I'm Back! With a Twist....

Hi everyone!

Well, after just a few weeks away from the blog..I am back! But it is a little different this time. I have been talking to Amy from the Runners Lounge about a concept for their website that has me very excited! As nearly all of my blog buddies know, I have two small children, work full time outside of the home, have a busy husband and so on. I really enjoy reading all the great posts about the successes people have and the truely remarkable speeds, acheivements, mileage - very astounding! Having completed one marathon and several 1/2 marathons, I have yet to achieve my time goal so my hats go off for all those that do! I realized not that long ago that if I really wanted to do it all, there were some things that had to be removed from my life. As a result, I decided to break from my blog even though I knew I would miss it.

That said, I have come to realize that I really need this outlet for much more than just for running. I love reading the posts and embrace the feedback from others. Getting to know the bloggers has really been an inspiration! However, I need to channel my energy into the world I know best soooo....... I have decided to work with the Runners Lounge on something very exciting!

We thought that there was a great opportunity to create a new outlet on the Runners Lounge for a very special kind of runner - MOMS! With Mother's Day just behind us, I realized that running for Mom's is much more than just for exercise. Lots of Mom's start running after babies are born to lose the weight but discover a much better reward. Maybe you were a runner before you were a Mom or maybe not. Maybe you ran during pregnancy, or maybe you run with your kids now. Maybe you run to get a break from your kids or maybe you run to be a better mom. No matter how you got there - we want to hear from you!

Before we launch this great project - we want to know what you are looking for. What interests you as a Mom runner? What would you want to see? Are there topics out there that you think are not addressed enough? What do you think is missing? I have a TON of great things that I would love to write about but it is only interesting if people are getting what they are looking for! Maybe you are looking for a great network to start running groups for moms or maybe you want to start a team?? So many great things can be done but we are hoping you can help figure out what to do first!

One of the first questions we need to answer - we need a name for our group! I would love to have a great catchy name that says WE ARE MOMS AND WE RUN. Ideally it is just a few words and is not too cheesy. What do you think? Surely there is a Mom out there much more creative than me who has some great name for a bunch of crazy women who parent and run! It would also be great to have our own logo or design that was easy to recognize!

I know this is not going to be as interesting for the male bloggers or all those great running women out there who are not mom's but I plan to still read all your blogs as much as I can. I am very excited about working with the Runners Lounge on this project because I can really expand on what I know best as a runner - being a Mom who runs!

Thanks for all your input and please pass along this message to any other Mom's out there that you think might have some thoughts, advice, ideas - just about anything will do. You can comment on this post or even better - send me an email at runmommy@rogers.com. I can't wait to get all your replies and watch for us on the Runners Lounge!

Return of the MOJO and Extraordinary Runner Award

Wow I am so excited! I got an email today that I won an Extraordinary Running Award from the Runners Lounge! If I had lost my mojo before..I DEFINITELY got it back today! I put a link to my story below.

My Joints Are In Motion

I have won a free pair of shoes and I am also being interviewed for the Open Mic for this Friday! I feel like such a celebrity - at least in running blog land (that's good enough for me). I feel great today and not just because of this but when I reread my story it really reminded me of what drove me to come back to running in the first place. I shouldn't care if my butt is bigger than it used to be or that I don't have time to become a stellar speedster or even that I look like a bag of dodo at the end of a race (insert hottie magazine runner pictures here). I did some speed work this morning and at the end of it I felt fantastic - and a little sick to my stomach so I guess it was a success. A personal success. That's all I need!

This year I am participating in a few other events but I am doing another marathon with the Joints in Motion Training Team in December so I have that to drive me on. This time I am participating with a friend (Marci) and I am just as excited as I was the first time. I needed this reminder to confirm for me that I get my validation from myself. Logging heavy mileage or getting a record time is fantastic and I look forward to getting there once kids are older and life is easier but I can and should be just as easily motivated by the simple fact that I laced up my shoes and got out there.

Anytime I am losing my faith or feel the mojo slipping away, I will reread my story and many others like mine and tell myself that I run because my daughter might not or because so many people would love to run and can't/won't. I will be reminded that the only roadblocks to success are the ones we put up ourselves. I will also remind myself that the definition of success should be as flexible as my commitment to a sugar free diet (imagine crazy fits of laughter at this point).

Next time the big green blog of ectoplasm comes calling, I will sit on him with my "less than Jillian Micheals standard" backside. Then I will lace up and head out.

Thanks for all the great comments from the last post - it helps!