I had these grand plans on how I’d raise healthy little eaters...

Then I had Wyatt. The child who only wants to eat fruits and vegetables, and is constantly on the move. Obviously, he’s still young, but childhood obesity is now one of the furthest worries from my mind.

Getting my son to eat anything with fat in it and keep his weight up has been challenging. Most kids get plenty of fat in their diets through milk, but Wyatt will not drink milk of any kind unless it’s directly from the breast – he won’t even drink pumped breast milk anymore. He’s also not a huge cheese or yogurt fan – we went to froyo the other day and I could not get him to take a single bite! How is he my child?

I know this post won’t apply to most of you – and it’s the exact opposite of stuff I used to write back in grad school. But when you have a picky eater, one who will only eat 3-4 bites during most meals, you need to make every bite count. Here’s how I sneak in fat to my son’s diet (note: he cannot eat eggs and will not eat avocado or meat to save his life):

1. Peanut butter: I add it to smoothies and homemade muffins and breads. Wyatt won’t eat peanut butter sandwiches, but he’ll eat balls of peanut butter rolled in soft bread. For a quick snack, he just has a spoonful of peanut butter.

2. Nuts and seeds. We buy really hearty, grainy bread from local bread stores. I also add chopped almonds or sunflower seeds to his oatmeal.

3. Butter and olive oil: Wyatt is perfectly content eating veggies plain, and that’s awesome! But right now he needs the extra calories. I add butter or olive oil to all of his cooked vegetables, rice, and quinoa.

4. Full fat Greek yogurt: The only brand of Greek yogurt I’ve found that comes in full fat is Cabot. Wyatt won’t eat it on its own. I thin it out with lower fat, flavored Greek yogurt and add it to smoothies and baked goods.

5. 4% cottage cheese: Wyatt loves berries. Cottage cheese, on the other hand, he could take or leave. I give him a bowl of berries in cottage cheese. Even if he tries to avoid the curds, he still ends up eating some.

6. Milk. I can get my son to drink about 4oz of a smoothie (throughout the whole day) when I make it with coconut milk. I also make oatmeal with milk instead of water, and I soak his Puffins in milk before giving them to him to snack on (a bonus: they’re easier for him to chew this way, too).

7. Cheese. I add shredded cheese to broccoli and peas – he usually picks up some of the cheese when he goes to grab the veggie. I make small portions of quesadillas and grilled cheese – maybe 1/4 tortilla and a half piece of bread. But I use a normal amount of cheese. The cheese to bread ratio is a insane, but it works.

I know a lot of these seem backwards. Most parents add butter or cheese to veggies to make the vegetable seem more appealing – not the other way around! These tricks have been working for us, though. I won’t know his official stats until his 18 month checkup next week, but I weighed him on our scale yesterday and if that number is accurate, he’s in the 20/25th percentile!

Does anyone else have a picky eater? How do you add fat to his or her diet? I’ve also heard of other parents cooking veggies in cream-based soups. I haven’t tried that because most soups contain carrots and Wyatt is allergic to them.

I learned a lot about doing Disney with a baby, though!

Disney perks for babies:

I don’t think I need to convince anyone that Disney is a great place to bring young children – they cater to families of all ages! Kids under 3 can get into the parks for free. Disney knows what parents of young children need, and they offer some pretty nice perks:

1. Baby care centers: There is one baby care center in each of the four parks – next to the first aid station near Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom, in the Odyssey in EPCOT, inside Guest Relations at the entrance of Hollywood Studios, and between the Tree of Life building and bridge to Africa in Animal Kingdom. These care centers are awesome. They offer an air-conditioned place to change and feed your baby. Complete with kitchens with microwaves to heat up food or formula, play areas for older children, and baby necessities – diapers, wipes, food, and pacifiers – available for purchase. Some care centers even have private rooms with rocking chairs for nursing.

2. Rider switch: Disney’s rider switch is awesome. From Disney’s website:

3. Babies can join you on the rides. You can let your baby ride on your lap on any ride that doesn’t have a height requirement or safety belt. Dumbo, Jungle Cruise, It’s a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, and Buzz Lightyear are some baby-friendly rides at Magic Kingdom.

