“Just breathe. Take three deep breaths because you are three years old.”  This is what I say to my son when he is angry, frustrated or just plain too excited.  Usually after he takes his third deep breaths (properly), he has either calmed down enough to have a conversation or is ready to go onto the next activity. Like any three year old, he repeats back to me what I say to him. So one day my husband and I were having a heated discussion and he turned to us and said, “Calm down. There are other ways to handle this situation. Just breathe.”  At that moment, my husband and I were no longer fighting because we were laughing too hard. But, my son has a point. So the next time I got angry and needed to calm myself, I thought to myself just breathe. Except, I decided to take 38 deep breaths for 38 years old; take the number of breaths based on your age. Low and behold by the time I got to 20 breaths I was calmed down; 38 deep breaths takes a hell of a long time.  No, I do not do this every time; some times I cannot think that fast. But I realized when I do, the “situation” is not as bad as I thought or I am able to handle myself and my emotions better. In light of everything going on around us, I wonder if we all took the number of breaths that is equivalent to our age, if perhaps, we would have far less angry people in the world.  Or if nothing else, we learn a new technique to control our immediate impulses. Seriously, try it!  You will find in most circumstances you will have...

  By Stephanie Maziejka Touch. It means something different to each of us. It is nearly impossible to live life without touch. We touch and are touched every day. We hug when we are happy and we hug when we are sad. The same action can convey very different emotions. Yet in today’s society touch is almost taboo. The media covers stories of negative touch so frequently that in our minds touch is a bad thing. Touch has the power to transfer emotion and intent and we must learn when and what kind of touch is acceptable. My mission as a Massage Therapist is to educate about touch and its amazing benefits for the mind, body, and spirit. In my monthly posts, I will be discussing touch as it relates to different demographics and giving you tips on how to use and introduce touch to your family! Infant Massage is a great place to start talking about touch since the best way to ensure a healthy lifestyle is to introduce healthy habits at a young age! Infant Massage focuses on providing nurturing touch to promote bonding and attachment between you and your baby. An Infant Massage class or session is facilitated by a Certified Educator of Infant Massage (that’s me!) with parents being the ones to administer the massage strokes to baby.  The massage itself is compiled of techniques taken from Swedish massage, Indian Massage, Reflexology, and Yoga. In addition to the strokes Infant Massage teaches baby behavioral states and body cues to help parent’s better respond to their newborns. It is a lot more empowering as a parent to look at your little one and know he’s sleepy than to run through a checklist of a thousand possibilities as to why your sweet...

If you have not signed up for a race for Mother’s Day weekend yet, we have more than 50 stroller friendly races listed thus far.  Give yourself a gift and run by yourself while your hubby pushes the stroller or just watches you race.  Get together with your favorite moms and go out and have some fun. The Mother’s Day weekend races are listed by State below. We will continue to add races for Mother’s Day weekend until Friday, May 10, 2013. Good luck and happy running. California CPOA Run To Remember Colorado Redline 13.1 Denver on Platte River Trail Stober Stallion 5K and 1K Fun Run Telegraph Mother’s Day 5K/10K District of Columbia Komen Global Race for the Cure BEST Kids 5K & Kids Fun Run Florida Chick-fil-A Connect Race Series: Jacksonville, FL Georgia Pickens Footsteps for Families 5K & Tot Trot Run Toward the Son 5K Illinois Race to Wrigley 5K Trot For Theresa 5K SMI 5K and Kids Run TheraCORE’s 5K Race for a Cure AERO Special Ed. Coop 4th Annual 5K Capitol Nutrition Pets for Vets 5K Feets of Strength 5K Run for Child Abuse Awareness Root Awakening 5K – Run/Walk for Forgotten Children Food Truck 5K and Block Party Kansas Mother’s Day 5K Kentucky Lourdes Paducah Iron Mom Half Marathon & Relay Louisiana Contraband Days 5-Miler Junior League’s Etouffee 5K Al Briede Gold Cup Race 5k Run for Excellence Mom’s Day 5k​ Maryland Pasadena E.S 5k and 1M Fun Run Great Chesapeake Bay Wellness Race Stryker’s for a Cause 5K 2ND Annual Choptank Trot for Melanoma 5K Run/Walk Wood Acres JogFest Gospel of the 5K Run/Walk 5K Run/ 2K Fun Run Her5K Missouri 3rd Annual Love 2 Run 4 Love 5K Run/Walk 8th Annual Karen 4 a Kause 5K...

