​If you’re a member of Stroller Warriors Camp Lejeune or Stroller Warriors Quantico, chances are you’ve met a wonderful little horse named Lou. If you haven’t met Lou in person, you’ve probably seen photos involving a horse head and a human body... That’s Lou! At SW Camp Lejeune he has his own race series and he is featured on the Geraghty Gallop 8K shirts, which maybe you own one?! Lou’s story starts out many years ago but today he has unofficial become the mascot of Stroller Warriors.
 
Hold on to your horses, I’m about to give you the inside scoop of how he came to be!

​The story of Lou begins with Stephanie Geraghty, our Fearless Founder and her husband, Brian. I’m going to let Stephanie tell you the story of Lou in her own words…
 
“My husband Brian deployed in 2013. When he came home, one of his numerous bags was open just enough for me to see a strange object. I pulled it out. A creepy horse's head?! What in the world?! So I went and found him and said, um, what is this and why did it come home from Africa? He explained that they played a trick on one of the Marines and had put this horse head into the guys' bed, with the sheet pulled up. And the Marine walked into the room with a super weird horse in his bed. Brian thought this was hysterical. I would venture to say craziness like that is an effort for sanity in an otherwise non-normal world during deployments! You all know that too well.
 
So I chuckled, looked at him a little strangely, and threw the horse head in the closet. I wasn't sure what to do with it. A bunch of Marines creeping around with a horse head seemed a bit odd but I didn't feel right throwing it away either! It almost seemed like a piece of deployment history! 

​Now I should also explain further that I have loved horses since I could remember, asked for a horse for Christmas every year of my childhood. I drew them, read about them, rode them when I could, and loved them. I was legit horse crazy.
 
Ponies have also been a bit of an ongoing joke with Brian and me for many years now. My younger sister lived with us for a couple years early in our marriage 2006-2007, and we had this little stuffed Shetland pony that we would set around the house stalking her. Yes, you heard that right, we had a creepy beanie baby that would sit in the middle of the hallway and wait for Jen to open her door. We found this wildly amusing. She generally kicked it aside and just glared at us. I also threw Brian a "pony birthday" party when he was 27. We had hats and decorations and everything. My sister and I thought this was pretty hilarious! Brian's turn to glare. LOL. Perhaps we're a weird bunch. I'm okay with that!
Another tidbit that adds to this story....when people tell me they have something for me, or are sending me something, I almost always respond, "Is it a pony?!" Cause I really only want a Shetland pony. Hehehe. 

​This joke carried on with our Stroller Warriors Camp Lejeune Coordination team and I believe one conversation we had behind the scenes referenced a horse that I wanted to name Lou. The coordination team has a lot of work to do making a chapter work, but I will admit we have a lot of fun too! Sometimes our discussions meander. That night Lou was secretly born.
 
Hold on...there's more...I promise I'll get to the point soon.
 
So one night on the Stroller Warriors Camp Lejeune chapter page, a round of "Late Night with Stroller Warriors" occurred. "Late Night" was deemed an extremely long conversation thread that erupted on the page randomly, usually at night, and generally didn't make much sense and was just hilarious. You know, when kids are in bed and Stroller Warriors are bored and trolling the chapter page to see what their friends are up to! Ha! That particular Late Night thread started off referencing whether or not Amy should approach someone in her neighborhood that had a SW sticker on her car. From there the discussion moved to complete and utter support for Stroller Warriors stalking, debates on what treat to use to bribe the prospective new friend to come to a workout, and then there was also mention of a field of horses nearby and if it'd be okay to go on the land without permission. ?! I might be remembering incorrectly but it was super random. Like I said, late night convos can be quite interesting!!! 

​Deana jumped into the conversation and gave the horse a name...Lou. Everyone thought the discussion thread was pretty hilarious and I remember logging in later and seeing a million notifications and thinking what in the world happened? Late Night with Stroller Warriors happened. And Lou happened!
 
We had the Gift of BOB coming up shortly after and we decided to arrange a surprise guest to present the shiny new BOB strollers to their excited recipients. I pulled Toni H aside at the workout, handed her a t-shirt and the Marines' creepy prankster horse head, and said, put it on and be ready to trot on stage when I call you. She looked at me like I had lost my mind but being the amazing friend and volunteer she is, she obliged. I will never forget her literally galloping up to the microphone, waving at her adoring fans, and the leadership team laughing so hard we were practically in tears. There were also a good portion of the members at the workout that didn't quite know the whole story and surely they thought, what in the world is happening. That just added to the allure of Lou. You're just never quite sure what he's all about until you meet him, see him in action, and then you get it. 

​Ever since that Gift of BOB, Lou pops up at SWCL events with one goal in mind...to bring a smile!!!!!!!! He cheers, he claps, he waves, he leaps, he high-fives, he butt slaps, he holds motivational signs, he hugs, he stalks, he gets into weird predicaments, he creeps (yes, he's a bit creepy in all his antics)...and he ALWAYS brings happiness. He's been worn by Stroller Warriors, spouses, and children, more than we can count, traveled a lot of miles, and he never fails his mission. Our volunteers have all been faithful about making sure Lou pops up when you need him most. He rests in the SW warehouse but is always ready to respond to a call!
I hope you love Lou as much as we all do! I miss him. Or, perhaps I miss all my friends who embody the fun that he is. Yeah...I bet that is it.”