4. Restaurants will purée food. We had to meet with the chef before every meal because of Wyatt’s food allergies (side note: Disney is super accommodating when it comes to food allergies). They always offered to purée food for him.

5. There are babysitters available (for a fee): For babies older than 6 months, Disney offers in-room childcare services through an independent childcare provider, Kids Night Out. So mom and dad can enjoy a date night (or race!). Or, you could just invite Grammy and Grampy to come along on your vacation. I guarantee they’ll have a good time!

6. Characters: Wyatt was scared of the characters during our first trip, but loved them during our second. I highly recommend scheduling a character meal or finding your favorite characters in the parks. It was so much fun to watch him interact with his new furry friends.

My tips:

1. Wipe down everything the minute you walk into your hotel room. If you only listen to one tip, please let it be this one! Wyatt got norovirus in Disney – which resulted in a trip to the ER, a missed marathon and Goofy medal for me, and a very, very horrible two hours of nurses and doctors not being able to get an IV in my dehydrated little boy. I never want any parent to go through that, let alone on vacation. I was dumb and didn’t wipe down everything immediately upon entering the room. I should have cleaned the remote, door and drawer handles, edges of the table, phone, doorstops, and everything else Wyatt likes to chew on. Note: I do not think norovirus was Disney’s fault at all. It was a really big year for the illness and it’s super contagious, especially if you’re 13 months old and put everything in your mouth.

“Hey mom, watch me get norovirus!”

2. Take advantage of morning extra magic hours. Most days, Disney parks don’t open until 9:00 am – peak morning nap time for a lot of babies! If you stay on property, one park per day opens an hour earlier as part of extra magic hours. If you have an early riser like we do, getting to the park by 8am is no problem.

A bonus: parks aren’t as crowded in the early mornings.

3. Mind nap time. My son cannot skip naps and be expected to function well. Maybe yours can, so I guess this tip is more about knowing your baby. We knew that Wyatt can do well if he takes a short morning nap and long afternoon nap. If we waited until his midday awake time to head to the parks (he could only be awake for about 3- 3.5 hours tops back then), we would have really been pushing it and pressed for time. Instead, we hit the parks when they opened, let him take his morning snooze on the go, and headed back to the hotel after lunch so he could take a long afternoon nap in his crib.

4. Bring a stroller and a carrier. So far, Wyatt has napped in his stroller three times in his life. We ideally wanted him to nap in his stroller at the parks, but knew that probably wouldn’t happen. So we packed the Ergo too, and it did the trick. Note: if you’re in Disney for a runDisney event, strollers are not allowed in the expo. Bring those carriers!

5. Don’t overlook what the resorts have to offer. Wyatt was still a super crank at 9 months old, so we were not about to spend money on park tickets. Instead, we splurged on the hotel – we stayed at the Polynesian – and spent a lot of time there. Babies are allowed in resort pools (with swim diapers of course), and the Poly has a water play area which he loved. For the two days we were there, enjoying the resort and Downtown Disney was more than enough to do.

6. Consider getting a car. One of the perks of staying on property is the free bus service between the resorts and the parks. Unfortunately, sometimes the buses take a while and make multiple stops – it can literally take an hour between the time you leave your room and when you arrive at your destination. This is an eternity in baby time. In January, we had a car and it made things a lot easier. Note: most airlines allow you to check or gate check carseats for free.

7. Request a crib. Usually when you request a crib, you get a pack n’ play, which isn’t so great if your baby knows how to knock them over. Disney has cribs though – we landed one in January, but not September. Request it all over your reservation, cross your fingers, and pray you may get one!

Who else has done Disney with a baby? Share your tips below!

I predict my Dumbo medal will win for my cutest medal ever. And also? Wyatt will steal it.

I could not fathom officially training for that long, but I am starting to think about training plans for these races. I’d like to officially start training for Dumbo at 12 weeks out – so in 3 weeks. I’ll need to keep NYCM in mind when I choose my Dumbo training plan since they’ll overlap for a few weeks. This isn’t a huge deal -- it just means I’ll have to do runs longer than 12mi towards the end of my Dumbo training.

