Answers to 10 Running Questions

A beautiful morning along Lake Michigan.

Last week, SBS posted the first of the 10 running-related personal questions that have been circulating around the Another Mother Runner community. Now it’s my turn.

1. Best run ever: A couple of years ago, I was in Chicago for a business trip and I ran along the Lakeshore Trail at sunrise. It was insanely beautiful, a perfectly lovely spring day, and I just felt so lucky to be there at that moment. I can’t remember how far or how fast, but I remember that run fondly.

2. Three words that describe my running: Slow, steady, supportive (of others).

3. My go-to running outfit is: Either a Skirt Sports skirt paired with an old race tee, or a Nuu-Muu dress paired with a now-ancient pair of Nike capris.

4. Quirky habit while running: Because I’ve run with Team in Training for three years, I no longer run with music. However, I always have a song stuck in my head, so I have to be careful to plant a running-friendly tune in my brain before I set out for a run.

5. Morning, midday, evening: I prefer morning just because I want to get the workout over with so I can shower and move on with my day, but I really do love Tuesday night tempo runs at the track or hill runs with my Team in Training coach.

6. I won’t run outside when it’s: Hmm, I’m torn between blustery (which just plain sucks) and wet. No, I don’t think I’m going to melt in the rain, but a few years ago I slipped on wet leaves and went down just awkwardly enough to tweak every muscle group in my body and leave me stiff and sore for a week. Awful.

Disappointing, yes, but not as psychologically hard as a lingering soft tissue injury.

7. Worst injury, and how I got over it: I should probably say my broken foot of 2010, but that was almost easy. When you’re in an immobilizer boot for 8 weeks, there’s really not much question about what you can do. I actually had a psychologically harder time with my IT band earlier this year. It took months to heal, and there’s always that horrid, stubborn urge to try to push through it. I ended up spending six weeks in the care of a wonderful physical therapist who taught me more than I ever wanted to know about getting stronger and healthier for the long haul.

8. I felt most like a badass mother runner when: This is a toss-up between a) flying cross-country to Philly, running the half marathon, and then driving to the suburbs to prep and host my Nana’s 90th birthday party, and b) running with my son in his first 5k earlier this month; speedy averaged an 11:26 pace per mile!

9. Next race is: Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco on October 14. I’m tempted to sign up for another follow-up half marathon while I’m in good condition, one that’s less crowded and will allow me to run for pace, but… if I can really confess here, I’m actually much happier running in the 5k-10k range. I don’t know that I really WANT to do another half anytime soon. Time will tell.

10. Potential running goal for 2013: Honestly, I would love to become a running coach and focus on the runners in the back of the pack, the ones who never thought that they could do this sort of thing. But I think it’s more likely that I’ll follow the request of the Tiny Coaching Assistant and take a year off from Team in Training to run with him. He thinks that running is the most amazing thing ever, and I’m hoping that some of his enthusiasm rubs off on me!

So, what are your 10?

Tags: another mother runner, dimity mcdowell, nike women's marathon, nike+, nuu-muu, nwm, sara bowen shea, sarah bowen shea, skirt sports, team in training

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