Spring is here! Many chapters are beginning to host their first Couch to 5K (C25K) training group for the year and in just 8 weeks time, it will be C25K Graduation race day! So many new runners are experiencing that runner's high and are subsequently being bitten HARD by the running bug.  We often hear, post C25K Graduation race, "so… now what?!"

Well, we'd love for you to consider jumping on the Stroller Warriors® Couch to Crazy train with your fellow warriors! Continue running regularly, and in time, train for a 10K, half marathon, and possibly, a full marathon? BUT before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk some logistics for such new, huge, crazy awesome personal goals!

*Not a C25K Grad, yet?! All of this information can be used for your first 5K too – so keep reading!*

When I read about Stroller Warriors® Camp Lejeune’s (SWCL) Couch to Crazy (C2C) Program in 2014, I could run a 5K, but running a 10K?!, now that felt like a big deal, and a half marathon - whew - that definitely sounded crazy! I wasn’t sure at the time, but training for a half marathon seemed like a great long-term goal for myself during my husband's 2nd deployment (and it totally WAS)!  To keep from freaking out about all of the miles, I set my sights on JUST the 10K goal.

Finding a Race!

This is a KEY first step for me, because without a solid race date, I am less likely to stick to the training plan. Lucky for me there was a local race with a HUGE SWCL presence coming up that had a 10K option… I had found my race AND I had time to train for it too.

How to Find YOUR Race?

-Ask in your Stroller Warriors® Chapter’s Facebook Page!
There are usually warriors who have lived at that duty station for a year or so and have run some really fun, well organized, awesome medaled races that they would love to share with you about.

-Check out the FILES section of your chapter’s Facebook page – some chapters may have a “Races File” that they keep up to date!  If your chapter doesn't have this file – consider starting one to share with the coordination staff.

-Find a race that is interesting to you & try to recruit some SW friends to join you! If you have enough fellow warriors who are interested, contact your chapter's coordination staff about contacting the race organizer about a discount. (usually a minimum of 10-20, but you’ll never know if you don’t ask!)

-Find a local running store and see if they have any flyers up or have any races they would recommend - Locals can be a great resource.

- Lastly, but always an option, check out www.runningintheusa.com

Choosing a Training Plan!

Now that you have chosen your race, it’s time to choose a training plan to prepare you, mind and body, for race day! There are many options, so I am just going to share the ones that I have come across over the years.  You’ll have to research each one and see what is going to be the best fit for you and your family life. Some require more time than others, so keep that in mind when choosing.

Some of the options focus on MILEAGE for each training day, others focus on how long (TIME) you are on your feet.  I personally preferred the mileage training plans because I needed to know (for my own sanity on race day) what the longest distance I had gone was.  There are also training plans that focus on HOW you are moving during that mileage or time… Are you running the whole time? Taking walk breaks at various intervals?, etc.  And, if you like to cross things off when complete, find a plan that you can print out vs. clicking "complete" on an app! Archaic, I know! ;)

- Hal Higdon 
- Run Coach 
- Hansons Method 
- Jeff Galloway - Run, Walk, Run Method 
- Various Apps (free and paid)  Nike, Under Armour, Zen Labs C25K app, etc.
- Ask your fellow Stroller Warriors® about THEIR favorite training plan and don’t forget to ask WHY… Chances are they have tried more than one, tweaked another, and found a good fit for them that you might want to consider!

For Marine Corps Marathon training, I chose a plan that only had me running three days a week, because with a 6-month-old who wasn't sleeping through the night, that was all I could muster up the energy for! For my long run on the weekends, I hired a babysitter so I didn’t have to depend on my husband, who traveled often, for childcare.  It was my weekly “me time” that I looked forward to. 
Do what you have to do, because YOUR huge, crazy, awesome goals ARE important and worth the extra effort!

Cross Training!

Sorry runners, but this is another, "find what works best for YOU!"  There are so many options to help you keep moving and loosening up on non-run days and they are SO important. If you haven’t done any cross training lately… let me encourage you, while I encourage myself ;), to add even just one day a week to start! Don’t fret when a training plan has 3 days and you only fit in one… one will be better than none! You will be stretching and strengthening muscles that you don’t use on run days and your body will thank you!

- Strength Training - Weights
- Swimming
- Yoga, Pilates, Barre
- Cycling
- HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
Don't forget about foam rolling - that can really help too!

I hope this has given you some options to consider on your journey to achieving Stroller Warriors® Couch to Crazy (and possibly beyond) status.

Crossing the finish line after each race you have trained for is priceless, so start looking for your next race to run and don’t look back! Cheers to training for and racing distances that you never thought possible!

-Paige

Not familiar with Couch to Crazy?!
The purpose of the Stroller Warriors® Couch to Crazy program is to encourage and guide you SW style to run a 5K race first, then a 10K race , and then a HALF MARATHON race! This program is set up to include runners of all abilities. Some of you may have never run a 5K or even dreamed that you could. Some of you may have run a 5K, but never any further. And some may have tackled the 10K distance but have not gone full on Couch to Crazy and run a half marathon. That's okay! Anyone is welcome to participate.
*The main point of Couch to Crazy is to encourage a progression...
Building up from a 5K to a 10K and finally to a half marathon, within a calendar year’s time.*
Contact your chapter's coordination staff for more information!