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From Mom Brain to 10K: A Runner's Return After 10 Years · Momtalk Maryland

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey friends and welcome to MomTalk Maryland.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, claire Duarte, founder of the Columbia Mom, and this is your spot for real conversations, local love and a whole lot of community, whether you're folding laundry, running errands or hiding in your car for some peace and quiet, let's dive in.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: All right, is this thing on?
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Let's do it.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Um so um, I just recently completed the charm city soul of the city 10 K, sponsored by ultra.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Um, it was this past Saturday and um, if you've been following along with my journey, um, this was my first race in basically 10 years.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Um, my first 10 K in 10 years.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: And actually what's really funny is I've only ever done one actual 10K race before, which, ironically, was the Soul of the City 10K back in Baltimore nearly 10 years to the day, which just I love.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: The irony and the play on words, if you may, irony and the play on words, if you may.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: And to kind of go back a little bit, I kind of got into running in my 20s.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I was never a runner, fyi, I played soccer my whole life Since I was a little kid.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: My dad lived in England for 20 plus years of his life.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: He's a big Spurs fan and taught us all everything we needed to know about soccer from the time that we could stand.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: He's a big Spurs fan and taught us all everything we needed to know about soccer from the time that we could stand.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: So we were a big soccer family in the 90s and 2000s and I played soccer all through high school and anyways, yeah, in college I just got into it just a little bit socially.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: You'd see people doing it was never like a fast you know runner or you know could do like maybe some sprints and stuff like that.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: And I think I got involved in doing some of like the turkey trots, 5ks, cuz you know you would see a lot of those like you know sponsored for charities and different things like that.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: But yeah, my 20s, when we, when I lived in Baltimore, it's when I had a friend that was like a big runner and I don't know what got over me.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: I think she talked about like she might've like teased us in because she would go to these like beer runs and I think I was interested in like getting in shape and she would, like you know, try to like coax me into it and I was like, finally, leslie, like you know, maybe I'll go for a run with you and it's like a three miler, like a 5k, and then she was like, you know, she kept urging me and I, I think and I think that's when I remember I signed up for the 10k I was like, okay, let me see if I can do a 10k, right.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: And then when I did a 10k, she was like, if you can do a 10k, you could do a half marathon and that was like my gateway into it, which is really funny, um, and it's funny because now that I'm talking back through it I'm like, okay, I think I do, like the pieces are coming back to me, cause, again, this is 10 years ago.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: You know, I got an old mom brain now.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: So, um, so, yeah, I don't remember the whole total number of years that I kind of was like running or into running then, um, but I do know that I completed roughly um five half marathons I believe, and yeah, they were all well, sorry, not all of them were Sydney, they were mainly Baltimore, one in DC and a few in like Annapolis, anne, arundel area, so kind of just that whole, like you know, general area.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: But when we lived in, obviously, when we lived in the city, I did primarily Baltimore races, primarily Baltimore training, but ironically too, when we lived in the city, I did primarily Baltimore races, primarily Baltimore training, but ironically too, when we lived in the city, I would actually come, I would drive out to Columbia to train.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: I actually trained more in Columbia than I did when I lived in the city.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: I did like to go for in the city, but I found that it was very flat and after one of my first races I realized how like hilly some of these courses can be and I was like I need to train on a little bit more hills if I'm going to keep doing this and not that Columbia is like incredibly hilly, but like going around like Centennial, like Elkhorn were two of my favorite loops Is that you could kind of get some decent like rolling hills in there and you can also cover a lot of ground.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, that's what I remember doing.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Like the majority of my training was those two lakes were the big ones for me.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Um, because they were like bigger loops and um, love the views.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean, um, so, anyway.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: So yeah, fast forward to now.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Um, I, like I said, I stopped running in 2017 only cause I remember like we got married in 2016, 2017, um, uh, I still ran for fun here and there, like pick it up, I.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I stopped kind of signing up for, like, maybe formal races as much, um.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: And then 2018, we got pregnant with my daughter early in the year, um, so that's why how I know like I stopped running in 2017, um, and, like I said, haven't really really ran, obviously, since, I mean, columbia is a fabulous place to run.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Like I said, there's so many lakes here, it's just like there's so many great trails.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: It's just a great place.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: I think it's just so easy to like pick up and go.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: But, I mean, the biggest obstacle is, you know now that, having kids, I can't just like throw my shoes and walk out the door, like I got people in my house that I'm responsible for, so finding the time to train is just way different, and you know so, training for this 10 K was definitely challenging, because coming out of this winter was so brutal, right, like February, january and February was just almost impossible.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Um, I think in February I got like one ish interval, maybe two, like um, it was just hard to even get outside, basically, and you know, I would always kind of do like my longer run Saturday mornings.