The mother runners reflect on their “salad days” of running—from Dimity’s first sprint (in pursuit of a band hat) to Sarah discovering sports in college as an alternative to fraternity-house debauchery. They laugh over Dimity’s failed celebratory cheer in Central Park during the 1997 New York City Marathon, as well as Sarah’s inability to come up with a single standout race moment during her 30’s. This podcast is heavy on chitchat and laughter, light on advice.

*If you’re digging our podcasts, we’d be super-grateful if you’d take a minute (because we *know* you have so many to spare!) to write a review on iTunes. Many thanks.

**Also, the quickest way to get our podcasts is to subscribe to the show via iTunes. Clicking this link will automatically download the shows to your iTunes account. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!

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A stock phrase with applications for mother runners

My father is a mild-mannered Southerner with an axiom for everything. Despite gently mocking him at times for repeating stock phrases over and over, I find myself spouting the exact same words myself. (To which Dad would chime in, “It must be genetic!” which should honestly be emblazoned on the Bowen family crest.) Just ask Dimity: When we’re meeting mother runners at a race expo and she goes to throw out part of a half-eaten sandwich, I’ll snatch it from her before she can toss it, saying, “Waste not, want not!”

A lot of his oft-repeateds had to do with safety and hygiene, such as, “Buckle up for safety” (to this day, I feel absolutely naked if I drive even a second without wearing a seat belt) and, “Put your napkin on your lap.” He has a whole host of others but I’m about to dash out the door to volunteer at my kids’ school auction, so let’s get to the good stuff.

Such a bright idea!

The winner of this week’s Hump Day Giveaway gets a seriously sweet running kit: a top and a pair of tights from RelaxReflect, an innovative company (founded by a mother runner) that realizes safety and fashion can run hand in hand. The question entrants had to answer was what one sentence do you repeat so often, you could spout it in your sleep. Chosen by random.org is….

Jennifer Z.: “Just 20 minutes”. I tell myself that all the time when I do not feel like getting out the door to exercise. Just stick with it for 20 minutes and if I’m not feeling it I can stop. I never stop. Works every time.

Congrats, Jennifer. Email us at runmother at gmail dot com, telling us your last name, what size top and bottom you wear in workout wear, and your mailing address. As for the rest of you gals, remember things like, “The early bird gets the worm.” “All work and no play makes Jack [Jane?] a dull boy [girl].” And “Better late than never.” (Maybe tell yourself that last one as you debate between a short evening run v. skipping a workout.)

A great thing to hear at the end of a race--or to say to your legs + lungs during one.

If it’s Friday, that must mean it’s time for another installment of Take It From a Mother, the excerpts that didn’t make it into the bright—and I do mean b.r.i.g.h.t.—orange book we like to call Train Like a Mother. This was a tough one to dump because the good ones were so good, and the bad, so bad.

Take It From a Mother: What is the best or worst thing you’ve heard said at a race?

“I overheard a police officer working my 12K say something about ‘a few stragglers coming.’ Gee, thanks.”
—Anjeanette (despite the negative comment from the man in blue, ran her first 12K race with a smile on her face)

“A father, in front of me, told his son, just behind me, that he could not let a girl beat him. I thought that was tacky.” (Ed note: we agree.)
—Autumn (dreams of running in the English countryside)

TLAM: It's what's for breakfast.

“Just past the starting line, I heard my own mother yelling, ‘You only have 12.9 more miles to go.’” —Christy (repeats “It’s now or never” to motivate herself to get out the door)

“After a race, a young man thanked me for pushing him to run harder. He may not have wanted to finish behind an older woman, but he made me smile because we helped each other to the finish line.” —Gina (proudest racing moment: running the See Spot Run 5K with her husband and 3 kids)

“During my last leg of Hood to Coast, someone yelled ’only two blocks to go’ when really it was almost a mile. I wanted to cry.”
—Jessica (a doctor who gets up at 4:00 a.m. to run the roads of Billings, MT)