Normally, I don’t stress much about training plans. I just plug my numbers into Runner’s World’s Smartcoach and loosely follow that. But I need a change. Smartcoach is not working for me lately. I haven’t raced well in 6 long months.

This is likely not Smartcoach’s fault. Rather, it’s user error. I was sick for a lot of December and January, so using my old paces for a training plan wasn’t my wisest move. It’s also probably what lead to my IT band woes in March and April.

Hmmm. Not my best training cycle!

Still, I think I want to try something new for Dumbo and NYCM. I really want to PR in the Disneyland half (I’m just going to take it slow in the 10k) and the marathon.

The training plan I choose has to meet the following requirements:

• 4 days of running per week, including 1-2 days of speedwork per week.
• 2 days of cross-training per week (I have a sprint tri in September after all).
• 2 days of yoga or lifting per week, likely combined with my cross-training or easy run days.
• 1 day completely OFF per week.
• Low mileage. I don’t want to go over 40mpw for marathon training to prevent injury. I’ve never been a high mileage runner and don’t want to start now… or ever.
• Two 20 milers. One seems like too few, three seems like too many. Two is just right!
• Flexibility. I usually have no problem getting all of my runs in, but they don’t always happen on the planned days.

Here are my thoughts for training plans:

1. Hal Higdon Intermediate Marathon training plan. I’d have to tweak this a bit. I’d need to add 3 more weeks to make ample time to train for Dumbo. I’d also replace one run per week with cross-training.

Oddly enough, Hal’s plan calls for a half and a full 9 weeks apart – the exact amount of time between Dumbo and NYCM.

Pros: There are only two 20 milers, and after I replace one run per week with cross-training, the max mpw peaks at 43mi. Not too far off my goal.

Cons: No speedwork or pacing guidelines. I could try to combine it with Hal’s advanced marathon training 1 program, but that plan calls for 6 days of running per week so I feel like merging the plans could get sloppy. Plus, there is nothing “advanced” about my marathon skills!

2. Runner’s World Smartcoach. I could go back to my old tried and true training buddy, but use a new recent race time instead of going by my old paces.

Smartcoach thinks way too highly of me. A 3:30 marathon?! Hahaha.

Pros: I know Smartcoach can work. It allows you to adjust it as you go, and you can make the plan for as long as you want. You can even customize your training intensity level – moderate, hard, or very hard. I usually choose “hard”.

Cons: I’d have to run a race in a few weeks. Paying to run a race when I’m out of shape does not thrill me. True, I could do a fake “race” around my ‘hood, but I know I wouldn’t perform as well. Besides, I kind of want to try a new training approach this go around.

3. Hire a running coach. I’ve been toying with this idea for a while. It would definitely have to be a virtual running coach because I don’t have the time to meet up with someone on a weekly basis. A lot of my favorite bloggers are Road Runners Club of America certified running coaches. I’ve been curious to see what they have to offer.

Pros: My own personal cheerleader! I haven’t had a running coach since high school, and this may be just what I need to take my training up a notch. I also may stick to my plan better because I wouldn’t want to let someone else down.

Cons: The price. I don’t know if I can justify spending that kind of money when I know how to create a training plan myself.  Can a running coach really guarantee that they can create a better plan for me? Will a running coach allow me to be flexible with my training? The pressure of not letting someone else down may also get to me.

How do you guys choose training programs? What are your favorite plans? Have you ever worked with a running coach? Was it worth it? Is there anyone you recommend? Thank you SO much for the help!

So, I feel that it’s necessary that I share my thoughts about my newest running gadget. This post is not sponsored by Garmin.

The short version – I’m not a fan of this Garmin. Keep in mind that I don’t use the fancy functions that come with it – like the virtual pacer or auto lap options, for instance – I just want to know my overall time, pace, and distance.

It’s not all bad, though. I really am a Garmin fan. I got the Forerunner 10 because my old Garmin – the Forerunner 305– wasn’t holding it’s battery well anymore. I had it for three years and used it 4-5 times a week. I loved the 305 abd felt like I got my money’s worth out of it, so I didn’t think twice about buying another Garmin. I had been eyeing sleeker styles and heard good things about the Forerunner 10.