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: It was finally easier once to do that in March, but I was like, oh my God, march just feels like it's crunch time.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: I was finally able to get four miles in when I was at the beach and so I was thankful for that, but it was like super flat, so I was like I don't know how much good this is going to do me, but at least I had the cardio endurance under my belt.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: So I at least mentally felt good about that.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Um.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I gotta say partnering with charm city run was really awesome because, um, getting to, you know, be in their store, really get the right shoes.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: I do think having the right shoes just makes all the difference.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: I mean, anybody in running will kind of tell you that, and back in my running days, there wasn't many like different as many shoes on the scene.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, there was a lot of shoes, of course, but like we didn't have Hoka's, we didn't have On Clouds, we didn't have, honestly, I'm not remembering.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: I think there was Asics, brooks and maybe ultras.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: I'm I'm trying to remember Obviously Nike, but it's like Nike's to me, not a great running shoe for me.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: Um, and that's when, like I remember when I started running, I was like, okay, I need to get out of my Nike's and into like some good ones.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: And Asics were kind of like one of the top liners.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Then, um, and that's so.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: The Asics were like my running shoe of choice really.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: Um.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: So when I linked back up with Charm City this past fall, um, and we got, and I got fitted and I was real excited cause I was like, oh my God, there's so many cute hokas and enclaves, like I wonder, like you're almost like Hogwarts.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: I was like I wonder which house I'm going to fall into.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Like you know, am I going to?
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Are my feet just going to love hokas and have the really cute color or whatever?
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: And it's funny, after, like being like Cinderella and trying all the different pairs, yet again I loved the Asics and I was just like throw what you know.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Like you know, I was just like my feet know what they want.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: And I mean I think it was a close second with um.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: It might have been a pair of hokas, I'm not remembering now, but I still walked out.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: I just was laughing.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: I was, of course, I'm walking out with a pair of basics and it wasn't based solely on looks either, like I'm really talking about how it generally genuinely felt.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Um, and so I was wearing the a6 a little bit more in the fall.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: And then, when I sent it for this race, I got a pair of the ultras, because we knew this was going to be an ultra sponsored race.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: And let me tell you, I've never worn ultras before and you know, when they told me I was going to get fitted for ultras, I was like, okay, yeah, sure, like whatever.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: And then if you've, if you've never seen an ultra, I'm actually not wearing them at the moment.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: I wear them a lot, I mean because I want to wash them after, like this race this weekend.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Um, they are almost like the letter p, like it's like flat on one side, it sort of kind of like curves out on the other, and the idea is that it's giving you a wider toe box.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: Right, they're really big on that.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Um, and so when I put them on, I was, I looked down at my feet and I'm like, like I was like these look.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: So when I put them on, I was like I looked down at my feet and I'm like like I was like these look massive, like I, my, my like eyes couldn't get over, like the visual look of them.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: And I think, again, me looking down at my own feet is very different than somebody else looking at my feet.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: And but after I, as soon as I put them on, I looked down and I was like, but then I was like my feet and I was like, hmm, okay, I mean I was like I don't hate this.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: This feels pretty darn good.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Fast forward three months guys.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: I'm not kidding you when I say I probably wore those shoes the absolute most out of any shoe in my house for the last three months.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Um, I am obsessed.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Um, and you know it's funny.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Yes, I do have wide feet.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: I will say that.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Um, I don't know that my, my toes are any more spread out.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: It wasn't that I felt like, oh, my God, my toes have so much more room for activities.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: I think the support was just tremendous.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: I just really loved it.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: I was like to me, that was my walking on air, feeling Like I loved it.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: I felt so supported.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: I have not had any blisters this season whatsoever.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Granted, it wasn't a heavy training season, it wasn't like as long and again, it's hard, hard to get as many mileage in early on.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: But, um, shoes were great, um, my gear was all from there too.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: I had, um, again, same thing.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: I was like, I was like I kept saying Cinderella was Goldilocks, goldilocks is the one that tried on the different stuff, right, um, I tried on a couple couple different leggings and walked out with Nike leggings.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: I mean, those things were like like sucked you right in the guy with the compression, all the right spots, like perfect running tights.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: I like them more than than Lululemons.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: I was like who am I, you know?
