Saddle pain is a pain in the butt!

I love running's side effects! Yesterday it turned out my legs can effortlessly bike 30 miles, unhindered by preparation or a training schedule!

While hubby was whining beside me about 'tired legs', my legs felt like they could go on for miles and miles! But unfortunately my butt hadn't gotten the memo, because it hurt. Real bad.

It's always good to get to know parts of your body, you didn't know before, but why does making their acquaintance have to hurt so much?

What 'running effects' do you notice in your daily life?

Saddle pain is a pain in the butt!

What happened to me?!

Wordless Wednesday

What happened to me?!

I'm easy to please

Only five days left until my giveaway of the Asics Ayami Tunic closes.

I wanted an easy giveaway, which would be simple to enter. So the only requirement to participate was linking up to Mom's Home Run.

I'm easy to please: just follow my one rule!

But what happened? People started doing all kinds of other stuff, like following Mom's Home Run. And while I certainly appreciate the sentiment and intitiative, it's not what's required to enter this giveaway!

It's like participating in a ten miler and at the finish tell people: 'I decided to to a five miler! Does that count too?!' And I have to tell ya: 'No, it does not!'

Take your chance now! Only five days left!

So for everybody who would like a real chance to win this fabulous Asics Ayami Tunic, you have five days left to participate!

And it's real easy: just add http://www.momshomerun.blogspot.com to your blog or linklist, and let me know you did so in a comment!

I'm easy to please

Life with no running, is like an egg with no salt

I was running along, thinkin' about how good I would feel when I got home: I was gonna curl up on the couch with a great book. And it occured to me how running makes everything better.

Running makes curling up with a book feel better: it's so much nicer to lie on the couch after you've run 10 miles. As opposed to just lying down with a book. And a cup of coffee after a run! Oh, it's pure bliss! It tastes so much better than an ordinary cup of coffee, without having run first.

And then there's the wole candy bar thing: running makes it okay for me to eat that mars bar. After running 10 miles it won't make me fat. And knowing that, makes it feel even better.

Life without running would be like an egg with no salt, a kiss without a beard, a BigMac without the cheddar cheese and French fries without mayonaise.

Life without running would be just that: a life without running.

To me, running is like the missing piece: adding it to my life, makes it complete.

Life with no running, is like an egg with no salt

Is there as caste system for running clothes?

When I first started running, like so many others, I put on an old t-shirt from my husband, and some once-white jogging pants. My whole outfit screamed: 'Don't mind me, I knów I'm just a beginner!'

Real running clothes 'above my station'

At the time I felt real running clothes, the wicking kind, were 'above my station'. My station being: Beginners Central. I didn't want to be one of thóse runners. The ones who dress like the Kenyans, when really they huff and puff their way through a onemiler. I felt I had to prove myself as a runner first.

Do not apply beginner's humility to your shoes

Unfortunately I applied this humbling principle to my shoes too, which were an old pair I found at the back of my closet. Before long, my knees started acting up, so I got myself a pair of real running shoes way faster than I ran at the time! Because being humble is all very well, but as a runner you shouldn't skimp on your footwear.

Real Runner's Station

I've been a runner now for ten years, and I feel I have reached the point of Real Runner's Station. I allow myself cute running skirts, and wicked wicking tops. I no longer feel they are above my station! But I have no illusions, nor aspirations, to reach the highest running caste, that of the Kenyans.

Because I don't like their outfits!

Do you feel there's a kind of 'caste system' for running clothes?
What was your very first running outfit like?
And what do you wear now?

Is there as caste system for running clothes?

Toe rub

My little left toe and its nearest neighbour, rub each other the wrong way. And yesterday, after my run, I discovered they'd made a bloodbath. So I wrapped the neighbour in a nice plaster with little trains on it, and thought no more of it.

Today I went running, but after three miles my little left toe started sending me frantic messages: 'I'm hurt real bad!'
I ignored it, because I hate whiney toes, but after another mile it hurt so much I decided I had to take a look.

I took off my shoe, and saw my little toe's neighbour's plaster had created a nice big blister on my little toe! Feeling like the little mermaid I tried to hobble home, because there was no way I was putting my shoe on again. It hurt too much!