Pros:

• It’s pretty! In addition to neon green, it also comes in bright pink, purple, orange, and black.
• It’s light and not bulky like the 305. I’d always take off my 305 immediately after a race because it was so big and uncomfortable.
• It can be worn as a watch.
• It has a pretty long battery life. It supposedly lasts about 5 hours if used continuously. I usually charge it every week and a half or so – which is about 30 miles or 255 minutes.

Cons:

• It takes forever to locate the satellite. Forever! I gave up after 16 minutes once on a sunny day. Other times, it’s shut itself off because it was searching for satellite for so long. My other Garmin always took a few minutes, too, so I’d place it outside, go in and put my shoes on, come out, and it was always ready in time. That never happens with this one. I find this really strange – I’d think a newer model would locate the satellite more quickly?
• It doesn’t seem as accurate distance-wise. When I started using this Garmin, all of my runs were coming up a bit short. I thought I was remembering my routes incorrectly or something. This past weekend, I ran with my friend on a 4mi course I know like the back of my hand. She wore her Forerunner 10 and when we hit what I know was 4 miles, her Garmin only said it was 3.75ish. Granted, it was a shady route, but that’s still a huge discrepancy. Plus, my old Garmin always got this course accurate. This makes no sense to me because I’d think all Garmins would use the same satellite?
• You have to toggle between screens – and wait – to see all of your stats. This Garmin doesn’t display time elapsed, distance, and pace on the same screen like my old Garmin. I usually run with time and distance displayed, and have to toggle the screen to see my pace. I didn’t think this would be a big deal but the Garmin pauses for a second and there’s an extra screen that tells you what the next screen will show before it actually displays your pace. Waiting those few extra seconds is annoying and unsafe when I’m running with the jogging stroller.
• You can only charge it by plugging it into your computer (ETA: unless you have a wall USB charger -- which I didn't know existed until you guys told me in the comments!). Maybe I’m the weird one, but I never charged my old Garmin using my computer – it’s just so much easier to plug it into the wall (I never upload any workouts so my Garmin is never near my computer). This is a hassle, especially when I’m traveling.

Who else has the Forerunner 10? What are your thoughts? I hate to give such a negative review, but I regret the purchase and don’t want anyone else to make the same mistake.

Flying alone with my son: one of my top two least favorite mommy duties. The other is cutting his nails.

I want to point out that my biggest concern when flying with Wyatt is keeping him happy. At the risk of sounding rude, I really don’t care what the other passengers think. I cannot control what someone else thinks of me, so I don’t worry about it. Of course, I do my best to keep Wyatt from kicking the seat in front of us or climbing on other passengers. But when he’s screaming and crying I’m not thinking, “please stop crying because I don’t want you to bother other people.” I’m thinking, “please stop crying because I’m your mom, and I hate seeing you upset and uncomfortable.” I think giving other passengers treats or offering to buy them drinks is unnecessary, and it would create more of a hassle when I’m already stressed.

Here are my tips (also check out my 10 tips for flying with a baby):

1. Get a window seat. I usually opt for a window, but the agent moved me to an aisle because it was the only seat on the plane with an empty seat next to it. Huge mistake. Maybe this would be OK on a longer flight if you plan to walk around with baby (I don’t like the idea of walking around with him in case of unexpected turbulence), but we found the aisle seat to be unsafe. My son jumped backwards out of arms at takeoff. Not fun.

2. Test out apps beforehand. A lot of people suggested fun, toddler apps. I downloaded them, but didn’t show them to Wyatt before the flight because I thought something new would hold his interest better. Well, he wasn’t into them at all. Lesson learned! I tested out a couple apps yesterday and made sure he approved of them. (He loves Peekaboo Barn!)

3. Bring night-night supplies. I carried on Wyatt’s lovey and blankie in hopes that it would make him think it’s time to go to sleep. He didn’t nap, but he did lay on me and snuggle his head into his blanket for a while.

A+A swaddle blanket. One of our most-used baby items!

4. Read lots of books. The only time Wyatt is content sitting still is when we’re reading books. Sure, carrying a lot of books through the airport is borderline crazy, but if it works! I carried on two bags to make more room for books.

