Keeping it all in perspective

I will admit that I, like many runners out there, get too caught up in the competitive aspect of running.....paces, PRs, splits, finishing places.  For the most part, its competition with myself and usually I feed off this, but sometimes it becomes too much.  

Take Saturday for example.  I decided to run the YMCA Oak Scare 5k that was being held in my town.  I have been wanting to race a 5k for a while but it never fit in my marathon training.  I don't feel my 5k PR adequately shows my abilities (my 4.2 mile and 5 mile race paces are faster than my 5k PR??).  As we started the race, I realized within a mile that my body, exactly 2 weeks post marathon, was not ready to race!!  My heart rate was a little high and my pace was no where near where it should have been.  Add this to the fact that the course ran up one of the steepest hills in my town (I don't even like to run down this hill because its so steep!)  I got frustrated because I was really hoping for a big PR but realized this wasn't going to happen given my still recovering muscles.  

I finished, grabbed some water, and started walking back to my house along the final stretch of the course.  As I was watching the people still running I realized that this was what these local 5ks were all about.....the mother pushing her two kids in a jogging stroller all dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz (more power to her for pushing that thing up the hills!) as the kids chant "Run Mommy Run!!"....the older woman knowing she was close to last place but still having fun and smiling....the disabled man that was pushed in a wheel chair for the first 3 miles who left his chair to be helped by friends/family to walk across the finish line himself no matter how long it took him.  

These people were out there for various reasons known only to them, but I'm going to guess they weren't calculating their splits every mile wondering if they were going to beat their PR or if they would place in their age group.  Sometimes I need to remind myself that there is more to running than numbers and competition.  Sometimes its about brining people together that would never otherwise be connected to share in something so simple as putting one foot in front of the other.  

And as for that 5k PR I am seeking....it didn't happen, but it was a great race none the less!

Some Pictures...Finally!

Its taken me a while to get these posted, but here are some pictures from my weekend at the Hartford Marathon

Carbo loading the night before

The running gang

Our fabulous support crews!

Acting silly before the race

Janette and I around mile 17

BQ smiles!

Post-Race....Still standing and smiling :)

Redemption is sweet!

As you may have figured out from some of the comments left for me since my race, Saturday was a good day.....a really good day! Here's a full recap of my race.....enjoy!

Pre-Race

I'd been dealing with a cold for the week before the race and was doing everything in my power to kick it before the marathon. I drank "defense" tea three times a day, did eucalyptus oil steams, went to bed before 10pm, and ate 2 bags of Cold-Eze. I decided to take the whole day on Friday off to sleep in a bit before heading to Hartford. Bryan and I headed down on Friday afternoon and I was feeling good. Still really calm.

I ran into Paul and his family in the hotel lobby so we all walked over to the expo. I love that Paul's 14 year old son brought an empty backpack to the expo to put all his loot in......unfortunately I think he was a little disappointed as he was used to the Chicago expo and this was Hartford. I got my packet and walked around a bit. I was anxious to get back to the hotel and relax before dinner. My parents arrived after hitting lots of traffic and we headed down to meet everyone for dinner.

Dinner involved great company, lots of water, bread, and a couple orders of pasta.....seriously, what Italian restaurant gives you an actual USDA portion of pasta?? I need the carbs!! We all said good night, wished everyone luck, and headed to bed. Luckily I fell asleep right around 10pm while watching TV and slept pretty well all night.

Race Day

Saturday morning I woke up to sunny skies and temps in the mid 40's. I ate my breakfast and got myself ready. I was excited, a little nervous, but still really calm. My general attitude could be described as "what happens, happens!" I headed down to the lobby and met Janette to walk over to the start area. Once there, we used the bathrooms and met up with John and Paul. After saying good bye to my family, we walked up to the start and tried to find the 3:40 pacer.....why oh why did he have to be this 5 ft nothing little man?? I asked him about his pace strategy and he said "even splits, 8:20's." I could tell he was not going to be the life-of-the-party pacer I had last year.

The National Anthem was sung, the gun sounded, and off we went!! Janette and I planned to stay together as long as we both felt good and we also wanted to stay with our pacer. Part one of that plan worked, but Part two was flawed from the start. After a congested first mile, we noticed our pacer was running really fast....what happened to the even 8:20's? Mile 2 clocked in at 7:56 (Commandment 1 broken.....hoping this doesn't turn out like Vermont!). During mile 3, Janette and I decided to stick with each other rather than our pacer and go at what we knew was the correct pace. I saw my family around mile 5 on their bikes and assured them that we were on pace even though we were pacerless.

Miles 1-13 seemed effortless....this was great! I kept comparing how I felt in Hartford to how I felt at those same miles in Vermont....this time I was more relaxed, happier, and the miles didn't seem as forced. We made the turn around at mile 11.5 and started watching for John and Paul. Paul was a couple minutes behind us and John a couple minutes behind him....they both looked great and we all had big smiles on our faces. I saw Bryan and my parents a bunch of times along the way....it was sort of like Where's Waldo? since I didn't know where they would be cheering from next!

Miles 13-18 felt fine, but I was getting a little tired here. Nothing bad, but I needed to be more conscious of my pace and not letting it slip at all. Miles 18-23 were pretty rough. There are a bunch of little ups and downs in the last 6 miles of the course that aren't bad on their own, but after 20 miles they are certainly not welcome! I kept asking myself "how much do you want this?", "how much does this mean to you?", and "why are you doing this?" I prayed a little here too asking God to make my legs lighter and to give me enough energy to get through the last 3 miles. This gave me the boost I needed to keep running strong.

At mile 24, Janette asked me how we were doing on time. She messed up her watch in the first 10 minutes of the race so we were relying on my time...this put quite some pressure on me as I was trying to do math in my head. Dividing by 8:20 is hard to calculate when you are mentally exhausted! I knew we were fine but told her that we just couldn't slow down at all. So we did just the opposite....we sped up! Mile 25 clocked in at 8:10.....we could see downtown Hartford. We pushed hard in that last 1.2 miles....up the hill, under the arch......there's the finish line! That last 1.2 miles clocked in at a 7:49 pace!!!

We crossed the finish line and I think my eyes were bugging out of my head! I did it.....3 hours 39 minutes and 3 seconds!!! We immediately hugged each other and screamed "We're going to Boston!!!!!" I saw my family and gave them a big thumbs up. I thought I would cry, but there was so much adrenaline and I think I was in shock.

Post Race Thoughts

So there you have it.......my 2008 Hartford Marathon and BQ experience! A couple thoughts on this race:

1. I of course have to thank my wonderful supportive husband!! He continues to tell me how proud he is of me and how he doesn't know how I do this. I say this after every race, but I don't know how I could run with out him! Also, my parents who battled bad traffic just to watch me run. Their support has meant so much to me and it was a great boost to see them on the course in so many places. I'm glad they got to experience my good race after my disappointment in Vermont.

2. Huge thanks and congratulations goes out to my running friends, especially Janette. She reinforced my pacing strategy early on, pushed me when I was feeling tired, and was exactly the person I wanted to celebrate with me at the finish line (even if she did beat me by one second....again!). John and Paul......the two of you are great and I am so excited for you that you surpassed your goals!! I couldn't have gotten through training without all three of these people. Its true that running friends are different in some way!

3. As the title of my post says, redemption in sweet!!! Vermont beat me up pretty badly...both mentally and physically. In the weeks after that race, I was doubting my abilities as a distance runner and was in a real funk with my running. It was so bad that I questioned whether I would even run Hartford. Going into Saturday, I was seeking vindication. The BQ was secondary to running the best race I was capable of. In my opinion, my PR from Vermont did not reflect my abilities as a distance runner and I needed to prove to myself that I was better than that. The BQ is just icing on the cake!! I don't know if I would appreciate it as much if I didn't have such a rough time in Vermont and the weeks after. Having to pull myself back together and remind myself why I am doing this pushed me to run the best race I could.