“An overweight lady in her late 50s/early 60s running the home stretch of a race was yelling, ‘I did it! I ran the whole thing! I made it!’  The crowd went crazy for her as she finished. She set a goal, and everyone there saw her accomplish it.”
—Jill (dream running date: an oceanside run with a shirtless Ryan Reynolds)

“A woman yelled for my attention, and when I looked her way, she said, ‘I love that smile on your face right now. Great job.’”
—Julie (counts backwards from 120 to push through a rough patch; that doesn’t work, walks for 60 seconds to power the rest of her run)

“Our two kids ran onto the course to finish a marathon with me and my husband. It was a great moment until we heard, ‘Here come Peter and Michelle. It looks like they have their grandkids with them, or maybe 3 generations.’  I guess we looked pretty bad, but, at 33, I don’t think we looked like grandparents.”
—Michelle (“My kids think of me as a runner. It is all they know, and I am proud of that.”)

“’Go Shorty!’ And I’m only 5 feet tall.”
—Karen (paints her toenails black before a race because she thinks it makes her run faster)

“Around mile 11 of my half-marathon, some dude started running by me and told me, ‘You’ve got this…you did this!’ It helped.”
—Darcy (after she fell down the stairs and dislocated her shoulder, she couldn’t run for two months)

“I don’t like it when people yell at you to go faster. At my first and only half, there was this woman barking at people to pick it up around mile 11.”
—Lindsey (would rather shove a hot fork in her eye than run on a treadmill)

“I hate hearing, ‘You’re almost there.’ I want to yell back, ‘No kidding. I can add!’”
—Melanie (speaks for all mother runners here)

 Now we’re taking it to you mothers: what’s the best or worst thing you’ve heard at a race?

Jen, hubby, and one of the kiddos out for a warm weather run

Spend a few minutes on the blog of Jennifer Boudreau, a mom of two in Gardiner, Maine, and chances are good you’ll get bitten by the racing-bug: This mother runner doesn’t let Maine’s wintery weather stand in her way of running a race. (Although she will let a fever sideline her if that happens again…) Jen has been an avid racer for nearly three years, although she admits to still learning how to push herself in them. Tests this year: her first relay race, her first tri, and marathon #2. Find out about the gals that fuel her giddy-up, and join us in wishing Jen an early happy birthday: She turns 35 next week.

Best recent run: was today. I’m a teacher, it’s February break, and best of all, daycare is still open. I was able to get outside for a midday run on a sunny day. I was smiling from ear to ear the entire run.

Beach to Beacon transformation: The racing bug hit me during the summer of 2009. In a month’s time, I ran the L.L. Bean 10K then the Beach to Beacon 10K. I was still fairly new to running and didn’t really know how to push myself yet (I’m actually still learning). In that month, I took 7 minutes off my 10K time. Thinking back, I remember running the L.L. Bean with two friends, chatting for most of the race. Then with about a mile left, I apologized and took off for the finish line. It was then I realized I had more left in me in a race. The next month, I ran the Beach to Beacon without any friends and a much larger pool of runners (organized by the ever-incredible Joan Benoit Samuelson), which meant no chatting. I was more focused and determined to do my best. Race day for me now means pushing for that PR.

Jen at the January Thaw (a race!) clearly not a warm spell...

Fit man: Since I met my husband, Ward, more than a dozen years ago, he has been fit and athletic. He has also been a runner for at least 24 years as well. I, on the other hand, have not always been a fit person and became quite overweight with my first pregnancy. It was Ward’s personal commitment to running and telling me that I was capable of more that got me out the door and to the gym.  He is, and will always be, my inspiration and support for running.

Slowed down by snot: The morning of my most recent race, the Mid-Winter 10 Mile Classic, I didn’t feel horrible but had a fever. I didn’t even consider not doing the race. I had already gotten my shirt and had plans to run, so being the stubborn person that I am, I ran it.  While running, I actually felt pretty good. Little did I know pushing myself the way I did would lead to a horrible bout of pneumonia. The combination of a fever + chest cold + history of pneumonia + asthma + no rest (all moms know this!) = 5 days on the couch. Next time I’ll think twice about running when sick. It’s really not worth it.

