just like mommy

claire & granny didi doing some pre-race stretching

The best way to give the gift of a healthy lifestyle to your children is to model that lifestyle. I've been trying to model this for my daughter Claire...in fact, I took up running about 3 months after she was born (thanks in part to her colic, which was only soothed to sleep if I walked her in her stroller, which I did, 7 or 8 miles a day...it was only a very short leap to running once I'd accomplished 16 m/m while pushing a stroller up hills).

Any way, I've only raced a handful of times, but I've tried to have Claire there to see them - to feel the energy, to hear the people shouting "yay" and ringing cowbells, to see me trot by in my running tights...Claire loves that I run and has been aching to run with me. Once or twice, we've played at racing, running up & down our driveway with homemade bib numbers. But when I've asked Claire if she liked it, she always said, "I guess...but there were no people saying 'yay.'" For Claire, a race is when people are there to cheer you on, you get a finishers medal, and have a bib number.

Then, lo & behold, I sign up for the Disney Princess Half and discover that there is a kids' race the day before. Reading about the race I discover that for a nominal fee (like $10), Claire will have her own bib number (just like mommy), get a race day t-shirt (just like mommy) and a finisher's medal (just like mommy)! I sign up my budding runner and is she every excited! One day at Target, I get her her first running outfit (cute tech tee and matching running skirt...just like mommy).

On Kids Race Day, Claire, her Granny Di (my mommy), and I head to the ESPN complex. The track & field part are swarming with parents and kids, there's a lot of confusion, and the booming voice of whomever's emceeing adding to the bedlam. The three of us trot out onto the field and dance our warm-ups. I've got some fantastic memories of tiny, blond Claire dancing MJ's "Thriller".

Finally, it's time to race...Claire is in with all the wee little ones. Her birthday has her in the 1-3 yr old group running the 100m, but she is by far one of the oldest kids there (I should've moved her to the 200m with the 4 yr olds). 1-3 yr old is too wide of an age range - there were kids there who were just walking, a bajillion parents holding wee ones, and a couple capable kids like Claire. We're all lined up waiting...waiting...waiting...Apparently, Disney in its wisdom decided to have the 1m race first, so all the older bigger kids begin (keeping several hundred wee ones calm for the 25 minute wait was torture on most parents...) Claire was into the race enough to be happy cheering for all the big kids running the mile, passing us for the finish line. A few parents ran with their kids, which got me thinking that I could probably have sing Claire up for the mile and we could've run, walked, and carried her through it...

It's just about our turn. Claire says to me, "Mommy, you don't have to run this with me like all the other parents are. I know how to run by myself." My big girl!!

I step to the side, allowing Claire to jockey for her position. She seems like this wee little thing lost in a forest of big Mommy & Daddy legs. But she is feeling so big and so proud! We wait a bit more...and finally the 100 meter race starts!

Claire begins running. She runs slowly, with big bounding steps and the moms and dads pull ahead...20 meters in and finally the pack clears and Claire has space to run. The sun is hot & bright and she is loving the way her ponytail shadow is bouncing, so she's running while looking at her shadow - she's found that pure joy! big huge smile on her face...I jog ahead to take pictures and am yelling "yay Claire! Go Claire!!" but every time I pull a few steps ahead, she begins a faster surge...

And then it's done, too soon! I hug Claire and she is laughing she is so happy with herself. We go get her medal and I tell her I want a picture of her with the medal on. And still so proud of herself, Claire raises one arm in the arm in that classic (and I guess primal, because who ever taught her that?) pose of pure happyness and victory and pride!!

Just like mommy!

destination: disney!

some members of our group, on a chilly friday nite!

About a year ago, an online running group I'm a member of decided to get together at Disney World and run their Princess Half Marathon in March 2010. This seemed a fantastic idea: meet some amazing women who are all my running (and life) role models, have fun, run my 2nd half marathon, and take my daughter to Disney.

At first, I was going to take Claire for just a few days to Disney...but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my almost 4 yr old daughter would have the time of her life schmoozing with her beloved Disney Princesses...and I hadn't had a real vacation in a long time...so I booked us a week in Walt Disney World. It didn't matter that I didn't have a job - that's what credit cards are for and I'm helping our sluggish economy...And for added fun, I decided to take my mom along for the trip.

Here are the lessons I've learned about my first Destination Race and that I've discovered about racing at Disney World.

1. Bring a camera. Everyone says so, and everyone is right! Not only are some of your fellow runners decked out as princesses or wicked witches (and a few prince charmings!) but Disney has cast members out all over the place. I got more face time with the characters than my 4 yr old did...including ALL the fairies from Pixie Hollow, something I'm not sure you can find other wise at Disney.

2. Leave behind any hopes for a PR. Or even being close to your slowest race time. Heck, leave your watch at the hotel room. My girlfriends and I started out at the way back of the pack and there we stayed. Though we were running this race, we actually kept pace with the walkers because, well, we were camera-happy. There wasn't a character meeting that we didn't stop to shoot. We got some fantastically fun pictures...and that takes time...like an hour!our first mile...notice the time! (ok, we started 30 minutes after everyone else...but still, shows you how the race went for us!)

3. There are woods to pee in. Pee there. Even though Disney had more port-a-potties than any other race I've seen, often the lines were long (and who wants to wait in a line when there are photo-ops with Princess Aurora and Maleficent the witch?) and by the time we at the back got to the potties, they were indescribably gross. Peeing behind a palm bush at 7:42 am was a serene moment of beauty.

4. The Disney property is HUGE with lots of vast undeveloped space in between the parks. And this is where most of the race happens. While this might disappoint some who hoped for more inside views of the parks during the quiet early morning hours, I loved seeing a bit of the central Florida countryside - there were some very beautiful moments of mists rising off the wet, swampy places, Spanish Moss slightly swaying in the breeze, the sunrise tinting the sky colors any princess would die to wear to a ball.

5. Here is my MOST IMPORTANT LESSON: do not, I repeat, do not, try to tour the parks for days in advance of the race! My poor feet! My poor quads! My poor back, hamstrings, inner thigh muscles and other places I didn't even know could ache all ached! After 11 hours of touring the Magic Kingdom on Thursday, 9 hours at Animal Kingdom, and then another 9 hours at Magic Kingdom the day before the race, by the time my body reach the 9 mile mark of the race I was done. And I still had Hollywood Studios to do later on that day!

6. Do this race with your girlfriends! This isn't a race to run by yourself...this is a race to get your glam on with your gal-pals and hoot & holler your way to the finish line. Wear a tutu and a tiara - you'd be surprised how comfortable running in these are! And being at Disney really does make you feel like a princess...at home my girls just roll their eyes at me for strutting around in an orange tutu doing laundry or cleaning the bathroom while wearing my little jeweled tiara.me and my little princess at the end of the race