So mark your calenders....I'll see you in Hopkinton on April 20th!! I'll be the one with the huge smile on my face :)

Stats:
Chip Time - 3:39:03
Overall Pace - 8:22
Overall Place - 461/1941
Age Group place - 21/129

"Ain't nothing gonna break my stride....

Ain't nothing gonna slow me down
Oh No, I've got to keep on movin'"

That song has been in my head all day....a sign?? Its better than "Runnin' on Empty" (no joke, but that song was playing on the alarm clock radio when I woke up for my first half marathon!)

Speaking of music, I got a wonderful "Cupcake" cd from my friend Steph this week full of calming, relaxing music. It fit right in with my mood of the week and was just perfect. Full of lots of new songs that I hadn't heard yet.....she really has great taste in music. The last song is from her favorite movie "Pride and Prejudice"....not sure if I should admit this, but I've never seen the movie. Please don't take my cd back Steph!

Bryan and I are heading down to Hartford in a bit so I just wanted to check in quickly. Last night I spent the evening relaxing and watching "Spirit of the Marathon" that arrived in the mail yesterday....perfect timing. It got me even more excited than I already am! I am still fairly calm about the race......no real nerves yet but just a lot of excitement. I don't know how things are going to play out tomorrow, but I can't wait to see what I am capable of doing!

So its that time again....I am carbo loaded, hydrated, and ready to run! I wish all the best to the other runners that are racing this weekend. Have fun and remember to JUST RUN!!

Marathon Comandments

1. I will not run any miles faster than 8:15 pace until I am past mile 20.


2. I will not freak out if any of my miles are a little slow and try to even it out by running the next one faster.


3. I will not freak out if I look at my Garmin and the pace is a little off.....this happens and there is no reason to speed up to correct it.


4. I will not mentally give up.


5. I will not allow myself to walk (except briefly at water stops so I don't get water up my nose!).


6. I will run the best race I am capable of running.


7. I will not make excuses for myself.


8. I will not feel sorry for myself.


9. I will trust my training.


10. I will have fun!

Ok.....so they aren't quite Moses-on-a-stone-tablet worthy, but then again....I don't remember Moses ever running a marathon :)

Mellow Taper

The term "taper madness" is common among marathon runners. It comes with anxiety, stress, hypochondria, and feelings of self doubt......its really a great time :) However, this taper I don't seem to be suffering from the madness I have felt my past three marathons. I would actually describe my mood as quite mellow. My massage therapist even commented today that I seem really relaxed compared to last time. Don't get me wrong, I am really excited for this race and to put months of training to use but I not stressing about things.

Some say its because I've got more experience.....I'm not sure if that's the case because there is always something scary about running 26.2 miles no matter how many your have run. Some say its because I am well trained....while that is true, I have learned that nothing is a given come race day.

Here's what I think.....last race I put so much pressure on myself. I was measuring my sole success or failure on running that 3:40 to qualify for Boston. When it didn't happen, I considered it a bad race and started analyzing what went wrong. While there were things that went wrong, I have realized that the race wasn't a failure....I still took almost 6 minutes off my time from the previous fall and that's pretty huge! I lost sight of why I was running.......after all, if its not fun then why do it? I forgot that I actually love to run!

So now I am approaching this race with a different attitude. Goal 1 is to have fun and run a good race.....that is what is most important to me. Sure I am hoping to run fast enough to get my BQ time and I plan to put up one hell of a fight for that.......but if it doesn't happen I will be okay with it. Boston will always be there and there are many other marathons I have yet to run!

Only 3 more sleeps until race day.......let's hope this mellowness continues until then!

Looks like it runs in my family

So usually parents pass their traits down to their children, but I am proud to say that I passed this one up to them :)

My parents completed their first half marathon three weeks ago at the Philadelphia Distance run!! They trained all summer to walk it and their goal was to finish in under 3:15. Its safe to say they beat that goal finishing in 2:58:19!!! That's a 13:37 pace.......I sure don't think I could walk that fast!

GO MOM AND DAD!!!!!

Patriotic Runs

I know I have been bad about keeping you updated on my training. Life and work has been pretty busy lately so when I do have free time, the last thing I want to do is write about how busy I am :)

I am officially in taper mode now after a successful final week of high mileage ending with my final 20 mile long run and 57 miles for the week. Overall feeling strong and looking forward to the cut back weeks of taper.

Last week my taper was a little more than I would have liked, but weather and travel plans forced me to skip a run and shorten another. I made sure to get in my important runs though....an 8 mile track workout with 5 x 600m repeats with 90 second recoveries. The repeats averaged 2:34 and I was okay with that.

On Friday, I headed down to our nation's capitol to visit Bryan who was there for work. Two things I didn't realize before heading down there....(1) walking around all day is exhausting and (2) its still freakin' summer down there! It was much hotter compared to Boston and oh so humid. We spent Saturday walking around downtown and spent a lot of time in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. That afternoon we went for a nice 5 mile run in a hilly park near where he was staying.

Sunday we got up early and heading to the National Mall for my long run of the week. Bryan ran the first 5 miles with me and then I set back out on my own. I had my phone in my pocket in case I got lost but I also used it to take pictures of where I was running. These are just some of the sights I ran past.....

The Capitol Building.....our Senators and congress people were hard at work on the bailout plan

World War II Memorial

Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool....even with the clouds you can see the reflection

Lincoln Monument

Washington Monument (up close)

I was supposed to run 16 miles but stopped at 14....I was drenched from the humidity, thirsty, and tired (all that walking around sight seeing!). We headed back to shower and did some more sight seeing in the afternoon. Overall a great trip to DC and a good first week of taper!

TM...HR...PR...MP

Are your heads spinning from all the acronyms? Let me break last week (9/8 - 9/14) down for you, acronym by acronym......

TM: Last Tuesday, I had to run on the treadmill and you all know how much I dislike the treadmill. But I actually had a great run and found a way to beat the boredom. I like to call it "pyramids." After a 1.5 mile warm up, I set the treadmill to a comfortable (but not too easy) pace. Every minute for 10 minutes, I would increase the speed by 0.1 mph and then work my way back down in the same way. I did this a couple of times and its a great way to kill 20 minutes on a TM without getting bored. Finish up with a mile cool down and I was looking at a 7 mile run.

HR: After last weekend's long run in the humidity (see last post),I tackled the Newton Hills again on Wednesday for my 14 mile medium-long run. It was a cool night and I decided to turn my Garmin so that I couldn't see the pace and run based on feel. I felt great the whole run and finished with an average pace of 8:55 min/mile but even more impressive was my average heart rate (HR)- 159....crazy low for me especially with the 5 major hills I tackled.

PR: Last Thursday was the final race in the Let's Run Series that I have posted about before. It was a cool night and I wanted to go for a PR but didn't know how my legs would feel after 14 miles on the hills the day before. My previous PR for this course was 31:42. Luckily Bryan and I were able to get towards the front to avoid most of the crowds. I was feeling good and was in a good groove. Besides a PR I have really wanted to break 30 minutes at one of these races. As I crossed the last bridge, according to my Garmin I had 1.2 miles left and was at 22:xx minutes and thought the sub-30 was out of reach but I could go for a PR. I forgot that my Garmin always measures a little short on this course (I think its because of the bridges it goes under). As I rounded the last corner, there was a race volunteer yelling out the time and I realized I had a shot at the sub-30......I ran as hard as I could towards that finish line and crossed in 30:19!!! Still a 1:20 minute PR and oh so close to that sub-30.....I cursed myself for not pushing harder during the early miles, but was really happy with my finishing time. I know that sub-30 is possible, especially without the 14 miles the day before.

MP: Last Saturday, I had my second marathon pace long run of my training....18 miles total with 14 at planned MP. I ran the first 3 as a warm up with John and then kicked it into MP. Overall I felt really good and the miles were for the most part very comfortable. Fastest was 8:14, slowest was 8:29 (ironically the first mile was the slowest!).....average pace for the 14 MP miles was 8:21. I was very pleased with how this run went and definitely boosted my confidence for race day!