5. Ask the flight attendant to take away everything in the seat pocket. Wyatt either wanted to eat the magazines and emergency info card or throw it on the floor over and over again. I simply asked the flight attendant to take them away, he did, and then I put Wyatt’s books in their spot.

6. Organize your diaper bag. Is anyone else’s diaper bag a black hole? I cannot keep that thing organized to save my life. I divided the stuff in the diaper bag into three categories -- diapers/wipes/changing pad, toys, and food – and used a huge ziploc bag to keep stuff separated. It’s much easier to find a pack of Mum-mums this way! I only kept these items in my diaper bag and stored other necessities – a change of clothes for me and him, book, and blankets  – in another carryon.

7. Arrive at the airport on the later side. I know this goes against common sense, but hear me out. If I was flying with another adult, I would have loved to chase Wyatt through the airport while the other person sat with the stroller and luggage. But when flying alone, I cannot let Wyatt run through the airport. He won’t walk holding my hand and he certainly won’t stay in a little corner and play there if I happen to find an empty spot. In my perfect world, I’d get through security, make a pit-stop in the bathroom for a quick diaper change, and arrive at the gate when the plane was boarding. I had about 25 minutes to spare last time, and 20 of those minutes were not fun!

8. Ask for help. I’ve lucked out the few other times I flew alone -- someone always offered to collapse or open Wyatt’s stroller for me. This time, no one did and I could not keep my son next to me and fold the stroller at the same time. I asked one of the people boarding at the same time for help, and he happily obliged. The worst someone can say is “no”.

Does anyone have any other tips? I also prefer early flights. Not because I think he’ll sleep, more so I don’t dread the trip all day long. It’s like ripping off a bandaid – I just like getting it over with!

My son has been needing my attention around the clock which means work has taken a back seat. This cost me to lose a pretty lucrative freelancing gig. It made me really angry at first, but I guess I can’t blame the company. Now I know why it’s so much harder for women to get ahead in the workforce.

When it rains, it pours. At least the weather matches my mood.

Some other personal stuff has been going on, too, and I’ve basically turned into a toddler. I’m overtired, a huge grump, and acting like everything is such a big deal.

But it’s really not. It was a (slow, rainy) run yesterday that gave me a dose of perspective and brought me back down to Earth. I’m so, so lucky that I have a little guy with a croupy cough keeping me up at night. I’m a mom! Me. I am so thankful for this sick little boy. And he’s really all that matters.

Wyatt loves the “baa baas”. He’s going to be bummed when they won’t fit in his suitcase.

Mother’s Day is something I don’t take lightly. It’s a big deal. I’m excited because being stuck in NJ means I’ll get to celebrate with my moms and some other women in my family. But, as always, I’ll be saying a prayer for all the women who long to be moms and for everyone who has lost their moms. I can’t imagine how hard this day is for you all.

Happy mother’s day to all the special mamas in my life, especially my mom and all of my mommy friends -- both in real life and online -- I seriously don’t know what I’d do without you guys!

I hope you all get the pampering and appreciation you deserve this Mother’s Day!

“Ramblin Rose produces events for women that inspire and empower families”. The races are all over the Carolinas, and their flagship events are triathlons.

I’ll be participating in the Charlotte Triathlon on September 22, 2013. I am so excited and nervous! It’ll only be my third triathlon ever, and my first tri in over three years.

The race is a sprint distance consisting of a 250 yard swim, 9 mile bike ride, and 2 mile run.

Even though I haven’t swam since the day before I went into labor (way back in November ‘11) and haven’t rode my bike outside since my 30th birthday (in March ‘12 – we got caught in a hailstorm, so I declared I was never biking again), I’m confident that I have plenty of time to prepare for this race. I’m even thinking ahead to time goals. Maybe I can do it in under an hour? I think my transitions may kill me, though.

The cool thing about Ramblin Rose events is that they’re made for beginners.

Since it’s been so long since my last tri, I truly feel like a beginner again. I remember how scared I was before getting in the water for my first race – I was literally shaking from nerves.

I think this picture sums it up.

But, honestly, I had nothing to worry about. I had so much fun during the race! The only negative was that the maters men started after the novice women, so men were passing me left and right in the swim, and it got a bit nerve-wracking at times.