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: I guess the world's biggest millennials, really the answer.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: But, um, I did Nike running tights.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: I had an um Viore long sleeve shirt and, um, oh gosh, I'm forgetting the name of the jacket, but it was um, a great kind of running jacket.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: It wasn't fully wool but it was like knit, so it was still nice to have like a layer and had a zip up, so if I, you know, got too hot or cold or or whatever, and great, smart wool gloves as well as smart wool socks, um, so, from head to toe, I felt like I was covered.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: I'm not one of those people like I do have a hard time running with like a hat, a knit, a cap or an earband because I just feel like they fly off and I have a big head so like anything around my head just feels like it gets tight.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: So I didn't go with any of that, but I mean, yeah.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: So training overall, like my first two runs were definitely the hardest and I remember my first run was gorgeous outside, it was beautiful weather, it was like early March, my first longer run, I should say I did like a little bit of interval stuff, um, but my first longer run I was like, okay, let me see if I can do like two to three and like five minutes in I was like in my legs, everything hurt, everything hurt.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: And I was like, oh my god, what am I gonna do?
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Um, and I was like how?
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: And I felt so nervous.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: I was like how am I gonna be ready for this race?
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: I was like so nervous because I only had a few weeks left at that point.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Um, then my second run um, I went down to Lake Ken McCundy with my friend Katie and it was basically like almost like the weather today, like really drizzly, and I was like, oh God, this is miserable.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Had like again Jack gloves, whatever.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: And we ran.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: We did like two, two and a half ish, and we and we would walk the only like wooden part of the pier, like the walkway is kind of like along the lake, and then we would, once we would hit the trail again, we would um, run it again, essentially um, or like run the pavement, really um.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, that was like two, two and a half um and you know, it felt really good that we could like, you know I could complete that, and we talked the whole time.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: I was like okay, I was like, well, you know if I can talk this whole time, like that's good, and we're like we're not fast.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Katie's been running so much more consistently than I have for years, um, but we back in my fastest um again back in my twenties.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Ironically, yeah, I mean there's no, I can find the results.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: But when I did the 10 K race was my fastest race ever based on splits, um, because I had the majority of those splits were sub 10.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Like I think I had, I don't think, many eights, but a few eights and nines Um, and I did the completed the 10 K in under 60 minutes.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: It was like literally like 57, 58 minutes, like very, or maybe even 59.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: It was like right at the top end, um, and I remember being gassed at the end cause I was definitely going pretty fast.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: But yeah, that was my fastest race ever, ever, based on speed for sure, and I never had that kind of speed for a half, because half I definitely was more like a 10 minute, 10 to 12.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: I was really good at averaging pretty 10 consistently and then towards the end it would hit into like 11 and 12 kind of thing.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: This was probably.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: I didn't honestly, I haven't even gone back to check my splits cause I didn't care about time for this race.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: I was like I just want to complete this, I want to feel good, I want to get out there.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Um, I was definitely nervous about the challenge, cause I was like it's just so much different to be a mom and to be training and to fitting in running in this season of life when you've got kids, and not to mention like my husband works Saturday, so like that's my day to do my long run, like it's a lot more coordinating for me to figure, okay, I need childcare, and like I need to run, like, or even the weekend that we went away for the beach and I was like it's my birthday weekend but like I got to run.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: You know, like obviously, yes, it's my choice, but like still, um, but I'm so proud that I was like able to like make myself do it right.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about or week of day of so going into the week of right.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: I did a four mile run on the Sunday, which I had my again my goal.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: I had originally wanted to do like five.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Um, they say that you shouldn't and don't need to do the full amount of your race.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Or, if you do like you know, definitely don't do it like within the week of your race, cause you don't want to um over exert yourself and give your body plenty of rest that it needs.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Um, again, I'm not like a running professional, so please just also take everything that I have to say is just from my own experience, right, um, but um, and then, cause you know they say that like if you can run the majority, uh, probably like what?