Add in a couple easy recovery runs and I was looking at 50 miles for the week!

PS. In case you are interested, I beat Bryan by 1:30 :)

"You know its bad when....

.....you are disgusted by your own smell!" This was the comment I made to John on our 18 miler this Saturday. In case you don't live in the north east, we had some of the most humid conditions on Saturday that I have ever run in! I looked at weather.com when I got home:

Real Temperature: 75 degrees
Dew Point 73-74 degrees
Humidity: 85-93%

You have got to be kidding me!!!!

We ran out of Fitcorp so hit all the major Newton Hills. We refilled water when we could and yet I was still thirsty. I don't think I have ever sweat so much in my entire life! 18 miles got us to the bottom of Beacon Hill and we all chose to walk up it rather than running the extra 0.4 miles....I was exhausted! I finished a couple minutes before John and Paul and was sitting outside Fitcorp to cool down. When I got up I realized I had left behind an actual puddle....yuck! Then I saw an ant stuck to my leg that had apparently drowned in my sweat....poor guy!

We were all so happy to have that run finished, but I am so proud of all three of us for sticking it out and covering the 18 miles in a great pace.....by my watch we averages a 9:05 - 9:10 min/mile.

Please, please don't make race day like that!!!!!

The last two weeks

Luckily I have managed not to throw myself in front of any cars since my last post so that is a positive thing! The last two weeks brought another small bump in mileage and quality runs. I am trying to keep my running to only 5 days a week as opposed to the 6 days I ran towards the end of Vermont training but keeping the overall mileage the same. This means tacking a few extra miles onto those mid-week medium long runs which I think helps overall too.

On Thursday 8/28, Bryan and I ran the Twist and Shout 4.2 mile fun run around the river. I have talked about this race series before and how Bryan and I get a little competitive....I've beat him once last year and we've been pretty even this year. Well...I did it again!! Beat him by 40 seconds this time!! I ran in 31:51 (10 seconds slower than my PR) with an average pace of 7:35. My first mile was 8:30 pace because of all the people so I really picked it up for the last three. We have one more of these races this week so we'll see who wins this one!

Last Saturday (8/30) I had a 22 mile run. I met John for the first 13.5 on the Newton hills and then headed down to the river to finish up the last 8.5 miles solo. After stopping at my house to refill my water bottles with John, it was so hard to get my legs moving again! Even though I was tired, I manager to keep my pace fairly even and finished with an overall pace of 9:01....not bad!

The rest of Labor Day weekend was full of activities....a ~15 mile bike ride on Plum Island on Sunday and a 6.6 mile hike up Mount Osceola (4340 ft) in NH on Monday. Man was I tired after all that!

Overall I managed 59.5 miles for the week (it took every ounce of restraint I had in me to not go out and run 0.5 miles to get to 60!!)

Now we are into September, but it sure doesn't feel like it with this weather!

Tuesday - Track workout with 8.25 miles total including 6x600m repeats (90 sec recovery between each). I averaged 2:33 for the 6oom repeats which is only a second or two off of where I was two weeks ago which I was pleased with since I had ran 22 miles 2 days earlier and hiked the day before!

Wednesday - 13.75 medium long run. Its getting darker so much earlier here....not happy about that!! Had to run the last 1.5 miles in the dark :(

Thursday - off!

Friday - My schedule said 8-15k tune up race but its hard to find one on a Friday so I decided to do a tempo run on the treadmill instead. I did 7 miles total with 4 miles at LT pace (averaged 8:03 min/mile)

Saturday - this run deserves its own blog post so stay tuned! Finished the week at 54 miles total.

Overall I am feeling strong and confident in my training. My attitude is completely different this time around, but I think that's a good thing. I am more relaxed and just going with the flow. Two more weeks of "real" training before taper starts....aaahhhh!

A close call

Let me start by saying that I am usually very cautious when I run. I try to keep my eye out for cars coming down side roads and even those coming toward me knowing that drivers don't always see runners. Today I found out what happens when you let your guard down in a busy area......

I was on my way home from a 14 mile medium-long run today and was about 0.75 miles away from my house. By most accounts the run had gone fine....my asthma and allergies were bothering me some, but overall the run was going well. I got stuck at a couple lights right in a row and I was anxious to finish up and get home. I was running along an island that separated the lanes of traffic watching for an opportunity to cross the street. The cars coming at me had a red light and a car stopped and motioned to me to cross. I started across the street not realizing there was a second lane of cars coming toward me that did not know of my presences or that I had been motioned to cross. I looked up to see a green mini van coming at me with no intention to stop and I had no where to go. He slammed on his brakes and I tried to jump out of the way. Luckily he stopped just in time as my hands hit the hood of his car and his bumper lightly tapped my right knee. I think we both were in shock knowing that we were seconds away from full impact and me going flying. I apologized though his open window and quickly got out of the street. Ironically enough this happened right in front of a hospital so I would have been in good hands if in fact I had gotten hit hard! Physically I was fine, but I was so shaken up by the incident that I ran home almost hyperventilating. I kept thinking "how did this happen? I am usually so careful about cars!" I walked in the house and burst into tears when telling Bryan what happened.

Again....I am 100% fine. I'm thankful that God was watching out for me today because it could have been so much worse. I am lucky that I just had a close call today and learned that I can't let my guard down even when I am close to home and just want to finish. Don't they always say the majority of car crashes happen within 1 mile of your house?? Maybe they are right!

Be careful out there people!

All about flexability

Now that the Olympics are over I am no longer a slave to my TV, watching as much coverage as I could (don't get me started on how NBC snubbed many of my favorite track and field events to show every quarterfinal and semifinal round of the 100m). So I figured I would take some time to update you on my training.

If I had to sum up my training so far into one word it would be flexibility. You see, this winter I was pretty anal about my training schedule....ok so I was very anal. If my schedule said to do a certain run on a certain day then I did it....no excuses. This summer has been quite different. In fact I don't know if I've followed one single week of my training exactly as I had written. Don't get me wrong, I'm still hitting my key workouts and getting most of my planned miles in. It seems that my schedule this summer has been so busy (didn't think I was that popular did you??) that I've needed to relax a bit on my training. I think that's a good thing......sometimes we need a little flexibility in our lives.

Three weeks ago I ran my first 20 miler. I ran with Janette, John, and Paul around the river on a cooler than usual Saturday morning. It was a great run because, for the first time this training cycle, this long run felt fairly easy. Yes, I was pushing hard towards the end, but it was one of those runs that everything clicked and I was my normal, chatty self. Total weekly miles = 50

Two weeks ago I had my first marathon specific long run....15 miles total with 12 at planned marathon pace. I did this run at my in-laws house in upstate NY on a hilly bike path. I was pretty anxious about this run, being out of my usual setting, and having to hit paces faster than my typical long run pace. But the run went well.....I was a little slow at the start and you can see where I hit some major hills, but I finished with an average pace of 8:21 for the marathon pace miles. Perfect!! This week also included a 15 mile medium-long run on Wednesday.....ouch! Total weekly miles = 48

Last week was a recovery week and I think my body needed it. I did have a great track workout on Wednesday where I did 7 miles total with 5 x 600m repeats with 90 seconds recovery between each. My 600m splits were: 2:32, 2:32, 2:30, 2:33, 2:33....pretty consistent! Later in the week my left calf and right glut were a little tight. I got a massage and did a couple easy runs and it seemed to work itself out. I cut my long run for the week (14 miles) short because I just wasn't feeling it......rather than beating myself up about it, I just kept saying "tomorrow is another day." Total weekly miles = 24

As you can see I am getting lots of miles in (although never as many as I would like!) even though I'm not always doing them on the days my schedule says. I am learning to turn off my type A personality and inject a little flexibility. After all......its just running :)

28 on 08/18/08

If I was Chinese I would be the most popular kid right now. That's right.....today is my birthday and I am turning 28 on 08/18/08! To make it even more interesting, I was born on 08/18/80 and weighed 8lb 8oz......talk about some 8's! Maybe I should play the lottery tonight because 8 in Chinese means wealth.....with all these 8's I should be a millionaire :)

So another year older and wiser (ha ha!). Since my last birthday I have run 2 more marathons and bettered my time by 19 minutes. I have run over 1500 miles since my last birthday. I have had good races and bad, but I've learned something from each of these. I look forward to what 28 will bring in both running and life. Hopefully the good races will out number the bad as with all things in life. But having those bad races and bad days makes me appreciate the good ones that much more.

