Ding, Ding, Ding: Who S Ready for Round Three?

MOTHER RUNNER SURVEY #2: FILL THIS OUT IF YOUR LAST NAME STARTS WITH THE LETTER “K” THROUGH “P”

Ding, ding, ding: Who’s ready for round three?

In case you didn’t have the pleasure of filling out a survey for our first two books— Run Like a Mother and Train Like a Mother—let us give you the 4-1-1 on how this works. We send you a bunch of questions (see below), you answer the ones that you feel like answering (or apply to you), and you send it back to us. CLIFFS NOTES FOR THIS PARAGRAPH: YOU DON’T HAVE TO ANSWER EVERY QUESTION.

A little more info: by filling out this survey, you are agreeing to let us use the information in our third mother runner book (title still TBD). We typically use these answers for sidebars called “Take it from a mother,” where we do not print last names. CLIFFS NOTES FOR THIS PARAGRAPH: YOU ARE GIVING US THE LEGAL RIGHT TO USE THE MATERIAL YOU SEND US.

But we’re just using these answers for the sidebars this time. This third book is going to be a collection of sorts of another mother runner stories, tips, tales, and advice; if we end up in a situation where we’re going to run something longer or we’d like to have more information from you in re: your running story, a race tip, whatever, we’ll connect with you again and make sure everything is cool with you before the book goes to print. CLIFFS NOTES FOR THIS PARAGRAPH: THIS BOOK IS ALL ABOUT THE MOTHER RUNNER COMMUNITY, SO DON’T HOLD BACK: WE NEED A BUNCH OF GREAT STORIES, TIPS, ADVICE.

Last thing: Because we know your time is valuable, we decided to divide the surveys up three ways this time. You’ll see the survey number at the very top of this page. Survey 1: for last names starting with A-J Survey 2: for last names starting with K-P Survey 3: for last names starting with Q-Z CLIFFS NOTES FOR THIS PARAGRAPH: PLEASE BE SURE YOU’RE FILLING OUT THE RIGHT SURVEY.

MOST IMPORTANT THING: PLEASE RETURN THIS SURVEY AS A .DOC OR .DOCX TO [email protected] BY JANUARY 4, 2014.

Thanks in advance, all: can’t wait to this party started! Dimity + Sarah CLIFFS NOTES FOR THIS PARAGRAPH: HAVE WE TOLD YOU LATELY THAT WE LOVE YOU? Your name:

Your email address:

Where do you live?

Your birthday, including year:

Number of kids (It’s cool if you just have the four-legged kind, or none at all…):

Age of kids in 2013:

1. At what age did you start running?

2. Why did you start running?

3. Describe your weekly running schedule: how many miles, how often do you go?

4. If you feel comfortable, can you please give us a couple of your PR’s? (Any race distance is fine, but please include distance.)

5. Do you remember your first mile of continuous running? What did it feel like?

6. Tell us about your running road; we’d love a brief recap of your running story—speedbumps and all.

7. What parts of running make you smile?

8. What is the most challenging thing about running for you?

9. What is your proudest running moment? (Brag away!)

10. Three words that describe your running:

11. Crossfit, PD90X, Insanity, the like: do you do them? If so, how often? How have they enhanced your running?

12. Do you work on your mental toughness? If so, how? If not, why not?

13. If you’ve been running for more than a year or so, how has your running evolved?

14. What piece of advice would you give to a beginning runner? 15. If you’re a solo parent all or most of the time, how do you get in your runs?

16. What’s the strongest part of your body? How did it get that way?

17. What’s the weakest part of your body?

18. Have you ever had a bad encounter with a stranger while running?

19. What’s the worst night you’ve had before a race?

20. How often do you run on a treadmill? If you run on it regularly, what’s your favorite workout?

21. Biggest TMI—too much information—moment around something running- related. Lay it on us (and let us know if you want to keep you anonymous… happy to).

22. Do you think balance is achievable in life as a mother runner?

23. Do you have a favorite quote from a runner or athlete?

24. Got a crazy/weird/awful race story you want to share?

25. Did you run while pregnant?

26. If so, any tips or ideas for others who want to run through pregnancy?

27. If not, why did you opt not to run during pregnancy? (No apologies necessary, BTW…)

28. Do you have a mantra? What is it and when do you typically use it?

29. Do you run with a dog? If so, tell us a bit about your four-legged pal.

30. Are you in peri-menopause or menopause? How’s that working for your running?

31. Fill in the blank: If I weren’t a mother runner, I’d be…

FAVORITES ROUND Tell us about your favorite: Pair of shoes: Sports bra: Race: Running weather: Run distance: Race distance: Running workout: Time of day to run: Breakfast to eat before a race: Pre-race dinner: Treat after a long or hard run: Song that pumps me up: Song lyric that applies to my running: Song I don’t tell anybody I listen to when I’m running: Running buddy:

PHYSICAL AILMENTS ROUND Have you experienced any of these? If so, any tips or cures that could help other mother runners? Feel free to go into detail about both your issues and your tips. Asthma Irritable Bowel Syndrome Urine Leak Black Toenails IT Band Friction Syndrome Stress Fractures Plantar Fasciitis Shin Splints Runner’s Knee Achilles Tendonitis Lower Back Pain Hip Issues Anemia Depression Post-Race Blues Post-Partum Depression Ovarian cysts Fibroids Hysterectomy Chafing PMS C-Section (not an ailment, but how did you recover?) Side Stitches Bloating (while running) Difficulty (breathing on the run) Stomach woes (on the run)

OTHER IMPORTANT AILMENTS ROUND Have you experienced any of these? If so, any tips or cures that could help other mother runners? Feel free to go into detail about both your issues and your tips. Unsupportive Spouse Divorce Sleep-Challenged Children Complaining/Bored Kids in a Stroller Running-Related Guilt Stinky Clothes General Lethargy Loss of Mojo During a Training Cycle Comparison Perfectionism Burnout Disappointing Race Result