pushing my 30lb stroller up that bridge!" 

On the way back into town, we drove over the famous bridge.  As I stared out over the Ravenel, my eyes were drawn back in to several moms pushing strollers up the high-rise. "Darn it," I thought. 

The rest of the week wasn't much better.  Monday is cleaning day around my house, so I said I would run Tuesday.  Then it was really cold on Tuesday and my husband was due to return on Wednesday.  So I promised myself I would run when he got home.  Can you believe it rained?

On Thursday, I planted my feet to the pavement, and gave it my best shot.  I ran 3/4 of a mile and got a cramp.  I walked it out.  When I got home, I went ahead and did triceps, stomach crunches and inner thighs.

Friday was a teacher workday followed by Martin Luther King Day.  I'm discouraged, but on a more positive note, I think my chicken winglets - the flabby skin under my arms - is tightening ever so slightly.

Week 1

The name of this blog is no accident.  The biggest hurdle between me and the Cooper River Bridge Run is me.  Mentally, I'm not tough, I'm a whiner.  Even if the conditions are just right for running, I find a way out of the cardio exercise: I just took a shower, applied makeup, I've got to go to the grocery store, my son just fell asleep.  The list of excuses can be a mile long, so Monday after I told myself, "Self, there will be no excuses today," I slipped on my jogging shoes and took a - wait for it - walk.  Yeah, I wish I could switch out the word walk with run, but my integrity is more important than my image.

On Tuesday, I loaded my 3-year-old daughter and 6-month-old son in their enormous double-wide jogging stroller and - wait for it - took a walk.  Yes, yet again I couldn't find the mental strength to start jogging, but I did walk a little longer.

By Wednesday, my husband was home from a work trip, and I couldn't use the kids or their 30 pound stroller as an excuse.  So, I put on my dry-fit hoodie and nylon jogging pants, thermal socks and laced up my shoes.  Intent on running, I stretched out my hamstrings and shins.  I got outside and it was colder than I thought it would be.  I started running a turtles pace down my neighborhoods winding pavement. 

By the time I arched around the back of the 47 house subdivision (about one lap around the track), my ears started hurting from the cold air, so I put up my hoodie.  While running, my mind went into spontaneous motivational speech mode.  You know, "All I have to do is run until I reach my house. It's only a short distance. If I got this far, I can surely make it home..."  I made it home - WOOHOO!  I treated myself to a hot bath that night.

Thursday, I woke up a little sore - that should tell you how out of shape I am.  But I felt really good about myself after running the day before.  I had more energy and found it easier to focus.  I decided to run the full loop of my neighborhood and added on what amounts to about another lap around the track - so I ran a little over 1/2 of a mile.

But I forgot to stretch, so on Friday, I woke up sore as could be and took the day off. 

Saturday, my family always goes to the beach and walks the ocean line.  This time we brought a soccer and kicked the ball back and forth.  I figured the mile-long walk and short sprints to pick up the ball were good enough for the day.

All in all, it was a pretty good first week.  I've also established some goals. 

January - One mile, 2-3x a week
February - Two miles, 2-3x a week
March - Three miles, 2-3x a week
 
On the days I don't run, I'm going to do a couple sets of triceps and a couple sets of sit-ups to target my trouble areas.  I hope my second week goes as well as my first!

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