Now I just have to wait for all that wealth my lucky birthday numbers should bring me!

2 weddings, 4 different beds, and 42 miles

I apologize for not writing in a while....life sometimes gets in the way! Last week I was on vacation so I've been busy preparing for that and then was away from my computer while we were gone.

Vacation was nice.....busy, but nice. We were all over PA, DE, and NJ for various events.

Bed # 1: We got to my parents house at 1:30am on Saturday after driving down after work on Friday.

Bed # 2: That night we had a college friend's wedding in DE (wedding #1). We got to see many of our friends that we hadn't seen in a while which is always fun. It was like we were back at Bucknell but just 10 years older....can't party like we used to though :)

Back to bed # 1 for one night where we visited with my Grandma and then had dinner at my other grandparent's house. Note that I haven't mentioned any running up until this point!

Bed # 3: On Monday, Bryan and I headed down to Cape May in NJ for a relaxing couple days at a bed and breakfast. The weather was nice so we just relaxed on the beach and enjoyed having time off together. We ate at some good restaurants (ok.....so cheese fries at the Wildwood board walk aren't exactly health food, but we had to experience true "Jersey" while we were there!) Here is where I finally got some runs in:

• Monday: 5 recovery miles with Bryan after sitting at the beach all afternoon.
• Tuesday: I got up early to get this run in so I wouldn't have to worry about it later in the day. I did 10 miles with a 3 mile warm up, 5 mile at LT pace, and a 2 mile cool down. The great thing about the beach is that its very flat which is great for tempo runs. It was still pretty humid even at 7:30am but I was pleased with my LT paces (8:15, 8:17, 8:09, 8:06, 8:03). That afternoon we also went on an easy bike ride to check out the Cape May lighthouse and Sunset Beach.
• Wednesday: 10 mile medium-long run after a day at the beach. My legs were definitely feeling the tempo run from the day before!
• Thursday: We drove to Avalon, NJ where my family used to rent a house every summer and biked around there for a while. It was fun to see our old house and remember the fun times we had with all my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I even found a little army parachute guy on the beach......my family will understand the significance!

Back to bed #1: Thursday we drove back to my parent's house to get ready for wedding #2....my brother!!! I got up early Friday morning to get my long run over with. My parents live in a nice area, but there aren't really any local places to run and I didn't have time to drive to a park so I ran loops around my parent's house. They also live in a very hilly area so that added to the challenge. I'm surprised I didn't die of boredom running 17 miles within a 1 mile radius! I swung past my house a few times to refill water and Bryan joined me for 4 miles which was a nice break in the monotony of the run. Overall, I got it done and was so glad it was over!

No time to relax though.....I was off to the nail salon for a mani/pedi with my mom and then home to change before the rehearsal and dinner.

Bed #4: Saturday was the big day......I couldn't believe my little brother was getting married. Bryan dropped me off with the bride and other bridesmaids so we could get beautiful. After some minor issues with the limo, we all arrived and were ready to go. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony and I was proud of myself for only tearing up a little (my lower lip was quivering as I walked down the aisle seeing my brother standing there). We all had a great time at the reception and my brother and his new wife never looked so happy before. I hope they are having a fantastic time on their honeymoon right now!

So there you have it: 2 weddings, 4 beds, and 42 miles of running.....not bad for a vacation!

Bonus miles

Last week training went fairly well. The heat is definitely slowing me down but I'm trying not to worry too much. I keep telling myself that training in the heat is about perceived effort and not necessarily pace.....meaning that everything feels harder in the summer so I can slow my pace some and still have the same heart rate (effort) when its hot out compared to a faster run in the cold.

So here's how my week was broken down:

Monday: 4.07 mile recovery run on the treadmill. I've been doing more of my recovery runs on the TM to beat the heat....even slow running when its hot jacks my HR up so its not a true "recovery."

Tuesday: 8 mile tempo run with 4 miles at LT pace. Here's where the effort vs. pace came into play big time. It was 88 degrees when I headed out for this run at 7:30pm. It was the first time I ran in shorts and just a sports bra since it was so hot. My pace for the LT miles was about 20 seconds/mile slower than what I was running over the winter, but my HR was right where it should be. After I was finished, I put my hands on my hips as I was cooling down and my hands actually slipped off my body because I was so drenched with sweat....gross!!

Wednesday: Rest!

Thursday: 10 mile general aerobic run. I ran on the Newton Hills for the first time in about 2 months. Overall I felt pretty good for not having run on hills in a while. My water boy (aka Bryan) was out for a bike ride so he would swing past me every couple miles to give me a drink :)

Friday: 75 minute vinyasa style yoga class

Saturday: 4.1 mile recovery run

Sunday: 16 mile long run. It was great to meet up with Janette and John for this run as it was hot and I was dragging. Going to the beach the day before a long run probably isn't the best idea (not enough water or food). John was setting the pace and Janette and I were just holding on for the ride! It was about 80 degrees for this run and about mile 14 I started feeling pretty bad.....lightheaded and actually cold. I took a gu to get some sugar and slowed down a bit to finish. Given the temps, it turned out to be a pretty good run. I just need to be better about hydrating and eating properly the day before my long runs!

So the title of this blog is "Bonus Miles".....where did that come from you ask? Even though I am an engineer with a MS degree, apparently I can not add properly. I had written in my training schedule that the weekly mileage was 40. After inputting my runs into my online training log, I realized I had actually run 42.17 miles!! 2 bonus miles...nice :)

Taking the girl out of the city

This past weekend Bryan and I went up to NH to get out of the city and get into some fresh air. You may not think of me as a camper, but I actually really like it.....especially when there are toilets down the path! We camped out on Saturday night and then hiked Mt. Moosilauke (4800 feet). Here are some pictures to prove that I do camp and hike :)

Okay....so the little one didn't come on the hike, but he loves the backpacks :)

First Official Week of Training

Last week was my first official week of training for the Hartford Marathon. I plan to follow a modified Pfitzinger program that will be 15 weeks peaking around 60-65 MPW. During my time off from training, I looked back on my last training cycle and determined things that worked well and things that I thought I could improve upon. That's where I came up with my current schedule......more emphasis on my weaknesses (lactate threshold) and less emphasis on my strengths (VO2 max).

So this first week of training was still sort of a transition.....moderate miles with no real quality work. I had to shift things around a bit (its only week 1 and I'm already changing my plan!) due to the 4th of July holiday and weekend plans.

Monday: 3.5 mile recovery + 75 minutes of yoga
Tuesday: 7.85 mile general aerobic
Wednesday: 50 minute bike ride
Thursday: 5.1 mile recovery
Friday: 13 mile medium long run
Saturday: 4.4 mile recovery

I did my long run with John on Friday since we had the day off. It was cooler, but still extremely humid. It was on okay run....I covered the distance and my pace wasn't too bad given the conditions. It was sort of a role reversal though....usually I am the one chatting his ear off while he silently listens. This time I was the one huffing and puffing while John was yapping away :)

Total Weekly Miles = 34

Has anyone seen my endurance??

Hello....endurance....are you out there?? I think I need to take out a missing persons report because my endurance is gone....missing!! It's both amazing and frustrating that we spend months at a time building up our endurance and training to run 26.2 miles. Days, weeks, months are dedicated to making us stronger and faster.....then in a matter of 4 weeks, its gone...poof!