Luckily, I won’t have to worry about that happening at Ramblin Rose. The race directors try really hard to seed swimmers based on their ability level – and you don’t have to guess your ability when you register. They don’t ask you to rate your ability until packet pickup because they know that depending on how training goes, your predicted time could change.

I also love that the race is all women. I never gave women’s focused events much thought before running Princess this year, but it was a blast. There’s something about being surrounded by other giddy women that really gets me excited. Girls just want to have fun, right?

Is anyone else doing a Ramblin Rose event? If you’re on the fence about it, I encourage you to register – I honestly think this would be a great first tri for anyone, and you have plenty of time to train. If you’re doing Charlotte, I’d love to meet up beforehand!

Disclosure: as a blog ambassador, Ramblin Rose is generously paying for my registration fee. As always, all opinions are my own.

It was a pretty weird race -- for me personally, not because of anything the NJ Marathon organizers did. They were actually great! This was hands down one of the most well-organized races I’ve ever run. I was expecting chaos. Since Boston, we runners have been receiving a lot of new rules updates from the race directors. The course isn’t a loop, spectators and runners weren’t allowed on the same bus (at least that was my understanding), and in previous years, there was horrific traffic getting to the start. I had no idea how I’d find my dad after the race or how we’d get to the race without sitting in traffic for at least an hour. But it couldn’t have gone better.*

I was also really impressed by the increased security. There were police officers and dogs everywhere. It was odd to see so much law enforcement presence at the race – especially when the loud helicopters were circling overhead for the first few miles – but I appreciated it. This sadly is becoming the new norm everywhere.

Anyway, onto the race! It was pretty chilly and windy – only about 40 degrees at the start. I did not check the weather the day before – umm clearly I took this “no pressure” racing approach a little too far – and regretted only wearing shorts and a long-sleeve tech tee. It was not enough clothes for me. I heard a few other runners commenting on the “great” weather, but I couldn’t feel my fingers until mile 7. I guess I need to accept that I’m becoming a southerner. Sigh.

I hung out with Steph before the start and tried not to whine about being cold too much. We lined up right behind the 1:50 pacer. I had no clue what I’d run for this race, and that was her goal time, so we huddled together until it was go time.

Then I took off because I’m crazy and thought I was fast. But then I remember that I’m not! The first 6ish miles were a mental struggle. I felt strong and though I could push harder, but I kept reminding myself to hold back since I was super undertrained. Still, I knew from the race clocks that I was holding a 8:10ish pace and thought I’d have no problem finishing sub-1:50.

Ha. I actually did set a PR in this race. I shattered my old record of 2 bathroom stops in a race! Once again, since it was just a “for fun” race, I did not watch my diet closely enough in the days beforehand and really paid for it. Lesson learned. I was so mad at myself. But I was also happy to be running a large race where there were plenty of portapotties. Every time I saw another bathroom opportunity, I swore to myself I’d never run a small race again for that reason.

Thanks to my not-so-awesome stomach, I knew by mile 10ish that this would be one of my slowest halves in a while, but I was surprisingly OK with that. I really, really love the Long Branch half course – not quite as much as the old loop course, but this one is still good. It’s flat, goes through quaint neighborhoods, and has awesome spectators. I saw Theodora, Danielle, and some other friends in the final few miles and it was really wonderful! I was feeling gross so it was great seeing familiar faces. Every time someone cheered my name, I ran a little harder and felt a little lighter. Spectators really are what separates racing from running.

The last 2 miles were the most challenging for me. I was feeling better and, as we made the left off Brighton Ave. to run alongside the beach my friends I used to go to, I kind of lost it. The wind was strong at this point, and it was hard for me to see the destroyed boardwalk.

I’ve been trying to avoid seeing Sandy damage since I’ve been home because it’s so upsetting, but I couldn’t ignore it here. But after a few minutes, I just felt thankful. I’ve been angry about Sandy and Boston and during this race, there were constant reminders of both events. But I just felt grateful that the Jersey Shore and running community are recovering and moving forward. I wasn’t running well, but in that moment there was no where else I wanted to be.

I crossed the finish in 1:51:49. Not my slowest, not my fastest, but given the circumstances, I’m proud of the race.

