Posted on by allisonclegg15

Well I survived!

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t easy. And well there were a few miles were it wasn’t even all the fun but damn it, I did it! On Saturday, exactly 4 months and 3 days after giving birth to Samuel I finished my tenth full marathon.

Me before the start.

Here are a few of the take aways:

  • Training is no longer optional. I’ve GOT to train.
  • You will cry if you think you are running mile 25 and it turns out you’ve actually been running mile 24.
  • If you feel great at mile 18 (when you haven’t properly trained) mile 20 may break you. Honestly, it was SO bad!
  • Having family cheer you on is the best feeling!
  • Seeing your son after being apart for 7 hours is AMAZING! (Longest we’ve been apart.)
  • I’m very thankful I have the Chicago marathon on my schedule because I’m not sure I’d sign up for another yet.
Posted on by allisonclegg15

2 AM

Well… the dreaded 4-month sleep retention has started I believe. My little guy has been sleeping pretty much through the night since he was a month and a half or two months old. I will say, while I wasn’t thrilled to be awoken and the dreams that followed weren’t exactly welcomed, there continues to be something sweet and magical about these late night feedings.

My son’s star lights, my 2 AM view.

I’ve been reading to my guy since we came home from the hospital but after one too many rereading of Dr. Seuss, I decided to switch things up. I mean, at just a few days old, he’s just hearing the world and the book was probably more just something to keep me awake. Anyway, we started a nonfiction book-26 Marathons by Meb Keflezighi and Scott Douglas. I mean, by this time, I knew I was running two marathons throughout the course of the year and well, if you are from a marathoning family you know you just have to accept it. My little guy accepted it.

If you haven’t read this book, stop what you are doing and read it!

During each feeding, we read about another marathon and I’d tell him a story I knew about the race or stories from watching my dad and uncle run them. Then, the best part of having a February baby, we watched both Boston and London on tv. I’m new to this motherhood thing but I’m loving the memories we are making along the way!

Watching the Boston Marathon

**Side note: while I may have written this at 2 AM, I waited until the morning to post it.

Posted on by allisonclegg15

12 Days!?!?

Way back in October a marathon sounded like a wonderful idea. In January, it sounded like a great way to lose my pregnancy weight. When I got the “Only six weeks til race day” email, things started to change. I distinctly remember looking at my then 2 month old and saying, “I should have done the half.” Now, my tenth marathon is just 12 days away and I can safely say, I’m already praying to the marathon gods for forgiveness…

On race day, my little dude will be 3 days past 4 months old. No, I didn’t run while I was pregnant-the little guy didn’t appreciate the jostling. Yes, I got lucky with a fairly uncomplicated just under 26-hour labor. No, I didn’t start running immediately-I took a couple of weeks off, I just walking. Yes, I have an awesome baby who is “go with the flow” and likes napping in his jogging stroller. But no, no I didn’t prepare like I needed too. I can blame it on the weather—rainiest spring EVER! I can blame it on it being really hard to find time between breastfeeding sessions every 2, maybe 2 1/2 hours. But really, let’s be honest, I could have made it work but I didn’t. Now, I just have to hope my body remembers how to do it and the Marathon Gods don’t take this as a personal affront.

We started strong. This was after a run this March!