A journey of 1000 miles....

I'm like buttah.....

2012-02-13T08:31:00.000-08:00

.....cause I'm on a ROLL. hahaha

So, I think I found my motivation. Not sure how or where it was hiding, but I found it. Last week was very productive. I didn't run over the weekend because of the stair climb, but I got right back at it on Monday. After work I went for a run along the Charles River and went one bridge further than I usually go and it ended up being almost 9 miles. I felt great, it helped that somewhere along the run a group of some ivy league cross country runners passed me and I had a nice view for a while. Then I remembered, they're probably not even old enough to get into a bar yet and I felt old.

Tuesday I ran my usual loop from the Mass Ave. bridge to the JFK bridge, including the short distance from the parking garage to the river it ends up being 7 miles. It's a nice loop, I like it. On the Storrow Drive/Soldiers Field side I can do fartleks sprinting every other light post back to the Mass Ave Bridge. It mixes it up a bit. Then I noticed a few weeks back there are these weird numbers painted on the Mass Ave Bridge and I have been wondering what they meant and meaning to google them for a while. I finally looked it up. The numbers go in increments of 10s and every 50 they have the word "SMOOTS" with them. Apparently, its an MIT thing. Way back in the day they wanted to invent a unit of measure to record the distance of the Mass Ave Bridge from the Frat houses to the main part of the campus. One of the frats used the last name of the shortest guy in their frat because his name sounded 'sciencey' like WATT or AMP and so the unit of SMOOT was born. The Mass Ave Bridge is roughly 365 SMOOTS. It's fun to see the numbers go by as I run it and even more fun now that I know the meaning behind the numbers. I envision them laying the poor guy down on the bridge to measure it originally.

Wednesday was another awesome Ayer run with Kim. We did a 5 mile loop and I was so distracted chatting about the stair climb the previous weekend that I didn't realize we were FLYING! I think we shaved 30 seconds per mile off our pace from the previous week. Afterwards I hung out for a bit and watched as Ayer's newest runner cautiously took her first steps. Kim's daughter, Ryann, is going to skip walking and go straight from crawling to running.

Thursday, I wanted to do a little less than the 7 mile loop so I went from Mass Ave. to River St. I know the Western Ave bridge is close to 6 miles so that was a little longer than I wanted too. River St. ended up being 5.25 miles not bad and it went by really fast. I need to find some middle distance runs.

Friday, I tried running along the river in the opposite direction towards the Science Museum instead of towards Harvard. It's not as pretty and I don't really like it. I just went one bridge down, not all the way to the museum. It ended up being 4.4 miles. Not bad for a shorter loop, but I still want to find a different way to go if I need a short run. I just don't like that side of the river for some reason.

Saturday morning I got up early and met up with Kim and Shannon for a long run through Lowell. We avoided the hill. That made me a little sad. I like the hill. It was still a really good run. We did about 8ish miles from Shannon's house and I ran there so I ended up with a total of 11.7 miles. I think I averaged 10:00 miles, so I felt really good. I'm starting to feel like I might get back to the speed I had in Boston last year and I could potentially try for a 4:00 marathon in Chicago this year. That is, of course, assuming I do not get hit by another car this summer and it's not 83 degrees on race day.

Sunday, I wasn't going to run, but I got up and the sun was shinning and it looked so nice out I couldn't resist the urge to lace up my shoes and go out. I was going to just do a nice easy 4 mile out and back, but when I started I felt amazing so I kept running. It was just one of those runs that I felt like Forrest Gump and if I had my fuel belt and gels I could have kept running forever. I ended up doing the 7 mile hilly non-hill run.

So, here's my 7 day running streak:

Now, I really need to find a way to get strength training back into my routine so that I don't get hurt. I'm getting up close to 50+ miles per week and I know I REALLY need to get some strength or cross training in to prevent an overuse injury. But for now I'm just really psyched that I'm motivated and feeling good. I'll keep running and working on speed and hopefully find time and a way to fit in some other stuff. I gotta get on it before it gets really nice and I get my bike out.

Stair climb recap

2012-02-06T04:18:00.000-08:00

First let me do a quick review of last week leading up to the climb. I was feeling kind of down and defeated last week (must be how the Patriots feel today). I managed to push through it though and I ran Monday through Thursday. 7, 5.7, 5, and 6 miles. All pretty easy paced runs, nothing crazy, just trying to get my motivation back and still struggling a little. By the end of the week I felt pretty good.

Friday after work I got acupuncture to help prepare for the stair climb the next day. Considering I didn't really train for the climb this year, I needed all the help I could get. PLUS, I signed up to climb TWICE! It seemed like a good idea 4 months ago. Acupuncture was great I felt totally relaxed and ready to take on the challenge the next day.

Saturday morning I woke up extra early to bake some Oatmeal awesomeness cookies that I had promised my teammates. Then I took a shower and got dressed and headed into Boston. I was sort of scrambling and forgot half of the stuff I wanted to bring and brought a ton of crap I didn't need. Forgot directions to the parking garage and my iPod and my bib#s and brought about 4 extra shirts for after the climb even though you get a free shirt for finishing it.

Anyway, I got there and checked in, got my bib#s and met up with my team. Scott was a little upset that all the other teams had matching shirts and I had only ordered a shirt for myself. I'm not made of money, I already donated over $200 not including the actual registration fee and the cost of my own shirt. Plus, it was kind of a last minute idea. I told him next year our team name can be "matching shirts" and I'll think of something funny for us to wear before the climb.

Before we knew it, they were calling our numbers to the start area. I was first then Scott was 15 seconds behind me and Matt another 15 seconds back. I expected them both to pass me. I started and stuck with my plan go every other stair and use the hand rails, rest if you need to, but don't stop til you get to the top. Matt passed me within the first 10 floors. I could see Scott about a floor below me and tried to keep it that way. I finished the first climb in 8:31 and Scott finished right behind me (a second ahead of me by our chip times).

We went to the observation area on the 39th floor to recover and then I had to get back downstairs to climb again. The time between climbs went by super fast, a little too fast. I was still coughing when I started the second climb, but I just paced myself and went a little slower. I actually felt better the second time and was yelling at the volunteers on the way up to show a little enthusiasm for the climbers. Most of the volunteers were high school students and some of them were just sitting there texting or not doing anything at all. It was kind of annoying. Anyway, I finished the second climb in 8:59.

Mission accomplished. Both climbs in under 10 minutes. Time to celebrate. I had some cookies with Scott and Matt and then headed to lunch with the other team I climbed with. We went to some fancy restaurant in Faneuil Hall. The only vegetarian thing they had on the menu was a veggie burger. I didn't really want a burger, but that's all they had AND it was $15!!! It wasn't even that good. I kind of felt sick afterwards.

After lunch I swung back by the building to use the restroom before heading to the bar and to meet up with my friend Leah. One of the guys I met at the top of the building when I finished my second climb offered to hook me up with some fire fighter gear and let me climb a third time, I was VERY tempted, but I knew my friend Leah was waiting for me. Next year maybe I'll do it, I kind of wish I had done it. I bet I could have been under 10 minutes for that too.

I met my friend Leah and we went to Scholar's, the bar that was hosting the awards ceremony. We got a few beers and hung out with the girls on the team my friend Jenine had coached. It was the team I climbed the second time with. After a while, they all trickled out and it was just me and Leah so we started chatting up a few of the fire fighters (I think they were from Brighton or Brookline, I don't know some B town). We were still talking when they announced the winners, but by the crowd reaction I knew who won - my hometown Portland Fire Dept. reclaimed their title and beat Needham Fire! I'm so proud of them!

Overall it was a really fun day and I can't wait to do it again in a year. I can't say the same for Sunday. I woke up with a little bit of a headache. I don't usually drink so just a few beers hit me hard. I had planned on going for a 8-10 mile run, but ended up spending the day lounging on my couch instead. I figured one rest day won't kill me. I'll just do 7-8 miles tonight on the Charles. I'm still struggling a little to get my motivation back. I'll get there. I have to, I registered for Chicago again last week!

Vroooom....put put put.....crash.

2012-01-30T06:03:00.000-08:00

Well, last week I started off great. Rested and refreshed and ready to get back at it. I registered for Marathon #10 - Shires of Vermont May 20th. My birthday weekend, what better way to celebrate than run my tenth marathon. I also signed up for a few tune up races between now and then. Couple of half marathons and a 20 miler. Feeling pretty good and back to my normal crazy running addict self.

Monday I went for a run after work - 5.7 miles along the Charles river. A little more Tuesday for a nice even 6 miles. Hilly Ayer 5 mile run with Kim and Daisy Wednesday. Rest Thursday and a 5.5 mile run along the Charles in the rain Friday night. Have to admit Friday's run was kind of an epic fail. I just wanted to do a short easy run to kick start the weekend and instead I got boo boo belly a little over half way in and had to walk for a little bit. Then I got stuck in traffic on the way home and couldn't get to the running store to buy new shoes for my long run Saturday morning. Whatever, I could just go after my run Saturday.

Saturday morning the plan was to do a nice 10 mile run with Kim and then Nutter and Erin surprised me and showed up too. I hadn't seen them since around Christmas so it was great. We began the run around 9:15am. All of my long runs start the same way going up a giant hill but on the brightside you get to run down it on the way home. That didn't really make anyone feel better about it. I don't mind the hill, I figure it's good training. Anyway, we all made it up the hill and then to the lollipop part of the run. I settled into a nice pace and started chatting with Erin since I hadn't seen her in a while and Nutter and Kim fell back and were running together for a while. We got to about mile 7 and Erin and I stopped to let Kim and Nutter catch up. Nutter was now ahead of Kim. I asked Kim if she was ok and she said no. She had a pain in her knee. We still had 3 and a half miles to go.

Kim said to keep going she was ok, just slow. We ran a little then stopped and waited and then ran a little more and stopped and waited. I felt really bad. What none of them knew was that the 10 mile loop was really 10.75 miles. I didn't want to say anything at the beginning of the run because I knew they might bail, but now it was even worse timing and I couldn't tell them now that the run was a little long. Erin and I continued running about a mile then waiting for Kim to catch up. Nutter was in the zone for the last 3 miles and just kept on going to the end. I finished and then ran back to run the last little bit with Kim.

Everyone finished the run, but they were all pretty miserable at the end and I felt like they all hated me. I didn't think 0.75 miles would be that bad, but add in the hill and as Nutter said, "that 10 mile loop felt like 13 miles!" I run that loop all the time and love it, but they DID NOT love it. Lesson learned next time, if there is a next time, tell everyone the exact mileage and elevation profile of the run ahead of time, if they bail on the run, but return for a different shorter flatter run that's better than losing all my friends because of extra mileage and hills.

Anyway, I felt like crap afterwards even though I felt ok on the run and actually ran it at a very good pace and talked the entire time. It was almost like someone punched me in the stomach and then kicked me while I was down at the end of the run. Saturday night I was suppose to have dinner with a friend, but she wasn't feeling well and we rescheduled, so I was left to spend the night alone wallowing in the suckfest of the day.

Sunday I woke up super early, couldn't sleep. I wanted to go for a run, but the events of the previous day pretty much sucked any motivation and energy I had in me out. I had a few cups of tea and thought about going for a run, but couldn't peel myself off the couch. Totally demotivated and destroyed. I spent the entire day on the couch watching National Geographic Channel. Around 4:00 I finally got up and did some laundry and made lunches for the week, but then returned to the couch for the remainder of the weekend.

I'm hoping that I can get my mojo back this week with a few short fast runs along the Charles after work and another hilly Ayer Run on Wednesday with Kim. Plus, registration for Chicago opens Wednesday so I'll be signing up for Marathon #11. I gotta get motivated, I have a lot to do this year.

Taking a break

2012-01-19T04:13:00.000-08:00

So, when I got back from Disney I brought the flu with me and was out of commission for a few days. I literally spent 3 days on my couch in a semiconscious state with a fever over 100 degrees and no energy to even eat. I started to feel better towards the end of the week. Which was good because I had planned another mini-vacation with friends to the White Mountains of New Hampshire for some snowy adventures.

Friday night I drove up to the bustling town of Campdon, NH with my friend Kim and we met the rest of the crew up at the ski condo we rented for the long weekend. It was actually snowing when we got there and neither one of us had eaten dinner yet so I used the handy 'Around Me' app on my phone to find a pizza delivery place and ordered a pizza. It took forever and when the kid finally showed up the pizza was a little soggy and not exactly hot, but I didn't care I was starving. Lucky for us, not only did he provide food, he also provided entertainment. He got stuck in the driveway of the condo and couldn't get out. There was a steep hill out to the main road and it was all ice and covered with fresh white fluffy snow so it was super slippery and his front wheel drive sedan circa 1998 could not get any traction. We stood in the doorway laughing and trying to guide him, but he just kept getting more and more frustrated. I actually felt bad for him. He would get 90% of the way up the driveway and then gun it spinning the tires and sliding back down to the bottom. We tried to tell him to go slow and put the car in low gear and ease his way up the hill, but he was a frustrated teenager with no patience and obviously very little experience driving in snow and ice. We eventually got him to drive up the hill towards the edge in a wide turn and he made it, not so sure if his car's transmission survived the night.

Saturday morning we all got up and ate breakfast. It was time to check off another item on my 'to-do' list, I was going to try snowboarding. I grew up in Maine and skied from middle school up through high school and some of college, but hadn't been since then. So, we're talking over 10yrs since I had even been to a mountain in the winter time, nevermind trying to get on a chairlift and then going down the mountain. I borrowed snowpants and a jacket and rented a snowboard. Kim's husband Bill had recently learned to snowboard (from watching youtube videos) and agreed to show me the basics. We made our way to the bunny slopes and I strapped the board onto my foot and hobbled up to the chairlift. Bill road up with me and showed me how to get on and off. I wiped out almost immediately and couldn't stand back up. It was pretty comical.

I think the first run took about an hour or maybe more and I spent more time on my butt than on my feet. Bill and the others did one more run with me and then I told them to go ahead and have fun on the rest of the mountain. I didn't want to hold anyone back and I knew I'd be on the bunny slopes all day just trying to stay up and make it down the hill without falling. I got better as the day went on. I could get on and off the lift without wiping out and taking other people down with me.

I stayed on two green trails the whole time 'Stemtation' and 'Leroy's loop':

By the end of the day I did 8 or 9 runs and managed to make it down the hill without falling on the last run of the day. I made it the last run because I wanted to finish on a high note and I was pretty psyched I didn't break anything and felt like I only bruised a few areas.

I met up with everyone in the base lodge and we packed up and went back to the condo. It was still early evening and we had a pass to the local fitness club/spa so we decided to utilize the hot tub and pool. Only one problem, in my rush to through everything in my bag before leaving Friday night I forgot my bathing suit. I ended up just going in the hot tub with my sports bra and underwear on. It was a little weird to be in a hot tub outside with snow on the ground and temperatures quickly approaching zero degrees.

Sunday, Kim and Bill had lift tickets to another mountain and Moe and I had planned on snowshoeing. Mother Nature had other ideas, it was -6 degrees without the windchill and the winds were 20-40mph gusts making it roughly -25 degrees. Kim and Bill went to the mountain and turned around and came back to the condo. Moe went baack to the fitness center/spa for a workout and I explored the area a little. By the time we all reconnected at the condo it was late lunch/early dinner time. We went to the Common Man for some food.
If you've never tried it I highly recommend it. There are several locations around New Hampshire and the food is amazing.

When we got back to the condo, I decided to drive home instead of staying another night. I was really sore from snowboarding and the thought of another night in a twin bed with a plastic matress was not appealing. I was surprised how sore my upper body was from boarding. My legs were fine, but my chest, shoulders, and arms hurt so much it was difficult to shampoo my hair and to get dressed. Putting my jacket on and taking it off was a pretty painful process. I got home around 7:00pm and ate a little dinner before crashing on my super comfy bed.

Monday I had taken the day off from work expecting to still be in NH, but it was nice to have a day at home to catch up on chores and do some laundry and just chill. I felt like I hadn't really been home since before Disney even though I was home sick for much of the previous week, I wasn't awake for most of it so it didn't really count. I could have gone for a short easy run, but I was still really sore and didn't have any motivation to even get up and get dressed. I stayed in my PJs all day. Tuesday I brought my running stuff to work with the intention of running after work in and around Boston, but by the end of the day I had no energy and just didn't want to run. I went home instead and fell asleep on my couch at 5:30 and didn't wake up until 10:30, then I just went to bed.

Thankfully Wednesday I made plans to run in Ayer with Kim and get my butt back in gear. We did 4.5 miles and felt like we were running wicked fast, but upon reviewing the GPS when we finished we realized we only managed 10:00 miles. To be fair, it was very windy out and neither one of us had run in about a week. Plus, I still have some lingering congestion in my chest from the cold/flu I had the week before.

I'm hoping today to go for a run after work and get my motivation back. I looked at my training logs for the past few years and last week was the first week in over 3 years that I logged zero miles!!!! No wonder why it felt weird and it's really hard to get started again. I still haven't signed up for any 2012 races. I just have the stair climb coming up and that's it. I can't decide which spring marathon to run and that will help me decide which tune up races to register for. There's so much I want to do and limited number of weekends. Some races that I'm interested in overlap and part of me wants to leave some weekends open this year for trying NEW things. I can't decide what to do. I need to just pick something.

Gone Goofy again

2012-01-12T03:56:00.000-08:00

They're not lying when they say every mile is magical. Disney really does do it right. What a great weekend. I flew into Orlando Thursday evening and had about an hour to kill before the next member of the group arrived. So, I just sat in the terminal and people watched for a bit. It was very entertaining. There was a very snooty older couple there with their little toy poodle in a purse (that the man was holding). The woman was using her laptop on one of the charging stations and complaining about the Wi-Fi bandwidth and how she couldn't send or receive any emails. It was hilarious and made the time go by fast.

Chris got in a little early and we went to dinner while we waited for Kristen and Jason to get in. They were on the same flight and scheduled to arrive about 3 hours after us. There was really no point leaving since we'd have to pay for parking when we came back so we just hung out in the macaroni grill until they closed up then made our way to the side of the terminal that Kristen and Jay were flying in to. Finally the gang was all there and we got the rental car and headed to the condo. I was exhausted and as excited as I was to be in Florida and on another marathon adventure with friends I just wanted to get to sleep as oon as possible. I knew I wouldn't sleep much before the half and especially before the full so I tried to get a good night sleep the first night we were there since we really had no agenda on Friday aside from going to the expo to get our bib numbers.

Friday morning we took our time getting up and moving. Ate breakfast at the condo, showered and got dressed and headed to the expo. Disney's Wide World of Sports complex hosts the expo and it was packed, cars and buses lined the road leading into the complex. We eventually found a parking space and started walking. The excitement in the air was like static electricity on sweater you pull out of the dryer on a dry winter day. There were little kids running around with medals on from the family races and adults with medals from the 5K race.

We got our bib numbers and headed into the expo. It's always so overwhelming, so much to look at and no clue where to begin. We all split up in 4 different directions. Thank God for cellphones and texting. Otherwise we'd never find each other again. I walked around up and down the isles and talked to a few vendors and amazingly only spent $15. I got myself a little 70.3 pendant to add to my necklace. It now hangs right behind my Boston Marathon pendant. After a few hours of expo exploring we all agreed it was time to eat. We went to Uno's on the way back to the condo and then stopped at the grocery store to stock up for the weekend.

Before we knew it the day had gone by and we were sifting through the goodies in the bags we got at the expo and laying out our clothes for the race the next day. Speaking of expo goodies, in the RunDisney flyer for all the 2012 races that Disney does, on the page for the Disneyland Half marathon there's a little photo of a Tinkerbell running through Anaheim Stadium that bares striking resemblance to a certain running addict/blogger, oh yeah it's me! We made dinner, pasta and chicken with garlic bread. Talked about our various strategies for the races ahead. Out of the 4 of us, I was the most prepared, but also the slowest runner in the group. So, it would be interesting to see where we all stacked up once we crossed the finish line.

We woke up bright and early, well early at least, maybe not so bright. It was 3:30am and we needed to leave the condo by 4:30 in order to be on the start corrals by 5:00am. We got ready, ate a little breakfast, had some coffee or tea and a little water and hit the restroom one last time before it was port o potties or palm trees as the only option. And off we went to the start. Chris was the quietest he had been since we arrived. It was his first half marathon and the nerves had set in. We all assured him he would do awesome and told him to enjoy the experience. The weather was perfect - in the low 50s maybe even high 40s. My costume looked amazing and I couldn't wait to get a ton of photos with all the Disney characters.

We lined up in the corrals and watched the giant TV screens showing the announcer and the stage near the start line as we inched our way closer and closer. The Wheelchair start was first and then there were 8 waves after that. Kristen was in the first wave, then Jason in wave 2 and Chris and I were in wave 4. For each wave there were fireworks and a countdown of Donald Duck saying "Ready, Set, GO!" And we were off and running.

The half is so much fun because you just go from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom and back. You run through Cinderella's castle at about mile 6 and then you head back to Epcot. There are characters all along the way and all kinds of surprises and every mile really is magical. There isn't as much access road running as the full marathon and you're typically done before the sun even comes up completely so you finish just in time to get breakfast and enjoy the rest of the day. Here are a few of the photos I took along the way:

I had such a blast running the half then it was time to get serious and prepare for the full. We took a few more photos at the finish area and then went back to the condo for our ritual ice baths and hot showers before heading to Downtown Disney for lunch and a little shopping. The day went by surprisingly fast. Before we knew it we were back at the condo preparing dinner and getting ready for the next day of racing. Jason and I were doing the Goofy, Kristen and Chris would be on the sidelines cheering for us the whole way. We made pizzas for dinner and tried to get to bed early.

Again we got up super early in order to get in the start corrals on time. We left the condo at 4:30 and got to the start area right on time. No costume this time, this was all business, time to run! I felt a little nervous and a little excited, but more nervous than excited. I got into my corral and worked my way up to the front so that when we started I didn't have to weave in and out and around people. I was right at the rope when we approached the line. A little countdown and Mickey announced, "On your Marks, Get set, GO!!!!" fireworks went off and I was running my ninth marathon.

I felt great. Right away I got into a good rhythm and settled into a nice easy pace. First three miles flew by and then I had to use the restroom. I was so worried about getting dehydrated I overhydrated. So, my first 5 mile split was a little slower than I wanted, but it was ok because I made up for it in the next 5 miles. I had a pace bracelet on and I was right on track for a 4:30 finish maybe even a little under 4:30. Then just as we made it to the Magic Kingdom and through Cinderella's Castle, this time at mile 11 (not 6 like the day before) I had to pee AGAIN! I stopped on the way out of the Magic Kingdom and lost about 4 minutes, but figured I could make it up like I did before. I wasn't worried, I was having fun and feeling pretty good.

Animal Kingdom was next and the miles were flying by. I was already at mile 16 and still only about 4 minutes off pace for a 4:30 finish. Up next was the toughest part of the course, a long section of highway between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. I ended up chatting with some guy for most of it and made it to Hollywood Studios and only had about 4 miles to go! I was slowing up a little, but still maintaining a solid 10:15-10:20 pace so I wasn't going to make up the time I lost, but I wasn't losing any more time. 4:35 would still be pretty awesome considering I did the half the day before. I'd take it.

Just about done, leaving Hollywood Studios, only the Boardwalk and Epcot left and a little over 3 miles. The end was so close I could taste it. Then my biggest fear going into the race caught up with me, dehydration. I started shivering and noticed my skin was dry and crusty. I grabbed a sponge and started soaking myself with water at each water stop, but it didn't help much I was already past the point of no return. So close though, I just kept running. One more mile I thought, I can do one more mile, then I'll go to the med tent. Last water stop and then just about a mile through Epcot to the finish. I grabbed a cup of water and took a sip and it instantly came right back up. I was in bad shape.

I pushed through and picked up the pace to get across the line and finished in 4:38 (4:37 according to my garmin), not too far off of my goal of 4:30. As soon as I crossed the line I was put in a wheel chair and brought into the med tent, triaged into the "yellow" section, whatever that meant, I'm not sure. There were 3 or 4 people attending to me right away taking my vitals and covering me with heated blankets. They brought me a cup of water with a straw but I just about choked on it because I was so thirsty and my body wouldn't absorb anything. After a few minutes of warming up I was finally able to keep some water down. I drank 3 or 4 cups of water and got a change of clothes before they would let me leave.

Once I was cleared to go from the med tent I collected my medals and got my bag from the bag check and met up with the gang at the finish festival. We took a few more photos and headed back to the condo for showers and fresh clothes. Back to Downtown Disney for lunch and more shopping and then a little pool time and much needed naps before we went to dinner to celebrate a weekend full of amazing accomplishments. Chris finished his first half marathon, Kristen beat us all in the half with little to no training at all, Jason beat me in the full by 4 minutes and he didn't train at all either! Totally not fair because he ran with his phone and was tracking me the entire time, picking it up a little everytime he noticed I was ahead of him. And I finished my 9th marathon and 2nd Goofy Challenge. Cheers!

Now I need to decide what's next???? Marathon number 10 and maybe a few other challenges and checking off some items from my list. Stay tuned, I'm sure 2012 is going to be epic.

Bring it 2012!

2012-01-03T03:40:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I had an amazing year in 2011 and it is going to be very tough to top it in 2012, but I'm off to a good start. Before I get to that, let me sum up 2011 real quick. I wrapped up the year with a total of 1725.65 miles (205 miles in December). 51 races run (2 less than last year), 1 stair climb, 2 marathons (a new PR in Boston), 5 half marathons (not including the one in my Half Ironman), my first half ironman, 5 sprint triathlons, and Tough Mudder! I'd say I accomplished my resolution to challenge myself in new and different ways.

So, I started off 2012 with the Hangover Classic 10k in Salisbury, MA. My last race before Disney and a good final tune up a week before I run Goofy. I had no expectations and didn't push myself, 'I'm tapering' I kept telling myself. Just a nice easy 6.2 mile run. I felt really good. I didn't wear my garmin or anything, I just ran for the love of running, plus I planned on doing the optional polar plunge at the end of the race and didn't want to forget I was wearing expensive electronics and ruin them. I did that before with a cheap pedometer and had visions of the same fate for my garmin and it WAS NOT cheap.