Thank you so much to the NJ marathon and Long Branch half organizers. I’ll be back to run every year that I can! Maybe one year I’ll even do the full… maybe.

*I’m sharing getting-to-the-start details so people who run this race in the future know what to do: we avoided route 36 to get to Monmouth Park. If you get off the Parkway at exit 105, I highly suggest taking back roads to the race track. We sat in a little bit of traffic, but not nearly as much as we did in ‘09 on route 36. My dad easily dropped me off at Monmouth Park and he parked – for free along a side street -- near the finish at Ocean Place Resort. I ran with my phone, called him after I finished, he picked me up 5 minutes later, and we took roads that were already re-opened to race traffic home. Super easy!

It’s funny, I ran this race as my first half seven years ago. I was in a similar boat – injured and undertrained. I remember lining up on the start and just praying. I was petrified I wouldn’t be able to finish. I had no idea how I’d ever meet up with my parents if I had to drop out of the race at mile 8 (umm, why didn’t I think to run with a cell phone?).

Once the race started, I repeated to myself the whole way “just keep running, don’t stop”. It worked. I didn’t walk until the finish line. My knee killed as soon as I stopped running (I had a torn meniscus and took the next 3 months off from running). But I didn’t care. I was a half marathoner. It was a huge deal to me. I finished in 2:00:40. But the time didn’t matter. I ran 13.1 miles. Without stopping! And I had fun the entire way!

In 2009, I ran the race for a second time. It was pouring, cold, and I was, once again, undertrained. Somehow the race and course were just as enjoyable as I remembered and I ended up knocking out a 5 minute PR – 1:50:25. It was that performance that made me “get serious” about running. Before that, I never did speedwork, ran with a watch, or closely followed a training plan, so I wanted to see what I was capable of.

This year, I was going to run Long Branch again as my PR race. My dream of sub-1:40 was finally going to happen on the course that I loved so much. It was even going to be more meaningful this year because of Sandy (check out this NY Times article on Sandy and the race that I was interviewed for – it’s not completely accurate but still good). The last race I ran in NJ was in Seaside two weeks before the storm.

RIP Seaside. That picture is not easy to look at.

I really wanted to run this race well, but that’s not going to happen. I haven’t run more than 8 miles in a month nor have I done any speedwork. I’m past the point in my running career where PRs magically happen. Truth be told, I’d be lucky to even break 1:50 on Sunday.

And I’m OK with that. When I’m at the start on Sunday, I’m going to channel that same girl who lined up at her first half marathon there 7 years ago. She didn’t have a Garmin, she didn’t analyze her splits, or even notice the clocks on the course. She just wanted to run and finish the race – she had fun and was so proud of herself.

So, I’m not stressing. I’m not charging my Garmin, I won’t take a Gu at exactly mile 7.5, and I don’t care about my pre-race rituals. I’m even running with my BFF the day before the race and I have never run the day before a half. This race is just going to be about fun! Which is how they all should be.

I dress my son in purple. It looks good on him. When people tell me “she is so cute” I don’t correct them.

Wyatt drops his food on the floor, picks it up, and eats it. I encourage this behavior.

Once, after Wyatt had eaten nothing all day, I was feeling desperate. So I gave him an M&M. Then 5 more. He loved them.

I’ve never brushed Wyatt’s hair. I don’t even own a baby comb or brush.

I’ve put my son to sleep on his stomach since he was 9 weeks old.

Super Why comes on at 9:00am and Chuggington comes on at 1:30pm on weekdays. If we’re home, I turn the TV on.

Dancing to the Chuggington theme song. It’s catchy. I would know because it’s always in my head…

I also let Wyatt watch the below video on my phone almost every day. This plus the aforementioned TV shows sometimes equals more than 30 minutes of screen time per day.

I've stood back while he’s slammed his fingers in drawers and doors.

I try to avoid putting him in his highchair for meals. He always eats more when he's allowed to graze all day.

My 17 month old still nurses and I have no plans of weaning him anytime soon.

Your turn! What do you let your kids do that other people say you “shouldn’t’? I think that’s the beauty of motherhood – there are millions of ways to do it right.