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: Like 75% of the length of your race, like you can do it.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: That's what, that's what, like my friends and trainers that I worked with like years ago kind of said so, um, yeah, so my original goal the week before was five.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: I did four, felt pretty good about it, um, and actually it wasn't that sore, after which I was really kind of shocked about.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: I mean, I stretched and hydrated and things like that.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: But we also drove home from the beach that day, which is like two and a half hours in the car, so I was like, oh, this is my, this might F me up, but, um, I was intentional about trying to stretch.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Last week.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Um took it easy at the gym, only went twice.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: I did some treadmill intervals on Tuesday last week.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: My goal and hope was at max maybe hit the pavement and, do you know, one to two-ish mile run during the week and I was like in my brain I'm like that's ideal, but I'm like how am I going to fit that in between work and the kids and stuff like that?
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: So on Tuesday I did some early morning treadmill intervals, a little mix of like speed walking hills, just to keep it going.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Wednesday I did strength training and then Thursday I did another light strength training and I still kept up my steps on my walking pad all week.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: My goal is like 9,000 steps a day, not 10, nothing hardcore and crazy.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: And then fully rested and slept in Thursday and Friday I say fully, like when my kids get up, which is by 7 am.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: So, and then I actually have my kids sleep over my in-laws Friday night because, again, my husband works Saturdays and so that way I can get down to the city nice and early, and then we actually went out to dinner.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: Ironically, actually, we went out to dinner Thursday and Friday.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: I kind of hadn't planned it that way, but went and checked out Takumi, that new sushi restaurant, on Thursday and it unintentionally carb loaded then, which was actually really good, because you know say, oh, you got to carb load.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: But I think as I've gotten older, I've heard them say it's actually better to carb load two days ahead of your race, because your body actually can then absorb it a lot better and that way you're not feeling too full and heavy like from the night before, especially since most races are early the next morning, right.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: But then, yeah, my husband had made a reservation for Maggiano's Friday night and actually I wasn't as full Sorry, I'm sorry, I was more full Friday than it was Thursday when we were going out to dinner.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Um, because I think I had eaten all the like the rice and the sushi, um, the night before.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: So I actually felt kind of balanced, which was good, um, but yeah, so into bed early, um, I got up by like six and headed out the door by like six, 36, 45.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: Um, I think I had.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: What did I eat?
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: I'm on this like cereal kick right now.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Right now, I'm always on a cereal kick and don't judge me, this is my cereal of choice right now is like it's it's Kashi and it looks like the shredded wheat and it's like cinnamon harvest or something.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: I literally I have nothing good to tell you other than the fact it's just got a little hint of sweetness, and this is the grandma inside me.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: It's probably got like.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: I'm not eating it because it's fibrous, I'm just eating it because I like the little hint of sweetness in the morning.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: Nothing that's too sugary, but I get that like carb hit, um, and I, just every morning when I wake up, I just need a couple little handfuls.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: So, um, yeah, I had some of that, some water.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Um, I think I had bought a bar from the store, from Charms, when I did pack a pickup on Wednesday.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: I don't remember the name of the brand, but, um, it said like energy bar.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Um, I don't think it meant like caffeine, energy, but just it was like peanut and chocolate and it was really good and I actually ate that in the car on the way there.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: I used to always fast before working out, before running everything.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: I don't think I ever had a bite of anything, um, and as I've gotten older, like ever since, you know, having kids I've always needed like a little bit of something.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: I don't have a meal, definitely, but um, so I was like nervous because I was like, oh, I haven't like ever like ran with anything in my stomach before.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: No, I think before half marathons I would have like a banana and a little bit of something, something like that.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: Um, but other, just general trainings, I wouldn't, I just wouldn't do too much.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Um, because I was just nervous about like I didn't want to feel crampy.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: Um, but yeah, I had that bar, and because I knew I was getting down there by like 7, 7, 15 and the race didn't want to feel crampy, but yeah, I had that bar, and because I knew I was getting down there by like 7, 7.15 and the race didn't start until 8.30, I knew I had plenty of time to probably digest and whatever, but yeah, that was delicious, I was very happy about that and, yeah, the race started at Harbor Point, which, again years ago, the soul of the city 10K used to start in Fed Hill and it was definitely really breezy and cold and I was like but I will say it was really glad that it didn't rain, cause it's been so like the weather's just been so crummy here for the last like few days and this week's like all cold, but uh, I will say that it was not raining, so I won't cry about that.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: But it made like get.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: I was like how do I get dressed?