I finished the race and ran right onto the beach. The sun was out and it was unseasonably warm, not to mention I just ran 6 miles so I was pretty warmed up too. I decided the best way to do the polar plunge was to not think about it and not hesitate, so I stripped off my running clothes, I was prepared and wore my bikini underneath, and I ran right into the water as if it was the start of a triathlon. I dove right in. The water was actually really refreshing and I don't mean that in an icy, took my breath away and kinda hurt way, it was just right like an ice bath after a long run, a little painful but totally worth it. The water at Tough Mudder was colder. With the sun out and my body warm from the run, it felt really good to jump in the water. I think there were over 1000 runners and close to half of them did the plunge. So, I can check that one off my list.

Monday I had the day off and didn't really have anything to do, and since I'm tapering I tried really hard to resist the urge to go out for a run. It was VERY difficult because it was a really nice day out. I closed my blinds and refused to be tempted. Instead I spent the day relaxing and sitting on my couch doing nothing. I never even got out of my PJs. It was a little boring and I got antsy and fidgety throughout the day, taper maddness at it's best, my muscles ached and twitched to be used, but I refused to give in and rested. While I was resting I looked up the results from the race the day before, I finished in 55:12! That's almost a PR for me. If I had actually tried a little bit and ran 25 seconds faster I would have PR'd!!!! Oh well, next time maybe. Just means I'm in really good shape for the Goofy Challenge and I can't wait to run it.

This week should go by really fast, but I know it won't. It will go by painfully slow and I will go insane with excitement and energy and a little pre-race anxiety. I really have no pressure going into this race because I am not running it for a PR, I'm running it for fun, so there is less anxiety than I had before Boston and Chicago. Mostly just excitement. I can't wait to go down to Orlando with my friends and go to the Expo and maybe one of the parks and downtown Disney and then run the most magical race on earth. 39.3 miles in two days.

So, since my goal in 2011 was to challenge myself in new and different ways and I pretty much crushed that goal and had an amazing year, I've put some thought into what my 2012 goal will be. I still haven't totally settled on something, but I have a few ideas. I think the overall theme is going to be take more risks and have A LOT of fun! I may work on my list and see how many things I can check off this year and I may attempt some things I never thought I would even think of doing. Stay tuned, it's going to be a good year!

BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!!

2011-12-28T04:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I didn't get a Barbie dream house or an easy bake oven or a radio flyer wagon or a red rider bb gun, but my holiday weekend was pretty friggin awesome in my opinion.

The holiday festivities started Wednesday with my work lunch and yankee swap. The lunch was mass produced hotel food and I had requested a vegetarian meal and was betting on it being not very good so I brought my own lunch just in case. Thank God I did. As predicted it was pasta primevera and there were almost no vegetables in it at all and gross pasta with what appeared to be alfredo sauce. I didn't even bother to try it. Slow start to the holidays, but just warming up. The yankee swap was entertaining, the first gift I got was two bottles of wine in a very nice box that said 'PEACE' on the outside so I joked that it was just what I wanted World Peace. It didn't stay in my possession very long, apparently lots of people want World Peace. So, I knew that if I took anything really good I wouldn't keep it and I might end up with something really bad so I took a mediocre gift that I knew I would at least enjoy (it just happened to be the gift I bought). It was a trivia calendar. It's on my desk, I got to keep it and World Peace got passed around the room over and over again.

After work I went to downtown Boston to finish up some last minute shopping and get dinner before going to the RaceMenu Holiday party. I arrived at the RaceMenu HQ a little early and helped them set up and finish prepping some of the food. The party started around 7pm. I met a few new team members and some of RaceMenu's clients and sponsors. It was a fun night, I even won a raffle prize and a new bright orange RaceMenu winter hat.

Thursday work couldn't end fast enough. My brain was already in long weekend mode and I was ready to start the mini-break. I took Friday off for my bed to be delivered and to bake a few more cookies to give as gifts. Thursday night when I got home I went for a nice 7.35 mile run on the hilly non-hill loop through Andover and Tewksbury and a little of Lowell. I settled in for the night and watched some random Christmas movies barely able to sleep knowing my new bed was coming the next day.

I was suppose to go for a run Friday morning before the sun came up with Cherie in Methuen but when I got up it was slushing out - not quite rain and not quite snow, just gross cold wet nastiness that I did not want to run in. So, I bailed on the run and decided to clean my house instead. Got my old mattress ready to be taken away and swept the dust bunnies from the floor where my old box spring had sat for the last 5 years (I had the bed for 5 years before that too in a different apartment). The furniture delivery guys showed up promptly at 8:00am and were in and out in a matter of minutes and my new bed was set up. Before I even had time to lock the door behind the delivery men Fatboy Slim had already jumped onto the new bed and claimed it. I was worried he wouldn't be able to get up there, but he made it.

I finished baking cookies and met my friend Ann for lunch in downtown Lowell. I hooked her up with some cookies and fudge and we had yummy thai food at the Blue Taleh. After lunch I was really tempted to take a nap on my new bed, but I still had things to do. I got my car inspected and finished cleaning my house, then I went for a quick 4.4m run before hopping in the shower and awaiting the arrival of my friend Erin coming for dinner. I hadn't seen her in at least 3 years and she was the one that originally helped me lose most of my weight. I met her at the fitness center in the fall of 2006 when I started my journey to a healthier lifestyle and she moved to Colorado in the late summer of 2007 before I hit the 100lb. mark and ran my first half marathon. I still remember the first 'run' I did, she cheered me on the whole way and ran the last quarter mile with me. We were going to Life Alive for dinner and I was so excited to see her I could hardly contain myself.

Dinner was amazing, of course, Life Alive can do no wrong. Afterwards we went back to my house for tea and just chatted and caught up. We were up until 10:30pm! I know that's not really that late for a Friday night, but it's way past my bedtime. It was so nice to see her and tell her all about all the amazing things I've done since she helped me lose weight. We talked about the Boston marathon and all of our different race experiences and training stories. We talked about nutrition and fueling your body right. We just talked and talked about anything and everything. It was seriously the best present I could have gotten, reconnecting with a dear friend that means the World to me - Priceless.

Saturday the holiday happiness continued. I went for an almost 8 mile run with Kim and Ryann, they had moved to a new town 20 minutes away earlier in the week and we were all suffering from Lowell Ladies run withdrawal. The run was a Greater Lowell Road Runners Christmas Eve morning tradition and the crowd that showed up was bigger than ever, there had to be 40 people there. We wrapped up our run and went back to my house for coffee and breakfast. I made pumpkin muffins with the Trader Joe's Pumpkin bread mix. YUM! Even Ryann ate 2 of them, she's only 9 months old! Cherie came over too and gave me an awesome present - Life Alive gift card and an apron that says I run so I can eat cupcakes! So funny. Kim got me a great running top that is actually long enough to fit my abnormally long torso AND a funny little toy joke gift - Grow a boyfriend. It is a little plastic man that grows in water.

Saturday night I went to my friend Jenine's house for Christmas eve dinner and her daughter Madison's birthday party (she was born on Christmas day). I brought presents for Madison and Dylann and cookies and cupcakes for everyone else. The girls loved the gifts I brought and I had a great time hanging out and chatting with Jenine and her family. Later in the evening Madison got a really great game called 'Headbandz' and we all played a few rounds. It was hilarious. The game consists of plastic headbands that you wear and cards with different objects on them that fit into the front of the headband. The object is to ask yes or no questions and figure out what object is on your headband. My stomach hurt from laughing so hard. When we finished the game most people had gone home and it was bedtime. I told the girls I needed to go home so Santa wouldn't skip my house. They insisted that I tuck them in first. SO CUTE! Finally, I said goodnight and went home.

Sunday morning, I did my last long Goofy run - 15 miles before heading up to Portland for brunch with my mom and brother. The run was awesome. A little chilly and snowing a bit, but that just made it seem like a Christmas miracle. About half way into my run my front water bottles had frozen solid, luckily I still had two bottles in the back that were ok. I felt great the entire time and averaged a decent pace, right on target for a 4:30 or 4:45 finish in Goofy. Drove to Portland and my brother made pumpkin pancakes. I brought a toy for his dog Logan and foolishly thought it would keep him entertained for hours. Logan destroyed the toy in less than 10 minutes. I got my brother a forever lazy. Funniest gift ever. And a vegan cookbook for my mom, she's going to try the Engine 2 diet.

When we were done eating we went to the movies to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. It was ok, might have been better in a theater that was a little larger. The screen they had it showing on was only a little larger than my TV. The room was only about 6 seats wide, 2 on one side and 4 on the other. Didn't matter, it was entertaining and had some cool explosions and stunts. When we came out of the theater it was snowing! I was starving, but needed to get on the road and head home. I got home around 9:30pm and went straight to bed.

Monday morning, the only day all weekend that I didn't have to get up early, Fatboy Slim had other plans. He meowed and walked over me back and forth, then started knocking stuff off my dresser and then played with the blinds in my window to get me out of bed. It was 5:00am!!!! I got up and gave him food assuming that was the reason for all the ruckus and he mysteriously disappeared.......back to the bed! The little brat just wanted me to move so he could have the big cozy bed all to himself!

I finished the weekend with some errands, grocery shopping and avoiding the mall and getting gas in my car for the upcoming week. Sad the long weekend was coming to an end but overjoyed with how awesome it was and how great all my friends are. Now onto the New Year and celebrating the end of 2011 and the start of 2012. I think I should finish the year with roughly 1700+ miles and over 50 races including 2 marathons, my first half ironman, and a tough mudder. It's going to be really hard to top that in 2012, but I will definitely try!

Tis the season to be GOOFY......

2011-12-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

A little Holiday humor. tehehe

Shoppin’ the mall in a vest so poofy,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to be GOOFY,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Now it’s time for me to taper,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
I even have time to read the paper,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Lots and lots of down time for me,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
In the kitchen baking I will be
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Making holiday goodies is my pleasure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Though, it may not help your waistline measure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Fast the days of training did go by,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
But it was no piece of cake or pie,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

All that’s left now is to REST,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
So that in Disney I can do my best,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Last week I came to the realization that I had A LOT to do and not enough time to get it all done so I ended up taking a vacation day Friday to try and accomplish some things. It was just what I needed. I got a lot done. I got up super early and went for a run with my friend Cherie. After the run I baked a double batch of sugar cookies, made 8 pounds of fudge, baked a capuccino fudge cheesecake with kalua ganache, and vanilla cupcakes. In the afternoon, I did another run with my friend Ann and while we were running there was a bad car accident in the road we ran on. We stopped and helped the two women injured until the fire department and police showed up. My EMT training comes in handy every once in a while. Finished up our run, then I decorated the cupcakes and cookies!

On Saturday, my friend Moe was hosting a group run from her house and it was a 7 mile loop so I got up early and did 7 from my house before heading over to her house. There was a really great group of people there for the run. I did my first 7miles at roughly a 10:20 pace or maybe 10:30, just nice and easy still not totally awake and not ready for how friggin freezing it was out. Then I managed to do 9:30s with the group! We had pumpkin pancakes afterwards and talked about other upcoming events. I still haven't decided on a spring marathon. Need to figure something out.

Anyway, after the run I braved the crowds and the traffic and the parking at the ...ugh...MALL! I decided it was finally time for me to buy myself a new bed. I was dreading the whole experience because furniture salespeople are right on par with used car salespeople on a scale of annoyance and douchebaggery. I confirmed this in the first store I went to. I walked in and was targeted by a very portly, red headed, sleezy salesman. I told him I needed a new bed and he made a b-line right for the most expensive top of the line super fancy new technology gel infused foam matress. I told him I wasn't really interested in foam and I wanted an inner spring matress and he argued with me and said that they were outdated and soon to be off the market and I NEEDED to get the gel foam. See the squishy cut out thingy doesn't it look cool. His stupid flashy toys weren't working on me but out of curiosity I asked how much a queen size super fancy foam matress costs. It was a bargain at $1999 he told me. If I had my matress for 25 years that would only be $75 a year (clearly he can't do math because I just did the math and it's $80 idiot). That doesn't include the base that the foam needs because regular bed frames don't support it's fanciness. I didn't even bother to ask how much the base cost. I said I was going to look at bed frames and I left.

The next store was a totally different experience. There was a very nice woman there that asked me all kinds of questions about how I sleep and if I currently experience any pains or trouble sleeping and focused on me and not a fancy foam matress. They even had a cool machine that showed how my weight was distributed when I was laying down in different positions. She showed me several different matresses based on the information from the machine. I found a nice pillowtop inner spring matress that I can definitely see myself drooling on in the near future - it was half the price of the stupid foam thing AND it included the boxspring! I also founf a very nice bed frame to go with it. I can't wait to sleep on it. Everything is being delivered this Friday - Merry Christmas to ME!

Saturday night I went to a holiday party at Cherie's house. I brought the cheesecake I made the day before and my party shoes and even had a few Christmas cosmos (this would come back to haunt me the next day). The party was so much fun. All my running buddies were there and some new friends too. We partied late into the evening and early Sunday morning. And at some point someone (Josh) turned on the 80's music channel and we had some drunkin sing alongs to end the night. It was great. I gave out presents to all my running friends - a headlamp and a first aid kit for Nutter since she's always wiping out when we run, Lululemon gloves with a wind proof fold over mitten for Kim because her hands are always cold, and a handmade coupon for Cherie for "a moment in time" I will babysit while she and her husband go out on the town because she's super busy working fulltime and going to school and driving two boys to various sporting events. Everyone loved their gifts and THAT is the greatest gift I can get - smiles on my friends faces.

Sunday I tried to wake up early, but the Christmas cosmos and late night made it a little tough. I think I rolled out of bed around 7:30 which is wicked late for me. I had some tea and a slice of leftover cheesecake for breakfast. Got dressed and sat on my couch in my running clothes trying to get motivated. It took a while but I finally started running around 9:45am. I felt pretty good. I made a conscious effort to stay hydrated knowing that the Christmas cosmos probably dehydrated me a little. Sipping water and clif shots everytime my garmin beeped at mile markers. I took salt tabs every two miles or so and gels at 5, 9, 12.5 and 14.5. I maintained a decent pace between 10:00 and 10:30s for the first 14 miles, then my tummy rumbled and I really had to pee, perhaps drinking at every mile was too much. Either way, I had to go and there was no gas station or port o potty in sight. I slowed my pace to 11:00s and took walk breaks. FINALLY at 16.5 miles with a mile and a half to go there was a Mobil station and I stopped. After I felt great and it was like I started a brand new run. I could have done a few extra miles, but decided to play it safe and rest. 32 miles in 2 days is enough goofiness.

Wicked busy weekend, but I got a lot done and now I can relax for the rest of the year. I got all my shopping done, all my baking done, Goofy training done. Time to taper and enjoy the holidays with friends and family. Happy holidays everyone! Stay healthy and active!

Goofy training almost done

2011-12-14T04:23:00.000-08:00

I'm actually really looking forward to the taper right now. My back to back long runs are wearing me out. For a while there I wasn't sure what was up and I wasn't feeling good at all. My med-long runs would go ok, but then my long run would be torture, not painful just slow and sluggish. I'm still not even close to as fast as I was last spring Pre-Boston/Tough Mudder, but I was getting there and starting to feel a little better. The 14 miler I did two weeks ago was depressing. My legs felt fine and my heart rate was fine and I felt like I was really working, but my Garmin told a different story. I was struggling to do 11-12 minute miles when I know I can do 9:00s on a good day.

Amazing what the right nutrition and hydration will do to improve things. This past weekend I did an 8 mile run and then a 16 mile run. I was sort of dreading the 16 miler because of my experience the week before on my 14 miler, but Sunday morning I got up and got dressed and headed out and figured I didn't care how long it took, I just needed to get the miles in. I started out slow and eased into it. I brought salt tabs with me this time and reminded myself to drink a sip every mile to stay hydrated. I felt a lot better. I was averaging 10:00s and even after passing the halfway mark I still felt amazing. A total change from the previous week. I finished the run averaging 10:18s a perfect 4:30 marathon pace.

Now the only thing that is lingering and annoying me and could put a damper on my training is lack of sleep. I have been tossing and turning and waking up a lot throughout the night and basically just not sleeping well at all. My resting heart rate has been elevated for the last 3 days and I feel like I might be coming down with something. I need a new bed really bad. I might break down and buy one this weekend. I've had my bed for over ten years and it was a hand me down when I got it. I can afford a new one, the thing that always stops me from buying a new bed isn't going to a furniture store (although that is part of it, those sales people are almost as bad as used car sales people) it's buying all new bedding. See, right now I have a full size bed and there's no way in hell I'll buy another full. I want (and deserve) a queen size bed. BUT that means I need new sheets, a new comforter, a new duvet, Probably could use new pillows, not to mention a new bed frame too! My matress is currently on the floor so a bed frame would be a huge improvement. I wonder how much my training would improve if my sleep improved. I'm guessing exponentially.

Anyway, regardless of what 'me to me' gift I get this year. I will definitely be wrapping up 2011 with a lot of miles. I'm at just over 1600 right now and will be doing a 12 and 18-20 this weekend for my last long runs before Goofy plus about 20 miles mid-week, there are 3 weeks left in the year and I've been getting >40 miles per week. If I keep it up I will hit 1700+ miles for the year. I've done about 50 races including the stair climb, Tough Mudder and my half Ironman. I'd say it has been an epic year and I have accomplished my resolution to challenge myself in new and different ways. I will have to get creative and think of a really good resolution for next year. Suggestions welcome.

While I'm on the topic of lists....

2011-12-09T04:24:00.000-08:00

A few years ago when I started this journey I started a list of things I wanted to do, some simple, some more challenging, some silly, some serious. I keep adding to the list and checking off items as the time goes by. Sometimes my goals for the year accomplish some of the list items, sometimes I accomplish items by chance and a little luck of being in the right place at the right time. It keeps me motivated and has taught me to appreciate life and all the little things. Here's my list:
1. Get a Passport √
2. Go skydiving
3. Get a 26.2 tattoo
4. Drive across the US
5. Learn to Surf
6. Go on a Whitewater rafting trip
7. Go on a Dude Ranch trip
8. Learn to ride a horse
9. Go on a Tornado Chase trip
10. Complete a Triathlon √
11. Complete a ½ Ironman triathlon √
12. Complete an Ironman triathlon
13. Boston Marathon √
14. Qualify for the Boston marathon
15. London Marathon
16. NYC Marathon
17. Chicago marathon √
18. Maine marathon √
19. Visit the Grand Canyon
20. Visit Niagara Falls
21. Visit the Great Pyramids
22. Visit the Eifel tower
23. Visit the Great Wall of China
24. Climb Mt. Washington (or run up it)
25. Go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans
26. Go to Carnival in Rio
27. Tomato fight in Spain (outside Valencia)
28. Get married in the Maldives
29. Visit Machu Pichu
30. Go on a Century bike ride √ (Metric and Full)
31. ½ marathon in less than 2 hours √
32. Marathon in under 4:30 √
33. Philly Marathon
34. Napa Valley trip
35. See the Tour de France in France
36. Alaska trip
37. Write a book
38. Learn to ride a unicycle
39. Learn to play a musical instrument
40. Learn to speak another language
41. Compete in the Death race
42. Professional pin up style photo shoot
43. Boston Trapeze School
44. Sell a piece of original artwork
45. Play the tambourine with a band at a live show
46. Run an ultra marathon
47. Beat my brother in a sprint Tri
48. Open a B&B or Bakery or restaurant
49. Have a cup of coffee/tea with a celebrity
50. Complete a marathon in all 50 states (5/50)
51. Go to Culinary school
52. Take the Firefighters exam
53. Re-Tile my kitchen floor
54. Get gas insert fireplace in my living room
55. Finish the crown molding throughout my house
56. Finish my basement
57. Be an extra in a movie
58. Have a speaking role in a movie
59. Walk on stilts
60. Be on the cover of a magazine
61. Get published
62. Do the Goofy Challenge √
63. Big Sur Marathon
64. Find a job I love √
65. Pay off my Visa bill
66. Pay off my college loans
67. Join a CSA
68. Plant a vegetable garden
69. Grow fresh herbs in my kitchen
70. Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity
71. Learn to fly fish
72. Go on a blind date
73. Draw/paint a mural √
74. Throw a kick ass party
75. Build a website √ (ironboots/rocklikewar)
76. Finish a crossword puzzle in pen
77. Act in a play
78. Win an award √ (best costume Devil’s Chase)
79. Build a piece of furniture √ (hockey stick table)
80. Inspire people
81. Organize a road race
82. Watch an operation live
83. Sneak backstage at a concert √
84. Do a ride along with the police
85. Ride on a fire truck
86. Slide down a pole in a firehouse
87. Do the Boston Stair Climb √
88. Invent the next pet rock
89. Save a life √ (girl at UNH)
90. Learn to shoot a bow and arrow
91. Go swimming in the Mediterranean Sea
92. Do a polar bear plunge
93. Donate my hair to Locks of Love (or similar org)
94. Recreate an iconic photograph
95. Take a pottery class
96. Take a stained glass class
97. Finish Tough Mudder √
98. Do an unassisted pull up
99. Fall in Love
100. Write a blog √
101. Go zip lining
102. Run Reach the Beach Relay with an Ultra team
103. Be in a parade √
104. Play bingo and win
105. Participate in a flash mob
106. Get a master’s degree in nutrition or an MBA
107. Take a dance class
108. Take Ballet class
109. Take a self-defense class
110. Do a snowshoe race
111. Do a winter triathlon
112. Try paddle boarding
113. Learn to cartwheel
114. Ride the tallest rollercoaster
115. Ride the fastest rollercoaster
116. Go to Europe
117. Marathon in under 4:00
118. Buy a farm
119. Buy a stranger’s groceries
120. Fill up a stranger’s gas tank
121. Donate a large amount of money to charity
122. Do a high ropes course
123. Take swim lessons to improve my technique
124. Learn to sail
125. Learn to row crew
126. Win a race
127. Stand on 4-corners (4 states at once)
128. Participate in a cook off/bake off
129. Learn to snowboard
130. Be a seat filler at an awards show
131. Spend a week “off the grid”
132.

I continue to add to it and check things off. I hope my list inspires you to make your own list and not just so that I can check off #80. :)

Dear Santa...

2011-12-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

My training last week was just sort of ho-hum. I did 42 miles total, my back to back long runs were 8 and 14. My 14 miler was slow and sluggish. I just wasn't feeling good at all. No energy.

So, since it's the holiday season, here is my list for Santa:

My wish list:
1. Health and happiness for me and all my friends
2. Injury free 2012 for me and all my friends
3. More smiles and laughs than frowns and tears for me and all my friends

Since no one, not even Santa can give those gifts here’s an alternate list:
1. Lunch at Life Alive
2. Asics 2170s size 11
3. Lululemon Scuba Hoodie

Things I REALLY need, but wouldn’t ask anyone for and will most likely buy myself:
1. New laptop (mine is older than dirt and only displays a blank white screen, kind of like a sheet of paper)
2. New bed (mine is over 10yrs old and was a hand me down when I got it)
3. New road bike (mine is 13+yrs old and has been crashed multiple times)

I'm not really into gift giving and Santa usually skips my house (except last year when he stopped by early with a number for Boston). I may do a few small gifts this year and will definitely bake a lot of cookies for everyone. I think my new job does an office yankee swap, if so I'm getting the forever lazy to give.

My plan for this weekend is to do 10 and 16 miles. Really hoping the 16 miler goes better than my 14 miler last week or else I may actually have to go to a (gasp) doctor and find out why I'm dragging ass(excuse the phrase, but it really does describe the way I feel accurately).

And now for something completely different, what Santa would look like if he ate a plant strong diet and only had vegan cookies and almond milk on Christmas:

Holy Crap it's December!

2011-12-01T04:08:00.000-08:00

This year has gone by so fast. I can't believe it. I hope this month goes by just as fast. I don't have any races planned yet for this month, but I'm training hard for the Goofy Challenge so I don't really have time to squeeze in a fun holiday 5K. Plus, I have a a few holiday parties to attend and will be bringing some yummy treats to each of them so that means when I'm not running I need to be baking.

Speaking of yummy food, Thanksgiving was AWESOME! I got up early and went to the Ayer Fire 5K with Kim and Ryann and Daisy. It was cool but not cold and very sunny. Perfect morning for a little run. As an added bonus I was able to give the fire department a stack of flyers for the stair climb, hopefully they bring a team. Kim and I ran the race together, unfortunately Ryann and Daisy were not allowed to run with us so they cheered instead with their grandparents. The course was mostly flat with a few rolling hills. It went by really fast, Kim was on fire, I had a hard time keeping up with her. We finished in 26:44 at a 8:37 pace. Not bad. Probably my fastest 5K in a while. After the race I hopped in my car and headed home to start cooking for my family.

It worked out perfect. I got home and threw the turkey breast in the oven then jumped in the shower. I had prepared pretty much everything the night before and only had to wait for it all to cook now. My mom, brother and grandmother drove down from Portland and arrived just in time. The entire meal was ready at noon. We started with Butternut squash and apple soup. Then we dug into the main courses. The turkey was just for my mom and brother, I had wild rice stuffed acorn squash and veggie gratin and mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, green beans, roasted brussel sprouts and wild mushrooms. I even made some cranberry chutney. Everything was perfect. My brother actually really really liked the veggie gratin. The stuffed squash was ok, I would pre-cook the squash if I made it again because the stuffing kind of dried out. Here's the gratin, it tasted just as good as it looks. AMAZING!!!

After my mom and brother each had 2 or 3 helpings of everything we needed to digest a little before moving on to dessert. My grandmother, unfortunately, is starting to show her age. She was a little confused and quiet for most of the meal. She didn't know who I was or where she was. It's really sad. She enjoyed the food and I told her it was great to have her visit. My brother brought his dog Logan with him and it was hilarious to see his reaction to my cats. Lola hid under the couch and Fat Boy Slim didn't really care, he was just pissed that we moved his food dish and he couldn't eat. Logan was terrified of both cats. He wouldn't even look at Slim and he found Lola under the couch and she quickly let him know she didn't want to be friends with a swift swat to the nose.

Finally, we decided we had room for dessert. I couldn't decide which cheesecake to make so I made two! My usual pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap pecan crust and caramel swirl AND a new recipe - cranberry swirl with a cran-raspberry compote.
OMG! This might be my new favorite cheesecake. It was delicious. A little tart and a little sweet, not too heavy or dense. The crust was yummerific, made with vanilla wafers and lots of butter. My brother loved it and said, "I'm going to take a small slice of this one and leave it for you and take the rest home with me." With a pretty good food coma about to set in, they had to drive back to Portland and bring my grandmother back to her nursing home. I passed out on my couch as soon as they left.