'So this is barefoot running', I thought to myself. But soon my feet started to hurt and I tried to find another solution. I tried to tie my whole shoe beneath my foot, but that certainly didn't work. Then I had this great MacGyver moment: 'I'll use my sock to wrap my little toe in! And then I'll put my shoe on.'

So I did, and it felt wonderful! 'I can walk again!' I shouted in delight.

But when I got home I put a plaster on my little toe, just to be sure. It had little eskimo's on it.

I hope it's neighbour doesn't get jealous.

Toe rub

Reconciling myself with me

There are times when I've really had it with myself.

The constant worrying, the terrible scenarios even Stephen King would find too scary, and the doubts. And I find myself thinking: 'I wish I could take a vacation without me!'

But today I was out running, and I suddenly realized: there's a part of me that I always like! A part of me I appreciate, and even admire. That's the part of me that goes out for a run five times a week, rain or shine.

And I find myself reconciling myself with me, and I decide: 'I'm not so bad after all.'

Reconciling myself with me

The power of music

I'm not very good at dancing. I find it hard to remember the steps. But running, thát I can do! The steps are easy: it's just one foot in front of the other. Add some music to that, and you're dancing a five miler before you know it.

So whenever my running motivation hits a rough spot, I know just what to do. I create a new playlist! Music makes running feel like dancing, and I love listening to songs during my runs. They make me smile, and sometimes teary eyed, because I listen to country songs. I love the stories they tell.

Like when George Strait tells someone you can't build a house with no doors, or when Brad Paisley has to choose between his wife and fishing, and he chooses fishing. Those singers feel like my friends, and I love meeting up with them and listen to their stories.

Music is a powerful tool, and it can help you through the rough spots as a runner.

How do you feel about music during your runs?
What's your favourite running song?

The power of music

Great running posture!

Wordless Wednesday

Great running posture!

7 unexpected Running Motivators

You can find running motivators in unexpected places! Here's some of my unexpected motivators:

1. Reading about running. Especially John 'The Penguin' Bingham really gets me going
2. Music, especially country songs telling sad stories. You know songs about guys with names like Billy Bob who loose their right foot, left hand, their house, their wife and while they silently sob into a dirty handkerchief, they whisper: 'I'm still holding on!'
3. New running clothes.
4. Worse alternatives: Telling myself if I don't go out for my run, I'll have to clean the bathroom floor. That gets me out the door real fast.
5. Munching my way through a box of Toffifees. Afterwards I feel dirty, and there's no better way to get rid of that feeling than to go out for a run.
6. Seeing a picture of Matthew McConaughey running
7. My body: after five kids I can't complain about the shape it's in. I owe it all to running
8. People shrieking: 'I'm soo impressed! Do you really go out for a run five times a week?!'

What are your unexpected running motivators?

7 unexpected Running Motivators

Running in just your sports bra: is it okay?

I've always thought it was a bit unfair: guys get to take off their shirts, and run around with their naked torsos, whereas we women have to cover up.

Of course we've got 'the girls' to take care off, although I feel very strongly that guys who have 'girls' should NOT go topless!

Anyway, this morning I was running, and I was really hot, and I wondered: shall I take off my tanktop, and run in my purple sports bra? And I'm not the only one, wondering about running in just a bra. Lisa wondered the same thing in A summer dilemma: shirt or no shirt?

Unfortunately (false?) modesty got the better off me, and I held on to my tank top. But I'm not happy about it! And I'm sitting here, feeling bummed out, wondering if people would even notice me running around in my bra.

So, do you go out for a run in your sports bra?
And if so, is it recognizable as a bra? Does the design, or color matter, for you to run in your bra?

Running in just your sports bra: is it okay?

Glasses again: I'm a running nerd!

When I was ten, the school doctor discovered I needed glasses. I didn't think much of it at the time, but when I hit puberty I started to hate them. I figured my glasses were to blame for everything that went wrong.

Nobody asked me for a dance? Blame the glasses!
Bad hair day? Blame the glasses!