Same race, different year: For a while there I really only did the same races year after year mostly because there weren’t a lot of races to choose from in Maine. Same course + another year of training = a great feeling when I saw my times decreasing.  This year I’ll be doing some of my favorite local races but I’ll be starting to venture out to some newer races, like the Reach the Beach Relay in May, Mount Desert Island Marathon in October, and my first tri in there somewhere, too.

Rail Trail Chicks: Running with the girls, a.k.a. the Rail Trail Chicks, has been one of my most favorite components to running. Getting time to spend with friends and running is one of my favorite ways to start off a Sunday morning. We get together on Sunday mornings for our runs on the Rail Trail. We are all moms with kids ranging from 18 months to 9 years old and four of the six of us are teachers. The six of us have not done a race together at this point, but there have been races where we’ve had some some Rail Trail Chick representation–the Jingle Bell 5K in December, January Thaw, and most recently the Mid-winter Classic. Looking ahead to the 2012 race schedule, I see many opportunities for Rail Trail Chick racing.

Can’t run without: Gum. I need to have some kind of moisture in my mouth. Running dries me out, and gum has become an absolute necessity for me.

Jen + gal pals braving the cold

Follow this mother at: http://www.runningwiththegirls.com/ and on Twitter.

File under: neither fashionable or functional.

I can’t tell you how many times, as a gear writer, I’ve written a variation on this sentence:
Proving fashionable function isn’t an oxymoron, this (fill in piece of gear) performs amazingly on the (trail, road, bike, fill in another setting) and is cute enough to wear, post-sweat, to the (store, coffee shop, happy hour, fill in another setting). 

Yes, I’m amazed I haven’t won a Pulitzer either.

And while fashion and function do peacefully co-exist in many pieces of great running gear, I’m not sure I’ve seen a better marriage than that in RelaxReflect, a clothing company that makes downright stylish pieces of gear with significant, reflective accents so you can truly be seen at all hours of the day. (Read: no tiny dots that work only if a car’s headlights are at 54-degree angle towards your arm, which is also tilted perfectly 30 degrees to the left.)

Like this random stripes tee:

So cute, right? It's also available in pink, grey, and white.

And, of course, we love, love, love these badass leggings:

Censored in case there are 7-year-olds reading over your shoulder.

So guess what? RelaxReflect is giving away this functional and fashionable outfit to one another mother runner reader. If the badass leggings would cause a riot in your house, you can opt for a pair of their other adorable leggings.

In order to enter, please tell us this: what’s one sentence you repeat so often, either as a runner or a mother, that you probably mumble it in your sleep? Eat your broccoli? Don’t hit your brother? One more mile? Quiet, I’m trying to write a post? (Oh, that’s just me right now.) Let us know what your oft-repeated sentence is, and you could look like the functional, fashionable, badass mother we know you are.

Yep.

I remember the workout Ivana Bisaro, my coach for the 2007 Nike Women’s Marathon, wrote for my first run back after I’d spent eight weeks on the bike, thanks to a lovely stress fracture in my heel. Because her bike workouts kicked my badass, I was as fit as I’d been in years. So I was expecting something along the lines of 60-minute run, probably with some pick-ups thrown in. After all, the marathon was six weeks away. Instead, the assignment was run 8 x 2 minutes, with a 2-minute walk in between.

8 measly minutes? I wanted to run, not warm-up. So I mentally planned a route that took about an hour in my head. I’ll just tell her when I get back, I thought. I set out, and guess what felt really challenging? Yep. Eight whole minutes. Hello, humble pie. I’ll take a bite now, thank you very much.