Black Friday I did NOT go shopping. Instead I got up and had some tea and breakfast and lounged around watching the today show and the news and then went for a nice 7.5 mile run. I was a little tempted to go shopping after my run out of boredom, but decided to nap on my couch instead and watch movies.

Saturday, the Lowell Ladies did a nice 7 mile run and I added on to and from Kim's house to make it 10.3 for me. We kept a really great pace for the whole run. It felt really good. I was bored afterwards so I decided to brave the mall and see what all the fuss was about and maybe get a few things. There really wasn't anythign I needed or wanted. I got some work clothes and that's about it. In the evening, I went to downtown Nashua with some friends. They have a 'Holiday Stroll' and we thought it would be lights and local stores and spirit, but it was mostly spirits and I don't mean the holiday kind. Nashua earned it's nickname "trashua". The stroll was more like a street festival with crappy food trucks and vendors selling trinkets for kids. None of the stores were open and none of the restaurants were either. It was kind of lame.

Sunday morning I completed the long weekend with another long run. 16 miles! Getting Goofy. A little over a month to go and I need to get my back to back long runs done. It wasn't pretty, but I did it. I wasn't tired and my legs felt fine, but for some reason I just felt like the force of gravity had doubled on me and I was being held back. It was taking twice as much energy to move my body forward. I think I over dressed and got dehydrated. I never drink enough when it's colder out. Sure enough when I got home I had lost several pounds in sweat while out running. It wasn't as fast as I would have liked but it wasn't really slow either. I'm still on target for a strong finish in the Goofy Challenge (as long as the weather doesn't kill me).

This is what it's all about:
The bling I will get for running 39.3 miles in 2 days. I can't wait!

Things I'm thankful for....

2011-11-23T04:18:00.000-08:00

The holidays are not my favorite time of year for many reasons, mostly because I associate them with family gatherings in my younger years that involved a lot of not so nice words exchanged usually from family members to me about my weight. I think a common misconception about overweight people is if you tell them they're fat they will want to diet and lose weight. On the contrary, the more my family made fun of me the more I wanted to eat. Like most plump people, I was very unhappy and my family only made me more unhappy. The only thing that made me feel good was food.

I have made many changes in my life to become happier and healthier, the first change I made was about 10 years ago, I distanced myself from the negative influences in my life (aka - my family) and instead of wallowing in everything that made me unhappy I tried to focus on what truly made me happy. It wasn't something I discovered overnight and I'm still learning, but I no longer view food as a source of happiness. Don't get me wrong, I DO really enjoy food. In fact, I enjoy it more now than I ever did when I was a 'Fatty McFatterson'. Now I view food as fuel for all the other fun stuff I REALLY enjoy doing.

I enjoy eating REAL food and cooking healthy meals that taste amazing. I take time to prepare my food and find the freshest ingredients and the yummiest recipes. I love trying new recipes and new foods that I never thought I'd like. I love exploring exotic flavors and spices and blending it all together to create culinary magic that pleases the palate and doesn't go straight to my hips.

So, this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for my health and my new appreciation of food. I'm thankful for all the fabulous friends I've made over the last 10 years and especially more recently in the running world, they are my family now. I'm even thankful for my family because the difficult times I had growing up made me the strong, independent, confident, and courageous person I am today. I'm thankful that through running and my journey of a thousand miles I've reconnected with my mom and some old family friends.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am cooking for my mom, my brother, and my grandmother. The menu will include mostly vegetarian dishes with a small roasted turkey breast on the side. I've said it before and I'll say it again - when planning a meal meat should be the accessory not the main attraction and really isn't necessary at all. Here's what we will be having (be prepared to drool a little): Butternut squash and apple soup, Wild rice stuffed acorn squash, Veggie gratin (think green bean casserole only better), roasted brussel sprouts and wild mushrooms, rosemary mashed potatoes, traditional stuffing with dried cranberries, steamed green beans, homemade cranberry chutney, vegan cornbread muffins, and a small roasted turkey breast. For dessert I baked a cranberry swirl cheesecake and prepared a cran-raspberry compote to serve it with and I will also have my famous pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap pecan crust and caramel swirl. Here's what the cranberry swirl cheesecake looks like:

You may think I've been so busy planning this meal and preparing for it that I haven't had time to run, well you would be wrong. Last week after the half marathon, I did have a little trouble getting motivated early in the week to do much running, but I made up for it at the end of the week. I ran 7 miles Friday night when I got home from work. Then I got up super early Saturday morning and ran a 'sunrise special' (to borrow a term from a fellow runner) 8 miler before I headed into Boston to start my stair climb training off right with a free bootcamp at the Bunker Hill Monument.

We didn't climb the actual monument because there was a huge tour group there. Instead we climbed the 4 staircases that surround the monument multiple times and mixed in some fun body weight exercises in between. Squats, lunges, frog leaps, jumping jacks, burpees, crunches, etc. and laps around the monument up and down the stairs. I felt pretty good for the whole workout. After all, I eat hills for breakfast so a few stairs are like a snack for me.

Sunday I was suppose to run 14 miles according to my Goofy training plan, but I was also planning to run a 5K/5M race with a few friends at 10:00am so it would be tough to do both. Oh and when I woke up Sunday morning I felt every single one of those stairs that I had climbed. So, again I headed out for a 'sunrise special' and squeaked in 13 miles before heading to the race. I had planned on doing the 5 miler, but when my friend said she was only doing the 5K I was super excited and did not even try to talk her into doing more. The race was fun and it was a perfect day for it. Sunny and mid-50s with a little wind.

After the race I went back to my friend Cherie's house and her son Mitchell made us the best cup of coffee in the World! I'm not kidding, this kid really knows how to brew a good cup o' joe. He also made us chocolate chip pancakes and I had brought over some pumpkin bread that we devoured too. What a perfect way to spend a Sunday morning.

This week is a short work week and then it's a 4 day weekend! My running plans for the weekend include a 5K turkey trot, perhaps a short fun run on black Friday, then more Goofy training Saturday and Sunday with a 10 miler followed by a 16 miler. This will be my first 16 miler since Chicago. After the half marathon and my long run last weekend I can say without a doubt that my body is ready for long distances again. I am loving the cooler temeratures and quiet mornings in the backroads of New England. It really doesn't get much better than this.

How did it get to be mid-November already?

2011-11-14T04:34:00.000-08:00

I guess time really does fly when life is good. I think I kinda sorta found my motivation again, but still need to get back into a routine that includes crosstraining and strength training. I've been looking into joining a gym near work so that maybe I can add cross and strength back in after work on days that I'm not running. I really need to do something. My running is going well, but it could be a lot better.

It's been a wicked busy first half of November. My job is still awesome. I'm busy and learning a ton of new things and making progress on the big project I'm working on. Last week someone totally made my day, really my year. I was meeting with one of the directors to review a document he had written to remediate to one of the standards we're implementing - basically a local procedure to be inline with a corporate procedure. As we worked through the document line by line, he stopped and said, he was skeptical at first that an additional resource would be able to help much on the impossible project we have to tackle, but he said it has been a pleasure having me on the team. That kind of appreciation means so much to me after working at my previous job for so long being treated like a worthless drone. I was smiling so much for the rest of the day my cheeks got sore.

Outside of work I've been working really hard to recruit people for the Race Up Boston Place stair climb event in Boston to benefit American Lung Association. It's unlike any other race and it has a firefighter competition too - the firefighters climb in full gear. So, I'm on the race committee and doing what I can to help recruit more fire departments. I run past 2 of the Lowell Fire stations all the time and keep harassing them to register. On my longer runs on the weekends I have been running to other town fire departments. I've got Tewksbury and Dracut so far. I still need to get Andover and Chelmsford. I'll be really disappointed if Lowell Fire doesn't bring a team. I've recruited them every chance I get. I even gave a group of them flyers at the grocery store one day.

I need to get more of my friends to register for the event too. So far my team only has two members including me. I plan to climb with at least one other team too and possible two other teams. I'd LOVE to climb in firefighter gear just for shits and giggles and to see if I can do it. I'm working on that too. So, anyway, if you're one of my friends and from the greater Boston area and you're reading this - PLEASE sign up for the climb already. What are you waiting for? What do I have to do to motivate people? I'm going to bring cookies to the race. I could even be persuaded to bake a cheesecake or cupcakes. Go to the following link, click on more info, then join a team, and search for "Infinite Awesomeness" http://www.lungusa.org/associations/charters/new-england/events/climb/race-up-boston-place-2012.html

In addition to work and recruiting for the climb, I have started to ramp up my training for the Goofy Challenge. Since Chicago I have gone from 10 miles total the week following the marathon, to two weeks at 25 miles total, and now two weeks at 40 miles total. I've done back to back long runs two weeks in a row now. First was 9 and 12 and this weekend I did 8 and 13.1, next weekend I plan to do 8 and 14. This past weekend I ran the Chilly Half marathon in Newton, MA. It runs part of the marathon course and mostly through the neighborhoods around heartbreak hill, so as you can imagine the overall elevation of the course was pretty challenging.

The half marathon was really nice. It was perfect weather, 50s and partly sunny. It was a little windy at some points. The hills were not as bad as I expected them to be. I love the Newton Hills so I LOVED this course. The race organization was pretty good. They had tons of volunteers along the course and they were all very enthusiastic and cheerful. The only part that sort of sucked was one of the busier intersections, the cops actually stopped the runners to let traffic go through! Seriously? I mean I know I was in the back of the pack, but those 30 seconds meant the difference between being under 2:05 and being over 2:05. Could have been a PR for some people, I'd be pissed if it was for me. After the finish they had a ton of vendors and freebies at the high school. And the medal is really nice too. Overall, I'd run it again.

Not much on deck for the rest of the year. Mostly focusing on Goofy training and starting to try and work in some stair climb training and recruiting more people to join. I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving. I'm planning a mostly vegetarian meal for my family and a small turkey breast because they'd kill me if I didn't have it. I'm going to try a new cheesecake recipe and a few other yummy treats. Before I know it the holidays will be here and I'll be making sugar cookies and candy wreaths. Then it will be time to fly to Florida for Goofy - which reminds me I should probably book my flights.

Where oh where did my motivation go?

2011-10-31T04:24:00.000-07:00

It seems to be hiding lately. I've had a lot going on at work and at home and you would think that I would make time for running to aleveate some of my stress, but no, I've been leaning more towards sitting on the couch and doing nothing lately.

I've been wicked busy at work and I love it. It's like everything fell into place for me and I finally have a great job that is challenging and rewarding and I get to work with awesome people that respect me and value my opinions. It's amazing. It became even more apparent to me how great everyone was last week when I had issues dealing with the HVAC guy installing a new boiler in my house. Both my boss and my bosses boss told me not to worry about it and take all the time I needed to deal with it. It was a huge relief to not add to the stress of having a douchey contractor working at my house by having to use vacation time I haven't accrued yet.

So, about the douchey contractor, the work was originally supposed to be completed on the 22nd the day after the asbestos removal was completed and I called the HVAC guy a few days before to confirm and find out what time he would be coming over to start the work. This is when he decided to inform me that he hadn't written the date down on his calendar and was too busy that day with hockey games for his son and wouldn't be able to come. So, he rescheduled for the 29th. THEN.....Friday afternoon I get a phone call from him saying he WOULD be coming Saturday morning to start the work. I had already rearranged my plans for the weekend based on the fact he said he WASN'T coming! So, I rearrange my plans again and agreed to let him start the work. Afterall, the forecast for the following week was pretty cold and I wanted to get heat as soon as possible.

Saturday morning, the HVAC guy shows up almost an hour late and brings his kid with him! They started working immediately. Basically removing the old boiler and getting the measurements for the pipes they would need to install the new boiler. They used a power saw to cut the old pipes and let the kid (maybe 8 or 9yrs old) use the saw to cut up the cardboard box that the new boiler was packaged in. That's real safe. Sometime around lunchtime they finished removing the old boiler and said they needed to leave and "I needed to be flexible" for when they could come back and finish the job. I explained when I hired them that I work fulltime in Cambridge and cannot take time off to get this work done. They said they were going to come Tuesday night at 5:00 to finish the install. The one night of the week when I had plans to run with friends. I had already missed two runs with friends because of this guy, now I was going to miss another run.

Tuesday afternoon, I got home from work and awaited the arrival of the d-bag. 5:00 comes and goes and no show. 5:30, nothing, not even a phone call. Finally at 6:00 I CALLED HIM! He answered the phone "Are we there yet?" I said that's exactly what I was wondering. Are you still coming? Then he informed me that they hadn't even left yet and they would be there in about an hour. SO.....2 hours late without so much as a phone call to say they were delayed. 7:00pm they finally showed up and I opened the door. The D-bag pushed right past me and walked through my house to the basement and let his guys in without even saying hello or sorry we're late.

I had hoped that whatever work they had left wouldn't take long or they would work until a reasonable hour and then come back another day. I clearly underestimated the douchebagery. They were at my house until midnight, banging on pipes, setting of smoke detectors, and STILL not done with the install. When I went down to let them out and close the basement door behind them, they were drinking beers!!!!!!!

Again, the D-bag instisted I had to be flexible and would have to take Thursday or Friday off to get the job done and inspected. Possibly even both days! I told him I only recently started my job and I couldn't just tell them one day in advance I wasn't coming in. He didn't care. Has actually asked if I would leave him a key to my house instead!!! Are you freakin kidding me?????

So, I called the gas company Thursday to arrange to have the gas turned back on after the boiler was inspected and I found out that they wouldn't even book an appointment unless the inspection was done already. So, that meant I had to wait until mid-day Thursday and pray that they had a technician available for that afternoon to come turn the gas on.

Thursday, the D-bag showed up late again! I guess at that point I shouldn't have been surprised. He finished the install at about 2:00 and had to leave and asked to settle up (even though I still had no gas and no heat and my house was a chilly 58 degrees). Then the shadiness and douchebagery continued. He asked to be paid in two separate checks - one to his company and one to his wife so that the money couldn't be traced back to him! Hello tax fraud! I wrote the checks just to get rid of him and get him to leave. The gas company came an hour and a half later and turned on my gas and made sure the boiler worked.

Friday, I returned to work and promptly filed a complaint with the better business bureau.
I had plans to run a fun 1 mile costume race Friday night, but I was so exhausted from the stress of the week that I skipped it and went to bed early instead.

Saturday morning, I finally got to run with my friends again. We did 10 miles and we ran pretty fast. It didn't feel like we were going as fast as we were, but I trust the Garmin. Proof that my pace is directly proportional to the temperature outside. Colder = faster. I spent the rest of the day putting all my stuff back in my basement and doing a little grocery shopping to prepare for the freak Nor'easter that we were getting Saturday night.

Sunday, although I was really tempted to stay on the couch all day I dragged my butt outside for a short easy 5 mile run with a friend. We didn't get a ton of snow, but the snow we got weighed a ton and brought down a lot of trees and power lines. Lots of people are still without power today and schools were even canceled!!! It's not even November yet! I'm not ready for Winter, we never really got Fall. That's my favorite time of year for running and Mother Nature robbed me of it. Not fair.

Anyway, with the extra time on the couch being not motivated lately I found what I want for Christmas this year, it's like the snuggie only better, it has a hood and comes with footie socks:

Firemen and free beer - Yes please!

2011-10-18T05:03:00.000-07:00

So, last week I rode the high from finishing another marathon and tried to make that joy last as long as I could. Unfortunately, I caught a nasty head cold on the plane coming back to Boston and I was sick for most of the week and didn't really have the energy to celebrate. Even with an absurd amount of mucous forming in my sinuses and snot coming out my nose I couldn't help but smile ear to ear all week reflecting on how far I've come in such a short amount of time. It seriously blows my mind when I think about it.

Back in the day, when I was a freshmen in High School, I joined the soccer team to try and make some new friends. Middle school was not kind to me and was probably as much fun as spending three years being tortured in a third world country prison. Well, my brilliant plan to make friends on the soccer team didn't really work out well because as it turned out, I hated to run and I was even worse at actually running while kicking a ball. I played defense because it was the position on the team that required the least amount of running. And I tried to skip practice whenever I could to avoid doing laps around the field or worse Indian sprints around the boulevard in Portland.

If you had asked me then to run 26.2 miles I most likely would have laughed at you and then maybe cried a little at the thought of actually having to do it. So, imagine how strange it is for me now to run that distance and LOVE it. I was a little bummed at first when I finished Chicago much slower than I had wanted to run it, but in the grand scheme of things, every marathon I run no matter what the clock says when I cross the line is a miracle. It's the most amazing celebration of my dedication and determination to be healthier and truly LIVE my life instead of watching the days go by sitting on the couch and wishing things were different. I am living proof that anything is possible. From couch potato to multiple marathoner in about 5 years! Un-freaking-believable!
So, after spending last week sick and forced to rest and recover, Friday after work I went to see my acupuncturist for a post marathon treatment and a little head cold magic too. It was exactly what I needed. I felt great and relaxed and refreshed after. I went home and slept so good I woke up in a puddle of drool.

Saturday morning I did my first post marathon run with the Lowell Ladies. It was just a short 4 miler and I felt sort of sluggish and slow, but I hadn't run in 5 days and the last run was a marathon so it was to be expected. It was a perfect fall day out. Sunny, slight breeze, and brisk 55-60 degree air. It's really my favorite conditions for running. If I could find somewhere to live that looks and feels like New England but stays fall all year round I'd be in heaven.

After the run, I went grocery shopping and cleaned my house. I have asbestos removal guys coming this Friday and my boiler being replaced on Saturday so I need to remove all of my personal items from the basement. Kind of a hassle, but it made me realize I need to purge a lot of stuff and get rid of things. For example, for some reason in college I decided to start collecting PEZ dispensers and I have about 400 of them. I need to get rid of those. Anyone know of someone that might want them let me know.

Saturday night I met up with my friend Patty who was in town from NYC to run the Baystate half marathon in Lowell. We went to a sort of late dinner at Life Alive and met up with Nutter, my friend that introduced me to Patty. We sat and chatted pretty much until they kicked us out. Probably a good thing because we needed to get some sleep. Patty running the half (plus 7 miles before to make it her 20 mile training run for the NYC Marathon) and Me running the Boston Fire 10K in the morning.

Sunday, one of my favorite races of all time, the Boston Firefighters 10K. It's for fallen firefighters and it's a great event. The course is flat and fast and very well organized. Bagpipes lead you to the start along with an antique firetruck as the pace car. Then there's unlimited free beer and a band waiting for you at the finish. While they announce the awards for top finishers they also do hundreds of raffles to restaurants in the North End and sometimes weekend getaway packages and all kinds of amazing stuff. The best part about it is that they usually have so many raffles to give away that they get tired of calling numbers of people that have already left so they just start calling numbers of people in the front of the crowd that hold up their bibs. It's awesome! I won a $40 gift card to Dolce Vita!

As a bonus for the weekend too, I wanted to try and get my photo on a ladder truck with a fireman in my Race Up Boston Place early bird t-shirt to help spread the word about the event and come on, I'll admit it, I wanted to climb on a ladder truck. Going into the weekend and getting to the race I wasn't sure if I'd have the guts to ask if I could climb on the ladder truck. Believe it or not, I'm actually really shy. Well, maybe it was the adrenaline from the race or maybe it was the free beer I had (only my 4th or 5th beer this entire year!) - I DID IT!
Special thanks to the Boston Fire Dept. for hosting another amazing event and letting me climb on their ladder truck. I'm still cheering for my hometown boys of Portland Fire to win the stair climb, but you just pulled into a close second for me.

Gotham City Recap

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Marathon #8 DONE! It was hot and difficult, but I did it. Here's a summary of the weekend's events and a race recap.

I flew into Chicago Friday morning and met up with my friend Milady at the airport. We shared a shuttle to the Inn of Chicago. The shuttle was filled with other runners and two random dudes from Austrailia or New Zealand that had no idea there was a marathon happening in the city this weekend. One guy was from Boston and it was his first marathon. We all chatted about our training and race day tips and the weather forecast while the two non-runners just looked at us like we were clearly all infected with the same strange disease that they did not understand and they did not want to catch.

We got to the hotel and checked in. Coolest part about the Inn of Chicago (and one of it's flaws) wicked tiny mirror lined elevators with dance party music blasting in each of them. Riding up to our room was like a quick trip to the Jersey Shore complete with fist pumping, but missing Snookie and Paulie D. Our room was nice. Small like the elevator, but who needs a big fancy room when we were going to spend the majority of our time NOT there.

Once we dropped our things off we headed straight to the Niketown store to hop on a shuttle to the expo. Niketown was totally decked out in marathon schwag and decor. They even had people greet you at the door cheering with cowbells. AWESOME! We looked around the store a little before heading to the expo and even talked one girl into giving us her cow bells!

Off to the Expo! It was my friend's first marathon so I wanted to make sure she had plenty of time to soak it all in and get the full experience. We were lucky because when we got there it wasn't crowded at all. We walked right up to the table to get our bib numbers and timing chips then straight to the t-shirt table. No lines, no waiting. Then we shopped and got all kinds of freebies. We listened to a presentation by a veteran Chicago marathoner on the course overview and some race day tips. Then took a few fun photos and headed back to the hotel to get dinner and settle in for the night.

Saturday morning we took our time getting up and going. My friend Milady didn't sleep well because our room was right next to the ice machine and the maintenance elevator. I slept right through all the noise. We packed our things and requested a room change. Then we headed out for a little sight seeing. We took one of the city's famous architecture boat tours that goes down the river through the city and decribes the history of Chicago and it's many sky scrappers.

After the boat tour we grabbed a quick bite to eat on our way to Navy Pier. We had walked around a little more than I would have liked for the day before a marathon so we decided to spend the next few hours seated, in the IMAX theater watching 'Real Steel'. Not an oscar worthy movie, but a little dose of Hugh Jackman is never a bad thing. It was actually pretty cute for a robot boxing movie. Honestly, from the previews I thought they made a movie out of the cheesy kids game 'Rock Em Sock Em Robots'.

After the movie we walked back to the hotel and I took a short nap before we grabbed a quick take out dinner. We were both still full from our movie snacks and too tired to go eat at a restaurant so the little italian place around the corner was perfect. I had spinach ravioli and Milady had cheese pizza. It wasn't great, but it was just enough to top off the carb tanks for the marathon.

We laid out our clothes and shoes and set the alarm clocks and went to sleep. Oh and our new room was far away from the ice maker and elevator to ensure we would both get a good night's rest before the race.

RACE DAY!!! Excited and nervous, we got up and got ready. We hopped on the tiny dance party elevator with a few other runners and walked to the CTA (Chicago's subway/ 'L' train). A few short minutes on a crowded train and were were at the start area. We still had about an hour to kill before the race started so we walked around a bit and checked our bags. Then headed into the start corrals. we were planning on running different pacces so I said good luck to Milady and headed to the 4:15/4:30 pace area.

Waited around a little, national anthem, and starting gun, then a 10 minute walk to the line and I was off and running my 8th marathon. It still amazes me how natural it feels for me to run 26.2 miles. It was extremely crowded and my garmin lost satelites in the tunnels and tall buildings almost immediately. I kept track of my splits just by looking at the race clocks at each mile marker. I kept a pretty even pace for the first 16-18 miles. I wasn't as fast as Boston, but I felt comfortable and kept a consistant pace so I was happy. Then Mother Nature showed up like an uninvited guest to the party.

It was warm but not hot. I could tell my pace was slowing down a little with every mile that passed. Then somewhere between Mile 19 and 20 the 4:30 pace group passed me. I tried to hang onto the 10:00 pace and stick with them and managed to for maybe half a mile before they slowly drifted off into the crowd of runners in front of me. Right at mile 20 I passed a bank with a clock/thermometer that said it was 83 degrees out. I knew if I tried to push myself and catch the 4:30 group I'd end up in a medical tent and possibly not make it across the finish so I revised my race goal and decided to just relax and run and finish whenever my feet got me there.

I ran the last 10K a lot slower than the first 20 miles, but I still RAN it. I repeated every running mantra I could think of and just kept moving one foot in front of the other, one step at a time, until finally I was on North Michigan Ave heading towards the finish line. I passed the 25 mile marker and then the "1 mile to go" marker and then they had an 800m sign too! A quick right turn up a little incline and a left turn for the last 200m to the finish and I had done it. Granted it was not as fast as I had originally planned, but I did it. I finished my 8th marathon!

Overall, I don't see what the hype is about Chicago. The city is beautiful but you don't see any of it during the marathon. You run through residential neighborhoods and not near any of the iconic tourist attractions that Chicago is famous for. It is a very flat fast course, but there are a million turns in it so I don't know how the elite runners manage to run the tangents and PR. It was fun aside from the extreme heat, but I don't know if I would run it again.

After I crossed the finish line I got water and a free beer and ice and then went to the gear check and got my bag. I found a nice spot to sit down and I called some friends while I iced my legs and waited for Milady to finish. I talked to a few other runners nearby and just enjoyed the weather now that I wasn't running. It was a gorgeous day out for spectating and people watching but not for running. A short time after I finished Milady came out of the finish area and I congratulated her on completing her very first marathon! I think she was partly in shock and disbelief that she had done it.

We walked back to the hotel and stopped along the way for a celebratory cupcake. Back at the hotel, I introduced Milady to the joys of taking an ice bath. She screamed in agony at first but then said, "this actually feels really good". See, I'm not crazy! She showered and then it was my turn. Ice bath and shower. We met up with my friend Antonio for post race drinks on the rooftop bar at our hotel.

After drinks we went out for dinner at the Green Zebra. It was an amazing vegetarian restaurant that Milady found. The food was delicious, the only problem was that they didn't bring it fast enough. It was pretty late by the time we got there and then it took a while for the waiter to take our orders and then to bring the food. We were fading fast and barely had the energy to eat when the food did get to the table. We inhaled what we could and went back to the hotel to sleep.

It was another whirlwind weekend of running and running around and it was full of fun and memories I will have forever (unless I get Alzheimers). Monday morning when I got back to Boston I got a text message from Milady that she is already thinking about running another marathon. It finally hit her, it's not just running 26.2 miles. It's a shared experience with thousands of other runners and a few select friends that makes you a rockstar for a day because you did something amazing that not everyone can do. It's what keeps me motivated and constantly chasing that high I felt after finishing my first marathon.