I haven't run any real distances since VT a month ago so this weekend I decided to get in a 10 miler before officially starting to train. I set out on Sunday morning by myself and was greeted by humid but overcast skies which cleared up halfway into my run to make for some hot and sunny conditions. I couldn't believe how hard this run felt.....I mean, I eat 10 mile runs for breakfast and I was slugging along during this one at a pace I am almost ashamed to write??? What happened to all those months of training I did this winter?

Granted I probably wasn't properly hydrated or fueled. My diet on Friday consisted of a margarita and chips after work followed by a "platter of fried goodies" and beer while watching the Sox game........on Saturday more strawberries than any one person should consume (we went strawberry picking) and then out to dinner with friends where I had a burger with a glass of wine and some baklava. Not exactly proper running nutrition!!

So if you see my endurance wondering around aimlessly, please be so kind as to return it ASAP. It's probably hiding somewhere along with my speed, which I could also use back :)

5:20am and the JPMC Corporate Challenge

This was my last "free" week of running before officially starting to train for the Hartford Marathon. As I said in my last post, I mentally and physically needed a break after VT. This week I proved to myself that I am at least mentally ready to start training. The past few weeks I've had to force myself to get out for a run....Bryan has even had to motivate me which usually never happens!

Monday I had wanted to get a longer run in, but severe thunderstorms prevented that. Bryan and I thought the storms were over and set out late for a 4 mile run. Just as we took our first steps, the heavens opened....we were soaked within 10 seconds! Rather than turning around we decided to have fun with it. Bryan was wearing a white t-shirt and was asked by another runner which way the wet t-shirt contest was :) Things like this remind me not to take running (and life) too seriously!

Tuesday we had storms again....these bringing hail and 60 MPH wind gusts. No run for me.

Wednesday I knew I couldn't run at lunch due to a meeting and I couldn't run after work because I had a massage scheduled. Not wanting to take another day off, my only option was in the morning before work. My alarm went off at 5:00am and I was out the door at 5:20. For those of you who know me, I am NOT an early morning runner so this was big for me. It was a slow run, but I covered 6 miles. Forcing myself up and out proved to me that I have mentally recovered from the VT marathon. I was willing to make sacrifices (sleep!) to get my run in....I'm back baby!!

On Thursday I ran in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge with my team from work. There were a total of 12,000 runners in this event so the streets of Boston were packed! The course was supposed to be 3.5 miles, but due to unsafe construction sites along the route, it was shortened to 3.07 miles (just shy of a 5k). It was a hot and muggy day and I felt like I was swetting before I started running! Given my training (or lack there of) over the past month, I was pretty pleased with my performance. I finished in 23:44 which is a 7:44 min/mile......far from a PR but not a bad run.

Remember me??

Yes, I know its been almost a month since I last wrote.....I am so sorry! I wish I could say that I was too busy doing other things to write, but that's not true.....I've just been lazy! I took two weeks off running after Vermont City. I rode my bike a couple times (including one mountain biking session with Bryan!), practiced yoga, and enjoyed the mental and physical break from training.

Of course the weather warmed up just as I was getting ready to run again. During our first heat wave of the year (4 days of 95 degree humid days...yuck!), Bryan and I waited until 8pm to run and it was still unbearable! I was questioning how I could run 26 miles two weeks earlier when I couldn't even get through 4 miles that day!?!?

Its cooled off some (let's just say its going to be a rough summer!) and I've still been running mostly easy miles. My calves have been really tight, but not in the same way I have felt them before. My massage therapist says that its built up connective tissue and scar tissue that needs to be broken up. I guess this makes sense because it doesn't really feel like muscle tightness. I've been stretching, foam rolling, and icing after my runs to help it.

Bryan and I ran in the Reggae Ramble 4.2 mile race on Thursday night. We've done this summer race series for the past couple years and its a fun, non-stressful race. I definitely wasn't going for any PRs but it felt good to run a bit faster than I have the past couple weeks.

So I have one more week of easy running before I start training for the Hartford Marathon on October 11th. I am still figuring out the details of my training plan, but I am looking at adapting the Pfitzinger 18 week up to 60 miles per week plan I followed last time to a 15 week up to 60-65 MPW.

So I promise to write more often as my training starts back up......just as I needed the break from running, I think I also needed a break from blogging! Its good to be back now :)

My Stats

The VCM website breaks my performance down into different categories. Not bad statistics for running a sub-ideal race :)

Result in Entire Field - 756th place
1625 finishers behind. About 32% of finishers ahead.

Result in Gender (Female) - 170th place
759 finishers behind. About 18% of finishers ahead.

Result in Division (F2529) - 40th place
158 finishers behind. About 20% of finishers ahead.

FACTS
Who's who: Of the 2381 who finished, 39% were female and 61% were male.
Opposite Sex: For the record, you were ahead of about 60% of male finishers.

Just not my day...

So I think I am finally ready to write the race report from Sunday’s Vermont City Marathon. I appreciate all the e-mails I have received before the race wishing me luck and after the race to see how it went. It means so much that so many people care!

To start, Burlington was great! It was the first time I have been up there and what a beautiful, fun city! Bryan and I headed up on Saturday and met my parents and in-laws late afternoon. We headed into town, walked around Church Street and Lake Champlain waterfront and then headed to dinner. We had a great meal outside on Church Street and my family all got Ben and Jerry’s for dessert….I just had a taste :(

Race day…..it could not have been a more beautiful day outside…..for everything BUT running 26.2 miles. It was perfectly sunny and looking to warm up to almost 70 degrees by noon….yikes! I got up early, ate, stretched, and headed down to the start….I was feeling pretty good. I warmed up and was ready to go!

The first couple miles felt good…nice and easy as I settled into my pace of 8:20-8:25 and tried to get comfortable. I saw my family at mile 3 and I was feeling good. Miles 4-8 were a lonely out and back on a highway. I started drinking water/Gatorade early knowing it was going to be a hot one. At mile 5 I took some water and immediately my stomach started cramping. This wasn’t good….from this point on something just felt off. I knew I needed to keep drinking, but every time I put something in my mouth I would cramp up. Mentally this stretch of the course started getting to me so it was great to see my family again at mile 8.5.

I was able to hold my BQ pace until about mile 14, but I knew long before then that it just wasn’t my day. Mile 15 was the Assault on Battery Hill, the course’s famous hill with these cool drummers at the base to help push you up. You could hear them coming from ½ mile away! I saw my family towards the top of the hill and shook my head to let them know things weren’t clicking.

From this point on, my pace would continue to drop with every mile. I kept looking at my Garmin and watching the average pace tick slower and slower…..8:23…..8:27…..8:35….when would it stop?? Even though I continued drinking (and cramping up), I don’t think I was getting enough fluids in me. At one point around mile 17 I remember actually getting the chills and thinking “this is not a good sign!” Mile 21 brought a steep downhill to get us to the bike path along Lake Champlain (gorgeous!!). My quads were already shot so I took it as fast as I could to get it over with. The last 4.5 miles were a struggle with some walk breaks to keep my quads and left calf from completely cramping up....dehydration?? (good news is my hip and shin felt great!). I was hurting and mentally just wanted this to be over.

I mustered the energy to finish as strong as possible and crossed the finish line in 3:51:59 (average pace = 8:50)……still an almost 6 minute PR, but no where near what my goals were. I haven’t even looked at my Garmin to see my miles splits…..not sure if I ever will. I know I crashed and burned in those last 10 miles…I don’t need a GPS unit to tell me that!

I’m not one to make excuses for my performance…..bottom line is that it just wasn’t my day and I didn’t run the best race I know I am capable of. Sure there are a few factors that contributed to this, but no one thing caused it. In the span of 26.2 miles, a lot of things can happen…..its just part of the game! What makes real marathoners is the courage and drive to get back out there and do it again.

Before the race, I took a picture of my Grandpa and taped it to the back of my bib number. Many times during that last 10k I thought about him and asked him to help me through this. I was hoping to carry him to a BQ…..next time Gramps!