I look back at that situation now, and think: weren’t you lucky? You had a coach and were fit. These days, thanks to anemia, the slaughterhouse that was Houston and a kill-the-fibroid procedure about two weeks ago, I’m almost four months from doing anything with any intensity or regularity. The good news, though, is that I’ve come back from significant injury twice, and some other minor ones countless times. So I am as familiar with the drill as I am with how to change a diaper.

Whether you’re rebounding from an injury, a significant illness, a pregnancy or anything that knocks you out for more than, say, two months, you need two things: patience and a smart perspective. Here’s how I pretend to have both.

Realize you can’t pick up where you left off.  Your fitness level and muscular capacity aren’t like the solitaire game you abandoned on your iPhone five weeks ago and will now resume playing. Yes, that’s common sense 101, but I still often don’t believe it myself. Sadly, there is no savings account in fitness, so it’s best to just admit that up front. You will not be able to do what you did, pre-break.

But also realize you’ll be back in the game faster than you thought. Muscle memory and previously honed mental toughness are wonderful traits of the human body, and they’ll both come in handy as you stage your comeback.

Do less than what you think you can. For the first two weeks of coming back, you have to be mentally tough and not go balls to the wall. Three to four times a week, I trace a 3-ish mile route around my neighborhood—it can either be 2.5 or 3.5 miles, depending on how I’m feeling—and don’t run consecutively. I usually start with a 3-5 minute run, followed by a 1-2 minute walk. How do I judge my intervals? Glad you asked. I stop running while I’m still feeling good. The goal is to finish the session wanting more, not feeling totally wiped, cursing my lost fitness, or having my previously healed injury start to holler.

Leave the Garmin at home. For at least the first week—and I’d gently suggest two weeks—don’t worry about your pace. Run for time and to find your groove again and nothing more. You’re running again! Sweet! Just revel in that.

Then get on a very doable training plan. An easy-for-you plan will reign you in so you don’t do too much, too soon. I am going to start with a very conservative beginner 10K training plan that incorporates runs and walks. The first workout is 5 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking x 6. After two weeks of my 3-milers, that should suit me well–and build mileage slowly and perfectly.

Set some long-term goals. I won’t lie: I need a super duper goal, one that mentally slingshots me past these last couple months and back to feeling like myself. So I’m putting this out there: the Harvest Moon triathlon, a half-Ironman on September 9th. It’s over six months away right now, which means, if I’m–say it with me–patient and smart, I’ll have plenty of time to get there.

But have an escape plan. If worse comes to worse, I can drop down to the aquabike and lose the run. If you’re gunning for a marathon, sign up for a race that has a half. Got 13.1 on your plate? A 10K might come in handy if things don’t go as well as you’d like them to.

Hit the weights. If you’ve been sidelined, like I have, and feel weak or sluggish, I highly recommend trading at least one cardio session a week for some intense strength training to get some snap and confidence back in your muscles. Yes, it’s a little disappointing to realize the geriatric men are using more weight than I do, but I believe to get from point A to point B is through modified pull-ups where I’m lifting 50 pounds of my own weight. I’ll happily gasp and heave and then trade sets with Mr. AARP.

Listen to your mind, not your body. I am craving a good workout like a crack addict craves her fix. But three easy 30-minute spins on my bike on Friday, Saturday and Sunday left me ready for bed at 7:30 on Sunday night. On Monday morning, staring down day four of the long weekend (and a week of Amelia, who had strep, being home), I needed that boost to start my day right. I thought about going for a run/walk. No, I won’t do that. Then, I thought about lifting weights, and I planned it all out, and then I thought better. I took Monday off instead.

What guidelines have you used when you returned to running after giving birth, getting over a hip injury, dealing with another significant issue?