I've already got plans for the next marathon - #9 the Goofy Challenge in 88 days. Now I just need to decide what marathon to run for #10. I'm thinking the Cincinnati Flying Pig in May. Just need to convince some other people to run with me. :)

Ready to Razzle Dazzle Chicago!

2011-10-03T09:50:00.001-07:00

Wow, this past week went by so fast. I have been sort of ho-hum about the upcoming race. "Just another 26.2" not nervous or anxious or freaking out, well, now that it's less than a week away all those feelings are setting in.

Last week I had a lot going on and didn't get to run as much as I wanted to. Homeownership is fun until something breaks. Especially if you own a really old house like my place and it has asbestos on the pipes around the boiler that needs to be replaced. It just adds a whole new level of suck to the issue. I've been trying to get estimates and whatnot so that I can get the work done before it gets cold. Add into that working fulltime and commuting and training for a marathon and time flies.

Last Monday I took a rest day after the triple race weekend I was all set with running for a few days. Tuesday I booked a massage. Normally I try to do 90 minutes but they only had 60 available and my normal person I go to was "out indefinitely" so I had to book with someone else. Two mistakes that added up to an epic failure. The woman I got was wicked wussy. I told her I was training for a marathon and I wanted a DEEP TISSUE SPORTS massage. NOT a relaxing froo froo fall asleep type of massage. I expect to cry a little and be sore afterwards. She barely touched me and I could have given myself a better massage at home with a foam roller AND I had to pay $85 for it! I told her at the end that she didn't use nearly enough pressure and 60 minutes isn't enough time to really get a good deep tissue massage. She only did my legs and lower back! No hands, arms, shoulders. She actually suggested I book with her again for 90 minutes! She sucked for 60 why would I pay more for a longer waste of my time?????

Anyway, Wednesday I was ready to run out my frustration so I did a nice 6.35 run to Kim's house and around Lowell with her and then back home. We harassed the Lowell Fire Dept. a little along the way. I'm trying to recruit them to start a team for the Race Up Boston Place, but they're all pretty lazy and won't do it. I'm not giving up. I WILL get them to climb.

Thursday I left work early to meet the HVAC guy at my house and then he showed up almost an hour late and made me miss 5@5 with Kim. Kim ran to my house and by the time she got there and I could run a severe thunderstorm was coming in so I only got to run 2 miles before the skies opened up. LAME!

Friday I went to my Acupuncturist for a little pre-marathon Chi balancing. It was awesome! Exactly what I needed to finish off a imbalanced and chaotic week. I felt great afterwards. She did some stuff for my hamstrings and my whole left side that has been out of whack ever since the car hit me. A little for allergies and sleeping and good digestion and I was good to go (not literally).

Saturday I ran the Grace Race 5 miler in Chelmsford. Not nearly as fast as I ran it last year so I didn't place and get a cool trophy like last year, but I still had a lot of fun running with some great people in the middle of the pack. "We may not be the fastest, but we're the best looking" - George Bisson (older retirement aged runner with a new knee and amazing ability to bring a smile to everyone's face in local races). After the race I went home and just chilled on the couch in my sweats for the rest of the day. I was supposed to go apple picking but it was rainy and raw outside and really gross. Much better couch weather than outdoor activity weather.

Sunday I did my last "long" run before Chicago. I ran a nice easy 7 miles. I ran to Tewksbury Fire with the intent to knock on the door and give them a flyer for the stair climb, but then chickened out when I got there and just kept running. It wasn't super early so it's not like I'd be waking them up, but I'm just too shy to knock on the door and be all like "hi, excuse me, I run by here all the time and wanted to personally invite/challenge you to participate in the Race Up Boston Place". I know, right, It sounded so good in my head, but that's as far as it got.

Well, after the run I went to Target and picked up a few things and print some race photos for my scrapbook. Met Kim and Ryann and Daisy and their aunt Bonnie at Life Alive for lunch. Then I went grocery shopping and made apple crisp and got sucked into some mindless TV for the rest of the day.

Plan for this week is to try and actually get some work done and not be totally distracted by the upcoming trip and race in Chicago. I want to do 2 more short easy runs to stay loose and burn off a little of the nervous energy, but mostly I'm resting and relaxing all week. I can't believe it's so close! I haven't even done laundry yet and my race singlet it dirty. I better get on that.

Triple Down weekend

2011-09-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

What a crazy weekend. I did a half marathon AND back to back 5Ks. Mother Nature did not make it easy with another triple H weekend - Hazy, Hot, and Humid. Extra heavy on the HUMID part. Not nice for the first weekend of autumn. It's suppose to be cool, brisk, with a little bite of frost in the air in the morning, not steamy.

Anyway, the Wicked Half marathon in Salem, MA is a really nice course. Challenging rolling hills, but really pretty along the coast and through some nice neighborhoods. Only thing that sucks about it is that it's in Salem, MA. I forget how much I hate Salem until I return there for a race. I ALWAYS get lost because there are not street signs and all one way streets going the wrong way. Thank God I left sort of early for the race. I had enough time when I got there to get my stuff and walk back to my car and hit up the bathroom lines a few times before the gun went off.

It was about 70 degrees and 100% humidity and I was totally soaked within the first three miles and then I heard the girl next to me say to her friend, "We're doing 10:00 miles, this is great!" to which I thought "F*^*&*(!!!!! I'm going way too SLOW!!!!" Oh well, blame it on the humidity and heat. I tried to pick up the pace and eventually found a more comfortable rhythm, but then I got goosebumps around mile nine and started shivering. Damn it, why can't my body just learn to deal with the heat like a friggin kenyan? Instead it shuts down and freaks out.

I managed to finish the race in 2:10 not the pace I was hoping for two weeks out from Chicago, but really hoping for better weather at the marathon. I felt sort of sick and really dizzy so I made my way into the school at the finish area to sit down and put my legs up. I found a nice spot in the gymnasium with a tumbling mat already laid out against a wall. I scooted my bum right up to the wall and hoisted my legs up to stretch out my hamstrings and drain the blood from my legs and get it to my head. Unfortunately, I forgot that my keys were still in my back pocket and they stabbed me in the spine. My legs felt better and I wasn't dizzy anymore, but now my back hurt.

I got home from the race and hopped on the scale before I took a shower and I had lost 5lbs. in sweat. I kind of expect that for a full marathon or even an 18 mile run, but not a half marathon. So, rehydration and rest became the main focus for the rest of the day. Especially because I had a busy day planned for Sunday.

I spent Saturday night watching 'Bridesmaids' with my friend Kim. It was not nearly as funny as everyone said. "The Hangover" was way better. I mean Kristen Wigg and Maya Rudolph were pretty funny, but the movie was more sad and depressing than funny. Maybe I just thought so because I'm not married and a lot of my friends are, but I'm not miserable and crazy like Kristen Wigg's character. Besides single massage therapist/athletic trainer/sports medicine doctor/volunteer firefighters that are not gay are really hard to find.

Sunday was Double Down Day - back to back 5Ks with Racemenu. First the Legacy 5K in Dedham, MA followed immediately by the Flutie 5K in Natick, MA. And again Mother Nature brought the triple H weather. About 70 degrees and 100% humidity for both races. I felt ok in the first race, slower than my typical 5K but not bad considering I ran a half marathon the day before. I finished in 28:55 soaking wet and sore then ran straight to my car and headed for the next race. Got there just in time to line up and go......much slower. The course was really hilly and my legs were really angry. I tried every mantra I could think of, Dean Karnazes "Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just keep moving forward and never ever give up." Jens Voight "shut up legs!" Unknown source "don't think about how far you've come or how far you have to go just run the mile you're in". I managed to finish in 32:14 and had nothing left in the tank and my legs were screaming (especially my hamstrings). Another first accomplished - back to back 5Ks.

Here's the Racemenu crew after the double down races:

Suck it Beaches!

2011-09-19T06:01:00.000-07:00

One of the many awesome team names we encountered during Reach the Beach Relay 2011 - "Suck it Beaches". It's always an adventure. The same but a little different each time. This year I ran with Team Viagra. Same team name as last year, but slightly different line up. A few returning vets including myself and mostly first timers. It was a bit of a struggle right from the very start. We lost a few runners in the weeks leading up to the race and got some last minute substitutes and had a team of 12, then on the morning of the race as we were getting ready to head up to Cannon Mountain one more runner bailed so our team was down to 11 runners.

No problem for me, I wanted the extra miles, but logistically a nightmare because there was road damage on the course due to Hurricane Irene and the race had created a "Plan B" course that threw a wrench in the works. So, Van 1 wasn't handing off to Van 2 at the first Van transition as planned. Which meant in Van 1 we decided to divide up the extra miles of our missing runner amongst ourselves instead of shifting the rotation and totally messing up the flow of the whole race. Three of us ran 4 legs instead of the regular 3.

We met up at Cannon Mountain and checked in and got all our bib#s and shirts and stuff. Then we decorated the vans. I had a list of sayings to write and we had a pretty good supply of jokes to go with the team name. Here are a few of the highlights: "We don't stretch, we prefer to run STIFF", "We run hard with our heads up", "Hills? No Problem, We go up and down all night", "It's funner with a runner", "Distance Runners do it longer", "The faster you go the harder it gets". It went on and on. And of course I brought back the one that got us in trouble last year, "If Reach the Beach was easy it would be called 'Your Mom'".

At 12:40 we were off and running. I took the first double and ran leg #2 and leg#4. Both were pretty short 3 milers, but the second one was into a wicked strong head wind. I got to run right past the Mount Washington hotel though and my team snapped some perfect photos of me.

After we finished the first 6 legs we met up with Van 2 and because of "Plan B" they had an assigned started time of 5:40pm. So we continued on the course and went to North Conway for dinner at Flatbreads. After dinner, Jason had the key to a friend's lake house so we could shower and get a little rest. We wouldn't start running again until later in the evening so we took advantage and headed to the house. We got there and settled in with another team taking a break. I took a very quick shower and tried not to wet my hair because my next run was going to be a 9 miler at 2am and it was near freezing outside.

We all sprawled out on the floor for a little rest and someone was kind enough to turn off the lights. THEN, one of our team members decided to search through his bags for something. Apparently his wife had packed his bag and packed every item of clothing in an individual plastic bag. AND on top of that he had 2 mylar blankets in his bag too!!!! So, imagine trying to get a few precious hours of sleep in a 24+ hour relay race and having that one perfect opportunity RUINED by the sound of crinkling plastic bags. OMG!!! I wanted to kill him. Thankfully I wasn't the only person annoyed. We all yelled at him! But by then 20-30 minutes had gone by and we lost precious minutes of sleep that would haunt us later.

Around 10:30pm we got moving and headed to the Van transition to meet Van 2 and start running again. This time Gene had the double leg and he ran #1 and #3. I ran #5, the 9 miler. I started running around 1:30am and felt awesome for the first 5-6 miles then the coffee I had after dinner hit my bladder and the caffeine worked some magic, not in a good way, on my intestines. I struggled through the last 3 miles in pain and as soon as I handed off the baton I kept running right to the port o potty. I've never had to pee so bad in my entire life. I might actually have a kidney infection as a result of holding it for the last 3 miles of the run. I felt wicked sick after too because I didn't want to drink water or electrolytes on the run because I had to pee so bad and then I think the coffee just dehydrated me more. When I got back in the van and layed down I felt like I was on a boat even when we weren't moving!

We made it to Bear Brook State park around 3:30am for the Van transition and had a few more hours to sleep before running again. I woke up at 6am and had to pee again even though I hadn't had anything to drink since about 2am. I wandered to the port o potties and made it there just before the morning rush because when we walked past again 5 minutes later on our way to get breakfast there was a HUGE line. Bear Brook State Park is my favorite transition. Eggs, pancakes, and coffee prepared by the Allenstown Fire Dept. It's awesome.

After breakfast we were off and running again. Jason took the double leg this time and ran #2 and #4. My last leg was a nice 4 miler. I felt really good and finished strong. I tried to catch up to this guy that passed me in the last mile because he was kinda cute, but then just as we crossed the line at the transition I noticed he had a ring on. Damn it! Oh well. I still congratulated him on a strong finish.

We completed our last 6 runs around 2:00 and took showers at the school before heading to the Beach for the finish. Jason left us and joined his family for some soccer games. We dropped Mike off with his family so he could spend the rest of the weekend with them in Maine and then the rest of Team Viagra went to the Beach. Our team finished in a little over 27 hours with an average pace of 8:30. It was about 5:30 when we got our medals and said goodbyes. I was ready to get the heck out of there and go home. We all went our separate ways and I went home and went to bed. I slept for 12 hours. I'm still exhausted and a little sore, but lucky for me I'm in taper mode now. 20 days to go until Chicago!

I AM A MACHINE! M-A-C-H-I-N-E!

2011-09-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend I completed my first half ironman triathlon (1.2m swim/56m bike/13.1m run). It was AWESOME!!!! Before I talk about the race, let me tell you what I did leading up to the race. Thursday night I did a nice easy 3 mile run with the Lowell Ladies. It felt strange only doing 3 miles. I think that's the shortest run I've done in months. I knew it was what I needed to do to be prepared for the half ironman though so it had to be done.

Friday, I met up with my friend for lunch at Life Alive and we talked about training for Chicago and I tried to avoid thinking about my upcoming big challenge over the weekend. I was starting to really freak out. What had I signed up for? Was I ready? Did I train enough? What was I going to eat on race day? What if I had to pee while I was on the bike? Like I said, freaking out. I tried my hardest to be distracted and not think about it.

Saturday, I got up pretty early and REALLY wanted to run but resisted the urge and decided to go shopping instead. I got new running shoes considering Chicago in a month out and I have a bunch of big races coming up. I picked up a few other things and then went home and found the most awesome delivery in my mail; the Forks Over Knives DVD and Book, plus the Engine 2 diet book - all stuff on plant based eating (for athletes not just for vegetarians and hippies). I spent the afternoon/evening packing and trying to mentally prepare for the race and reading and watching Forks Over Knives. It's so good it's scary. I HIGHLY recommend it. Oh and I went to Life Alive for dinner. :)

Sunday morning I got up at 3:30am and loaded my car to head up to South Berwick for the race. I ate breakfast and had a cup of tea. I tried to relax and reassure myself that I would do awesome, but I always get pre-race jitters and I felt like I was going to vomit. It took me a little more than an hour to get to the race and then there was a huge line for body marking and check in and the race was going to begin in less than an hour and I still hadn't even racked my bike or set up my transition. Freaking out.

I got everything and started to set up my transition area and they were making announcements for the pre-race meeting down on the beach. I still hadn't filled my water bottles or put on my wetsuit or peed one last time. Freaking out. I scrambled to get everything set up just as I was kicked out of the transition area. Got down to the beach and there was so much fog over the water that the buoys were not visible. Not sure if this helped me freak out less or made me freak out more because I couldn't see how far we had to swim. They ended up delaying the start of the race for 45minutes due to the fog for safety. So, I had to stand there ALONE FREAKING OUT!!!! And shivering because it was cold!

Finally, the fog lifted and we could see the buoys and they started the race. Heart now pounding in my chest, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. The first wave was sent off with a cannon blast that scared the crap out of me and then each wave afterwards had 3 minutes between them and then the race director yelled, "GO! GO! GO!" into a megaphone. I was in the last wave. Before I knew it, I was swimming and I had started my very first half ironman. I tried to just think of it as another triathlon, just a little longer.

I was a little congested and had trouble breathing which made the swim even more difficult for me, but I kept moving, with the words of Dean Karnazes in my head, "Do what you have to do. Just keep moving forward and NEVER EVER GIVE UP!" I made it around the first lap of the double loop course and I couldn't beleive it. I felt pretty good and I was still ahead of some people and even passing people from the wave ahead of me!

I got out of the water and looked at my watch - 42 minutes! Not bad for someone that only swims in races. I thought for sure it would take me way longer. Just a giant hill to the transition and then I could get on my bike. I was a little disappointed they didn't have wetsuit strippers, but to be honest I was a little worried about a wardrobe malfunction having someone else pull my wetsuit off anyway.

I got on my bike and I was off! I LOVE the bike. I'm totally comfortable and blow past people screaming "on your left". I tried to remind myself that I was going to be out there for 56 miles though and I should save a little for the run. It was hard because I was having so much FUN! Thanks to my friends I had a new nickname and a new running/biking mantra "I AM A MACHINE! M-A-C-H-I-N-E!" So, I was singing/chanting that to myself as I powered up and over every hill past people struggling and sailed past more people on the descents with ease - watching the miles fly by on my bike computer. 10 miles, 20 miles, 28 miles, first lap done, 40 miles, only 16 to go then I get to run, 50 miles, only 6 to go. Oh and inbetween my mantra and other random thoughts I was singing Queen's 'Bicycle' to myself too. "I like to ride my bi-cycle. I like to ride my bike."

Made the turn onto the road leading to the transistion and I was WICKED excited to run! I can't remember being that happy and excited to run 13.1 miles ever, especially after biking 56 miles and swimming 1.2 miles. I saw Kim standing at the corner waiting to pace me on the run and I raced into the transition and threw on my shoes and hat and sprinted out to meet her and start the run.

I was so excited and feeling so good that I ran the first mile out of the transition at a 7:45 pace! Kim was having a hard time keeping up and I knew I couldn't maintain that pace (I can't even run a 5K that fast!). I slowed up and settled into a more reasonable pace. The miles flew by. At mile 5 Kim said she thought she was slowing me down and was going to stop and pick me back up on the second lap and run me in for the last 4 miles. I felt AMAZING and just kept going. In no time at all I was back to her and we were on our way to the finish!

We approached the turn to the finish and Kim said go get it, I'll meet you at the end. I kicked it up and sprinted in and crossed the line at 6:10! Still felt AWESOME! I DID IT! I finished my first half ironman and I could have kept going! I felt like I was on top of the world!

I still think it was a dream. I'm still riding the endorphin high 3 days later. I can't believe how far I've come in just 5 years and can't even imagine going back to the couch potato fatty mcfatterson version of myself that I don't even recognize anymore.

Here's a photo of me right when I got home, still basking in the glory of the finish:

Where did the summer go???

2011-09-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

WOW, where is the time going???? I can’t believe how fast the days have gone by. It doesn’t seem like it has been almost 3 weeks since I last posted an update. So sorry I slacked. The good news is although I slacked on updates I have not been slacking on my training. Plus, my new job is AWESOME! I’m wicked busy and learning a ton and the people are great. What a change from the boring routine and stagnant career path I was on before. I seriously couldn’t be happier and the severance checks definitely don’t suck.

So, anyway, back to more important stuff like biking and running and races. Where I left off, I had just completed the Graniteman Triathlon and I was bummed I didn’t get a chunk of granite. I’m determined next year I WILL get a piece of that illusive stone even if I have to trip someone and take it by force (OR I’ll actually train for the swim next year). I know, I know. I said the exact same thing last year.

Well, I continued my training with after the tri with more miles on the bike and mid-week medium long runs (7+ miles) and a little strength training mixed in for fun. The weekend following the tri was supposed to be back to back Spartan Race days, but Hurricane Irene ruined that plan. I wasn’t too upset because two days before the race the organizers announced a $10 fee for parking (after already paying $50 to register for EACH day). The Sunday race got canceled and I was pretty happy about it.

Saturday my start time for Spartan was 11:30 and since there was a hurricane coming I wasn’t going to get my long run done on Sunday so I squeezed it in BEFORE I left for Spartan Race. I got up super early and ran 6 then met the Lowell Ladies for the last 10. I scrambled home and changed and my friend Scott picked me up to go to Spartan. I was in such a rush to get ready I didn’t eat or drink anything between finishing my 16 miler and leaving for Spartan Race (Epic mistake#1). The sun came out and I didn’t have sunblock on (Epic Mistake #2). We got to the race just in time for our heat to start and off we went. I did Spartan Race last year and it was a lot of fun, this year I was so angry with the organizers about the parking fee and several other changes to the race that I didn’t really enjoy myself.

The course was only about 3 miles long and last year it took me about 45-50 minutes to complete. This year it was the same distance, but the course felt a lot longer. The obstacles were kinda of lame and flimsy and there were lines at a lot of them so I skipped and opted for the 30 burpees instead. Well, after doing the first 90 burpees I was done with burpees, I did a total of somewhere between 100-150 burpees mostly because I was impatient and didn’t want to wait for a stupid obstacle that I knew I could do or because I didn’t want to risk injury falling off an 8ft wall. Last year there were ladders on the back side of the walls this year it was a straight down drop. No thanks. I walked a lot of it because the terrain was uneven and again I didn’t want to risk injury with more important races coming up. Plus, I’d be willing to bet not a single other person on the course ran 16 miles BEFORE the race. Only one water stop on the entire course, 6-7 people taken off the course injured in the time I was running it, crawling under barbed wire only 8-10 inches off the ground which was thick nasty mud on an empty stomach and severely dehydrated = not a happy camper. I finished in about 90 minutes.

When I got to the end they had gladiators with jousting poles and I just looked at the first guy and said “I have a half ironman in two weeks, if you hurt me I’ll break you.” He was nice and let me pass. I stopped at the water they had at the finish and chugged cup after cup while Scott and his son Zach waited just outside the finish area. I remembered from the previous year that water was $1.50 outside the finish area so I got my fill for “free” (cost covered by my registration fee). Oh and along the course I saw where the parking fee money went – a brand new Mercedes SUV with Spartan Race logo on it parked at the water stop. I was just glad it was over and ready for a hot shower and a nap.

The next day Hurricane Irene showed up and she was totally lame. I went for a fun run right at the peak of the storm through 40mph sustained winds and heavy rain. It wasn’t bad at all. It was wicked fun. My friend’s husband ran with me. There were a few trees down and some flooding, but no major damage.

The next week I sandwiched a nice brick workout (18m on the bike followed by a 4.5m run) on Wednesday with two 7+ mile runs on Tuesday and Thursday and rest on Monday and Friday. Then the Lowell Ladies and friends rented a house in NH for the long holiday weekend.

The house we rented was literally in the middle of nowhere, no cell service and mountains on all sides. Oh and it was on ‘Crystal Lake’. We totally should have rented some of the Friday the 13th movies for the weekend. Saturday I woke up before everyone and planned my 18 mile run. I mapped out a 9 mile loop around crystal lake that I would run twice. I left to do the first loop alone and then picked up Kim on the second lap. I should have known by the roads I picked that it would be tough. Every street ended with the word ‘hill’ or started with the word ‘mountain’. The first 5 miles were relatively flat, elevation change of about 100 feet overall. Then miles 5-7 climbed 300 feet straight up. Miles 7-9 were rolling hills back to the house and then I started the second lap with Kim. After the first mile she said “I thought you said this was the flat part”, I said “wait til you see the other side of the lake”. Although it was super hilly and challenging I felt A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Kim did great too. She kept saying I can’t believe you ran this twice!

After the run I took an ice bath and we chilled by the lake all afternoon. I was a little bored so I read the entire book ‘Alice in Wonderland’ that was on the coffee table in the cabin. Kim and her husband Bill made ribs for dinner and we played Just Dance and Wii Sports. Oh and then there were fireworks! The fireworks were so cool. I don’t usually care for them, but the sound carried across the water of the lake and echoed through the mountains for a totally different experience than your typical “oooo, aaaa, look at that one” fireworks show.

The next morning we got up and had breakfast and then we all went for a shorter 5 mile run, still very hilly, but not nearly as bad as the 9 mile loop. Again everyone spent the day at the lake. I’m not a beach person so I went kayaking with Moe and then took a nap. By 4:00 I was so bored I couldn’t take it anymore so I walked to the beach to round everyone up and see if they wanted to go into town. We piled into cars and drove to the nearest town. By the time we all got moving it was already 5:30 and I forgot it was Sunday. When we got to the town, everything was closed or closing. We went back to the house and watched a movie and had dinner. Monday we packed up after breakfast and headed home.

It was a wicked fun weekend. Lots of laughs and good times and I still squeezed in my long run. Next time we have to choose a lake house to rent that isn’t surrounded by mountains. AND we need to plan more activities and less sitting still. I can’t take just sitting on a beach doing nothing. I get bored WAY too quickly. I’d rather be doing something than sitting still.

This week I’m tapering for my half Ironman and I’m going nuts already. I did a FAST 5 miler with Kim Tuesday. We started slow and eased into it, but negative split the run and ran the last mile at an 8:30 pace. Plan for the rest of the week is one more short easy run, then rest and race.

Much needed rest and a little drama

2011-08-24T02:29:00.001-07:00

Last week I just wasn't feelin it. My resting heart rate was high several days in a row and my motivation was seriously lacking so I decided to take a few days off and rest up for my weekend race instead of pushing myself and overtraining and having a crappy race day. By Friday morning my resting heart rate was back down into the 50s and I felt a lot better.

Friday I came home from work ready to head to NH for the Graniteman Tri the next day and much to my surprise and horror there were several police cruisers in front of my place and "Police Line Do Not Cross" tape around the entire condo building. All the worst thoughts started racing through my mind. Was my place broken into? Did someone die? Did one of my crazy neighbors go off the deep end and hurt someone? I asked one of the cops in the street if it was ok for me to go home and he said it was fine so I felt a little more at ease. I then asked another cop what had happened and he said he wasn't at liberty to discuss it but I could go turn on the news and find out. Oh yeah, forgot to mention the news van across the street. Well, I turned on the news and there was no information. I called my friend that was on her way over to drive to NH with me and warned her about the scene. Come to find out, one of my elderly neighbors go into a fight with her son and called the police. He tried to attack the police with a knife and they sot him twice. CRAZY!!! What a great way to start off the weekend.

Anyway, we made it to NH safe and sound despite the drama and a few severe thunderstorms along the way. Saturday morning I got up and we headed to the race. 3/4m swim, 15m bike, 4.2m run. It was my 3rd year doing the race and I really wanted to place. The swim is so long! This year it felt even longer, but I felt pretty good for the first time ever. I was able to relax and just breathe and swam the whole thing without stopping and switching to the breast stroke or side stroke. I got on the bike and that's when the real work began. It's a very hilly course, but I maintained a great average speed and passed a ton of people. I picked up a ton of speed on the downhills maxing out at 47mph on the last hill. My legs were spasming and then I had to try and run. The run starts really as a death march up this giant hill. You can try to run it, but even the best runners end up walking towards the top. The mile markers were all wrong and I thought I still had like 2 miles left when I rounded the last corner and could see the finish. I finished a little slower than the previous year, but I felt great. Other people were saying that the swim felt long so maybe my time wasn't as bad as I thought. Well, I didn't place, I came in 4th. Just missed gettng a chunk of granite by the exact amount of time I lost in the swim. Oh well, there's always next year.