A huge thanks goes out to my parents and in-laws for their support and enthusiastic cheering squad! And of course I couldn’t have done this without my husband there….he is proud of me no matter how I race and that means the world to me!

A PR is a PR and I should be proud of my time. I have many more races ahead of me and having sub-par ones makes me appreciate the great ones better!! I’ll post pictures as soon as people send them to me (hint hint Mom and Maureen!).

Here we go again!

It seems like just yesterday that I was blogging about the Boston and Hartford Marathons. Last night I spent some time reading back over some of my old blog posts. A sense of pride came over me as I realized for the first time just how far I have come.

Approximately 2 years ago, I remember being in the gym the night of the Boston Marathon '06. I wasn't able to watch the race that year because I had to work so I was watching the news coverage while I ran on the treadmill. I remember watching Rick and Dick Hoyt and all the 20,000+ runners and thinking how cool it would be to do that....but never thinking I could. For the first time that night, I ran 3 miles without stopping to walk at a 6.0 mph (10:00 min/mile)....I remember being excited about this. Flash forward two years.....I have run two full marathons and flirting with qualifying for Boston in my third!! A 10:00min/mile is at or slower than my recovery runs now. All this in just two years!! I know I have been putting a lot of pressure on myself to run the coveted BQ, but looking back there is so much more to focus on.

So many people ask me how I do it and tell me they could never do something like this. I don't believe that.....if I can do anyone can do it!! Actually running a marathon isn't the hard part....its putting in the time and training that's hard. Anyone can motivate to run when thousands of people are cheering for you, volunteers giving you water, and other runners to keep you company. The hard part is motivating to run day in and day out....mile after mile with no immediate rewards. It's in the training that you learn what your body and mind are capable of accomplishing.

So here we are again less than 24 hours from race time. The race starts at 8:05am so at this point tomorrow I hope to be around the 8 mile mark. As you've probably read, my "A" goal is to qualify for Boston...Mission 3:40! My "B" goal is 3:50 which would still be a 7 minute PR from my last marathon. I know the 3:40 BQ will be a push, especially with the warm and sunny temperatures but I have to go for it. Bryan said to me last night when I was freaking out about the pace, "would you rather pace conservatively the whole way and run a 3:45 but have gas left in your tank at the end or would you rather pace for the 3:40, give it all you've got, and end up running a 3:45?" He's right....if I don't go for it, I am always going to question whether or not I could have run the BQ. If I'm going to miss 3:40 then I'm going to do it by giving it my all!

We're heading up to VT soon so I have to finish packing. I'll be sure to post a full race report when we return. There is no online tracking for this marathon, but you can probably check the results online after the race at www.runvermont.org or www.coolrunning.com.

Here we go.......please keep me in your thoughts and prayers...I'm going to need it!!!

Let the eating and drinking begin!

Today starts my carbo load and hydration......this morning I packed a bagel, pretzels, granola bar, banana, and ham sandwich to bring to work. Just looking at all that food is making me full!! I also keep refilling my water bottle every 2 hours....about the time between bathroom breaks :) Because the temps appear to be a little warm on Sunday, I have started drinking Gatorade today too (typically I'd wait until tomorrow for this). Figure I could use the extra salts....as if the carbs don't make me bloated enough!!

Last night I got my last massage and it felt great. She worked on my left shin and calf for a while which felt great. She went easy on the rest of me with the race so close....no bruises this time! I woke up this morning and was so excited to feel zero pain anywhere!!!!!! The mornings have been the worst since everything tightens up while I sleep, but today it felt great....I could actually walk with my normal stride right away.

So now I am getting really excited and pumped up for the race. I have decided not to let the warm weather predictions bother me.....nothing I can do about them so why worry, right? I have been listening to my favorite running songs and reading some of my favorite running quotes that I've accumulated. Two of my favorites:

"I would rather end this life crushed, drained, and barely held together by modern medicine than having gone through it too scared to ever find my own limitations"

"Maybe to people on the outside looking in, it seems as if it's just a race. It's no big deal. But it is a big deal....You've paid the price for nine months, or a year, or five years of training to get to the finish line. You want to see it to the conclusion. You want that medal, because you've earned it. Somebody on the outside looking in may think that's hokey. But it doesn't matter what they think. It's real. Whether this is life changing or not for you, it is for some people. That's a fact." --Dave McGillivray, Boston Marathon Race Director

We aren't heading up to VT until tomorrow morning so I'll probably pop back on here again tonight or maybe before we leave. For now I have to keep eating, drinking, and making myself look busy at work because I am too excited to actually get anything done!!

The good and the bad

I was waiting to post until after I ran today so I could give you an update. I played it smart and haven't run since Friday. I road my bike both Saturday and Sunday, did yoga on Monday, and biked again yesterday. I decided I would run today and Friday with a massage on Thursday. Today felt both good and bad.....I did 5.5 miles with 2 miles at marathon pace. My hip felt fine (yay!) and my shin felt much better (another yay!) however everything else just felt off.....I just couldn't get into a rhythm. But I'm not going to let it get to me.....for every bad run, a good one is waiting to happen :) Let's just hope that good day happens on Sunday!

I got an e-mail from my friend John today with a great pep talk.....just what I needed. John coined the phrase "Mission 3:40" that I love (note to self.....if the 3:40 doesn't happen this time, get shirts made with this for next time!). He told me to have confidence in my abilities and my training. Everyone always says to "trust your training" but I haven't fully understood that until now. With these last couple days off from running and a so-so run today, I really need to trust the strong training runs I have had and the miles I logged over the past 18 weeks and know those are what's going to carry me the 26.2 miles on race day....hopefully faster than think!

Now I just need to stop thinking about the weather....looks like its going to be a hot one!!

As The Chic would say.....

"Aaahh Freak out!Le Freak, C'est Chic!"

Yes, that is me right now.....I have so much nervous energy built up from not running since Friday! I am getting excited....nervous and yes, starting to FREAK OUT!!

5 more days people.....5 more days!!! AAAHHHHHHH!!!!

Taper Hypochondria Becoming Reality :(

One of the symptoms of Taper Madness is hypochondria (along with anxiety, restlessness, and self-doubt......its really a great time!). Many runners experience aches and pains during taper that they haven't felt before in training and freak out about them . People say its just the body's way of healing itself after the months of training.

The Taper Hypochondria has hit me hard this past week. Monday I went out for what should have been a 7 mile run but quit at 3.5 miles because my hip was tight and my left shin was really sore. I decided to take Tuesday off to rest and road my bike instead. Wednesday I decided to try running again and covered 6 miles still with some discomfort, but not as bad as Monday's run. I was feeling optimistic!

Thursday I took off too and got a massage. I told her about my aches and pains....tried to blame it on everything except the running (did I overstretch in yoga? was it the 9 mile bike ride?) She just laughed, told me to stop making excuses, and said of course it was the running! She said she wasn't worried about my tight glut as that's easy to massage (I think what she was doing to my left butt cheek could be considered assault in a court of law!). But she said she was worried about my shin....crap :( We both agreed that it wasn't the bone since that wasn't where it hurt. She said she thinks its the fascia (connective tissue) becoming inflamed and pulling away from the bone....that doesn't sound good! But we remained optimistic that with ice, Advil, and another massage next week that I should be good enough to go!

She wanted me to run on Friday to see how things were feeling. Overall it wasn't a great run, but my shin was feeling much better....again, not 100% by any means, but better. After much convincing from my running friends via e-mails and talks at work, I decided not to run my scheduled 12 miler this weekend and bike instead. No good will come of one more 12 mile run.....I'm not going to gain any fitness at this point and taking a couple days off the pounding will probably be beneficial. I am trying remain optimistic and think of this as a positive thing!