Pregnancy: lenses lost the battle to glasses

So when I turned seventeen I was very relieved: finally, I could get contact lenses! For years I wore my contact lenses, but then I got pregnant and I started to feel that they were 'there', all the time. It didn't take very long before I wore my glasses more often than my contacts. After a terrible night with a crying baby, my glasses were simply the easiest choice.

Since then I've been juggling my glasses and my contacts. When I want to feel pretty, I wear my lenses. When I don't care, and only want comfort, I choose my glasses. But when I'm out running I prefer my contact lenses.

I love the nerdy look!

But I have to admit: a lot has changed since I was ten. Glasses have become much nicer, and can actually enhance your looks. For example, I just love the nerdy glasses that are the latest fashion. Who wouldn't want to wear those?!

At Warby Parker you can buy a great designer eyeglass frame for only 95 dollars, including prescription glasses. That really ís a good deal!

The story behind Warby Parker

I love the story behind Warby Parker: there were these four guys who hated paying way too much for their boring spectacles, so they decided to cut out the 'middle man'. All four of them look like classical nerds, but it really suits them.

And what I love most about Warby Parker is that for every pair of glasses you buy, someone, in a third world country gets a free pair too.

So I'm thinking: perhaps next time I go out for my run, I'll go running like a Running Nerd!

Glasses again: I'm a running nerd!

Are running moms ruining it for for all the other moms?

Jen Singer, author of the wonderful blog Mommasaid.net, wrote a post about moms that combine a running career with motherhood.

She feels these moms are ruining it for all the other moms, by raising the bar way too high. Instead of being able to feel proud you got out of your pyjamas, these supermoms make you feel like you should be training for a marathon.

I must say, the New York Times story about Kara Goucher, running fifty minutes on the day she gave birth, doesn't sound very healthy to me.

Personally I don't let these supermoms get to me: after all, they're athletes! They're sooo not in my league, they don't even bother me. However, they dó scare me a bit, with their little panties and flat stomachs. I prefer the more forgiving running skirts, and tank tops that cover my tummy.

What do you think: are these running moms ruining it for other moms by setting the bar too high?

Are running moms ruining it for for all the other moms?

Runner's Inspiration: Books!

Wordless Wednesday

Do running books motivate you as a runner?
What's your favourite book about running?

Runner's Inspiration: Books!

Tired Body Syndrome

When my kids were little, I used to tumble into bed at night, exhausted. Almost crying from the relief of finally lying down. 'I've got a tired body,' I would tell my husband.

And then he would pretend he didn't hear me, and quickly complain: 'I'm soooo tired,' and I would feel like hitting him. My husband and I, we're like two children playing musical chairs, each wanting to grab that final 'tired' chair. But I digress!

Now that my youngest has reached the tender age of eight, that kind of exhaustion doesn't come naturally anymore. And to my surprise I sometimes find myself longing for it. Especially that blissful feeling when you lie down!

Luckily running can provide me with Tired Body Syndrome. Although through the years, I've found myself having to run faster and further, to get that special blend of physical exhaustion and feeling of bone tiredness.

Do you know this Tired Body Syndrome?
How do you like it?

Tired Body Syndrome

Asics Ayami Tunic: Giveaway!

It's longer than a tank top, but it's shorter than a dress. Guess what that is? Well, it's the Asics Ayami Tunic of course!

And I get to give one to you, my dear readers!

About the Asics Ayami Tunic

1. The fabric has wicking qualities, keeping you dry, and not sweaty.
2. The fit is great, no peeping of the bra through the armholes.
3. Cleavage can be adjusted to your tast!
4. Dainty ruffle at the bottom, making you feel girly.
5. Hoodie, for when it's raining, or when you have a bad hair day

How to win this great tunic!

All you have to do is put Mom's Home Run into your linklist, and then leave a comment telling me, you've done just that!

On July the 31st, a winner will be chosen with the Random Generator, and will be announced on Mom's Home Run. So don't forget to drop by!

Or if you're really smart, just subscribe to my RSS feed

Asics Ayami Tunic: Giveaway!