I hung out for a few hours and relaxed after the race before driving back home. I got home quickly showered and went to Kim and Bill/Shannon and Anthony's summer bash. Huge party and I missed some of the late night festivities because I went home at 9:00pm to go to bed and get rest for my long run in the morning. I still had an amazing time. So many great friends and good laughs and good times.

Sunday I did 18 miles. It was ridiculously humid and gross out. I was slower than I wanted to be but I felt comfortable and hydrated well, so it wasn't too bad. Plus, I got the miles done. After I took my ritual ice bath and rested on the couch for the remainer of the day.

Since I haven't posted pictures in a while, here are a few from recent races:

26x1 Relay with the Greater Lowell Road Runners (GLRR) I made my own singlet

Warrior Dash

Old Port Half with Cherie and Kim

WOW Time flies when you love life

2011-08-15T02:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been two weeks already since the last time I posted something. The days went by so fast. Not just my first two weeks at my new job, but also my training outside of work. Before I recap my training let me first say my job is AWESOME! I love it. I'm finally using the skills I have and learning new stuff too. The people are all very nice and my boss is great. I already have at least 3 projects to work on independently. No more micromanaging and suffocating in a boring routine job. Now I'm busy working with all kinds of different groups and people and my boss believes in me and my ability to take on whatever challenges he throws my way. What a difference a little opportunity to grow and develop has made. I'm like a house plant that was dying and pot bound suddenly I'm in a larger pot with room to grow and plenty of sunlight and water to help me flourish.

Ok, on to what I've been up to outside of work. Here's the cliff notes version: Rest, rest, 6 mile run, 7 mile run, 4 mile run, Firefighter bootcamp, 14.5 mile run, 18 mile bike ride, 5K race, 18 mile bike ride followed by a 4 mile run, 6 mile run, rest, 8.5 mile run, 16 mile run.

So the back to back rest days were necessary after the Century ride and triathlon in one weekend. I even skipped the Good Times 5k Bikini run. It's the first time I've skipped a good times race in probably 2 years. I even walked the race the night I got hit by the garbage truck last year. It was a tough call but I'm glad I did it. I needed an extra day of just chilling on my couch.

The next day I made up for it with a hill run, my favorite 6 mile out and back with a one mile hill in the middle. It was humid but not wicked hot. Thursday I ran to Kim's house for a 5ish at 5ish run. We did 4 miles then I did the extra 1.5 to her house and 1.5 from her house. Friday after work I met up with my friend Ann for a nice easy 4 mile run. It was still wicked humid out and we were both drenched at the end of the run.

Saturday morning Kim and I decided to go to Fit Lifestyle Studios in Melrose for Fire Fighter bootcamp. Basically, a strength and conditioning type workout with a fire fighter theme. We rolled out hoses and dragged them and swung sledge hammers and pulled a 165lbs. dummy, raised ladders, and crawled under stuff with oxygen tanks and helmets on. It was so much fun. I loved it. It was intense, but so fun that you hardly noticed you were working out.

Sunday, I did my long run and broke it up a little by doing the 6 mile out and back then running to Kim's for rest of the miles. It went by really fast and didn't feel like I did a long run at all. 14.5 miles total by the time I got home and averaged sub-10s. Still not back to my Boston pace, but trying really hard to get there.

Monday, I went for a bike ride after work to stretch my legs. Tuesday was "Three's Company" three person teams at Good Times. So, me and two other people formed the Crime and Punishment team. I dressed as a cop and they dressed as escaped convicts. My costume was a little tight in the middle and it made it very hard to breathe, but it was fun and we were definitely the most creative team.

Wednesday, I decided with two more tris left this year and one of them being a half ironman I should do a brick workout. I did an 18 mile bike ride all out effort as fast as I could and then when I got home I quickly changed into running clothes and did 4 miles. The first mile was a little slow, but then I was able to pick up the pace and I felt awesome when I finished.

Thursday, I did the hill again. Out and back 6 miles. Another hot and humid day and a slightly soggy run. I was going to do another bike ride Friday, but Ilooked at my calendar and realized it had been almost two weeks since my last rest day and decided shopping at the mall on my way home from work was a better use of my time. :)

Saturday, Kim and Bill picked me up and we went to Cherie's house in Methuen for a nice 8 mile run followed by some lounging by the pool. Chocolate chip pancakes and fruit smoothies made for perfect post run fuel. Then I met up with my friend Jackie at Life Alive for her first experience there. Kim met us there too. It was delicious as usual. Jackie was overwhelmed by the menu but once she pulled the trigger and ordered something she wasn't disappointed. I told her everything on the menu is amazing.

Yesterday, I did my long run for the week. 16 miles, my favorite loop. Shannon came over and joined me for the first 4 miles. She set the pace a little faster than I have been running, but I settled into it and held on for the remainder of my run and I felt pretty good. It was raining when we started and then the rain stopped but the air was still very wet. I was drenched when I finished, but I'll take cool, mistly, and 70 over hot humid and 90 anyday.

Lots coming up quick in the next few weeks, I'll try to be a little better about posting updates.

What an amazing week

2011-08-01T03:12:00.000-07:00

So, my FUNemployment is over. I started my new job. Last week I definitely made the most of it though and tried to do all kinds of fun stuff. This weekend was the icing on the cake.

After last weekend in Portland running the Old Port Half with all my friends and hanging out by the pool I didn't think it would be possible to top how much fun we had. I spent all of last week trying.

Monday, I just relaxed, rested, and recovered from the half marathon. I took a lazy day and just did some stuff around my house like laundry and cleaning. Tuesday morning the gas company came to replace my gas meters and informed me that my older than dirt boiler needed to be replaced or it could kill me by carbon monoxide poisoning. Bummer, but my house is old so I knew it would need to be replaced eventually. At least now I have my severance package money to pay for it. After the gas guy left I went for a steamy and somewhat soggy six mile run in the humidity. When I got home I was dripping as if I had just stepped out of my shower. Then my friend Ann called and wanted to go for a short run with me. She came over later in the afternoon and we did a nice 4 mile run through downtown Lowell. It was still very sticky out and we both were wishing we had brought some water with us by the time we were half way through the run. We managed to finish the run at a very good pace and feeling great and decided to reward ourselves with dinner at Life Alive. It was awesome as always.

Wednesday, I did another steamy six miler and then met up with my friend Moe in the evening to give her some bike pedal lessons. She got clipless pedals (the kind your shoe snaps into) for her bike and want to practice riding with them. I told her not to worry, that she would fall over, but it wouldn't hurt and she would quickly get the hang of it. It was still very amusing to watch. She even brought elbow pads to ride with. Sure enough, just like I said, she got comfortable and a little cocky and then couldn't clip out and fell over. We had a good chuckle and she got right back up and tried again. We ended up riding about 4 miles around in circles in a parking lot, then I suggested we try going for a short road ride to Kim's house only a few miles away. We made it there and back safely and Moe felt much more confident in her pedal skills.

Thursday morning I got up to do my long run because Saturday I was doing a century ride (100+ miles) with Moe. Again it was hot and humid, but not nearly as bad as the week before. I started sort of early and just took my time and enjoyed the run. It was slower than I would have liked but I felt good the entire time so I'm not too worried. I got home and did the ritual ice bath and still managed to melt all the ice within the first 5 minutes of sitting in the tub. It felt so nice to just sit in the cool water though. Thursday evening was Ann's retirement party. It was just a gathering of friends at a local restaurant. It was nice to see some former coworkers that I hadn't seen in a month and great to tell them that I already got a new job. I tried REALLY hard not to gloat and rub it in that I seriously scored and feel like I won the lottery by being laidoff, I think I did ok, but it was tough not to show how extremely happy I am to not be working for the evil empire anymore.

Friday morning I met up with Moe again and we did a nice 14 mile bike ride to boost her confidence even more with the pedals. She finished the ride in one piece and didn't fall at all. It was great. After the ride she went to work and I went back to bed. She texted me in the afternoon and asked if I wanted to go for a short run so naturally I said yes. We did a quick easy 4 miler and made plans for the next day's event - the century ride.

Saturday morning I got up and ate some breakfast and headed to Lexington High School for the start of the century ride. I loaded up my bike pouch with drinks and mini Lara Bars and NRG Bars. Moe met me there and a few of her other friends showed up and we were off. We started at about 7:30am. I couldn't tell you the towns we went through, but it was a really nice ride. Rolling hills and gorgeous countryside. Then Steve, moe's friend got a flat tire. We stopped and waited for him to fix it. Then we were off again. Miles were ticking away and before I knew it, I was at the 35 mile rest stop way ahead of the rest of the group. I had gotten in the back wheel of a small group in front of us and drafted off them for the last 10-15 miles to the rest stop and lost track of the rest of the group. The rest stop was the turning point where you could decide to do a metric century (62 miles) or the full century (100+ miles). I waited and after almost 45minutes Moe and the rest of the group finally showed up. Steve flatted again and they were all struggling. I felt bad because I was doing awesome.

SO, after some discussion and refilling water bottles they all decided to go the shorter route and I decided to take on the full century, ALONE. I took off and tried to catch up with one of the other groups on the road in hopes of doing a little more drafting and conserving my energy. We hit some serious hills around mile 50 and I spotted some other riders at the rest stop near mile 60 or so. I skipped the rest stop and tried to catch them. I would get within a bike length or two and we would climb another hill and I would get dropped. I worked so hard to try and close the gap but I just couldn't do it. It was really fun trying though. Eventually I gave up and just tried to enjoy the ride. I don't really remember much between mile 75 and 100 except being hungry and thirsty and angry at every hill I had to climb. I remember counting down the miles I had left from mile 90 on and then when I got to mile 104 where the ride was suppose to end I realized I was no where near the end. It destroyed me. I had to power on though and get to the end. I wasn't sure how much farther it was but I knew it couldn't be too much. The last few miles were some steep climbs and I just wanted to be done.

FINALLY, I made it. 107 miles DONE! I pretty much collapsed and I was delirious and dehydrated, but I did it. Moe was there waiting for me with her friend Steve and they congratulated me while laughing at the sad state I was in. I was totally spent. I didn't even have the energy to get my car keys out of my bike bag. I'm surprised I could even walk. I was slurring words and dropping F-bombs like it was my job. I'm so glad I did it though. It would have been more fun if I wasn't alone, but I accomplished yet another amazing goal on my "to-do" list so I am extremely proud of myself.

After the century, Moe and I went to my house, showered, and drank some more water before heading over to Cherie's house for some dinner. I made a chocolate chip peanut butter cheesecake with a brownie crust for Steve's birthday. It was amazing. Right when we got there Cherie had some stuff already BBQ'd and I dug right in. I think in the time that we were there I managed to go through 6-8 bottles of water and only peed once. I was severely dehydrated. It was a great way to cap off an incredible day.

Sunday morning, believe it or not, I was registered for a sprint triathlon. I did contemplate skipping it, but when I woke up I felt pretty good so I decided to go for it. It was a really short distance (1/4m swim, 11m bike, 3m run). Plus it was in Lowell so it wasn't like I had to drive wicked far to get to the race. I got there and set up my transistion and walked around a bit talking to a few people. Then the race started. Much to my surprise I felt great in the water. I swam probably the best I have ever done. I completed the quarter of a mile swim in 8 minutes. Hopped on my bike and my body was instantly angry with me, but I got over it and settled into the saddle for the short ride. About a mile in I heard a loud clank and thought I just hit something on the road, turns out after inspecting my bike post-race I had broken a spoke and my rear wheel was completely warped and rubbing on the brakes. No wonder it felt like it was really difficult to ride. I just thought I was tired. I finished the bike and started the run and I knew the run would be the toughest part for me considering the work my legs did the day before. I actually felt ok though. I finished the race and felt pretty good about it. Nothing spectacular, but I did it and I did it the day after doing a century ride for the first time.

I went home after the race and just slept all afternoon. It felt really good to do nothing. Monday was my first day of work at my new job so I needed to be well rested and ready to go. My first day of work was orientation. I felt like a little kid on the first day of school. It had been 10 years since I started a new job so it was very exciting for me. New people, new buildings, new procedures and policies to learn. It was a long day but it felt great to be back to work and taking on new challenges. Afterall that was my New Year's resolution. I can check off "get a new job" from my to-do list now.

The next day, I started my first day actually at my new job not in orientation. I got a tour of the facility and some introductions and saw a lot of familiar faces so it was a nice easy transition. At lunch I checked the results that were finally posted from the triathlon on Sunday - I GOT 1ST PLACE!!!!!! I will have to email the race director to see if I won anything. I didn't think I would place, nevermind come in first.

Lots of exciting stuff coming up fast, another triathlon, a half ironman, reach the beach, a half marathon, and then the Chicago marathon. Stay tuned for more.

Feelin' HOT HOT HOT

2011-07-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

Only one more week of FUNemployment left and then I start work at my new job. So, I'm trying to cram as much fun into the time I have left as possible. Last week was the beginning of my cramming. Friday morning I did go rollerblading and I did manage to make it out alive and without injury. It was a lot of fun. I forgot how much I loved it.

Saturday morning, the Lowell Ladies met up for our last training run before the Old Port Half marathon (more on that later). We did 8 miles and started early to avoid the heat and hopefully avoid the severe dehydration I experienced the week before. It worked. We all felt amazing and ran a very comfortable 9:30 pace. Granted we were dripping and totally soaked by the time we finished but we finished and we all did great. Good omen for the race the following week.

Sunday, while the primary training goal of the weekend was accomplished and the rest of the Lowell Ladies relaxed and enjoyed the taper for the half marathon I had secondary and tertiary goals. Half marathon was basically going to be another training run for me and I used the 8 mile run as the first half of a goofy training weekend. My Chicago marathon training plan included a 16 miler so the 8 miler worked in perfectly to kill two birds with one stone. I got up early and headed out my front door around 6:00am to run 16 miles. Again trying to beat the heat of the brutal summer sun. Bonus to running early in the summertime, sprinklers are on! It was a great run and I felt amazing up until the last two miles. It was getting really warm and I was ready to be done. I still managed to average just over 10 minute miles and only slowed down in those last two miles so I'd say that's not too bad. Still not my pre-Boston/pre-bike crash speed, but I'll take it. Considering the week before I just about died on a 12 mile run and then melted my ice bath almost instantly, I increased the amount of ice in my ice bath to 10 bags or 50 pounds. Didn't do much good. I still melted it within 5 minutes, but the water stayed cool so I feel like I still got the benefit of the bath.

After my run and ice bath, it was time to go to my first ever baby christening. Kim and Bill's baby Ryann, Lowell's newest runner was having a very special day. Not sure what to wear so, I went for a fancy royal wedding/Kentucky Derby look for fun. I wore a simple cotton brown and white sundress complete with huge fancy sun hat and headed to the church. I was told I looked like Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman' ready to stomp divots at a polo match. Mission accomplished. It was very nice. I'm not religious at all and only really go to church for weddings and funerals so this was a new experience for me. Afterwards we celebrated with a BBQ at the in-law's house and enjoyed some fun in the sun on a beautiful summer afternoon.

The following week went by super fast, rest Monday, 6 mile run Tuesday, 7 mile run Wednesday, and with a heat index of 110 degrees we decided it was best to just walk on Thursday. Friday I got up early before the mercury hit record breaking triple digit numbers and squeaked in a nice 6 mile hill run. I looked like I had taken a shower when I finished and I didn't stop sweating even after I really did take a shower. I tried to get to bed early to rest for the weekend festivities, but it was so hot I didn't really sleep much.

Saturday morning bright and early I picked up Moe and we headed to Portland, followed shortly after by Kim and Bill and Ryann, then Cherie and Steve and their boys Aaron and Mitchell, then Erin later on. Moe and I got to Portland first and my mom hadn't even finished cleaning the house yet. It was clean, but she insisted on shuffling things around to make it look even cleaner. While we waited for the others to arrive, I took Moe to one of her favorite places - Salvation Army. She insisted she knew where all the SA stores were and she had never heard of the one I was taking her too. Well, it WAS one she didn't know about and we found some great stuff there. She got a pair of sunglasses for $2 and a few really funny t-shirts. It was getting late and we knew everyone else should be arriving soon so we went to Trader Joes and picked up some lunch food for everyone and went back to my mom's house. Within the next 30 minutes Kim and Bill arrived with Ryann and then Cherie and Steve arrived right after with Aaron and Mitchell. We made lunch and lounged by the pool for a few hours and waited for Erin to get there.

Once Erin arrived we all piled into Steve's truck to go get our bib numbers for the race the next day. Just a short trip to the Maine Running Company Store and we were ready for dinner. Lucky for all of us Portland has one of my favorite restaurants, Flatbreads Pizza. They use all locally grown organic products AND the food is AMAZING! We got a table for 12 and enjoyed great food with even greater friends right on the water front overlooking the finish line of the race the next day. Then to complete the day on the way home we stopped at Beal's Ice cream for dessert. I had blueberry ice cream and pretty much inhaled it before anyone else even got their ice cream because it was so good.

Back to my mom's house and to bed we all went. Cherie and Steve and their boys went to a hotel downtown to stay for the night. It was still early by most standards but we had 13.1 miles to run in the morning. My brother was over with a few friends, but they were pretty quiet out by the pool. Moe and Erin shared my old bedroom, Bill and Kim and Ryann shared my brother's old room and I took the couch. It was still extremely hot and humid so I didn't expect to sleep a lot. I actually hopped in the pool before going to bed to try and cool off a bit. Moe and Erin stayed up chatting for a while, I couldn't hear them but everyone upstairs said they were pretty loud. Then poor Ryann struggled with the rest of us to get comfy in the heat and fussed a bit before finally falling asleep. I woke up a few times in the middle of the night to strange unfamiliar noises and just discomfort of sleeping in a pool of my own sweat. Then in the middle of the night my mom's phone rang and someone was talking on her answering machine. Who calls in the middle of the night like that? Anyway, it's safe to say we all had an interesting night of sleep except for Cherie and Steve, they probably slept the best.

At around 7am we all packed into Steve's truck to go to the start line. He dropped us off and then went back to the hotel to get the boys and go then they met my Mom and Bill and my Brother to watch the race and go to breakfast while we ran. The weather was much nicer than the previous days of 95-100 degree heat wave weather. Overnight the heat and humidity broke to a tollerable 70ish and only slightly hazy heat. The first few miles of the race we had some cloud cover and shaded areas and a lovely ocean breeze. For the first time running of the race, it was very well organized and the course was well marked with tons of volunteers guiding the runners and controling the traffic.

The course started on Portland's Eastern Promenade and then followed the coastline and route 1 into Falmouth and through some nice neighborhoods right on the ocean, crossed route 1 and entered the Maine Audubon Society for a short trail run before going back onto route 1 and heading back to Portland. On our way back into Portland somewhere between miles 6 and 7 I noticed I had goosebumps and my skin was dry. I started sipping water more frequently to try and prevent total meltdown. Once we got back to Portland we ran around the Back Cove that I use to run in high school for soccer practice and cursed every step of it at the time, then past the soccer field I hated playing on and around the Eastern Promenade to the finish line on the Maine State Peir. The last 5 miles around the Back Cove the sun came out and started to really heat me up. With two miles left to go I I knew exactly what was ahead of me because it was the same course as the Urban Epic triathlon I had run the year before. Thankfully some of it was in the shade and all of it was right on the water with a nice cool breeze. I started to get tunnel vision and a little bit dizzy but I powered through it. With less than a mile left to go I saw Moe running back along the course. She had finished with a new PR and was coming back to run the rest of the bunch in. I was doing pretty good so she went to get Kim and Cherie not too far behind me. With a tenth of a mile to go I passed my Mom and Brother and Bill and Steve and the boys and picked up the pace to finish strong. I might have pushed a little bit outside my comfort zone because I was extremely dizzy and almost vomitted when I crossed the finish line, but I DID IT and I finished in just over 2:10 right on target for what I was hoping for with the heat and humidity. I got some water and ice and walked around a bit before going to stand and cheer everyone else in. I eventually made it to everyone and then Mitchell ran his mom Cherie in and we all ran Kim in. What a great race!!

The day was a little warmer than ideal running weather, but we all finished and had fun doing it. I even celebrated in the beer garden after with Moe and enjoyed a free Smuttynose beer. While we enjoyed the post-race beer buzz Moe checked the results and realized she may have placed so we stayed for the awards and sure enough, she got 1st place in her age group and won a hand painted bouy trophy. Once we finished our beers we all went back to my mom's house for a much needed dip in the pool and some food. Within only a few minutes of sitting by the side of the pool relaxing my stomach and tops of my legs (areas that rarely see the sun) burnt to a crisp. I now have a painful red midsection to go with my awesome bike short/running tank tan lines. I'm tempted to lay out today for a few minutes to get the back side of my body to even things out.

Later in the afternoon we began thinking about dinner and someone mentioned seafood. We were in Maine afterall we should truly enjoy the best and freshest seafood you can find (Sorry Mass, Glouster ain't got nothing on my hometown). So, my mom used some of her connections to order up some fresh off the boat Maine Lobster. (Special thanks to E.A.T. Lobster in Scarborough, ME - www.eatlobster.com) We got some corn on the cob and steamer clams to go with the lobster and had a good ole fashioned lobster bake to finish out a perfect weekend.

It's going to be really tough and damn near impossible to top that in my last few days of FUNemployment, but it's not going to stop me from trying. I have lots planned. A few fun runs, a long run, maybe a bike ride or two, then my first full century bike ride next Saturday followed by another triathlon Sunday. I might even try to squeeze in some extras like maybe kayaking or something else I've never done before. The year of new challenges continues stay tuned for more. I'll try to post some pictures soon too.

Run, Bike, Run some more, occasionally swim...

2011-07-15T03:42:00.000-07:00

I guess that's an ok triathlon training plan, but I REALLY do need to get my butt in the water more. I'm an ok swimmer, but it is definitely my achilles heel in the triathlon. Maybe if I swam more it would help me regulate my body temperature in the extreme heat and humidity too.

Last weekend I did my first International distance triathlon. It's a 0.9m swim, 26m bike, 10K run. The day before I did a 12ish mile run in extreme heat and humidity and just about died. I'd say considering the conditions both events went very well, afterall, I didn't die.

Saturday morning was the long run with the Lowell Ladies. My plan was to run to and from Kim's house making the 10 mile group run into a 14 mile training run for Chicago. We started early in an effort to beat the heat. Apparently 7:00am isn't early enough. It was already almost 80 degrees when we started with probably 80% humidity. By the time we were 6-8 miles into the run we all ran out of water and had to stop at McDonalds. I haven't been to a McDonalds on YEARS and usually refuse to even partake in their Newman's Own Coffee because I just don't want to support their business of selling obesity in America, but I was desperate for some water. They were very nice to us and even gave me a few salt packets too. We all finished the run, I just barely made it. I felt so sick and dehydrated by the end I didn't dare try to run home so I hitched a ride instead and cut my run short. I lost about 5 pounds in sweat. Lesson learned - start EARLIER.

After the run, I went to Rite Aid for my ice and bought 8 bags because the 6 bags I bought the week before melted too fast. Well, my core body temperature must have been sky high because I melted the 8 bags (40 pounds) in less then 5 minutes in the tub. It kind of made sitting in the cold water pointless because I wasn't really getting much benefit from the "ice" bath without the ice. Afterwards, some of us decided to take a trip to the mall for some new running skirts. I lucked out and found two at Lululemon, unfortunately they didn't have enough sizes for everyone. Wicked bummer. I need to write a letter to the company requesting additional sizes. Shopping (and the running before) made us hungry so we went to Flatbreads for lunch. YUM! All locally sourced organic pizzas that are out of this world! I love it there. It has to be one of my favorite pre-race carb loading destinations.

Speaking of races, Sunday I had to get up early for my triathlon. I was a little nervous and had boo boo belly all morning. The race started at 8:00am. I was in the first swim wave. The swim was the part of the race I was most nervous about. The water was warm and calm but it was REALLY far to swim. I decided last minute to wear my wetsuit and I'm glad I did because the extra boyancy definitely helped me out. The swim was in the Merrimack River. We started going upstream and turned at the halfway mark and swam the rest downstream. I thought it would be easier once we turned but it wasn't. I struggled the entire way. I just can't relax and control my breathing in the water and I die everytime.

It took me about 45 minutes to complete the swim, I wasn't the last one out of the water though and that's all I cared about. I was a little dizzy and disoriented walking from the water to transition, but once I mounted my bike I was fine. I tried to catch up and pass people but everyone was so spread out on the course it was tough. I managed to pass two or three people, but I also got lapped by the really fast guys so it wasn't much of a morale boost for me overall. As I approached the transition I just thought to myself, "just a nice easy 10K run and you're done" but really I was thinking "oh God I hope it's not as hot as yesterday's run". I racked my bike and started running and I actually felt really good. I made it to the first water stop and dumped a cup over my head and sipped another cup and kept running. I passed another couple of people along the way and then at the water stop just after the turn around they had baggies of ice! BRILLIANT! I stuffed the bag under the straps of my tank top on my back and continued running. I actually picked up the pace a little and passed MORE people. With only one mile left to go there was a girl just in front of me that I tried really hard to catch, but she must have picked up the pace too because I just couldn't catch her. I finished in 3:18. Not too bad. If I actually trained for the swim I would have placed, but I came in 4th in my age group instead.

Monday I took a rest day and I'd say it was still a pretty awesome day because I accepted a new job! Booyah! FUNemployment didn't last long. I'll start in a few weeks and still get to enjoy a little summer fun before getting back to the routine of working. I can't wait. It's exactly the type of job I've been trying to find for the past two years. Now I get to do something challenging AND collect severance from my previous job. Cha-ching!

Tuesday I celebrated the good news with a short 23 mile bike ride and finished off the day with the Good Times 5K. Hot and sticky again, but not nearly as yucky as it had been and I felt really good in comparison to previous runs too. I'm still not as fast as I was pre-Boston, but I think getting hit by a car might have set me back a bit too. I'll get there eventually, it'll just take a little extra time and training.

