McDowell Dimity - Tales from another mother runner : triumphs, trials, tips, and tricks from the road : a collection from badass mother runners

TALES FROM ANOTHER MOTHER RUNNER: AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

I have two proudest running accomplishments. One is completing a 50-mile trail ultramarathon. It took freaking forever, but it was pure triumph to cross the line. The second is the first time I ran with all three of my children across the Golden Gate Bridge, a major milestone after years of sweating behind baby joggers. Glorious.

KRISTIN ARMSTRONG (Author of seven books including Mile Markers: The 26.2 Most Important Reasons Why Women Run ; contributing editor for Runners World ; has written for publications from Glamour to USA Today ; blogs at runnersworld.com/mile-markers-kristin-armstrong.)

Running has always been about moving through nature, going deep into the wilderness on my own two feet. Whether Im going out for a solo run in the mountains or journeying across the Grand Canyon, its an emotional journey as much as a physical one, less like training and more like traveling. Nature is so healing and restorative, give me dirt over asphalt any day.

KATIE ARNOLD (Creator of Raising Rippers blog on Outside Online; contributor to Outside , Runners World , assorted anthologies, and many national publications; at work on a memoir about ultrarunning as a path through grief; blogs at writingfromthenest.blogspot.com.)

My mantra is Just Keep Moving Forward. Those four little words have carried me through so many tough runs and racesand life events, for that matter. I look at it this way: As long as I am going forward , I will get where I need to be. Eventually. Although I have run hills so steep in my neighborhood that the mantra turned into Just Dont Fall the Hell Over. That one works, too.

MEREDITH ATWOOD (Author of Triathlon for the Every Woman ; contributor to Triathlete Magazine; blogs at SwimBikeMom.com.)

During a recent half-marathon in Chicago, an unexpected bathroom stop at around mile 7 messed up what I thought had been outstanding pace. Finally, around mile nine-ish, I felt like I was back where I should be pace-wise. Im a big fan of mantras, and said out loud at least five times: Right here. Right here. Right here. Right here. That phraseand saying it out loudreally helped me rally and finish the course, despite the potty break, in under two hours !

AMY BAILEY (Journalist for more than 16 years, with stints at The Associated Press and newspapers in suburban Philadelphia and Green Bay, Wisconsin; blogs at amytherunner.blogspot.com.)

My grandma once saw me come in from a good run on the country roads near her house and observed, I think exercise is the cure for everything. She was a wise woman, and I miss her all the time.

TERZAH BECKER (Reporter and editor at the Wall Street Journal and Denver Post before becoming a librarian.)

During the winter last year, I noticed an elderly man on my route. He was shuffling along, with an obvious and engrained limp. I saw him several more mornings after that. Impressed, I always nodded (Just Do It, Sir!) whenever I spotted him. Twice, I even snapped a runshot of him as I closed in on him. I changed routes and my running times, and lost track of my old shuffling man. A couple weekends ago this summer, I spotted him up ahead, carrying a closed umbrella. I was pulling out my phone to snap a, hey, my buddys back, pic, but decided to go one better: I stopped, introduced myself, told him hes an inspiration, and asked if he would mind if we took a selfie ( usie !) together. He obliged, and I wrapped my arm around him.

NICOLE BLADES (Journalist for 18 years and who has written for Womens Health , Cosmopolitan , MORE , ESPN the Magazine , and NYTimes.com, among others. Currently working on a new novel; her first novel, Earths Waters , was published in 2007; blogs at MsMaryMack.com.)

I PRd in a 5K on the Big Island in Hawaii. I was feeling so good about myself then in the last 100 meters, I was passed by an eight-year-old with an untied shoelace.

ALISA BONSIGNORE (Writes for healthcare and tech companies; blogs at WhatWouldBettyDo.com.)

I feel most at home on the trails in northern Michigan, and especially badass when running in tough weather. Ill take a blizzard over a scorcher any day, and running the trails during a downpour is pure bliss.

HEATHER JOHNSON DUROCHER (A former newspaper reporter for dailies in Michigan, Ohio, and Minnesota; contributor to national magazines including USA Weekend, Runners World , and Health ; blogs at michiganrunnergirl.com.)

I was so desperate for a bagel with peanut butter the morning of the Miami Half-Marathon my husband got in the service elevator at the hotel, barged uninvited into the frantic, backed-up, race-day kitchen, and got one for me. My hero.

JENNY EVERETT (Former Fitness Editor at Womens Health , health blogger at SELF ; writes a food column for Garden & Gun ; her work has also appeared in, among other places, Runners World, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Popular Science; blogs at cookingforsam.com.)

When my daughter was a year and a half old, she spotted me nearing the finish of a trail marathon before my husband or any of our friends did. Without saying a word to anybody, she grabbed a medal from someone whod finished before me and ran out onto the course, pointing and yelling Mommy! until she got my attentionand that of nearly every spectator. No raceno Ironman or TransRockies or anything else that Ive ever donehas had as sweet a finish as that one.

MARIT FISCHER (Twenty years worth of public relations and marketing copywriting; contributed to a couple of magazines that dont exist anymore; has written a childrens book that nobody but my daughter and friends will ever see.)

Reality is highly overrated when it comes to anything, but especially when it comes to running. There are times I feel like a freakin gazelle on the road. Dont dare tell me my shadow more closely resembles a walrus. Dont need to know.

JENNIFER GRAHAM (Op-ed columnist for The Boston Globe , and author of Honey, Do You Need a Ride? Confessions of a Fat Runner ; blogs at jennifergraham.com.)

I ran my first marathon in New York City in 1989, and have been going long ever sincealmost always with friends. My longest race was South Africas misleadingly named Comrades Marathon, which is actually 56 miles. My knees are fine.

TISH HAMILTON (Executive editor of Runners World ; previous editorial stints at Rolling Stone, Outside , and Sports Illustrated Women .)

I once ran a 10K sock-less because I forgot to pack my socks. I ran another one wearing cotton socks because I packed the wrong socks. Neither of these are my proudest moments.

NICOLE KNEPPER (A licensed clinical professional counselor and author of Moms Who Drink and Swear: True Tales of Loving My Kids While Losing My Mind ; contributor to numerous humor anthologies, the Washington Post , the Chicago Tribune , among others; blogs at momswhodrinkandswear.com.)

I peed in my shorts during my first 5K because my bladder muscles were not up to both the excitement and the downhills.

ADRIENNE MARTINI (Author of two memoirs: Hillbilly Gothic and Sweater Quest; blogs at martinimade.com.)

Ive always thought there should be separate age groups for mother runners. For example: age 30-34, 1 to 2 kids; age 30-34, 3 to 4 kids; age 30-34, 5+ kids. Ill start lobbying for those now that weve finished this book.

DIMITY MCDOWELL (Co-author of Run Like a Mother + Train Like a Mother and co-chief mother runner at Another Mother Runner; sports + fitness writer whose work has appeared in Real Simple, Runners World , and others.)

Four things about my running: 1. I have to chew gum while I run. 2. My husband drilled sheet metal screws into the soles of my running shoes so that I could run outside on ice. 3. I suffered from chronic pain in my lower back during my runs until I began practicing yoga. Bonus: The zen helps when living with all men! 4. I surprised myself twice in 2010 with PRs in races. I have been chasing them unsuccessfully ever since.