In order to put things back into the perspective after the terrible tragedy at the Boston Marathon yesterday, I went home hugged my husband and kids and I went on a family run.  We strapped the kids in the double jog stroller and went to our favorite lake and ran.  Not unlike the rest of the world, I am stunned, shocked, horrified and restless.  Who would do this? Why would you do this? My heart aches for the father who lost his precious son and his wife and daughter suffered major injuries while waiting for him to cross the finish line of the Boston Marathon. I am saddened that spectators who came to share in a glorious moment of celebration with their family member(s) and/or friends will forever associate this tragedy with the Boston Marathon. I am sad that runners/racers will be concerned – myself included – that entering any major race is no longer safe or fun.  Why put ourselves in harm’s way? Should we race? Should our family come out and celebrate with us? While my heart heals, my legs will keep running.  Yes, I will continue to race. Yes, I want my family to celebrate my accomplishments with me. Yes, I will still be fearful that we are in harm’s way.  But, I will keep going.   Each day I am suffering on the bike, or tired of the monotony in the pool, or breathless running fartleks, I be grateful that I can still run and I have my wonderful family around to support me.  I am grateful that my teammates racing the Boston Marathon were all safe. My prayers and thoughts go out to all those who lost a loved one or have loved ones injured. From the Washington Post Boston...

I normally do not announce a new page on my site via a blog post, but I wanted to share with you that you can now submit a Stroller Friendly Race via the Race Submission page.  If you know of a race that is stroller friendly or you think one might be – but not sure – I would encourage you to submit the Race Here. Once a submission is received, I will verify with the race director that the race is stroller friendly and then add it to the calendar and blog post. Please be patient. The race might not be added right away because it might take awhile for the race director to get back to me. So far, there are more than 1000 races throughout the United States that have been identified as Stroller Friendly and we have not even got through half the States.  Thank you for all your support in making the Stroller Friendly Race calendar comprehensive....

Sleep training is one of my least favorite things to do as a parent. I understand the importance of teaching your baby how to sleep, but like most parents the crying can be unbearable.  With C2 (now almost three year old), I swaddled him until he was 7 months old. Being first time parents, we did not really sleep train our son until he was a nearly a year old.  I thought the “Cry It Out” method seemed mean, more because I could not handle the crying. It broke my heart. My husband graciously allowed me to take the lead on sleep training because I was the one reading all the books and spending more time with our son at night. To be fair, my husband thought we should of sleep trained our son much sooner, but I was not ready.  However, finally at 12 months I was ready and we went to the “Cry It Out” or “Ferberizing“. We all needed sleep desperately.  Yes, I do know there are several types of sleep training methods and I tried them. With my daughter Ace who is nearly 5 months old, we began sleep training her around 4 months old.  The circumstances were different and yes, as the experts say, every child is different. Plus as parents for the second time, we were more comfortable sleep training her earlier.  My daughter is a much bigger baby than my son and much longer; she no longer fits in the Halo Swaddle Sleeper. Moreover, at nap time she lasted 20-30 minutes and at night she was getting up every hour or hour and half and not because she was hungry or wet, she just wanted to sleep being held.  We would lay her in her crib and...

With baby shower seasons  just around the corner it is only appropriate to talk about one of the best baby shower gift a new mom could receive. Yes, generally speaking the expecting couple registers at stores that are specific for babies or have a large baby selection (Buy Buy Baby, Babies R’Us, Target, etc.) or online retailers (Amazon, Diapers.com, etc.) and friends and families usually purchase their gifts off the couple’s registries. However, one of the best gifts I received at my baby shower was a basket full of everyday items that mom and baby need after the baby is born; usually items that mom and dad are not thinking about until the baby arrives. To help prepare the new family for their arrival, consider putting a gift basket together of the following items with a note that says, “All the things you need, but don’t know yet.” The new mom and baby will greatly appreciate the gift. Butt Paste – Awesome diaper rash cream. Price  is approximately $7.19 for a 4 oz. tube. Gripe Water – Completely natural product which is great for curing hiccups and relieving gas pains in newborns. C2 had hiccups starting at one week old. Price is approximately $7.00 per bottle. Baby hair brush and/or comb – Price is approximately $4.99 per set. Baby Nail clippers – Babies nails grow so quickly, we were cutting C2 nails once a week, so he would not scratch up his face.  Price is approximately $2.29 per set. Baby Wipes – Always in need of these. Boogie Wipes – Developed by moms tired of chasing runny noses, Boogie Wipes® are the latest innovation in a moist wipe product. Price is approximately $3.79 per box. Aquaphor – Fragrance-free, preservative-free formula for baby skin care...

