September 10, 2012 · 6:36 pm

Hills Are No Big Deal And Life. Is. Sweet

Well, I ran my 5K on Saturday morning and kicked some sweet potato butt.  Thank you new sneakers!

I had the fastest pace since I started training.  And there wasn’t just one monster hill (a valley, actually…I’ll explain in a minute) but a second one near the end.  I was definitely a Crazy Sweet Potato Fries Talking Mama, but it really wasn’t necessary.

You see, I ran the race along side hundreds of fire fighters, police officers, and first responders in full gear – tanks, masks, helmets, coats, boots and more – in honor of the first responders who perished on September 11, 2001.  It was the Steven Siller Tunnel to Towers Run.  On September 11th, Siller, a New York City fire fighter, ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel with 60 pounds of gear on his back to get to the World Trade Center where he lost his life saving others.

Yeah, compared to that, the hills were no big deal.

As the anniversary of September 11th approaches each year, I usually I get an anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach.  But this year’s been different.  Maybe it’s because I’m busy with the boys or because the Presidential election monopolizes the news.  Or maybe it’s because eleven years is enough time to finally take the sting out of the wound.

When I signed up for the 5K , I knew it was in honor of September 11th, but I was so focused on the physical training that I didn’t think about what the race would look or feel like.  Well, at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, when I emerged from the parking garage in downtown Fort Lauderdale and witnessed all of this…

…I was overcome with emotion.  Mike, who was home with the boys, called at about 7:20 a.m. to wish me luck and all I could do was cry.  I was a hot sweet potato mess, but I pulled myself together and managed to snap a self-portrait to mark the occasion before the race began.

As if the race weren’t special enough, the city gave permission for the course to actually go through the Henry E. Kinney Tunnel (most downtown Fort Lauderdale 5Ks bypass the tunnel because they can’t get the permit to go through it).  This is the valley I mentioned earlier.  The hard part about the infamous hill is that the downhill part comes first.  I was concerned about my endurance until I noticed who was running in front, along side and behind me.

Yeah, no big deal.  In fact, running down into the tunnel was exhilarating.  Everyone yelled and cheered the whole way through, and even though running up and out was hard…

(not steep, but long)

…It. Was. Incredible.

After I conquered the tunnel, the wave of emotions and tears began to recede, and by the end of the race (and a surprise second hill!), I was tired, but inspired and proud.   I didn’t get sucked into a sinkhole for buying a new pair of shoes before I finished the race (the sneakers rocked, by the way), I spent the afternoon at a birthday party, and that evening, I ate sushi instead of sweet potato fries, but the sentiment was the same.

Today, I had a dentist appointment where I had yet another awkward opportunity to stare at this framed picture of the World Trade Center on the wall while the hygienist scraped my teeth.

Why?!?!?!

Tomorrow, if MSNBC airs the “Today” show footage from September 11, 2001, I’ll turn the channel because it’s too hard to watch.  I’ll attend a PTO meeting at Dylan’s school, pack up organic fruits and vegetables at Riley’s school, go for a run, and be grateful for one more year (maybe) where the boys are too young to ask questions about that remarkably sunny September morning.   For dinner, I’ll make homemade roasted sweet potato wedges because, if September 11th has taught me anything, it’s that hills are no big deal and Life. Is. Sweet.

1 Comment

Filed under dentist, running, September 11th

September 7, 2012 · 3:20 pm

Moved

For the past two days, I’ve been agonizing over a blog post about Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.  Politics aside, I can’t imagine there was anyone who wasn’t affected by what she said about motherhood, family, opportunity, and the American dream.

Suffice it to say, I was moved.  I was moved to tears.  I was moved to give more of myself.  I was moved to accept people for who they are rather than what they do or don’t have.  I was moved to ensure that my boys grow up to be courageous, giving, compassionate, and kind men.  I was moved to be grateful for the lens of motherhood through which I see the world.  I was moved to tone my arms and be bold with fashion (rhubarb J. Crew pumps!), but I digress.

I was particularly moved by her line about motherhood toward the end:

You see, at the end of the day, my most important title is still mom-in-chief.

Then I became obsessed with an earlier passage in the speech that had nothing but everything to do with motherhood.  Read this paragraph and replace President with mother.  You’ll be floored.  Go on…

You see, I’ve gotten to see up close and personal what being president really looks like.  And I’ve seen how the issues that come across a President’s desk are always the hard ones – the problems where no amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer…the judgment calls where the stakes are so high, and there is no margin for error.  And as President, you can get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people.  But at the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as President, all you have to guide you are your values, and your vision, and the life experiences that make you who you are.

And this line:

 …I have seen firsthand that being president doesn’t change who you are – it reveals who you are.

See?  Amazing!  Then I moved into a severe case of writer’s block.  I was overcome with thoughts and ideas yet paralyzed at the keyboard. So, I did what any Anxious Mama would do under that kind of stress.  I went shopping.

I’m running a 5K tomorrow morning.  It’s the first one I’ve done in almost two years.  I’m not really nervous about finishing the race (well, maybe a little bit), but I’m shaking in my boots about the course, which includes a really big hill.  Years ago, when I lived in Brooklyn, I ran in Prospect Park, which also had an enormous hill.  Every time I ran up that damn hill, I chanted “sweet potato fries, sweet potato fries” over and over again.  That was always my culinary reward for finishing that beast of a run every Saturday morning.  My retail reward for finishing a race was always a pair of new shoes (prelude to a Shopaholic Mama).

Today, I put the cart before the horse.  I bought a new pair of running shoes when I picked up my race packet.  That’s right.  I bought a new pair of shoes before I finished the race.  I’m not a superstitious person, but I admit I’m a little bit concerned that a sinkhole will open up on the course tomorrow and swallow me whole because of this premature shoe purchase.

But aren’t they beautiful!  My reasoning (besides the Shopaholic Mama defense) is that my current sneakers are almost a year old and my knees ache when I run longer distances.  Shouldn’t I have the best shot possible to run this race and get up that monster hill?

In any case, anyone who runs near me tomorrow morning will no doubt hear my Crazy Mama sweet potato mantra.  Let’s just hope it moves me – like Michelle Obama’s speech – up that bleeping hill.

Wish me luck!

p.s. You can read a full transcript of Michelle Obama’s speech here.

Leave a comment

Filed under Anxious Mama, motherhood, running, Shopaholic Mama