Stay tuned to find out why Lady Gaga is illustrating my race report

Having my playlist perfectly match my race–picking up as I speed up, providing motivating lyrics when I’m lagging, pumping me up for a final finish push–makes me almost as giddy as executing a great race. Yesterday I nailed it–the playlist part, anyway–at the Heart Breaker Half in Portland. My time goal was to finish closer to 1:50 than 2:00, but that didn’t happen: I finished in 1:57:58 (sigh: getting older is no fun!). Yet I’m proud of how strongly I ran from start to finish, especially up a 2-mile climb, then pushing to the very end. The Marathon: Own It plan from Train Like a Mother: How to Get Across Any Finish Line – and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity called for 20 miles yesterday, so I slowly ran 3+ miles from our house to the start, then the same route home, calling it good. Here is the race via a few song highlights. (I’ll post the full playlist, along with a real race pic, later in the week–I’m running on fumes right now.)

Start: “Telling the World” by Taio Cruz
Given that my eyes are focused on the Boston Marathon and that this half-marathon was prep for it,  I wasn’t feeling very “emotionally connected” to the halfsie. Yet as racers in red tees, compression gear, and funky knee socks surged en masse in the first  hundred yards and Taio serenaded me with the uplifting lyrics of, “Every part in my heart I’m giving out/Every song on my lips I’m singing out/Any fear in my soul I’m letting go,” my heart soared. It was game on, and I was filled with a deep love of the scene as it was unfolding. (Fine, shoot me, but sappy sentiment flows as freely as sweat when I run.)

Nearing Mile 2: “Faster” by Matt Nathanson
I vowed to start out at a conservative pace, so instead of following the title of the song, I honed in on the refrain, “you make my heart beat faster,” reminding myself this was a chance to warm up.

Mile 3: “Tonight’s the Kind of Night” by Noah and the Whale
Mile III  is where I switch from warm-up to race pace. Rather than risk going into overdrive with a similarly themed song–”I Got a Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas–I opted for a tune from a band I only discovered last week. My optimism for a speedy time was fueled by the lines, “Because tonight’s the kind of night/where everything could change.” (Okay, so it was morning…and maybe Noah was trying to tell me I could have a craptastic race instead of a fast one…but like I said, I was in full-on Optimist Mode.)

Nearing Mile 5: “Mr. Know It All” by Kelly Clarkson
The racers were well spread out by this point (the race had fewer than 500 participants so it never qualified as “crowded), and I was running on my own for more than a mile. But I caught up to a loose cluster of about seven racers as we ran through an industrial stretch. One fella didn’t enjoy being “chicked” (passed by a woman), so he immediately sped up and re-past me. Well, that move was successful for about, oh, five steps, at which point Ms. American Idol crooned, “Baby, you should know I lead not follow.” Grrrrrl power!

Past Mile 7: “You and I” by Lady Gaga
Stay with me on this one: I’d past the halfway point, but I knew two of the most notorious uphill miles in Portland lay directly ahead. As Stefani Germanotta (a.k.a. Lady Gaga) started singing about her busted, long-term relationship with someone from Nebraska, a vivid image of my younger daughter, Daphne, in her Nebraska sweatshirt shot into my mind. Suddenly the grammatically incorrect “you and I” became Daphne and me, running side by side. My whole body, including my feet, felt lifted up by love for my dear daughter.

Closing in on Mile 10: “Cheers” by Rihanna
Focusing on the climb made the music a bit of a blur–other than Jessie J directing, “everybody look to the left, everybody look to the right” in “Price Tag”–but when Rihanna and her backup boys started toasting each other, I felt they were celebrating my climb. I’d passed several runners, and managed to not let my per-mile pace drop more than about 30-40 seconds. My exuberance even bubbled over: When a woman with a thick, blonde braid, who I’d been tracking for miles, slowed to a walk, I encouraged her to, “stay strong,” and when another one surged past me, I told her what, “a great hill cimber” she was.