With the end of 2011 approaching rapidly, I finally got on the ball and finalized my 2012 race schedule not just for motivations purposes, but I needed to set goals other than trying to conceive our third child.  After the birth our son in February 2010, Brett and I decided that over the course of the next couple of years, my triathlons would be limited to Sprints and Olympic (International) distances.  Not would this allow me time to recover from the first pregnancy, but we knew we wanted to try for our second within a short period of time of having our first. Before getting into my race schedule let me give some background history. The 2010 season began; I received approval six weeks after giving birth from my doctor to begin exercising and four weeks later I was competing in my first triathlon of the season and to top it off it was my first Mother’s Day.  Throughout the season, I competed in five triathlons (Sprint and Olympic) and two running races, while Brett completed in his first two half Ironman’s. When the season came to a close in late October 2010  – for me, I was almost ready to begin trying for a second baby.  With a bit more convincing from my hubby, we began trying in January 2011. We are planners and very much goal oriented people, so Brett and I were trying to “ensure” the birth of the second child did not come to close to his first Ironman, which was held November 28, 2011.  I really wanted to be there to support him. So low and behold, we got pregnant for the second time in May 2011. Perfect right?!?! I was due to give birth in February 2012, which...

[category_specific_rss_menu] For anyone who has not had the opportunity to cheer someone on during a 140.6 mile event; it is such an inspiring and great experience. But, let me tell you, it’s a long, drawn out day, requiring its own endurance. From dealing with your future Ironman’s stress for two weeks prior to the race, to the day of the race ungodly 4 am wake-up call to the 7am swim-start to the long bike, followed by a marathon, the Ironman Sherpa’s day is every bit as long and in many ways just as demanding as it is for the athletes. I can’t say I logged as many miles in running as my Ironman, but I at least got a good 10 miles in walking. Not to mention the fact that the real work doesn’t even begin until after your designated athlete crosses the finish line, when you must assist them in finding the bike transport – which took me nearly an hour, who knew the bike transport would be located in a dark alley with no lights or signage – while also providing a shoulder for the staggering, sometimes incoherent finisher to lean on. For the record, Brett was not incoherent; he was just sore and had the Ironman shuffle. Then figuring out how get your finisher back to the hotel with a lack of cab service in Cozumel – but, thanks to our new friend Toro we got a cab and my hubby got some very smooth tequila – the dispensing of Advil and feeding my hubby back at the hotel – and after 140.6 miles, this is important work indeed. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we went to Cozumel, Mexico with Team Z for my hubby’s Brett’s first Ironman, Ford Ironman Cozumel.  If...

  [category_specific_rss_menu] For those of you on a budget, but with a bit of time and energy, here are some ideas items to include in an Ultimate Gift Bag for Running Moms (and Dads too) that you can throw together online or with a short trip to your local sports store. Depending on  how much money you want to spend The Ultimate Gift Bag for Running Moms (and Dads too) can cost you as little as $50. Of course, if Santa is feeling generous, you can always add something from the 10 Must Have Holiday Gifts That Every Running Mom Needs or the 10 Great Stocking Stuffer for Running Moms. 1.  Bag/Basket You can purchase a relatively inexpensive basket from Target, craft store, Amazon, etc. However, if you are interested in your running, multisport mom or dad using it for multiple uses, consider purchasing a duffel bag, swim, sling or transition bag to put all your items in. You can purchase a relatively inexpensive transition bag for $49.99 or a mesh sling bag for $14.95. 2.  Body Glide, Lansinoh Nipple Cream, and/or Aquaphor – to prevent chaffing, also great for prevent blistering. Body Glide ($8.95) can be bought online or purchased at any local running store; it is good to prevent chaffing. Lansinoh Nipple Cream ($27.85) is not only great for breastfeeding moms, but it works just as well as and perhaps better than Body Glide to prevent chaffing, plus it is great lip balm and prevents feet from blistering. Aquaphor ($7.99) is multi-purpose ointment as well. It is great to prevent chaffing, body cream for babies and toddlers, and great lip protection and prevent your feet from blistering. I have used all three; I am partial to Aquaphor, then Lansinoh Nipple Cream and...