My calender at work this month features Deena Kastor when she ran Boston last year. I was looking at the picture on Friday and felt encouraged. See my friend John has started calling me "Deena" because he thinks I'm so speedy. After a few e-mails back and forth yesterday, I wrote this to John..."If Deena Kastor can take 6 weeks off running in 2005 (foot injury)and still win the Chicago Marathon then this 'Deena' can take a couple days off!" He completely agreed and told me that this break will actually help in "Mission 3:40". This is why I love my running friends....they make me laugh when I need it most!

I'm not going to say I'm not worried, because of course I am but its really out of m hands now. God has a plan for me and I have to leave this race in His hands. So ice and Advil will continue to be my best friends over the next few days and I just have to hope this Taper Hypochondria moves on to some other victim ASAP!! Off for a bike ride.......

Going Green

Ever since I got my bike last August, I have wanted to ride to work. Unfortunately I work 20 miles away from my house so its not really practical. Plus I'm not allowed to ride on busy roads....remember the spill I took the day I got my bike??? I have a really ugly scar on my elbow that still looks pretty fresh and it happened over 9 months ago!

So if I can't ride all the way to work, I decided to ride part of the way. You see my company has an office about 4.5 miles from my house that runs a shuttle back and forth to my building....20 miles one way is not doable, but 4.5 miles I can handle!

Last week I tried this for the first time. I packed my work clothes in a backpack, put on workout clothes, and set off on my bike. It took me about 20 minutes to ride to our office....yes, I am a slow biker! I locked my bike up and jumped on the shuttle the rest of the way. It was a great way to start out the day....I got my heart pumping which woke me up and then I was able to relax on the shuttle without having to stress about driving or traffic. When I got to work I showered in our locker room and got ready for work. At the end of the day I did the reverse.....totaling about 9 miles of biking for the day.

This week is the Bay State Bike week (http://www.baystatebikeweek.org/) where bikers from MA are pledging to commute on bike over 50,000 miles this week in place of driving. I can't bike/shuttle every day, but I did today and plan to do it again Friday. That's about 18 miles of biking but 80 miles that I won't be driving in my car. I figured out that between gas and tolls I spend about $10 a day driving to work.....by biking 2x a week I am saving $20/week! That will add up....not to mention what it will do for the environment!

Way to decrease my carbon footprint!!

Pain in my butt!

So this is a new one.....Saturday's long run was literally a pain in the butt. Well, just the left side :)

To back up, I met John, Paul, Janette, and Dave (a new runner friend that was on Team BMC 2006) at Marathon Sports early Saturday morning for a run. They are all training for the Run to Remember Half Marathon the same day as my marathon. We ran and chatted the whole 12.6 miles....it was great to run with a big group again! Although most people don't consider a 12 mile run at 8am on a Saturday morning fun, but we really had a great time! I was planning to run 16 miles so I tacked on a couple extra on my own after they finished.

Overall I felt pretty good.....everywhere except my left side. My left butt was really tight for some reason.....never felt that before. Also, my calf and shin were a little tight....they are all connected somehow so I'm not surprised everything felt a little off. Miss Yoga Teacher Extraordinaire Janette thought it was my hamstring insertion point which makes sense because my hammys have been pretty tight lately. She gave me some stretches and pointers that seem to be helping. She told me what would be the best is to have Bryan massage my butt.....let's see if he goes for that one :) I'm thinking I stretched it a little too aggressively in yoga class on Friday night and that's what caused the tightness.....I've been icing, stretching, and foam rolling it and its feeling better today.

My two goals for the next two weeks before VT City are to (1) listen to my body and not push it too much and (2) get at least 8 hours of sleep each night between now and the race. I accomplished #1 today by stopping my run early because my left shin was really sore......I'm trying not to worry about it yet as its not bad and I have a massage scheduled for Thursday which should loosen everything up. Now I have to head to bed to accomplish #2!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

One word to sum up this past weekend's runs would be wet! Friday it rained during my 10 miler, Saturday it rained during my 6 mile recovery run, and last but not least.....Sunday it rained for my long run....my final 20 miler of this training schedule! Let's just say I have gotten really good at dodging puddles and my Boston Marathon jacket from last year has gotten a lot of use!

The last two weeks have gone well. The mileage is starting to wear on me and I am mentally tired. I have been doing all my runs and hitting all my paces, but its more of a struggle to get out the door every day to run. I think this is pretty normal.......after strictly following a training plan for 15 weeks, your mind starts to get a little tired! I really wanted my last long run to go well as a confidence booster going into taper. I waited to run until about 10:30am on Sunday because it was pouring earlier. The first couple miles felt comfortable and my legs didn't feel as heavy as they have recently. I felt really good going up the hills on Comm Ave and was able to pick up my pace to hit the last couple miles at goal marathon pace. I ran the first 10 miles at an average pace of 9:05 and finished with an overall average pace of 8:54.....not too bad! It was just the run I needed to feel strong and confident for Vermont City.

And now I am embracing my taper with open arms!! I'll cut my mileage back from 55-60MPW to 43 miles this week and then 32 the next week. In my past two marathon trainings, I dreaded taper.....it often comes with anxiety, restlessness, and hypochondria. This time, I welcome it because I know I have put my time in and my body needs the rest to get me at my best for the marathon in 3 weeks.

Total weekly miles = 58.15

Overdo update!

I apologize for not writing in a while, but things have been really busy lately. Sometimes I feel like my life is work, run, eat, sleep, and repeat! But I am not complaining because I love what I do and I love running.....sometime it all just leaves me too tired to blog!

So last weekend was loaded with lots of running. Saturday I had a tough marathon pace long run with 17 total miles. As I've said before most of the time long runs are done significantly slower than marathon pace, but twice during my training I have marathon pace long runs. I started out on my own and ran a 3 mile warm up....then I kicked it up to goal marathon pace for 14 miles. Bryan met up with me for the last 4 of the goal pace miles. As we started out together, he says "wow...this is how fast you've been running?? This is how fast you want to run the marathon in?? WOW!!" It made me smile :) The run felt pretty good....my legs were tired and felt a little heavy, but I averaged 8:24 min/mile!! I'm really glad this run went well and that I was able to hit my pace without too much struggle. It leaves me confident that with a good taper and race day adrenaline I will be prepared for Vermont in 5 weeks....aaaahhhhh!!

I learned that I need to be wearing sun screen on all my runs even in the middle of April....I am now sporting a nice sports bra tan line on my back and an iPod arm band around my left bicep. I must be more careful about this!!!

Sunday was the women's Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston and I could not have been more excited to go watch it. I met up with Janette early Sunday and the weather was perfect....sunny, but cool. The course was four 6 mile loops through Boston and Cambridge so we could see the runners about 10 different times. Deena Kastor (who I love!!), Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, and Blake Russell came in 1, 2, and 3 and qualified for the Olympic Marathon in Beijing. It was an exciting race with Magdalena leading by almost 2 minutes at the half, but Deena kicking it up, passing her at mile 23 and going on to win by 45 seconds....she is truly my idol! It was also awesome to see Joan Benoit-Samuelson run a 2:49 at the age of 50!! She was the oldest woman to have qualified for the trials......very inspiring.

One of the highlights of the day was meeting Ryan Hall, the men's marathon trials winner. We were waiting for the runners to come by and Janette saw him standing two people down from us.....we were star stuck!! I mean he is the top American male marathoner!! We got up some courage and asked to get our picture with him....he was so nice! Below are some of the pictures I took at the trials (click on the picture to view it larger).

Janette and I with Ryan Hall!

Deena Kastor looking strong

Deena again!