Having 3.3 miles of almost all downhill sure gave me a good feeling

Mile 11.5: “I Like It” by Enrique Iglesias
This was the start of the most money set of gun-for-the-finish songs. Mock me all you want, but I love this song and how it never fails to rev me up. By this point of the race, we’d been cruising steadily downhill for more than a mile and a half, and the course was starting to level out somewhat. Just ahead the blonde I’d urged on at the end of the climb was slowing again. As I came up on her, I yelled out, “Braid, come on: Stay with me to the end.” Hmmm, bossy or helpful? I meant for it to be the latter, and she kept up with me for about a half-mile. But then my booster-rockets were fired up by…

Mile 12.35: “Good Feeling” by Flo-Rida
Too perfect! If there’s one song that gets my juices flowing more than “I Like It,” it’s this club mix. The feeling felt especially good because the course started to slope down again, boosting my pace.

Miles 12.88: “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)” by Kelly Clarkson
By this point, my mind is being blown by the perfection of the playlist–which was good because it made me concentrate on something other than my lungs about to burst and my heart pumping overtime. I honed in on her words, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger/Stand a little taller [I straightened up my back, dropped my hunched shoulders, tightened my core]/Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone/What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter/Footsteps even lighter.” I needed my footsteps to feel even lighter, as a little dip turned into a quick climb before a final turn to the left. Then, helllllllo, finish line!

100 jumping jacks--followed by 60 more--might just put me over the edge. And maybe that's a good thing.

We’re trying to make Another Mother Runner 2.0, to be released within weeks, as strong as your quads are–and as interesting as you are. So we need some more help from you capable, funny, smart women. (Yes, buttering you up. Just play along, okay?)

We asked for your playlists a few weeks ago, and are still accepting them, despite the harsh-sounding deadline. So send tunes our way if you have ‘em; all the guidelines are here.

Today, we’re pleading for your workouts. All kinds of workouts, like

1. Your favorite treadmill workouts. And no, that’s not an oxymoron. What do you like to do on the ‘mill to get your run on? It can be a specific workout (something like 5 minutes at 1% incline, 4 minutes at 2% incline, 3 at 3%, etc.) or just a general idea (I crank the speed for every other song for 40 minutes). Obviously, the more specific, the better, but really, give us what tips you have and we’ll combine them into a nice package.
2. Your favorite strength training workouts. Do you have a go-to routine? My current fave is push-ups, lunges, squats, one-legged squats, tricep dips, pull-ups; do 3 sets of 10-15 reps each. We’d love to hear what you ladies do…and again, we’ll take anything, but the more specific you can be, the easier you’ll make our lives.
3. Your favorite speed workout on the track. Do you live for 800′s? (If so, have you had your head checked lately?) Seriously, lay out what you like to do when your rubber treads hit the track or the treadmill and you push your limits.
4. Your favorite run. If you occasionally go beyond distance (4 miles) and time (40 minutes), and spruce things up with intervals or grapevines or high knees, we want to know about it. And again, if you do things in a less structured way–I run hard until I see a white car, then I slow down; I run until I hear a song lyric that reminds me of my kids, then I walk for a minute–we’re dying to know.

Basically, our goal is to put together a library of workouts, so that when you’re sitting at home, dreading the same-route, same-pace, same-one-hit-wonder routine that you’ve been doing for weeks, you’ll check out a workout and be psyched to lace up.

So don’t be shy. As we tell our kids, sharing is a good thing. Ideally, we’d love for you to send us your workouts at runmother at gmail dot com with as much detail as you can give us (the workout, how often you do it); your blog or Twitter handle, if you have either; and a pic of yourself running.

Second best: comment below with your workout. Beggars can’t be choosers, after all.

Thanks much, ladies, and happy miles and a peaceful Sunday to you all.

Here's one sport I haven't tried

Anybody else feel there aren’t enough days in the week, let alone hours in the day, to do all the fitness pursuits you want to do? I haven’t ridden my new Trek bike nearly as often as I’ve wanted. I dropped my gym membership because I was only swimming twice a month. I’d love to squeeze in another morning of boot camp. A Groupon for 10 yoga classes expired, unused because I could never fit a class into my training plan (or family dinnertime). I long to get out on the river with my former rowing team. Sigh.

