Game Time: Ready to Race

I recognize this feeling. I was first introduced to it when I was 4 years old standing on the starting blocks for my first swimming race. I describe it as nervous excitement. It is awesome. I love it, in fact, I live for it.

Sitting on the plane bound for Chicago to run my first Chicago Marathon, I feel it. (I have run two other marathons, both NYC…'99 and '02) This is the first big race that I have hopped on a plane that isn't a swimming competition. Maybe that's why these feelings are bringing me back to that very special time in my life.

With all the anticipation, I couldn't sit down at my departure gate. I just paced, scanning the crowd to see if anyone else looked as excited as me. On the plane I was reading my Runner's World magazine and tearing up at the story on Grete Waitz and her first NYC marathon win in '78. Plain and simple, I am getting psyched up, and I am so grateful to be feeling this way.

I am meeting my girlfriend Joanna in Chicago. And even though she knows she can't finish the race (knee injury), she is going to start with me and then get herself to the finish to cheer me on (hopefully...my hamstring is giving me some problems). What a great friend! There's been so much support...the love has been pouring in from twitter & texts and its amazing…sending me telepathic strength really does make a difference.

I know I won't sleep tonight. I know I will be so excited. I thank you all for listening to my running stories of the past 6 months and for being such great supporters. I am such a lucky girl to have such wonderful friends.

If you want to follow my race, you can do so via the web or your mobile phone. Just visit this website and register to track me. I'll be wearing bib #4053.

Wardrobes and the dream of tear-free mornings

Anyone else pulling their hair out getting your child dressed for school…

It happened all last year, so I don't know why I am surprised that it happen again. We even went to great lengths to pick out clothes the night before, and lay them out …I mean, how easy is that?!  But a girl can change her mind, I guess, and my daughter does. We use to go through such drama in our house by 7:30 a.m. that I considered invest ing in a morning wine.  

Playing it cool was the only thing I can do. I once threatened to drop her at school naked, but deep down I knew that could get me arrested, so I caved and we were 30 minutes late for class.  I feel for her, I do. She'd get so worked up about picking out the "perfect" outfit. I try to stay out of it because whatever I choose, she can't stand.  Sometimes I purposefully pick the things I don't want her to wear for that reason. OOps my secret is out. 

This year, I made it my mission to nip this before it started.  Only, I wasn't quite sure how, but I took a shot at it. Here was my Plan A:

Plan A: set out the first 3 days of outfits on Sunday. I'm even decorated some cute hangers that represent the days of the week.  Once the outfit is on the hanger, there is no changing. Clothes that get laid out but not worn are banned from wearing for a week. I feel like she’s just not of sound mind at 7 a.m. to make such a big decision, so doing it at night will really help her (err, ME).

And, if she doesn't wear the outfit she picks out OR causes a fuss, I have no choice but to take the outfit and put it in the No Wearing closet for a week.  Let's hope she doesn't do it too often, her entire wardrobe might be banned, and then she would have to wear her brother's.  Of course, when she gets her clothes on without the drama, I figure out ways to reward her.  Ideas are welcome. 

So far, this mission is working.  In fact, she has done amazing and we have only missed the bus once...and it wasn't because of her...it was her brother wanting different shoes on.So far, goal FOR HAVING happIER mornings with my kids, check! Now if I could just ask them once (alright, twice) to get their shoes on and eat their breakfast. But at least the "getting dressed" part has become almost tear free.  Cheers!

Why I love to run…

It is simple…I love to run.  I wasn't born to run, rather I had to grow into it. I first started running after I retired from swimming.  I would head out for one of my favorite runs (still to this day ) down Campus Drive at Stanford University.  I never really kept track of my mileage, and since I have never been a big fan of the "out and back" run, the loop was perfect because it had new scenery the entire way. 

For a while during my post-Olympic phase, I tried my hand at lots of exercises including step aerobics like every other woman in the 90’s. Turning and hopping over the step until I was thoroughly dizzy and confused. Once I got into the groove, the workout was great, but it didn't fit me quite the same as running.  The mindless me time was what I longed for and why I slipped back into my running shoes.

My best friend from college, a former volleyball player, was my running partner in crime. We mostly ran to exercise and chat about life.  Occasionally we would enter fun race to make it interesting. Over the course of our friendship, we have marked some super memorable routes in our running log: the North Shore of Oahu, the Presido in San Fran, the Manhattan Beach strand, and one of my favorites to the Gaudi museum in Barcelona.  

Running has always inspired creative thinking in me, or helped me solve life's little problems. There have been countless times where I have stopped to note my next great idea, or turned my bad mood happy.  Time on the pavement in Central Park was what got me through my rough transition to living in NYC.  Running has been the inspiration for exploration in every city where I’ve traveled.  In 10 years working for the NBA, my shoes saw miles around every arena. (My favorites being Philly and DC.) 

Now, as a mom, running is still a huge part of my life.  I love that my kids know it…they ask me if I am going for a run even before I put on my running clothes.  My daughter wants to run with me.  Yesterday she announced that she wants to run a 20K.  Love it. It’s something I’m sharing with them, but it’s also something for me.

My girlfriend, who also happens to be my marathon training partner, and I had a conversation about what running means to us just the other morning.  It is as simple as this…Running makes us happy.  And we all know the saying…“A happy mom, a happy house.”

Chicago is just days away...

Cleaning out the closet

I must confess, my daughter has too many clothes. Most of them weren’t bought by me,  as we have wonderful hand-me-downs, and we both love them! Hand-me-downs were my favorite when I was little and my daughter shares that, her excitement for them is immeasurable. She’s also a bit of a pack-rat, like me. Thus, Too many clothes equal Too Many Choices, which equals a meltdown before 8 a.m. every day.  That is going to change this year…or at least I'm doing everything I can to change it.

Skye started Kindergarten this year.  So, the week before school officially began, I made a date with her to go through her closet. It was almost a mini-shopping spree as we tried on all her clothes. I had a two-fold plan: 

1. Weed out the clothes she had outgrown
2. Commit to wearing what we were going to keep.

My daughter was a trooper and tried on everything I asked her to.  We celebrated when pants were too small, cheering because she had "grown SO much".  We made several piles…the keepers, the hand-me-down givebacks, and the giveaways.  She wanted a fourth pile that she could sell at our garage sale, but I convinced her we should give them away.  

It was tough to convince her to give away a few items that she LOVED, but in the end I told her we needed too so we could buy new school clothes.  That worked like a charm, and I was delighted.  It was a smooth process with absolutely no meltdowns. Only  a few tears came at the end as she laid her head on the giveaway pile and said good-bye to her old clothes.  But it didn't take her long to bounce up with a huge smile at the prospect of filling up the holes in her closet with lots of 6-T's! 

She's so big now…