Magdalena in the lead

Lead pack crossing the Mass Ave bridge for the 1st time

Marathon Monday was equally exciting!! I was sad not to be running it this year, but excited to watch. It was a beautiful day for the race....not at all like last year's weather! I took the day off work so Bryan, Janette and I walked up to mile 21 (top of Heartbreak Hill right before Boston College) and set up camp. Watching the elites is always amazing, seeing Lance Armstrong cruise by was fun too, but we were most excited to see our friends. I trained a lot with John this winter so I was really hoping he'd have a good run. We saw him coming over the hill and he was smiling....good sign! We started screaming for him and holding up our signs. I ran a couple yards with him and he said he was feeling good and having fun. I was so happy for him....after last year and then Chicago last fall, he deserved a good run. By my calculations he was doing great on time and looked like he would keep it up for the last 5 miles. Next we saw Steph and she had an equally big smile on her face....another good sign! A few minutes later, Jeff came looking tired, but still with a smile on his face. I am so proud of all my friends for an awesome race!! John broke his previous record by 12 minutes....GO JOHN!!! Jeff and Steph both came in a little slower than last year but said they had more fun this time around....and that's all that really matters!

Overall it was a great weekend and just what I needed to keep me motivated over the next 5 weeks before Vermont.

Total miles for the week = 54.5!

Weekly Update

I didn't post much last week because not much was new or exciting to talk about. After my record 60 mile week and 22 mile long run last week, things this week just felt ordinary. But I guess that's good. Plugging away at the miles when there isn't much excitement behind them is what helps make us mentally stronger. I need to keep my eye on the big picture for the next couple weeks and draw motivation from that.

With that said, last week wasn't to shabby either. Here's how it broke down:

Monday - 8 miles total with 5x800m intervals between 3:29 and 3:33 (I need to talk to Dr. Pfitzinger about this training plan....who schedules a track workout 2 days after a 22 mile run!?!?)
Tuesday - Easy 5 miles over lunch with some work friends
Wednesday - 12 miles including the Newton Hills
Thursday - 4 mile recovery run
Friday - 9.5 miles with 7 miles at goal marathon pace (not sure what that is yet, but I averaged 8:26 min/mile here)
Saturday - 18 mile long run including Newton Hills...not exactly sure what the pace was because I messed up my watch, but I think it averaged somewhere around 8:45 min/mile with the first half a little slower than the second
Sunday - REST!! And 60 minutes of yoga plus some additional stretching and foam rolling

Looking back I to have a lot to be proud of this week. I ran 6 days for the second week in a row and I managed to push some really good paces even though I was tired. I have also learned to cherish my rest and recovery days!

Saturday was odd because it went from thunder, lightning, and downpours as I drove into Fitcorp to sunny and 70 degrees as I finished my long run....very odd! Bryan and I took advantage of the nice day and walked around town and then went to a new sports bar up the street from our house to watch the Red Sox vs. Yankees game.....GO SOX!! Sure, beer isn't the best way to rehydrate after a long run.....but I needed the carbs :)

Total miles for the week = 56.5!

This time last training....

If you've been following my blog you will see that my training has been going really well this time around. I am feeling stronger than ever and really looking forward to seeing what I can do at Vermont.

Today I set out for an 8 mile run.....nothing special, just a run. I was feeling good and really getting into a rhythm. About half way through I started thinking about my last training cycle for Hartford. All of a sudden I remembered that it was this run....this 8 mile run last training that I quit after 4 miles and came home with tears in my eyes because I was in so much pain and couldn't run anymore. I had been running through the pain for a few weeks before that and it was this run that finally brought me to a halt. I took the next 5 days after that completely off and then hobbled through the next couple weeks running slowly and in pain.

But I'm not going to dwell on the negatives of that run. Even though things didn't turn out the way I had pictured back then, I learned a lot from that experience. Because of that experience, I am a stronger runner now. Clearly my body wasn't ready to handle the demands of a higher mileage training program back then.....but those miles (slow miles!) continued to build my strong running foundation. I definitely don't want to relive the pain I was in last year, but it made me appreciate the abilities I have been given and all the pain free days of running I have now!

I am now about 5.5 weeks away from Vermont. I have pushed my body beyond its comfort zone and this time it hasn't rebelled against me....keep knocking on that wood :)

Breakfast of Champions

Yesterday I was in the supermarket doing some grocery shopping. I was in the cereal aisle and noticed they were out of my usual Kashi Heart to Heart (literally Bryan and I eat a box of this stuff a week...each!) so I started scanning the boxes for something else. I stumbled upon a box of shredded wheat bricks and I immediately grabbed them and put them in my cart with a smile on my face.

Why does shredded wheat make me smile you ask?? My grandpa used to eat this for breakfast all the time, but in true Grandpa fashion, he had to spice it up some...no plain milk for him!

Now there is some controversy in my family as to what goes on the cereal and in what order. Here's my take on it and I think this is similar to what he used to do: You start with the shredded wheat in a bowl, pour black coffee over and around each brick, add a small pat of butter to each (it starts to melt from the hot coffee), then add milk and a sprinkle of sugar.....sounds weird?!?! I can't even remember the last time I ate this, but it brought back memories of sitting at the picnic table in the kitchen of their big house with the "big four" cousins and my grandparents. I think this might have been my first taste of coffee when I was little! I don't know when Grandpa last ate this for breakfast, but I'm guessing it was a few years back. I'm glad to have one more thing (as simple as it sounds) to remind myself of him.

As I ate it, I realized that Grandpa had the right idea with this breakfast....it has every thing that one needs in the morning. Whole grains from the shredded wheat, caffeine in the coffee (a must in the morning), and calcium in the milk. What more could you want....a true breakfast of champions!

So yes, its a little weird, but that was my Grandpa! I think he would be happy to know that this crazy tradition of his put a smile on my face on this cold and cloudy Monday morning :)

Two Major Milestones!

This weekend I set two new records for my training. After my step-back week last weekend, I was ready to run long again on Saturday. It was around 45 degrees, cloudy, with a light rain for the first 4 miles.....pretty much ideal for running. My plan was to run 22 miles.....my longest training run ever!!! In the past I ran up to 20 miles in training, but I wanted to get in something a little longer this time.

I met up with John and ran the first 18 miles with him on the Boston Marathon course and the broke off and ran the extra 4 miles around the river. I wanted to keep the pace a little slower and focus more on time on my feet to train my body to run for over 3 hours. I ran the first 16 miles around a 9:05 - 9:10 pace then picked it up just a bit to 8:45-8:50. Overall I averaged 9:02 min/mile and ran 22.15 miles in 3 hours 19 minutes and 57 seconds! I felt really good during the entire run.....felt like I could have kept going at the end if I had to, but was happy to be done! The pace felt easy and conversational....just ask John because I think I was talking his ear off :) After we got over Heartbreak Hill he commented that I didn't even sound winded....trust me, I was! There were some rough patches so I tried to concentrate on my stride and remind myself why I am doing this....I thought about my grandpa and pushed harder for him, I thanked God for giving me the abilities that I have and pushed harder because I could, and I thought about myself and how far I've come from this time last year.

I didn't listen to music until the last 4 miles where I put on my new favorite song...When I close my eyes by Ozomatli. I was singing along and these are some of my favorite lyrics. "The power inside you, let it come and work it out. The strength within you will make the sadness disappear. Everyday I'm getting stronger I feel ten feet tall right now."

With this run, I set a second milestone for myself. I ran a total of 60 miles for the week....that's the highest I have ever run!! Before I maxed out at around 55 miles so getting into the next decade was exciting for me. Having these kind of goals and milestones help to keep me motivated during the training cycle. I remember when I thought running 25 miles in a week was a ton and here I am more than doubling that....and feeling good! Here's how it was broken down:

Monday: 6 mile recovery run
Tuesday: 12 mile with 7 miles at LT pace (see last blog)
Wednesday: 3 mile recovery run
Thursday: 12 mile run (8.5 miles on my own then Bryan met me and we did 3.5 miles together)
Friday: 5 mile recovery run and 75 minute power yoga
Saturday: 22.15 mile long run
Sunday: REST!!

This is also the first week I ran 6 days instead of 5. I plan to keep the miles between 55-60 for the next 4 weeks of training before taper. I've said it before, but I have been feeling so strong during this training....knock on wood! I just hope I can keep this up until race day......7 more weeks!

Total miles for the week = 60.18!!!