Wednesday, I had plans to go for a run in the morning and then do a celebratory lunch at Life Alive. It was still hot and sticky out but we managed to finish the 5.25 mile run in decent time and felt pretty good while running it. A little sluggish and slow towards the end but that was to be expected, none of us brought water with us! Lunch was AWESOME and then I was invited to dinner too. Sweet! One of our running buddies and Kim's neighbor, Shannon, made some delicious baked fish with veggies and feta cheese. It was AMAZING!

Thursday, I got up early to watch the Tour de France. I've been following it all month. I want to make sure my future husband (Andy Schleck) stays out of trouble and avoids the crashes and stays in a good position to beat the super-douche Alberto Contador. I was inspired by the extreme distance and mountains they were climbing in the first stage over the Pyrenes so I got dressed and decided to do my own little tour. I set out to complete my first metric century ride (100K). I didn't really know where to go to get 62 miles in, but I figured I didn't have to be anywhere so I just started riding and got lost. I went east towards the coast and rode through Andover, North Andover, Boxford, all the way to Topsfield then back through Boxford and got lost a few times and rode in circles through Boxford and North Andover for a while before I found a road I recognized and then headed home. I over shot the mark a little and rode 71 miles instead of 62, but it was great. I felt awesome and had fun exploring the backroads.

I got home, took a shower, and ate some lunch and then headed right back out to meet up with Shannon to go for a run. I sort of expected my legs to feel like jello, but they actually felt really good and we ran 3.6 miles at a 9:25 pace. Not super fast, but faster than I have been running lately.

Today should be a fairly easy day. I'm just going to go rollerbalding with Nutter and Shannon. My skates have dust and cobwebs on them so it could be quite entertaining. I'm taking it easy though because I've got a goofy weekend planned. 8-10 miles tomorrow followed by 16 miles on Sunday. Today needs to be a "rest" day.

Another busy week

2011-07-10T02:36:00.000-07:00

Summer has officially arrived with 4th of July weekend and hazy, hot, and humid weather. Last weekend I did a 12 mile run with friends on Saturday and spent the day at York Beach in Maine on Sunday. On the holiday Monday, I ran a 5K in Nashua, NH with some friends. I ran with my friend's dog Daisy and even she had a little bit of a tough time with the heat. She dragged me up the hill in the first mile and then I dragged her across the finish and into the shade at the end.

Tuesday was the usual Good Times 5K. This week's theme was 'coaster toss', you are given a coaster before the race and at the first water stop you have to try and toss it into a prize bucket as you are running past. It's not as easy as it sounds. I missed.

Wednesday, I got up early and met Kim and Nutter and our new running buddy John for a morning run in an attempt to beat the heat. We started at 8:30 and did a little over 5 miles and failed to beat the heat. It was a little slow and sweaty, but we finished it.

Thursday, I spent the day babysitting my friend Kim's little girl Ryann (aka - the cutest baby in the world). It was rough, we watched the Tour de France together and played in her bouncey chair and swing. Before I knew it, her dad was home and my work was done. I headed home for some dinner before going to my third 5K race of the week. Berna's Great Legs just a mile down the road from my house. It was hot and humid again and after the run to the race I was already dripping sweat. I started out the race with my friend Kim, but she quickly adapted to the heat better than me and I told her to go ahead. I barely managed to finish under 30 minutes and probably ran my slowest 5K in years. It was disappointing and depressing, the heat beat me.

Friday I rested because I was still totally wiped out from the night before physically and emotionally. So, I spent the day watching the Tour de France and finishing a scrapbook I made of all my 2010 races. It came out really nice and I already started a 2011 scrapbook. I can't wait to put the tough mudder pages together.

Saturday I had planned to run 14 miles and I ran from my house to Kim's to meet up with the Lowell Ladies for the long run. We started at 7:00 in an effort to finish before it got hot, but it was already 70 and humid when we started. Only 6 miles in we were all out of water and dying so we stopped at a McDonalds for water. It was the first time in probably at least 10years that I set foot in a McDonalds. They were very nice and gave us all the water we needed and even some salt packets too. We continued the run and I struggled a lot with the heat. I was totally drenched and dehydrated despite our pit stop to rehydrate. I had goosebumps and dry skin and started to throw up the water I was drinking so I slowed my pace to a crawl and finished up the run, just barely. Sitting on the steps at Kim's house sipping more water I decided to cut my run short and did a little under 12 instead of the planned 14. I felt sick and shakey and really dizzy so it is unlikely that I would have finished the last 2 miles anyway.

I hitched a ride home with Cherie and went to Rite Aid for my ice. I melted 6 bags of ice the previous week so this time I tried 8 bags, 40lbs. I sat down in the ice bath and didn't even need my hooded sweatshirt because I was so hot and within 5 minutes the 40lbs of ice was totally melted and the water was warm. I bet my core body temp was over 100 degrees. I spent the rest of the day shopping and rehydrating and capped it off with a BBQ at Moe's with a bunch of friends.

I'm up early today for my first international triathlon. Praying that I am recovered enough from yesterday's run and refueled enough too. It is suppose to be 90 degrees and humid today so it could be really ugly. I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

Busy, busy, busy......

2011-07-01T04:53:00.000-07:00

FUNemployment is a full time job. I have been so busy I haven't had time to write. Where do I begin? I guess right where I left off. Last Wednesday, the dust had settled from the layoff and I started working on really important stuff like my bike short tan lines. I got a nice 21 mile ride in and a 6.35 mile run too. Thursday I took it easy and just did a 4.5 mile run with Kim and our new running buddy John. It was rainy and gross out and we had planned on just doing 3-4 miles but once we started it was just drizzling and it felt kinda nice so we kept going.

Friday morning I got up early and had my usual breakfast before heading out to do my long run for the week. It was still spitting rain, but not too bad. I did just over 14 miles and felt great. After the run I had to pick up some supplies for the weekend's events. Saturday I was running a marathon relay with the Greater Lowell Road Runners(GLRR). Their singlets are green and gold and not extremely flattering so I made my own hot pink GLRR singlet.

Saturday morning I got up and headed over to Kim's house to meet up and go to the relay. It was still rainy and gross but the forecast had it clearing up in time for the race to start. Just after we all got loaded into Kim's car there was a flash of lightning and a loud crack! It started pouring. The rain was coming down so hard it flooded the track where we were suppose to run the relay. They delayed the start of the race for 30 minutes and the rain eventually stopped just in time. The relay was 12 teams of 26 runners each doing a mile and one runner doing a speed lap for the .2 miles to make it a full marathon. Some of the teams were totally stacked with super fast runners and some of the teams were just there to have fun. It was a great event and my homemade singlet was a hit.

Sunday I was doing the Warrior Dash a wussier version of a mud run/obstacle race, nothing like Tough Mudder. I ran in a "Babe-a-lonian warrior" costume. The race itself wasn't bad, but the organization of the event was an epic fail. It took me 90 minutes to park my car because they had everyone parking on a huge grassy hill which had turned into a mud pit with all the rain we got the day before. They actually had to bring in truck loads of gravel to put down because cars were spinning out in the mud and unable to park. When I finally got to the race I got my bib number and just went straight to the start because I had no idea what time it was and I knew it was well past my registered start time. The course was basically a mud run/walk. The obstacles were kind of lame and not very challenging. Then once I finished the volunteers filling the water cups at the finish had stacked the cups in a way that made all the mud and dirt from previous finishers go into the cups so all the water was dirty. The only other water available was for purchase. I waited for my friends to finish and then cleaned off and got in line to get on a shuttle back to my car so I could get my water bottle and some food in my car. Just as I made it to the front of the line a volunteer came by saying that the shuttles were stopped due to an accident in the road and we would all have to walk to our cars - 2 miles away!!! Most people chose to just wait for the accident to be cleared, I started walking. It was hot and humid and super sunny - perfect conditions for heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Luckily for me I made it to my car and chugged the water and electrolyte drink I had. Needless to say, I was so tired and frustrated at that point I didn't go back to the race area to hang out with my friends. I just went home to clean the rest of the mud off and get some food.

Monday I had to go back to my former place of employment for a "separation meeting". Before the meeting I squeezed in a short run and a deck of cards workout with Kim. We did Squats, Push ups, box jumps, and dips - 100 of each. Then I biked to work for the last time to go to the meeting. 25 miles round trip. After I got home and ate some food I went for another run. 5.35 miles with Kim and Nutter.

Tuesday was my brother's birthday so I told him I would bike his age in miles. I over shot the mark a little and did 36.5 miles. Happy Birthday Bro! After the long bike ride my 5K time at the Tuesday night race was not exactly fast. Not only were my legs a little tired, but I think I was a little dehydrated too because I had a serious case of boo boo belly. If I ran any faster it would not have been pretty.

Wednesday I didn't have time for much because I had an interview in the afternoon. So, Kim, Nutter, and I did a nice easy 4 mile run in the morning. I rushed home, showered and got ready for the interview. Drove into Cambridge and found the company pretty easily. It was located on the same street I ran the Winter Classic 5K on and around the corner from the bar that awarded the damn Lobstergirl the costume prize! The interview went well and I headed home to get some dinner.

Yesterday I wanted to get more miles on my bike so I got up early and headed out. I biked from Lowell through Tewksbury, Wilmington, Reading, Wakefield, Melrose and back through Wakefield, then Reading, North Reading, Andover, Tewksbury, and back to Lowell for a total of 50 miles. It was great. About 35 miles into the ride I almost ran out of water, but then just when I was praying to see someone out watering their lawn or some way to refill my bottles I passed a huge cemetary and saw the faucets they have for watering flowers on graves. My prayers were answered and I refilled my bottles and finished the ride.

I was registered for a 5 mile race in Quincy in the evening so I ate some late lunch/early dinner and got in my car and headed to the race. I left super early and didn't think I would have any issues until I got to Boston and traffic was totally stopped. I sat in the tunnel FOREVER and made it to the race 2 minutes AFTER the gun went off. I was meeting a friend there so I walked to the finish line and waited for her to come in. Time went by fast because some of my favorite people and products were at the finish - Mix 1 and NRG Bars. If you've never tried them you are seriosuly missing out. Mix 1 is an all natural protien recovery drink that is absolutely delicious. It's not chalky or gross tasting and it is made with all natural stuff that is easily absorbed by your body and doesn't have any of the crap and chemicals your body doesn't need. Basically, it's like an awesome fruit smoothy with bonus benefits that help you recover from your workouts. NRG Bars are also all natural and delicious and they had their new flavor - lemon flax - available to try and it was so yummy I immediately bought 2 bars! So, I didn't get to run, but I did get to see some friends and enjoy the beautiful evening in Marina Bay, despite traffic ruining my plans.

Things are finally falling into place

2011-06-22T04:38:00.000-07:00

Last week was great. I'm finally feeling better after a few months of overtraining and then getting hit by a car. I started the week with a nice 5 mile run on Monday. Tuesday I ran the Good Times Series 5K and knocked 2 minutes off my time from the previous week, more proof that things are looking up. Wednesday I did a playground run and circuit with Kim and Nutter. The run for me ended up being about 6.5 miles total and we did an awesome total body workout at the play ground that includes box jumps on picnic tables, burpees, inclined push ups, wall sits and a bunch of other fun stuff followed by a little ab workout. Nutter didn't think it was as fun as Kim and I did, but I guess our idea of "fun" isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Thursday afternoon I ran 7 miles slowly. It was my least favorite weather; hazy, hot, and humid. I was dripping sweat and a little dehydrated but I finished it. Friday I decided to take a rest day. I was going to go to the gym after work but I just wasn't feelin it and went home instead.

Saturday morning I met up with the Lowell Ladies at Kim's house and we did a great long run meandering through all of Lowell, a little downtown, a little nice neighborhoods, a little ghetto. It was like a running tour of the mill city. I edned up with a total of 13 miles adding on the run to and from my house while everyone else did 10 miles. Afterwards, the day was so nice I couldn't waste it so I decided to get back on my bike. I went for a nice easy 21 mile ride and returned to the scene of my accident. I'm not going to lie, I was very anxious riding up that hill and my heart skipped a beat every time a car wizzed past me, but I made it to the top safely and finished the ride without incident.

Sunday, I was going to go for another bike ride, but I just couldn't get motivated. I felt like being lazy. I was suppose to have a 10K race that day, but it got canceled and then I was lounging around my house and cleaning all morning and by afternoon I just wanted to take a nap so that's exactly what I did. I fell asleep on my couch and slept for 3 hours. Must have needed a little rest.

Monday was interesting......I went to work and waited for the layoff announcements. I had heard through the grapevine that Monday was the day and I had already cleaned off my desk, made lunch plans with a friend, and had an interview scheduled for later in the afternoon. I had set up a distribution list a month ago to send my final goodbye email and I knew it was coming. I wasn't sad or upset or even anxious anymore. The only fear I had was the fear of NOT getting laid off. I didn't want to stay there anymore. So, I had my morning cup of tea and tried to do some busy work, wondering when they would get it over with. I get to work at 6:00am so waiting for the 'notification' was torture. Lucky for me I didn't have to wait too long. At 7:30 I was told and I had to try to contain my joy and excitement. I told the director not to worry or feel bad about letting me go because I was looking at it as an incredible growth opportunity. I had been in my department for 10 years and trying to get out of it for the last 2 years so getting let go was like a breathe of fresh air after suffocating for 2 years. I filled out the necessary paperwork and sent my goodbye email that I had drafted and ready to go within 5 minutes of arriving and I said goodbye to a few select people, did a happy dance and walked out with a HUGE smile on my face.

Lunch was celebratory, I never thought I would be so happy to lose my job, but it felt like such a relief. No more stress of waiting and not knowing, it was finally over. I enjoyed the rest of the day and aced the interview I had then went for a fun run with Kim to top off the perfect day. I went to bed feeling bad for the other 220 people that were let go and not expecting it or not ready for it like I was, but I know everyone will be better off and things will work out fine in the end, they always do.

Tuesday I slept in and took my time getting up and enjoyed some tea and breakfast before I went for a nice long bike ride. I got 28 miles done and it felt amazing. I got lost a few times and didn't care, it was a beautiful day and I had no pressure or plans to be anywhere so I just pedaled my way around the Merrimack Valley. I got home, had some lunch, and relaxed for the rest of the day reading and watching a movie. Later in the evening I walked downtown for the Good Times 5K and shaved another 40 seconds off my time from the previous week. One step closer to my pre-Boston speed.

So, things are looking bright for me, physically and mentally. I've got a ton of really fun races coming up and lots of new opportunities to explore. I'm really looking forward to the changes life has in store for me. Who knows, maybe I'll go in a completely different direction than people expect and I'll surprise everyone. Stay tuned and find out.

On the Mend

2011-06-13T03:11:00.000-07:00

Last week my hip and elbow were pretty painful. My hip developed some really lovely shades of purple and hurt so much I had difficulty sleeping. The road rash on my elbow was healing nicely, but the underlying injuries didn't seem to be doing as well. I had pain radiating from my elbow into my wrist. So, mid-week I made an appointment with my acupuncturist to see if we could re-balance things and get my body back to normal. It's amazing what a few carefully placed needles can do. Within 2hrs of treatment my hip was much better and the pain in my elbow vanished.

I took a few more rest days to allow my body time to heal itself and by the weekend I was ready to see how it felt. Saturday morning the Lowell Ladies had planned a group run in Dunstable. My training plan called for 10 miles, but considering the recent injuries I scaled it back and did the 8 miles that everyone else was doing. It was kind of a grey and dreary day. We started the run around 9:00am and the sun was no where to be found. It was misty and even a little foggy maybe in the 60s - perfect for a run. Dunstable is very hilly and the run went up and down and all around the area. It's pretty, but damn some of those hills were never ending. Normally I love hills and I think last year when we did the same run I said "I eat hills for breakfast", but this year was different, my body still not 100% recovered from being hit by a car, the hills hurt a little more than last year. We finished the 8 mile run in about an hour and twenty minutes averaging just under 10:00 minute miles. Not great, but not bad either. The important thing was we finished and we all felt great.

Just as we finished our run the morning mist turned into heavy downpours and pretty much ruined our plan to go for a short bike ride. We ate breakfast and hung out for a bit and then headed home. I spent the remainder of the day lounging on my couch and watching a Criminal Minds Marathon.

Sunday was the true test of how well I had healed. My friend Kim's husband was doing his first triathlon and I was going to help him, but couldn't resist the urge to race it myself so I signed up with him. It was the Greater Nashua Y Tri. A 1/3m swim, 16 mile bike, and 5K run. We had picked up our race packets the day before. So at 6:45am I drove to their house and helped Bill load his bike into my car and we went to the race. Kim was going to meet us there later. We got there a little early but it worked out great because we were able to rack our bikes and set up our transition areas before the massive chaos and confusion of tons of people crowding in occurred. The only downside was after we were all set up we still had about 90 minutes to wait before the race started and it was only about 50 degrees out. The water temperature was about 70 degrees and there was steam coming off the lake, but the air was definitely cooler. I was shivering and had goosebumps all over my arms.

Kim showed up around 8:30am with baby Ryann, Bill's mom Janet, and our friend Moe came to cheer too. Kim was nice enough to lend me her jacket while we stood around waiting for the race to start. Before we knew it they were calling all swim waves to the water. I was wave 4 and Bill was wave 6, so I got a 6 minute head start on him and challenged him to catch me. The course was kind of cool. It was a treading start off of a small dock and then a triangle swim back to the beach. Once you got to the beach there was a long run through a path in the woods back to the transition area. I felt really great in the water and for the first time ever I was actually passing people.

Once I got to my bike I felt comfortable and I took off. The bike course was two loops over rolling hills, but mostly flat. I finished it in 55 minutes and threw on my running shoes for the last leg of the race. I saw Bill at about 3/4 of a mile out on my run as he was approaching the finish of the bike so I knew he could catch me and I'd be a little disappointed if he didn't. He's a much faster runner than me. Sure enough, just as I passed the 3 mile mark and I had almost given up on him, he yelled from behind me and passed me with only a few yards left in the race.

We both did really well. Bill finished in 1:34 and I finished in 1:40. My hip was a little sore in the last mile of the run, but overall I felt really good. I didn't do well enough to place, I was 16th out of 46, but the age group was 30-39 and not 30-34 like some races so who knows, maybe I would have placed if the age group was smaller. Plus, my age group is the most competitive so I'm happy to just be in the top half. Plus, I started with 25 girls in my swim wave so that means I passed at least 9 of them along the way (it's possible that some of the girls in wave 5 passed me too). Either way it was a fun race and I finished it.

Black and Blue and several shades of greenish yellow

2011-06-09T05:09:00.000-07:00

The road rash is starting to heal, but my bruises look pretty nasty now. My hip has turned all kinds of different colors and it hurts the most by far. My arm does definitely hurt still. I can't even wear my watch anymore because the pain from my elbow radiates into my wrist and makes it very uncomfortable. This makes it pretty much impossible for me to get my resting heart rate in the morning, but the few times I have taken it, it's still high so I'm guessing I'm still not healed and still slightly overtrained.

I haven't gotten back on my bike yet, which totally sucks because this week has been PERFECT for biking to work. It's been sunny and warm all week. It's driving me bonkers. I want to ride so bad and I NEED to ride to get some miles in to train for the Half Ironman I'm signed up for, but after two crashes involving motor vehicles I'm a little nervous to tempt fate and dodge death a third time. On top of that, gas prices are at an all time high and it would be nice to save some money. I'm sure my fear will subside and I will get back at it, but for now my bike is parked in my foyer.

I have tried running a few times. Sunday was a nice, easy, slow, longish run. I did 8 miles with Kim and Cherie. It was OK, but definitely slower than normal and I was really sore afterwards. I rested Monday and did NOTHING. I went to the police station and got the accident report and then went home. I was passed out on my couch by 6:00pm.

Tuesday, I did the Good Times 5K in downtown Lowell. At the beginning of the spring series I was 14th overall for the women, this time I finished 58th! I was 20th in my age group (compared to 5th or 6th I was getting). I did take it easy and I didn't really race all out, but still it's very disappointing to finish so much slower than I know I'm capable of. I hope I can get back to sub-25:00 minute 5Ks and maybe even break 24:00 later this summer.

Yesterday, I ran with the Lowell Ladies. The plan was to run to Kim's, do 3-4 miles, then run home. Well, the "run" to Kim's was more painful than I expected. It normally takes me 15 minutes and this time it took close to 20 minutes. My hip was really hurting and I had to stop and walk a few times. I hoped that it would loosen up and feel better after a little warm up but it didn't. I lagged behind the group and struggled to keep up and barely made it through the 3 miles that we did (Kim and Moe actually went on to do 4 miles). I hitched a ride with Moe and skipped the run home. Took some Tylenol and iced my hip before going to bed disappointed and in pain AGAIN.

It's ok to slow down....

2011-06-06T10:06:00.000-07:00

A friend sent this to me last week and I should have taken his advice. But of course I didn't. I felt really good and on Thursday it was the first really nice day we've had in a while so I decided to ride my bike into work. It felt GREAT! It was cool and in the mid-50s in the morning on my ride in and when I got to work, the showers were actually hot. The day went by pretty fast and I was excited to ride home and get ready for the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge. It was in the high 60s maybe low 70s on the way home and I made it about 10 miles into my 14 mile ride home and all of the sudden I heard the loudest scariest crunching noise I've ever heard in my life. I was hit by a car AGAIN!!!!!! This time instead of just hitting the pavement, the car actually side swiped me and ripped the side mirror off and knocked me off my bike and into the road in the process. I am extremely lucky that the car behind the one that hit me didn't run me over. Although he did leave the scene instead of stopping to help me. The truck two back from the car that hit me stopped and called 911.

This is the kicker, the guy that hit me, pulled over and when he finally got out of his car, he had a cast on his right foot, yeah the one you kind of need to push the gas pedal down! And to make matters worse, he walked over like that drunken old guy in Mortal Combat or is it Virtua Fighter, who knows I never was a big video game person, anyway, he was definitely not totally with it and not steady on his feet and should NOT have been driving!

Andover Police responded, then Andover Fire, then more Andover Police, then Methuen Fire because Andover didn't have an ambulance available. I took a nice ride to the hospital in an ambulance on a back board with a collar on and arm all bandaged up and still had my bike shoes on and my reflective vest and ankle reflectors, my helmet was resting in my lap as the ambulance weaved it's way through traffic. Oh by the way people, it's the law to PULL OVER TO THE RIGHT AND STOP. Thank God I wasn't really severely injured or dying. It's ridiculous how rude people are even to emergency vehicles. Really??? Is where ever you're going more important than someone's life? Doubt it.

Anyway, I'm extremely lucky and must have learned from playing hockey how to take a hit because I didn't break anything and didn't get another head injury (this would have made #7, I think). Lots of bruises and road rash that feels friggin AWESOME when they scrub the asphalt out of it with iodine. Hip is swollen, but not bruised. Must be where the side mirror clipped me before I ripped it clean off the car. On the bright side, my bike is just scratched a little and my bell is broken, but I'll take that over broken bones any day.

They took great care of me in the ER and my friend Kim had her husband Bill come pick me up and help me get my bike back from Andover PD. Then they made me dinner too! I have the best friends ever!

Friday I got up and went to work just to let my boss know that I was going home to rest. I probably could have just called in, but considering I was hit last year biking to work I thought calling in and saying I was hit again was going to be unbelievable. So, I went in, waited 20 minutes for him to show up and then went home. I slept almost all day, only interrupted by people calling or texting to make sure I was alive.

So, I think the world might be trying to tell me something. Like pedal faster, or maybe take a break.......

Long weekends are never long enough

2011-05-31T05:21:00.001-07:00

I wish that work and fun could trade places so I could have more fun and work less. Unfortunately, the reality is that I have bills to pay and sometimes fun is expensive, so I guess I'll have to keep working to support the activities in my life that I consider fun.

The long weekend was pretty nice. As I mentioned last week, I was beginning to feel the effects of some serious overtraining, so I took a few days off from working out. In addition to needing rest, I figured my iron deficient blood was probably part of the reason I was so tired. Thursday on my way home from work I stopped at Whole Foods and picked up a nice grass fed organic rib eye steak and brought it home for dinner. I seared it on both sides and cooked it to a perfect medium pink inside, just simple salt and pepper to season it and it melted in my mouth. It was delicious!

Friday was the longest day EVER at work. Fridays before a long holiday weekend are usually pretty painfully dull. There wasn't much work to do and it was really quiet. Back in the day when the company was smaller and less corporate, management use to go around on these types of days and tell everyone to leave early. Not anymore. Now we have to stay exactly 8hrs no matter how little work there is to do. Stay busy or pretend to be busy, work-life balance is a nice to have idea they talk about but don't really encourage. I miss the good ole days. I finally escaped and was free for the weekend! I didn't really do much right away, I was just happy to have 72 hours out of my corporate slave shackles. Rest and relaxation was the highest priority.

Saturday morning I attempted to sleep in and made it to about 6:00am. I lounged around for most of the morning and then I got dressed and headed into Boston to pick up my race packet for the Run to Remember Half Marathon. I walked around the expo for a bit and just enjoyed a little people watching while I was there, I mean I had already paid for parking so I might as well hang out for a bit right. Once the novelty of freebies and creepy clown watching (not making fun of people, there really were creepy clowns there) wore off I left. On my way home I stopped at the mall and then Trader Joes. I got some cute new running skirts at Lululemon and stocked up on peanut butter at Trader Joes.

Once I made it home, I did some of what I do best during rest time - baking. One of my friends is doing a body building competition next weekend and has been on a really strict diet in preparation for it so I promised her I would make her cupcakes to enjoy after the competition. I wanted to make sure the recipe I had was good so I made a practice batch. Just plain vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and all natural sprinkles. I used stone ground whole wheat flour and organic eggs, butter, milk, and vanilla. Once they were done I recruited my neighbor Annie and her daughter Janelle to taste test them for me. They approved. I tasted one too and I have to admit, they are really good.

I went to bed early so I'd be well rested for the race the next day. Sunday I got up early and got dressed, packed my fuel belt, and drove into Boston. Even at 6am it was already just over 70 degrees out with 80% humidity. Not my ideal running conditions, but I wasn't expecting a PR or anything crazy. I never 'race' the Run to Remember. The course is totally flat and probably could be a PR course for me, but for some reason I HATE it. It's a long out and back on Memorial drive and it starts and finishes at the Seaport World Trade Center. It's always hot and humid and I almost always bonk at mile 9 of the course, but I still register for the race every year.