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Like what do I wear?
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: And I was worried about having needing like a rain jacket, um, and gloves.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: Luckily, it didn't end up needing any of that, but it was chilly.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: I think I ended up wearing, um, no, I wore the race premium which had like a little light hood, but I didn't wear the hood, um, and it wore like you know some some.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: I was gonna say capri leggings are like the seven, eighth, you know what I mean?
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Um, I thought I was gonna.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: I thought it's gonna end up being humid and warm the way the end of last week was, but it didn't end up being all that humid, um, it was more, maybe more humid later on in the day, but not in that morning.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Or at least where harbor point is, um, you know, it's just, I think between all buildings it just kind of gets windy or whatever.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: So, um, but no, I mean that's the nice thing about what I love about charm city runs, races and races in Baltimore in general.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: There's so much energy it's just like you feed off of it.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: There's like hundreds of people there, right, and so like that was cool.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: And again, having my friend Katie like made all the difference, cause again, we literally just talked the whole time Right, so, um, we were in like corral sea ish, again like trying, you know, I mean our goal was not to be like strict and heavy on pace with the pacers or anything like that, but we started with like the 12 mile pace group, um, and that's where we kind of stayed the most part.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: I mean I thought the course was pretty good.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: Um, the one like hill that everyone quote unquote dreads is the one that you can, you know, kind of take the climb up to Patterson park, which I've done that, you know, a couple of times from either training from the Baltimore running festival, um, again from the previous soul of the city.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Um, and it's not.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: In my mind I feel like it's not that bad, especially since I feel like I've done it a couple of times.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: I feel like there's other worse, like hills.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: I think maybe it also depends on where it's placed in your run.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: This was around mile three, going into mile four.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: Um and um, I mean, and Katie, I could tell she was slowing down a little bit and I was speeding up and I think, cause I was in it, I was in a point where I'm like, okay, I just want to get through it and get get done with.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: I didn't, I was only like a few paces ahead of her.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Um, and when we got to the top, like you know, I was like, and I was like, oh my God, I'm so glad that's done.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Um, but it was kind of nice because, like, once you get to the top, then you're just like running through the park.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: So that was kind of like a nice, like you know, check, and then we turn around and then, and then we started kind of making our way back into the city and yeah, so that was the so after that it was kind of like nice because we felt like we were sort of like downhill.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: The majority of the run was sort of done and you know there's, you know there's a couple of little like water spots.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: I think I had a little bit of sips of water.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: I didn't really do the Gatorade, um, but once again, so nice about running a Baltimore race is that, like the community just shows up.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: The community shows up for you and that's what's so cool and awesome about the charm of Baltimore.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Like neighborhoods and um, spectators and um, and you can tell these are literally just like a community, members that live there that are just showing up to cheer you on, not even because they have friends that are or family members that are maybe like running the race right, like that's what I love about Baltimore and races like that, and there are parts of DC that the races are like that too.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: You know, um, but that's that's why I knew that doing a course like that can be so fun and so enjoyable.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Um, and then the final push of the race is when you're coming back through Harbor East and you're kind of you around the corner by Whole Foods and you it's like a, it's another like uphill as you go to the finish line, which that was pretty brutal because, like you know, not because I was gas, but because I was like, okay, let's sprint to the end.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: And I went.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Now I'm looking back, I'm like I wish I had sprinted after the Whole Foods light.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: I think we started, like you know, really kicking it up before Whole Foods.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: So I think that's what gassed me, because I'm I was also like let me hold my phone and record and and try to run, so like holding my arm out while also trying to run, like that sucks and um, uh.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: And I remember like feeling like oh, so we crossed the line and I'm like heaving, and I could feel like myself, like oh, and I was like, oh my God, I was like Claire, please don't throw up, please don't throw up.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: But I did that like three or four times and I was like so embarrassed and I was like, oh my God, I was like.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, I was like.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: I was like I cannot throw up, I cannot throw up, um luck.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: I just kept walking and breathing and I was like please, and I was like, obviously okay, if I need to throw up, like it's fine.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: This happens to runners all the time, like, but it was like it just feel like so annoying, right, um, especially since they like called our names as soon as we like ran um across and I'm pretty sure my friend Katie said they heard them say the Columbia mom and they're like oh, can we?
