Let me introduce myself....

And before I begin:  yes, this is likely the 2,298th running mom blog out there.  What can I say?

My name is Amy and I'm a mom to two super awesome kids.  And I love to run.

Currently, my job is to take care of said two super awesome children and I'm so grateful to have been able to be home with them for the last near-decade. But at some point in the next year or so it will be time for me to re-enter the workforce. I did love my job in my previous non-parental life and I look forward to figuring how to get back into it.  BUT, until then, I'm enjoying my days as a SAHM (most of time, although it has its moments, but what job doesn't?).  And I want to make the best of the time I've got this year to put into my running while I have the opportunity. All the while occasionally shirking my household duties and letting the dust-bunnies colonize the place, because hey, these training runs aren't going to run themselves.   Just kidding.  Sorta.

I ran my first full marathon at the Mississauga Marathon in May 2013.  Truthfully, I hadn't taken the training seriously enough and ended up running the race in pain and not feeling my best.  I finished in 4:38 but it wasn't a nice finish. I knew immediately afterward that I was going to need a do-over.

During the training though,  I met an amazing group of people through Daily Mile.  Their camaraderie and support were so inspiring.   My first face-to-face meeting with some DMers was the morning of the marathon.  Woohoo, no axe-murderers!  After I finished my marathon, I spent the next few months really training, racing and achieving paces and results I had no idea were even possible for me.  And acquiring more gear such as garmins, spibelts, compression socks and running skirts.  A lot of this was in thanks to my peeps at Daily Mile.  Especially the skirts.

Quick shout-out to the Burlington Skirt Brigade

Today was the Scotia Toronto Waterfront Marathon and like a mother hen, I waited with iphone in hand, watching my Facebook updates, looking for my friends' results and times.  And then to read their amazing races stories with PBs all over the place.  This is one of the many things that I love about running.  The setting of goals that seem impossible at first, and then the meeting, and sometimes smashing, of them.  SO AMAZING.

Today was also my son's first 5k race.   He's only nine years old, so it's kind of a big deal to me.  Not wanting to embarrass him at the finish line with his buddy, I held back the tears with a lump in my throat as I congratulated him.  I know what running has done for me (and I really only discovered the runner in me six years ago), so I'm so happy that he has this sport to lean on as he grows up.

So naturally this afternoon, because I was feeling all warm and fuzzy and inspired, I went and did this:

Then I felt a little light-headed and resisted the urge to curl up and rock back and forth.

Why??  I've done this before!  I know what I need to do and know what to do better next time.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy, right?

But it's that Blerch again.  Sneaking into my head already, whispering, "You really think you can pull off another one??  Heh-heh-heh".

But what I also have is the support of my family and friends, and awesome running buddies to train with.  I also have those aforementioned super cute running skirts, so there's that in my corner too.

So bring on the Road2Hope half-marathon in two weeks, my first Around the Bay 30k in March, and the Mississauga Marathon in May.

Here's to the next six months of training.