I decided right from the beginning that I was just going to go easy and just enjoy running for 13.1 miles. The first 5 miles my legs felt a little heavy and sluggish, but then something clicked and they suddenly remembered, "oh yeah, this is what we do". I found my stride and got comfortable. For the first time out of the 4 times I've run this race I didn't bonk at mile 9, quite the opposite, I picked up the pace. I found my friend Scott at mile 11, tapped him on the shoulder and said "come on let's finish strong" to which he replied "you're passing me, you little B*$&%". That made me smile. I kept it up and finished strong like I said. I didn't PR, but I finished exactly in the time I was shooting for, 2:10, and I felt great! That was the best part. My energy and motivation had returned, hopefully my speed will be following soon. I recovered with some Mix1 Mango all natural protein drink (it's awesome - try it!) and headed home for a shower and a nap.

Monday, Memorial Day, my plan was to get in a little active recovery on my bike, then I got a text from my friend Cherie inviting me over to hang out by her pool. I merged the two ideas and biked to her house. It felt so good to get on my bike. I made it to her house in really good time too. I thought it might take me close to an hour to get there taking back roads and not knowing exactly how far it was, but it ended up being only about 8.5 miles and it only took me 30minutes. I helped Cherie make some fruit salad with her son Mitchell (who happens to make the best cup of coffee in the world). Kim and Bill and Ryann joined us shortly after we finished the fruit salad. We all cooled off in the pool as the day heated up. It was a great relaxing day just chillin' with great friends. I biked home around 4:30 and hit up the grocery store before retiring to my couch for the evening and setting my alarm clock for another work week.

I totally jinxed myself

2011-05-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm super human and I can run marathons and bounce right back with little or no rest between races, etc. etc. Well, I am eating my words now.

Persistent fatigue (physical and mental exhaustion), increased resting heart rate, chronic nagging joint pain (my ankles hurt, they never hurt), lack of motivation, loss of appetite, restless sleep, increased stress, increase RPE, decreased performance (race results getting progressively worse not better), and weight gain (despite healthy diet and exercise routine) = OVERTRAINING!!!!!

The week started off pretty good, I went to the gym Monday and did some upper body strength training and intervals on the elliptical. Tuesday, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day and after work I was thinking of actually getting on my bike for a few miles before the Good Times 5K, but when I got home all I wanted to do was sleep. I had zero motivation and I even thought about skipping the race. I probably should have listened to that little voice in my head and skipped the race, but I didn't.

I went to the race even though I really didn't want to. It was hot and humid and I was feeling sluggish and slow. And to make things worse, I made the mistake of downing an entire bottle of Poland Spring sparkling water before I left the house. I learned in the first mile that carbonated water in your tummy gets shaken up while you run and causes a lot of painful bloating and kinda gross burping. Not fun. I ran the first mile in 8:30, not awful, but not as fast as I know I can run. Then it just went downhill from there, my splits, not the course. I felt like someone tied cinder blocks to my feet and the force of gravity was increasing with every step. A little after the 2 mile marker it started to sprinkle rain drops, at first it felt great because it was so hot out, then the sky really opened up and suddenly we were caught in a monsoon. Thunder and lightning and rain coming down so hard it kinda stung when it hit you. I finished the race in a little over 27 minutes which isn't horrible, but considering my PR for the course is 24:24 and I can run closer to 25 minutes under normal circumstances it was pretty disappointing. It was the metaphorical drop of water that broke the dam.

The next day at work I could barely hold my head up and I was so exhausted I couldn't focus, not to mention I had a headache for the past 2 days that still hadn't gone away even after taking 4 Advil. I haven't been sleeping well and I think it's a combo of work stress and not enough rest between races. I left at 9:00am and went home sick hoping a little rest would help. I slept from 9:30-11:30 and then from 12:00 to 4:30. I can't remember the last time I felt so completely drained.

Time for a break, perhaps a few days of, gasp, rest. Ugghhh, I hate rest. I have a half marathon this weekend, a tri next weekend and the following weekend, and pretty much a race every weekend for the next 8 weeks. Plus, training for Chicago and Goofy will start in June and ramp up over the summer. So, that leaves limited time for rest. It's now or never. I figure I need to listen to my body and give in to the need for some recovery before I get really sick or worse injured. So, the plan for the next few days is to do NOTHING. No running, no cross training, no biking, no strength training. Just rest and relaxing - sounds great to most people, it's torture for me! I'll get through it though and be better off and hopefully stronger after a few days off.

Getting Older is FUN!

2011-05-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

I always say, “Age is just a number” and “like a fine wine, I get better with age”. Seriously, life just gets better and better each year. I mean it’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but it certainly is a wild ride that I would pay to hop on again.

I celebrated surviving another year by doing some of my favorite things with some of my favorite people. Wednesday I used a few hours of personal time to take off early from work and go to the Fitness Center’s Resolution Challenge Awards ceremony - the incentive program that ran from New Years to mid-April. Appartently the competition was pretty close and my team came in 2nd. I’m convinced this was for a few reasons, we were tapering for the marathon in April and unable to rack up points towards the end of the challenge and the other team was able to go to all of the lunch time classes offered at the fitness center for huge points and I’m not allowed to attend lunch time classes. Oh well, we all won better health so points are not important.

After the awards ceremony, I went home and did some laundry and relaxed for a bit before going for a birthday run with my friend Kim. I ran to her house and then we did a nice 3 mile run plus an extra mile with her dog Daisy at the end. We averaged something close to 9:30s and felt amazing. She made me some birthday cookies (chocoalte chip with dried cherries) and had a card for me too! By the time I ran home my garmin said I totaled 9 miles for the run, fitting for my 33rd birthday since 3x3=9. I think it’s going to be a great year. I’m pretty sure my numerology number is 3 and my OCD brain likes it so double 3s should be friggin spectacular!

Thursday, work went by painfully slow. I took Friday off so naturally, Thursday dragged and would not end soon enough. Finally, the day was over and it was time to begin a long weekend of awesome all about me-ness. I went for another run with Kim. Slightly shorter, but equally awesome pace-wise. It was cloudy, but hot and humid. Summer really wants to happen, but Mother Nature is continuing her douchey trend for the year and extending the April showers all the way into the end of May. With the run to and from her house I logged about 7.5 miles for the night.

Friday morning I tried to sleep in, but Fat Boy Slim (FBS) works better than an alarm clock and was up at 4am and HUNGRY. When I refused to get out of bed, he started his usual routine of pawing at the blinds in my windows making the most annoying noise in the world, I got up and pulled the blinds out of his reach and crawled back in bed and then he began knocking stuff off my dresser. So, I eventually gave in and got up around 6am. I got up, fed FBS and made myself some tea. Sat on the couch in my PJs and watched the Today show for a few hours until Kathy Lee and whoever her side kick is now came on and then I got dressed and went for a short 6 mile run. I LOVE that 6 miles is what I consider a “short” run.

It was kind of yucky out. Not raining, but drizzling and grey. My shoes and legs were covered in mud (not as much as from Tough Mudder, but still pretty dirty). I took a nice hot shower and steamed up my place so much that the smoke detector went off. I hate it when that happens, but I love steamy hot showers and it happens a lot so I’m used to it. I got dressed and continued the birthday celebrations with a trip to the nail salon with Kim for manicures and pedicures. I haven’t had a mani/pedi probably since I started running. My toenails are always mangled or missing so I never bothered. Plus, I kind of feel bad for the nail technician having to try and paint non-existant nails. They did an amazing job though. My toes haven’t looked this good in years! It’s so nice to look down and not see the black and blue toenails and wonder how long until one falls off. The funniest thing was that I had two different technicians one that did my toes and one that did my fingers and they BOTH commented on the color of my skin asking me if I do spray tanning. I just chuckled and explained I just eat a lot of carrots and sweet potatoes. Perhaps it’s time to cut back so I don’t start to look like George Hamilton.

Nails done, I went home and took a quick nap before getting ready to go out with the Lowell Ladies for more Birthday fun. While I was lounging around, the UPS guy showed up with my me to me present. A new doormat. I know sounds wicked boring and kind of lame, but it’s the coolest door mat EVER! It’s a finish line, tehehe. So every time I come home I’m crossing a finish line. Seriously, I couldn’t think of a more perfect doormat for my front steps. It’s AWESOME!

The hardest part about getting ready for the night was deciding what to wear. We were just going to a small jazz bar in Lowell, but I rarely get the opportunity to dress up – I’m too old for Prom and all of my friends are already married or not getting married soon. I tried on almost every dress in my closet, twice! I still couldn’t decide. So, I texted Nutter and had her come over and help and Cherie came over too. We even sent a picture to a 3rd person that didn’t know me for an outside perspective. It was unanimoius – I rocked the sexy dress for the night and I looked HOT! Put my hair up in a side twisted bun and did a little 40s inspired pin curl on the side and even put on some fire engine red lipstick and liquid liner for extra hot Betty Davis eyes.

We went to a tapas place for a quick bite before the jazz bar – Ole. I wouldn’t recommend it. The food was disappointing at best and the service was horrible. Our waitress was to busy texting to be bothered. She tried to bring us something we didn’t order and forgot to bring us something we DID order and then when she brought the check she rudely informed us that she was done for the night and asked us to settle up so she could leave. And then AGAIN told us she wanted to leave when she brought us the change. We all agreed we will not be going back there again, but at least it gave us a little comedy for the evening.

The jazz club we went to , The Back Page, was really cool. Only about a half mile from my house and I never knew it was there. It was a small club down an alleyway next to one of the canals that runs through downtown Lowell. They had a great cocktail menu that had a nostalgic and local theme to it with drinks like “the Dirty Canal” (a dirty martini) and “the Mill Martini” (regular martini) or “the Dizzy Gillespie” and “ the Berry Goodman”. The band played some Billy Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald and everyone had a toe tappin’ knee slappin’ good time.

Saturday morning, Nutter and her friend Christine joined me for a nice 10 miler through Tewksbury and Andover. Although it was near 70 degrees and humid for the first time this year and my body was not acclimated to the heat, after we eased into the run and got into a good rhythm, we maintained a steady 10 minute/mile pace and even picked it up in the last 3 miles running 9:45, 9:30, and 9:20. I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and running errands. Oh and waiting to see if the World ended, as some crackpot religious fanatic predicted, it didn’t. No big surprise there.

Sunday, I ran the Lowell Fire Fighters 5K. I also ran to the race and home from the race since it started a mile and a half from my house and there was really no point in driving there and wasting the $4/gallon gas. It was significantly colder than the day before and cloudy again, thanks Mother Nature. I wasn’t trying to break any records considering I ran 10 the day before and I just wanted to have fun and socialize after the race. I finished in about 26 minutes and ran the last 2 miles at 8:00 pace so I’m getting close to my pre-Boston speed and should be ready to tear it up when the Good Times Summer Series begins. Hung out after the race chatting with friends and enjoying the views, what woman doesn’t like firemen? Handlebar mustaches and all, they’re nice to look at. Had to head home when I started to shiver from being sweaty and cold and standing around in the grey windy afternoon air. Spent the rest of my birthday weekend on the couch watching a Criminal Minds marathon. Couldn’t have asked for a better birthday. Can’t wait to see what fun and exciting things I can get myself into in my 33rd year.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

2011-05-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

So far this week has been kinda blah, but that could be because of the weather. It's been cloudy and rainy for pretty much all of May. With sun not appearing in the forecast until Sunday or Monday this week is pretty dreary, but I'm not letting it get me down because today is my BIRTHDAY!!!!

After my lazy day on Sunday, I hit the gym Monday after work and did an hour of intervals on the elliptical and it felt great. I had it on the highest resistance and could have gone higher if the option was available. I was going to do some strength too, but as I've said many times before, strength training is my least favorite thing to do and it's the easiest thing for me to skip. So I skipped it.

Tuesday, I brought my gym stuff to work with the intention of working out a little before the Good Times 5K later in the evening, but after a rather dull day at work, I was lacking motivation to do much of anything. I was even considering bailing on the 5K and spending the night on my couch instead. About two hours before the race I put on my running gear to try and get psyched up to run. Then I got sucked into watching the Fabulous Beekman Boys on TV. It's hilarious and I love it. I looked at my watch at 6:40 and thought "SH*T! I'm gonna miss the race". Jumped off the couch grabbed my key and ran out the door, literally.

I made it. Even though I still wished I was on my couch, I was there and I was going to run. It was drizzling and grey and sort of windy - all around gross. The race started promptly at 7pm and we were off. I did not feel great, but I did OK. I finished in 26:01, faster than the previous week, but still not back to my pre-Boston/Mudder speed. I felt like I was gonna vomit at the finish. Maybe the Trader Joe's Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter filled pretzels were a bad idea for pre-race fuel. Especially after the frozen chicken and bean burrito for dinner and the Yasso Frozen Greek yogurt for dessert. :( Lesson learned.

Plan for today is Birthday workout at the gym and hopefully some prizes for the Resolution Challenge incentive program, then a Lowell Ladies run later on complete with Birthday cookies from my friend Kim. Chocolate chip with dried cherries. OMG - they're good. I can't wait. Then there will be lots more Birthday fun this weekend, I'll elaborate on that next week.

I'd love to start biking to work. I had already logged quite a few days by this time last year, but the weather is unpleasant and dangerous so I've been hesitant to try. It would be nice considering gas is $4 a gallon. Plus, I need to get some miles in soon. I noticed on my calendar my first triathlon is only 3 weeks away. I might try to squeeze in some miles this weekend, perhaps 33 miles for my birthday. :)

Work is mimicking the movie "Office Space" lately. I feel like Peter Gibbons just waiting for my meeting with the Bobs. It's not bad, I like what I do, it's just that lingering feeling of we all may not have jobs tomorrow that kind of makes it hard to stay motivated. I'm trying to stay focused and do the work and enjoy the life my paycheck allows me to have until the ax drops. It's out of my hands and all I can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I know whatever happens it will be for the best. Who knows, maybe I'll end up working construction like Peter Gibbons. All I know is I better get some cake because it's MY Birthday! :)

"The ratio of people to cake is too big" - Milton Waddams

Overdue for a lazy day

2011-05-16T03:34:00.000-07:00

So, I was really sore after Tough Mudder last week. A lot more sore than I have been after any of the marathons I have run. It's my own fault though. Saturday after the race I felt pretty good aside from being freezing cold and wet. I should have just rested and relaxed on Sunday, but that's not how I roll. I ran a 5K Sunday morning in Somerville. It ended up being kind of a hilly course and my legs were not ready to run anymore hills after Mount Snow. I ran SLOW for me and finished in 28:57 and my legs were toast. I felt like my quads got mauled by a mountain lion.

Monday morning was very painful and walking around work I must have looked like the Tin man in need of a little oil or a small child just learning to walk. My muscles just didn't want to work and I was throwing my legs in front of me with every step and my bones held up the weight of my body, but the muscles just didn't function like they should AND IT HURT. My legs hurt a lot. Normally, I would go to the gym after work and do some strength training and maybe some elliptical intervals, but on Monday I went home and got horizontal on my couch immediately. I couldn't even get down the stairs to my basement to do laundry.

Tuesday I expected to feel better, but I felt WORSE. My quads and glutes were screaming. I took some Advil and hobbled through the day. Good Times 5K would be interesting considering I was having trouble just walking to the start line. I wore my orange Mudder headband to the race, but I didn't feel very badass. I felt more like the wine I bought while I was in VT - "Broke Ass". Anyway, I started the race nice and easy and ran with my friend Zach. He stayed with me for the entire race even though he could have run a lot faster. We both have PRs near 24:30 and are capable of improving, but this night was not the night for a new PR. I just wanted to finish and maybe maintain my place in the standings. I finished in 27:16. Almost as slow as the night after Boston, but amazingly enough, my legs felt better after the run.

Wednesday, the pro photos were up.
Here are some of the best shots of me:
KISS OF MUD

DEATH MARCH

MUD MILE

WALK THE PLANK

ELECTROSHOCK THERAPY

Wednesday afternoon I did 6 mile run with Kim and Nutter. I felt pretty good although my legs were still toast and I could barely keep up with Kim towards the end. She picked up the pace and I almost died. Thursday we did another 6ish and I felt even worse. My legs were not as sore, but I was exhausted. I just had no gas in the tank at all. Not only did I struggle to keep up, but I stopped and walked a bunch of times and almost didn't finish the run. I can't remember feeling that wiped out in a LONG time. It didn't matter how hard I tried, my body wouldn't allow me to take another step.

So, Friday I listened to my body and took a much needed rest day. I decided to go to the mall and get myself a "me to me" birthday gift. My phone has been dying for about a year and I've been procrastinating getting the upgrade. I finally did it. I got an iPhone. I already love it. I don't have an actual iPod except for my shuffle so it will be great to have all my music for traveling to marathons all over the country. Plus, I've heard it has all these other great features called "apps" that I have to figure out how to use now too.

Saturday morning was a Lowell Ladies run. We did a little over 8 miles and I felt great! The rest was exactly what I needed. After the run, I wanted to hang out and chat but I had an appointment with my Acupuncturist for facial rejuvenation (another me to me birthday treat). It's like botox without the harmful bacterial toxins. She works miracles and erases all my wrinkles and makes my skin so smooth and even. It's amazing AND relaxing. It was just what I needed. On my way home from there I stopped at Trader Joes and stocked up on all kinds of yummy stuff. You know when they say not to go shopping hungry, there's a lot of truth to that. I bought so much food. Everything looked so good.

Sunday was dreary and rainy and I was not feeling very motivated. I sort of wanted to go for a run, but at the same time I knew this weekend was the only weekend I didn't have a race or training run planned pretty much for the next 6 months so I decided to take advantage and be totally lazy all day. I stayed in my PJs and sat on the couch and watched TV and movies pretty much all day. I only put pants on to go to the grocery store, but took them off and put my PJs back on as soon as I got home. It was great. I haven't had a day as unproductive as that in a LONG time and it felt pretty good. Maybe this rest thing people talk about isn't so bad.

More Mudder Memories

2011-05-10T04:05:00.000-07:00

After we crossed the finish line we were given our Tough Mudder orange headbands, water, bananas, Clif bars, and of course, the free beer (which I gave to Carl). I got a mylar blanket and tried to stop shivering, but I couldn't get the blanket around myself because my hands were full with food and water. This nice couple saw me struggling and shivering and offered to hold all my stuff while I got the blanket on. My hands were so numb I couldn't tie the blanket corners into a knot. I finally got all wrapped up like a frozen burrito and headed over to where Jodie and Carl were standing. Still shivering uncontrollably, I decided to stand by the bonfire to warm up. Even being within inches of a fire I couldn't warm up so as soon as Jodie finished her beer we went to get our bags and change into dry clothes.

On the way to the restrooms at least one medical staff person asked me if I was ok. I don't know what my reply was, but I must have mumbled yes in some form. We made it to the restrooms and there was just one changing room. Jodie went in first and I washed my face off in the sink. I had what Jodie described as a mud goatee. Finally, it was my turn. It felt so good to get the wet muddy clothes off. I was SHOCKED by how much mud I was covered in and in places I didn't think mud could have gotten into based on what I was wearing. Even with capri pants on I had chunks of mud on my thighs and the mud also managed to get in under my tank top and sports bra. It was pretty gross. I cleaned off as best as I could and put my dry clothes on. I was still shivering and I had forgotten my flip flops in my car and really didn't want to put my muddy shoes back on. Jodie was nice enough to go get them from the car for me. While I waited there were two girls in the bathroom making mini-Jacuzzis out of the sinks and washing their feet off. I hopped up on the counter and joined them. It felt AMAZING!!!! My feet actually began to defrost and regain feeling. Jodie returned with my flip flops and we headed back to the finish area to meet up with Carl. I ran to my car to throw my wet clothes in there and get my sweatshirt.

On my way to and from my car two more medical staff asked me if I was ok. I must have really looked like a wreck. I just couldn't stop shivering. It was actually starting to hurt I was shaking so violently. When I made it back to the finish area and found Jodie and Carl we walked around and checked out the event merchandise and then decided maybe some food would help us warm up. Plus, most of the food was indoors which was also a lot warmer. We got in the first line we found, the pizza line. As we were waiting and I continued to shiver, this woman walked up to me and asked me if I drank coffee. I said yes and she handed me a hot cup of green mountain coffee. It was AWESOME!!! I picked out my slices of pizza and waited in line to pay and sipped my free coffee. Just as I got up to the register there was a man trying to just get a bottle of water for his daughter, with about 20 people in line and a thirsty whining little girl I let him go in front of me. After he paid, the woman at the register said I was sweet and I didn't have to pay! Free pizza!

What an amazing end to an already amazing day. After we finished eating we hit the road for the 2 and a half hour drive back home. I couldn't wait to take a hot shower. The whole way we talked about how crazy it was that only hours before we were freaking out about starting Tough Mudder and what had we gotten ourselves into and now we were DONE. We did it and we both conquered our biggest fears. Well done Tough Mudder! It definitely delivered and challenged us in ways that no other event can even come close to doing.

When I got home, I couldn't get into the shower fast enough. Taking my braids out became another obstacle; there was so much mud in my hair my sink went from white to brown in an instant. It then took 3 or 4 swipes with q-tips to get all the mud out of my ears. Kinda gross, but I also used q-tips to get the mud out of my nose, followed up with a rinse using my neti pot. Mud was EVERYWHERE. Finally, I got in the shower and scrubbed off the rest of the mud. I should probably just throw that wash cloth away because it will never be white again. I had to wash my hair twice.

Warm dry pajamas and you would think I'd be ready to pass out, but I was past the point of no return, so exhausted and over tired I couldn't sleep. Plus, I was hungry again. Carl wore his heart rate monitor during the race and said he burned close to 5000 calories. I don't think I burned quite as many considering he's twice my size, but I wouldn't be surprised if I burned close to 3000. I finally fell asleep around 11pm and I had to get up early in the morning to head to Somerville for the MOM's run 5K.

Yeah, I'm crazy, I ran a 5K the day after Tough Mudder. Probably not my smartest idea. But it was for Dana Farber Cancer Research and I felt like I HAD to run it. The course was hillier than I was ready for. My legs just couldn't do anymore climbing. I managed to finish in 28 minutes and change, not bad, but a little slow for me. After the race was over, I grabbed some of the free food they had and drove to the grocery store and then home. On the way, I called my mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. As soon as the groceries were put away I crashed on my couch and slept for the rest of the day. A shame, I know, because it was a beautiful day and friends wanted me to go for a run or a bike ride, but I was spent and just wanted to be horizontal for the rest of what was left of the weekend. I slept great and took a rest day Monday to recover a little more. :)

"Probably the toughest event on the planet"

2011-05-09T03:03:00.000-07:00

They're not kidding. Before I get into the dirty details of Tough Mudder let me recap how I 'tapered' for the event. Wednesday, I went to the gym for one last upper body strength circuit and a little cross training on the elliptical. It actually felt good to lift since I hadn't been to the gym in over a week. I bumped up the weight on all the exercises I did which made me feel pretty good about my strength going into the weekend.

Thursday, I was not feeling so motivated and I was a little sore from sitting at my desk most of the day. It was a LONG day with not a whole lot to do and I was bored out of my mind. After work, I went for a run with my friend Kim. We were doing 5 miles and I ran to her house to make it a little over 8 for me. The run to her house felt great and loosened me up a little. It was sunny and cool out, but felt a lot warmer than the thermostat read. Kim and I did a nice out and back from her house and chatted along the way. Those shirts that say running is cheaper than therapy couldn't be more true. Both of us dealing with different stressful things, really needed the sneaker session. We finished the run and she thanked me because she kept up for the first time since having a baby 7 weeks ago and she "felt like a million bucks". I thanked her because the longish run was exactly what I needed to loosen up and get in the right frame of mind for the Tough Mudder race.

Friday, work actually went by pretty fast. I drove home, finished packing and waited for my friend Jodie to arrive. As soon as she did, we hoped in the car and headed for Vermont. Along the way we talked about the race and what to expect and our biggest fears on the course. For Jodie it was the "boa constrictor", a small drainage pipe half submerged in muddy water that you had to crawl through. For me it was the "walk the plank", a 15' high platform that you had to climb onto then jump off of into freezing cold pond water and swim back to shore.

We made it to Brattleboro, VT and checked into our hotel then headed into the downtown area to get some food. Who knew that Brattleboro would be such a hoppin' place on a Friday evening. The local theater only had 3 movies showing and there was really only about a quarter mile stretch of road that I would call the "downtown" area, but it was crowded and bustling with activity. People were playing music in the street and shops were selling merchandise on the sidewalks. As soon as we found a place to park and started walking around I fell in love with the place. Every coffee shop and cafe had signs up that said "organic", "local", "our milk and meat is hormone free", "all Natural", etc. We ate in a sandwich shop called "The Works". I'm pretty sure the entire place was decorated with recycled materials, from reclaimed wood and tile in the floors to old metal tractor seats at the tables AND the food was great too!

After we ate we stopped at a small grocery store/coop before heading back to the hotel to settle in for the night. The store was like my dream grocery store. No conventionally grown produce even available, all organics and all locally grown. Even the wine selection they had included wines made from organic grapes. I got a bottle of "Broke Ass" Malbec from Argentina - figured it would be a fitting drink for post race (even though I don't drink, it was too funny not to buy).

Anyway, we went back to the hotel, settled in and fell asleep watching the Bruins beat the Flyers to advance in the playoffs. I woke up several times throughout the night tossing and turning and anxious about the challenges ahead of us. I had a nightmare that we got there late and several nightmares about the race itself. Then my alarm went off and it was time to get ready to get TOUGH. We ate breakfast and got in the car for the 40 minute drive to the mountain.

As soon as we arrived we were overwhelmed with the excitement in the air and I was still struggling with the decision of what to wear. It was in the mid-50s and cloudy and the forecast called for rain. I knew we would be cold and wet almost instantly so layers wouldn't matter much. I had a tank top on and then a lightweight long sleeve that I could ditch at the start. In triathlons they write your number on your arm and your leg, at Tough Mudder they write it on your forehead. Seemed silly at first, but I guess when you're covered head to toe in mud, the course photographers (and EMTs if needed) need some way to identify you. Here's me and Jodie after face marking.
At 10:00am we lined up at the start and gave the Tough Mudder Pledge - "As a Tough Mudder I pledge that: I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge. I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time. I do not whine - kids whine. I help my fellow Mudders complete the course. I overcome all fears." And with a blast of smoke and screaming we were off.