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: I need to not throw up, please.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: Um, but we finished at an hour and 12 minutes, um, which, honestly, I had no goal of time, no goal of time, but I think that's pretty great.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: Um, considering that the weather wasn't like the best again, not rainy, just a little like cloudy and gray.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: Um, and just for my first race in almost 10 years, like feels pretty good.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: And um, the after party was super fun.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Um, loves checking out all the different reps trying on some Ufos sandals.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: They had charm city had like oh my God, the cutest gear.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Everything from like cute like Maryland Crab shirts, run shirts, sweatshirts, long sleeves, socks, sunglasses, like oh my God it was, and so that was really great.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: We both got a beer right afterwards, definitely hoarded up on some snacks, lots of walking around.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: No, it felt great.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: The band was good.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the longer you stood there you definitely got like chilly because, again, I think that just because of, like, the way the buildings are built.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: I just feel like it's just windy and kind of cold.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: Um, but yeah, it was, it was super fun.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: Um, you know, am I ready to do another race?
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like I'm one of those people like I'm not exactly your all or nothing kind of gal.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: You know, I feel like the door is definitely open.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: Do I feel the need to train for another race this season?
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: No, I'm okay.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: If I feel the desire to head out on a Saturday for a run, if the kids are being watched, yeah, who knows?
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: I kind of just like I'm trying to stay open minded to it.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: You know it's.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: I will say this the door is definitely open.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: It's not like, okay, I ran my race, I'm good, I'm done.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: But I'm also feel like I also don't think or feel like that I am completely done, like I am kind of intrigued.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Do I want to run another half marathon?
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: No, I'm good.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Run another half marathon?
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: No, I'm good.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: It would take a lot more convincing, I think.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: But I do love the social aspect of running.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: I do love the fun and freeness of it.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: There is this kind of idea of like mentally helping you get over different hurdles in your life.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: And you know, it does kind of force you to like go to these different parts of your brain to kind of coax your way through these different challenges, and it kind of helps you develop that grit.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean, like when things get hard, having to push through I'm not talking about pushing through when you shouldn't be pushing through, like you.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: You know when you shouldn't push through pain if you can't help it.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean Um, like get, get the help you need.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: And that's, I feel, like the biggest, like life lessons that we can learn in many ways.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: But I think there's so many beautiful things that you can learn about running through running by running, um and um.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, I gotta say this whole experience was, was really nice.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: I, I will admit I do feel proud, I am, I am happy for myself and think that it's really cool that like, oh my God, like I can do it, like I could do it then, but I can also do it now and I think that's really neat.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Yes, I do have a dog and, um, that's the unfortunate reality when he just probably ran right through my mic, so you probably caught all of that.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: But, yeah, so I don't know what's in store for me in the future, about what other races I have ahead of me, but all I do know is that I got my great running shoes, I got Charm City on my side and, lord knows, we have some beautiful running lakes and trails here in Columbia, so I'm excited to see where the path and the route might take me.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: So, um, if you ever have any questions about you know, this race that I did, the charm city runs a soul city, 10 K.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Um, feel free to hit me up, send me a DM, like or share with another mom that you know is into running or thinking about it.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Maybe use us as an encouragement for her.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: But yeah, stay tuned for the next episode.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning into this episode of Mom Talk, maryland.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: If you loved it, leave a review, share it with a friend or tag me at thecolumbiamom on Instagram.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: I'd love to hear what you think and don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Until next time, keep showing up, keep supporting local and keep being the incredible mom, woman, human that you are.