outdoor girl  

Run Like A Mother
A review of an inspirational and funny book
©Outdoor Adventure Canada

Run Like a Mother—How to Get Moving and Not Lose Your Family, Job or Sanity, is the inspirational journey of two women runners - Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell - who take their readers on their adventures and share stories which will inspire you and make you laugh hysterically.

One of the things I like best about Run Like a Mother is that it's directed specifically towards mothers who run; women like me. It lets us know we are not alone in our crazy passion. As a matter of fact, not only are we not alone, but we're completely normal ... there are hundreds of other crazy, fun, lovely mother runners out there.

While I was reading this book I constantly found myself nodding and wondering how they got my thoughts and feelings out of my head and onto the paper without me knowing, that's how closely I related to what the authors were saying.

The number of chapters is poetic - 26. With a short piece after each chapter entitled .2 —"a nod to the final stretch of the marathon" — the chapters represent the entire length of a marathon; 26.2 miles.

In these chapters Dimity and Sarah discuss everything from the reasons we, as mothers, run to what kind of gear is available to us and even further to more intimate topics in which only a woman can relate. They talk about running during pregnancy and post-pregnancy; they talk about fitting running into an already hectic family schedule; they even talk about marriage and their jobs and how they mash everything together to make it work.

Run Like a Mother is chalk full of helpful, practical advise. Insets titled "Take it From a Mother", "Practical Motherly Advise" and "Run Like This Mother" are filled with real women's opinions, advise and encouragement, from not just the authors, but also from other mother runners Dimity and Sarah interviewed for the book.

Sarah and Dimity have written this engaging book with such honesty and integrity; their wit and humour goes unmatched to any "how-to" running book I've read to date. It truly has inspired me to lace up my shoes and get out running more often. Run Like a Mother is not just a book, but it's also a community of women who share a common passion. You can find Sarah and Dimity posting more of their adventures frequently on both Facebook and their website, Another Mother Runner.

PS. This is one of the hardest reviews I have had to write. I wanted it to sound just right and get my feelings of the authors across clearly, but that's not why it was hard. It was hard because my 3.5 year old was helping me type. Ironic.

Contest Winners

We have our contest winners for the Run Like a Mother giveaway … Congratulations to Wendy and Terry. Here are their stories:

Why I Love Running

As a mother of three children running is the ideal activity to keep
physically and mentally well. It takes minimal effort and arranging to put on the shoes an step out the door. Running burns off 100 calories every 10 minutes, clears your head, strengthens multiple muscle groups and keeps me looking great.

As far as funny moments go my children understand that the only reason to interrupt my run with a phone call to my cell is that they just had to phone 911 a moment ago.

Wendy L. from Alhambra, Alberta

My First Half Marathon:

When I did my first half marathon with a bunch of friends we showed up to the area where it started very early. We parked and settled into a Starbucks for some breakfast and coffee. When we came out to get to the start line we realized that our car wad parked on the race course and had been towed!

Luckily the impound lot was close by so we ran to it, got the car reparked got our bibs and last minute gear and ran to the start. We arrived about 5 minutes after the last half marathon starters had crossed the start line.

Thank goodness for chips because I ran that half with my now husband and made my goal of sub 2 hrs!

Terry T. from Calgary, Alberta

Thank you to all who participated. Stay tuned, there’s a rumor flying around Outdoor Adventure Canada that we will be hosting a similar contest in March 2012 for the sequel to Run Like a Mother.

Written by Outdoor Girl Samantha Rogers