But there are worse things than having too many sports to do. And, for that, we are eternally grateful for the passage of Title IX. To celebrate the 40-year anniversary of that landmark legislation’s passage, Oiselle and Title Nine teamed up to make a series of cuter-than-all-get-out tees, starting with this Heart Sports one. Four lucky ladies, chosen by random.org, each won one of these beauts. It was tough sitting still, reading through all the enthusiastic, witty, and heartfelt responses to the question of what’s your favorite sport besides running. Here are the responses from the four winners:

To quote Zeppelin: "All of my love"

BigDogMom: I live any outdoor sports but especially horseback riding. I am also a great cheerleader. I love to watch my four girls play volleyball and basketball.

Pilar Montalvo: Soccer. It is an incredibly diverse, international sport that transends racial/ethnic/gender stereotypes.

CarynW: Just one!? Torn between soccer with my 7-year old, or mountain biking on my 20-year old Giant Butte (the actual make and model of my bike…serendipity?). Shoot, swimming’s pretty good, too… might be easier to list the ones I don’t like!

Kylie: 1972 baby here too!! I wish I had another sport to speak of. But the truth is I have never been an athlete and I’m not sure I qualify as one even now. Running is the only sport I’ve ever been involved in but I love it beyond words. Does chasing around 2-year-old and a 5-year-old count as a sport? [Editor's note: a full contact sport!]

Winners, please email us your first and last name, mailing address, and T-shirt size (XS-XL)  to runmother at gmail dot com. Also, let us know whether you prefer gray or pink version. Now get out there and get active!

Time to make the toast--and then get out on a run.

We mother runners love our carbs and coffee, as evidenced by this outtake of Train Like a Mother: How to Get Across Any Finish Line – and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity. Sadly, we had to discard it down the disposal when the original tome was the size of a dozen eggs plus a loaf of bread and a grande latte. But we didn’t grind it up, thankfully, so you can read it here today without any eggshells in it.

Take It From A Mother: What’s your favorite pre-run snack/meal?

“I have a Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Mocha Cappuccino as soon as I wake up (to get things moving) and a Snicker’s Marathon Bar in the car on the way to a race.”
—Amber (likes to race once a month)

“A bowl of oatmeal with flax seed, Craisins, and maple syrup, and a banana, if I’m not too full.”
—Caryn (typical headwear for a run: a high ponytail and a “very crusty, salty, ‘Life is Good’ visor”)

“Greek yogurt, granola, eight ounces of water, coffee, banana, and GU.”
—Christy (drinks chocolate milk, iced coffee, banana, and peanut butter smoothie after a hard run, unless her husband greets her with a falafel)

Little. Orange. Different. And better than any drug.

“My ritual breakfast is Diet Pepsi, a banana, and half of a bagel.”
—Julie (nickname: “Bloody Sock” due to torn up toes and propensity to blister)

“Toast with peanut butter and banana with honey on it.”
—Tryna (schedules a few annual weeks of rest)

“Dave’s Killer Bread, toasted with almond butter and jam, and coffee.”
—Vanessa (drinks water with Airborne during runs. “Maybe it helps, maybe it’s just refreshing.”)

“A Clif Bar, or if it’s a long run, I’ll eat a whole-wheat waffle with Greek yogurt and almond butter on top about an hour before the run.”
—Lesley (started running while in the Peace Corps. “My friend convinced me I needed to ‘earn my shower.’”)

“Two scrambled eggs, a slice of toast with PB and lots of H2O or sports drink if it’s going to be a humid day.”
—Amanda (hangs her race numbers in her bathroom closet so she sees them every morning)

“Coffee to get things moving, and banana or bagel with peanut butter.”
—Corrie (runs so she feels less guilty about eating Oreos, which she, “will eat anyway.”)

“Nothing. I get sick if I eat before a run.”
—Andrea (pre-race ritual: kissing her husband)

 Taking it to you mothers: what’s your favorite pre-run snack or meal? (Extra points heading into a long weekend if you add a random fact about your running.)