The first obstacle was called "death march" and it was basically a 1 mile hike straight up the mountain. Followed by "killa gorilla", hill repeats on a steep slope covered in mud and snow. A short downhill to the next obstacle, "devil's beard", netting to crawl under and try not to get caught up in while descending the steep mountain side. More mud and trail running and we reached Jodie's fear, the "boa constrictor". The tubes were just small enough that you couldn't crawl unless you were super tiny and you had to get on your belly and use your elbows to get through and it was the first of many times throughout the day that we got submerged in cold water. I can't wait to see the photos of us coming out of the dark into the light of a lot more hills and mud to come.

Next up, "tired yet" and "tree hugger", tires and another steep hill to climb. Then Jodie's friend Carl's biggest fear - "the ball shrinker" - a tight rope walk across an ice cold pond that will most definitely take your breath away, but not in a scenic beautiful mountain top view sort of way. We made it across and entered "the mud mile" and I was glad I re-tied my shoes as tight as I possibly could because the mud was thick and I saw more than one person lose a sneaker in it. One of my favorite obstacles was next, "kiss of mud" - a barbed wire crawl with wire only 8" off the ground. Keep your face and butt down or go home with scars. I LOVED IT and the photo of me after should prove it because I was smiling ear to ear.

We climbed up the mountain AGAIN and got to "hold your wood", basically a pile of logs and another climb up a steep slope made a little more challenging because you had to carry one of the logs with you and then bring it back down. Followed by hay bail pyramids and an obstacle called "evil Knievil". At first glance I thought there was no way in hell I would be able to accomplish this one. It was a vert ramp or curve ramp about 12 foot high covered by plexi-glass plastic and mud making it nearly impossible to get up. I stood and watch other people run full speed at it and slip right back down and then there were a few guys that had made it to the top and they were helping other people get over it. So, I figured I might as well try. Worst thing that would happen is I would run full speed at it, face plant on the ramp and slide back down. I ran at it and got almost to the top, grabbed the arms of the guys helping and got my leg up over the edge and I made it! Only problem now was getting down the other side. It was a straight plywood wall with a rope and some hay at the bottom to break your fall. I hesitated, but then grabbed the rope and swung myself over the edge and slid down and we were off and running again. Oh and this is when we saw the 5 mile marker. Only half way done!!!

Over the hills and through the woods, not to grandmother's house but to a spider web of cargo nets and then a house filled with maple syrup that you had to crawl though and then over piles of wood chips and on to my biggest fear - "walk the plank". There were 4 or 5 different platforms and lines of people waiting to climb up onto them and jump off into the freezing cold water. We all picked different lines, I chose the one farthest away from the shore because it was the shortest line, not thinking that I would have to swim the most to get back to shore. At first I didn't think I would even be able to get up onto the platform. There was a wall and a rope and I couldn't pull myself up, but then two men came from behind me and grabbed my heels and hurled me up onto the "plank". Then I thought, "shit, shit, shit, now I'm up here and I have to jump". I tried not to stand there and think about it too long because I knew I would chicken out. I JUMPED!!!!! Holy crap! It was high and there was no way to gauge how long it would take to hit the water and how deep and cold the water was. I got water up my nose and in my mouth and I'm a very strong swimmer, but the shock to your body of the cold water (45 degrees according to the course officials) made it extremely difficult to swim. But, I DID IT! I conquered my fear! And I felt like I was on top of the world. I've never been so cold in my entire life and I do ice baths after my long runs. This was way worse.

More trail running and hills to climb and we reached the under water tunnels, basically very low beams in the grossest muddiest water ever that you had to dunk under. I was on my belly and the gap between the bottom and the beam was probably no more that 18". It smelled like poop and tasted pretty nasty too. I was spitting dirt for the next few miles. We got to the "glacier", a 20 foot tall pile of snow with a huge back up of people trying to climb over it and decided we had seen enough of snow and didn't need to wait 30 or 40 minutes to climb over more. So, we skipped it. None of us felt shame or bad about doing it. It was more about having to stand there waiting than a fear of not being able to complete the obstacle.

The next few obstacles were one right after another. The "gauntlet" - a guy with a fire hose making it difficult for you to climb the already steep, slippery, mud covered hill. "Cliff Hanger" - a steep decent that warned "you may break your ankle on this obstacle, sorry." "Blood Bath" - a dumpster filled with colored ice water and a wall you had to go under to get through to the other side. "Funky Monkey" - monkey bars over a pool of, yup you guessed it, ice water. I watched a guy much bigger and stronger than me slip off the first bar (they were greased) and plunge into the water not very gracefully and I decided to just swim across. This water was by far the coldest. Probably because they built the pool in a hollowed out section of SNOW to keep it nice and chilly for us.

Right after that was the "Berlin walls" - 12 foot barrier walls to climb over. Considering I couldn't feel my hands or feet, I decided not to attempt it. I knew with help from other mudders I COULD do it, but I was worried that I shouldn't do it. I wasn't so concerned about getting over the top of the wall, but more so the drop to the ground from the other side. I didn't want to break my legs or feet. So, we unanimously decided to skip the walls.

After the walls, there were a series of chair lift towers laid down across the course that we had to hurdle and then a maze of fire and smoke we had to run through. Next was "turd's nest" - a cargo net suspended between two platforms about 4' down from the edge of the platform. So, not only was it tricky to get to the net and cross it without getting stuck but getting out and back up onto the platform was really hard too. We made it though and there were only 2 obstacles left between us and dry clothes.

"Greased Lightning" - probably the world's largest slip 'n' slide, down the side of the mountain that landed in a pool of more freezing cold water. Then the obstacle that everyone feared most, "electroshock therapy". At that point though, it was the least scary thing ever because the finish line was only 10 feet beyond it and although I was dripping wet and would conduct electricity very well, I wanted my dry warm clothes more than I feared the electrocution. I ran straight through and managed to avoid shocks until one wire barely grazed my leg upon exiting the obstacle. AND I WAS DONE!!!!!!!!!!! Here we all are shivering and covered in mud, but done with the hellish course that took a little over 4 hours to complete:

I can't wait to see the pro photos from the course and I REALLY hope they got one of me jumping off the plank. I will post them as soon as I get them. Until then I am barely walking and a little battered and bruised, but onto the next event - half marathon in the end of May, Boston's Run to Remember.

How does one taper for Tough Mudder?

2011-05-03T03:09:00.000-07:00

4 days to go until I attempt probably the craziest, most challenging, most insane race I've ever done. I'm kinda starting to freak out. What do I wear? Should I carry gels? And a hydration pack? Goggles? Gloves? A helmet? I mean, I have had several concussions(5 or 6, I lost count) in the past, if I take a good hit to the head it could be lights out for me.

In case you are not familiar with what Tough Mudder is, you can check out more details at Toughmudder.com But I'll sum it up for you, 10+ miles of trail running up and down Mount Snow in Vermont, plus ~25 military inspired obstacles designed by the British Special Forces. Some of the obstacles include: barbed wire crawls, cargo nets, 12' barrier walls, tires, underwater tunnels, monkey bars, fire, and last but not least, live electrical wires you have to run through. And I PAID to do it.

You might wonder how to train for such an event. Well, considering much of the last 4 months has been focused on training for the Boston Marathon, I haven't really done a significant amount of training until the last two weeks. I have been doing a lot of upper body strength training and the long runs for the marathon will definitely help me endurance wise, but how can you train for electrocution? And even if there's a way, I don't want to do it. So, in the last two weeks I've been doing the playground workouts and body weight exercises and some upper body strength.

Now with 4 days to go I'm wondering how do I taper for this event??? Avoid falling in mud, cut back on playing with fire, don't jump off of high stuff, skip the monkey bars at the playground? I've done two other similar races (Spartan Race, and Ruckus Boston), but both of those were only about 3 miles long and 10-15 obstacles. This race promises to be way more Badass. I wonder if you could use the race finish time prediction calculators for a race like this. If it took me ~45 minutes to complete the 3 mile course, it should take me roughly two and a half hours to complete Tough Mudder. That IS what they say on the website. If that's the case, I should treat this like a very tough half marathon. I will need a few gels to get through it and they will have water stops on the course (not talking about the icy cold water we will be jumping into).

Now onto the dilema only a girl would struggle with, what to wear...I was thinking it would be wise to wear as little as possible because as soon as I get wet I don't want to be dragging heavy soggy clothes for the rest of the race and wet clothes will be COLD clothes. My original plan was to wear tri shorts and a tank top - Quick drying, aerodynamic, not going to snag on barbed wire, race tested in water and running. Then someone mentioned to me that there will most likely still be snow on the mountain. Now I'm thinking Under Armor might be a better choice, Long sleeves and capri pants - will provide a little bit of a barrier from the mud, fire, and barbed wire and maybe even from the electrical wires. I can't decide!

No matter what, the race is going to be TOUGH. Parts of it are going to be really fun, parts of it are going to hurt a lot, parts of it are going to just pretty much suck balls (excuse my language), but ALL of it will be AWESOME and I can't wait to do it.

"I just go all in"

2011-05-02T02:48:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend! Seriously the best running weather anyone could ask for. In the 50s, partly cloudy, with a light breeze. It was absolutely beautiful and wicked busy for me.

Friday afternoon when I got out of work I decided I was due for a rest day. Although it seems like an eternity, I have to remember the marathon was only two weeks ago and I am still recovering (even though my legs are fine and I'm right back to running, minus the long runs, already). So, like any other rest day, I was instantly bored and cured my boredom by baking some cookies. I made chocolate chip and oatmeal awesomeness, then ate about half of them as they were coming out of the oven to make sure they tasted ok. I approved of the overall quality of the cookies and continued to scarf down several more before I passed out from cookie coma on my couch watching some couple's wedding that apparently made the news on Friday.

Saturday morning, I tried to sleep in since I wasn't meeting my friends to run until about 9:30, but my plan backfired. It was so nice out Friday that I slept with the windows open and at about 5:00am there was a bird singing right on the tree outside my bedroom that prevented me from getting the rest I was trying to achieve. Oh well, I got up and had some tea and breakfast and finished up the laundry I had started the night before, oh and of course I had some cookies too. Oatmeal cookies for breakfast are ok because there oatmeal, right?

9:00 rolled around and I was dressed and ready to go. I headed out the door to run to my friend Kim's house for our Saturday morning workout. I planned another fun playground workout for us. This time Shannon decided to join us, all the other Lowell Ladies that usually run with us on Saturday's wussed out as soon as they heard we were doing a bootcamp style workout with the run (to be fair, some had races, family vacations, and longer runs planned). Anyway, for those that are interested here is what we did (1.5 mile run to and from the park for warm up and cool down):
3x10 jumping jacks
3x10 plyo squats
3x10 push ups
3x10 dips
3x10 alternating lunges (10 each leg)
3x10 Burpees
3x10 side kicks (slow and controlled movement, uses balance, coordination, and core stability, plus a little hip flexor action)
3x10 box jumps on picnic table benches about 18-20" high
3x10 invert rows
3x30 second wall sits
Then we went to a grassy section of the park to do abs:
3x30 second planks
3x20 scissor kicks (works the low abs)
3x20 bicycles
3x30 second side planks (each side)

Not a bad workout. Challenging, but not too tough. The run home was definitely slower than the run to the park, but we had fun and that's what really matters. When we got back to Kim's she had mentioned that she wanted to give cookies to the fire station up the street for responding to her house the week before when she left a pot on the stove and went for a walk forgetting the stove was on and nearly burned her house down. She didn't get a chance to make any cookies because her little angel Ryann was a party animal Friday night and refused to go to bed. I wanted to get the cookies I made out of my house so I would stop eating them, so I volunteered to donate them on her behalf. I ran home, got the cookies, drove back and we walked them over to the Fire Station. Needless to say, the guys were very appreciative.

Saturday, was also the day my friend Jenine was having a health fair in Melrose where her fitness studio is. After I showered and ate some lunch I drove down to swing by and check it out. It was great. They had all kinds of vendors there and live entertainment and even managed to organize a flash mob. I'd say it was a huge success and "Healthy Melrose" definitely helped make Melrose a little healthier and educated the community on all of the great resources they have around the neighborhood. Well done Jenine!

By the time I made it home I was exhausted and didn't feel like cooking dinner, so I just had some leftovers. I made some yummy herbed chicken and pasta verde the week before with broccoli, sugar snap peas, and zucchini. It totally hit the spot and put me in a happy food coma for the night.

Sunday I ran the James Joyce Ramble 10K in Dedham. What a fun race! The course was sort of hilly, but wicked pretty. We even ran past a castle! Oh and all along the course they had people dressed in period costumes reading from James Joyce books. I have to admit I couldn't hear them over the 'Eye of the Tiger' blasting in my ears, but it was a pretty cool sight to see. And the after party was clearly what most of the 3000 runners showed up for. Free flowing Harpoon IPA and UFO and live music on a sunny Sunday afternoon, in a word - AWESOME!

I hung out with a group of Greater Lowell Road Runners after the race and laughed so hard my abs still hurt. Many of us had just run Boston and some were tapering for upcoming races, some were just there for the free beer. Either way, there were a lot of great discussions and jokes flying around. As we talked about our marathon experiences, someone started using the analogy of gambling and knowing what cards you're holding and how to play them, referring to race strategy and my response was, "I just go all in!" I know it's not the wisest race strategy and I could be a better runner if I played my cards right, but for now I'm having fun and that's the most important thing. I try to never take myself too seriously. I mean I have high expectations of myself and I do train hard and try to do my best, but my ultimate goal is always to have fun. For example, after the race I changed into a new t-shirt a friend recently bought for me which perfectly illustrates my life philosophy right now:

Good times and fun on playgrounds

2011-04-28T03:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night was another Good Times 5K in downtown Lowell. This week's theme was "Rose Maguire's Great Mill Girl Chase", the girls get a two and a half minute head start and see how many of the guys they can hold off. My goal was to make it to the first mile marker before they caught us. The first 3 or 4 guys blew past me just after the water stop which is at about 3/4m, but I don't count them because they're ridiculously genetically blessed and run 5 minute miles, I'm pretty sure they're all Kenyan, no joke. The first of the Greater Lowell Road Runners, Jason Bui, passed me right at the first mile marker. I had gone out kind of fast for me and ran it in 7:40, the rest of the course is pretty much downhill so I was hoping to hold onto that pace and finish with a new PR, but that didn't happen. The wind picked up and I faded a little in the last 2 miles and ran 8:00s, but still really good considering I ran a marathon a week ago. Seems like a month ago now. I finished the race in 24:42 about 20 seconds off from a PR, next week I'll get it. I was 8th in my age group and only let 96 of the 163 men pass me. Ugghhhh, that's horrible. Guess it just means there are some really fast guys in Lowell.

Yesterday, I got creative with my workout and decided to have a little fun at the local playground with my friend Kim. It's exactly 1.5 miles from her house so we ran there, did an upper body workout on the playground. It consisted of:
3x10 Pull ups (or jump negs since were not quite strong enough to do real pull ups yet)
3x10 Push ups
3x10 Dips on the park benches
3x10 Incline push ups on the benches
3x 30 second Planks
3x10 invert rows, they have a perfect area for them with handles right at the right height

It was hilarious because as soon as we showed up and started the workout, we had an instant fan club following us around and trying to do the exercises with us. One little boy was like a mini-drill sergeant. He grabbed the piece of paper I had written the workout on and I asked him if he could read it and he said yes. So, I said will you tell us what's next on the list? He was more than happy to help and even tried to call us out if we skipped something or went out of order. He helped us count each rep. It was awesome.

We finished up the workout and ran back to Kim's house. With the weather getting nicer and Tough Mudder sneaking up on me, I might have to make this playground workout a daily routine. We can even do box jumps on the benches and hill sprints too! Oh and as if Tough Mudder isn't going to give me enough of a beating, I signed up for the Spartan Race yesterday, another obstacle course race. I ran it last year for fun, but this year I want to RACE it. It's not til the end of August, so I'll have time to recover.

Back in the saddle again.....

2011-04-26T03:10:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe just a week ago I finished my second Boston marathon. It always amazes me how long the training is and how fast the race goes by. Before you know it, the dream is over and it's back to reality. I wish the post race bliss could last a little longer, but I guess that's what keeps me motivated and moving on to the next race. Chasing the high - 165 days until the Chicago marathon!

In the meantime, I've got Tough Mudder coming up in 10days. The closer it gets, the more nervous I am. Not sure if any caught the episode of Bert the Conquerer on Travel Channel Sunday night, but he was doing the race in Pennsylvania. After watching it I'm torn, it looks way more badass than I originally anticipated, but that guy did it and I'm way more fit than him, so I should be able to do it. There are only a few obstacles that really have me worried. I'm totally ok with being cold and wet and covered in mud. I'm looking forward to it. It's more the running through live electrical wires while cold and wet and covered in mud that scares me a little:

Some of the other obstacles include: Cargo nets, Fire, 12 foot walls, Monkey Bars, Barbed wire and a few other surprises that will test you strength and stamina. They better have tons of course photographers because I want proof that I completed this race.

I've been training hard and doing lots of upper body strength stuff in preparation, but how do you train for electrocution? Even if there was a way, I'm not sure I'd want to do it. Saturday, it was rainy and raw and gross out, so I opted for an indoor workout with my friend Kim. We did a modified 300 workout that looked a little like this:
5 minutes jump rope
3x10 Plyo squats
3x10 Jumping Jacks
3x10 Push Ups
3x10 Mountain Climbers
3x10 Burpees
3x10 Speed squats
3x10 Dips
3x10 Alternating Lunges
3x10 Inclined push ups
3x10 high knees
5 minutes jump rope

Sunday we did a 6 mile run in the morning with some other friends and we were both still super sore from the 300 (in fact, I'm STILL sore). Needless to say our pace was a little slower than normal. I think we averaged 10:30s and complained the whole time about how sore we were. It was awesome.

After the run I went home and showered and made my lunches for the week, then headed back over to my friend Kim's house for Easter dinner and brought a giant chocolate cake with me. I found the recipe and after seeing the nutritional info for it that stated it was ~1300 calories per slice I had to make it. Something that high in calories has to be wicked good and it was! I made peanut butter frosting for the middle and the chocolate frosting for the outside had 3 sticks of butter and 24 ounces of chocolate in it! Easter dinner was great, Kim's husband Bill barbequed ribs, steak tips, and chicken. It was the most meat I've eaten in months and it all tasted delicious!

Post meal food coma lasted 24hrs because yesterday I felt like a zombie walking around work half dead. I could barely keep my eyes open all day. I think if I was given the opportunity to sit for a second I would have fallen asleep, but I was pretty busy all day. After work I went to the gym even though I desperately wanted to go home and crash on my couch instead. I just did an hour of intervals on the elliptical, but it was enough to get my blood flowing again and bring me back to the land of the living.

Assuming I survive Tough Mudder, the following day I'm signed up for a Mother's Day 5K. That should be interesting. I hope it's a nice warm day so I can show up in shorts and show off some battle wounds.

Post Race Recovery

2011-04-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

After completing the marathon, we all headed to Maggiano's for an Italian feast. There were 14 of us and we were HUNGRY! So we ordered the classic family style meal. You select a bunch of stuff and they keep bringing it until you say stop. Here's what we ordered:
Stuffed Mushrooms
Bruschetta
Caesar Salad
Maggiano's salad (with bacon and blue cheese)
Chicken Parm
Four Cheese Ravioli
Chicken and Spinach manicotti
Pasta with Sausage
Tiramisu
Nonna's Pound cake

It was AWESOME! The pound cake is friggin amazing. Sounds like a simple maybe boring dessert, but the way they serve it is out of this world! It's toasted with a huge scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and some bananas and chocolate sauce. So yummy.
After dinner, we walked back to the car, I said bye to my mom and brother and Ann and Jack drove me home. I got home at 8:00 and was showered and in bed by 8:30. I wish I could say I slept great, but the sunburn I got kind of prevented that from happening. Lucky for me, I had Tuesday off and could just stay in my PJs all morning.

I got motivated (or bored with daytime TV) around 10am and decided to run to Target to pick up a frame for the Adidas poster I got at the expo. I walked around the store for a while and found the frame I wanted and then got a text from my friend Kim. Lunch at Life Alive? Why Yes, I think I would enjoy that. I swung by her house on my way home from Target and picked her up. She bought me lunch to celebrate my achievement and gave me a card and some homemade treats too! I have awesome friends!

After lunch I took a nap and watched a movie and basically did a whole lotta nothing. Then, you might think that the last thing I'd want to do after running a marathon would be go for a run, but that's exactly what I did. It was cold and drizzling (why couldn't we have that weather the day before???). I walked downtown to the Good Times 5K series and ran a pretty slow easy 5K. The first mile and a half was a little awkward, but then I found my groove and the legs loosened up. I finished in 28:32 (9:12 pace), not bad considering I ran a marathon the day before. I finished up waited to see if I won anything and then went home and straight to bed.

Wednesday, was back to reality and back to work. Why can't someone just pay me to run and write about it??? Oh well, gotta pay for my race registration fees somehow. I guess making drugs (that are approved by the FDA) will have to do for now. It was a long day, lots of congrats and telling people all about the race and re-playing it over and over again in my head and analyzing what I could have done differently. That's just how my brain works. Sure an 11 minute PR is great, but I KNOW I could have run faster.

My recovery continued after work with a little post-race acupuncture. Don't judge, I can't explain it and I don't know how it works but it does! Funny thing is one of my friends had the appointment right before me so obviously I'm not the only one that knows it works. I go to an awesome Acupuncturist, Peri Ozker. She has an office in Newton and one in Andover. Oh and she use to be my boss way back in the day before she left the biotech industry to study holistic medicine. She is amazing! I went to her after the garbage truck crash and before and after the Portland Marathon. She works magic and miracles. She focused on my quads and my sunburn and my little toe that is most definitely going to lose the nail. She did this crazy thing with tin foil and electrical current on my sunburn that seriously sounds like mad science, but IT WORKED! My sunburn doesn't hurt anymore and is way less red. And today my quads are significantly better. I can walk normal and go down stairs without a ton of pain and I can sit down without holding onto something to slowly lower myself down. :)

So, now that I'm on the road to recovery, you might be thinking what's next? Well, like a crack addict chasing a high, I'm onto the next event already. In two weeks I'll be doing an obstacle course race called Tough Mudder, then a half marathon Memorial Day weekend, a bunch of triathlons, another half marathon in July, a half Ironman in September, and then the Chicago Marathon in October. :)

Boston Marathon 2011, part 2

2011-04-21T05:50:00.000-07:00

OK, so the big day arrived. I woke up a minute before my alarm clock went off (3:00am). Got out of bed and got dressed, braided my hair, double and triple checked my bag and made sure I had everything I needed. I made myself a cup of tea had a piece of toast with peanut butter on it and made myself a PB, Banana, honey sandwich for later in the morning in Hopkinton. Turned on the TV and started watching the early pre-race coverage on WBZ Channel 4 at 4:30am. Charles was picking me up at 5:15 so I had another cup of tea and tried to relax. I checked my bag again and grabbed the sunblock off my shelf, held it in my hand and thought, "I should probably bring this", then.....the decision I would seriously regret later in the day, I put it back on the shelf and said to myself, "Nah, won't need it."

Charles showed up right on time (for him) about 15 minutes late. I poured one more cup of tea into a disposable travel cup and headed out the door. We drove into Boston, parked the car and made our way to the Common to get in line for the buses. This has to be one of my favorite views, right on par with a gorgeous sunrise or a finish line within reach, thousands of people and a sea of Boston Marathon bags neatly lined up like ants filing into an ant hill and buses one after another filling up and taking off for the invasion of a small town called Hopkinton, MA. The bus ride took a little over an hour, but it went by fast. Talking about training and the excitement of race day and expectations and goals, then we arrived. The experience was a little different for me this year. I was not going to the DFMC retreat at the church and hanging out with all the other Dana Farber runners. This year I was going to the Athlete's Village. WOW! It's like Woodstock for runners. Gatorade and Poland spring and bagels and bananas and mylar blankets and port o potties. Soooooo coooool.

Speaking of cool, the temperature was pretty chilly. In the low 40s, but sunny. I didn't really want to give up my sweatshirt to walk to the start corrals, but I did and curled my throw away shirt over my arms like I always do to stay warm. This year they had a 3 wave start and Charles was in the super fast first wave. I had to wait 40 minutes after he started to get into my somewhat slower 3rd wave. It was fun though, watching all the other runners go and watching their families wish them well on their 26.2 mile journey. One little girl started crying and didn't want her mom to leave her, but through the tears mustered a wimpered "good luck" as her mom walked away to the corrals. So cute!

Finally, it was my turn to go. I lined up in my start corral. I looked around to see if I saw any familiar faces. I found a few Greater Lowell Road Runners and chatted and before we knew, "BANG!" the start gun went off and we were running. The tail wind was definitely noticeable and I ran the first 5K in a little over 28 minutes - WAY TOO FAST. Next 5K and the next 5K in 28:30 - Still too fast. And I knew it. I kept trying to pull back and slow down, knowing that this was a mistake and I would pay for it later. I tried to play mind games with myself and think I was going that fast because of the tailwind and I would be fine. I was about 30 seconds per mile faster than my goal pace and right around the halfway point in Wellesley, the sun came out and Mother Nature, the douche, made what I knew was going to be a slower second half a little more challenging. I crossed the 13.1 mark at 2:01 and I had a feeling today was not going to be the day to break 4hrs especially now with the sun baking me and my sunblock back at home on the shelf where I left it.

At mile 15, my body decided to start showing me how much it hates heat. I threw up at the water stop. This is my first warning sign of severe dehydration (usually I can tell when I stop sweating, but I was dumping water on myself and it was tough to tell if I was still sweating). I slowed my pace by about a minute per mile and started sipping electrolyte replacement fluids from my fuel belt and got some more water at the next water stop and managed to keep it down. Coming up on Newton my favorite part of the course I was getting excited to see my friends and family and then almost exactly at the moment I saw the "Entering Newton" sign, I felt a pain in my right side like someone stabbed me in the liver. The dreaded side stitch that every runner has experienced at one time or another (tolerable during a training run, but devastating during the BOSTON MARATHON!).

I made it to my friends at the corner of Rt. 16 and Rt. 30 and just kept on running. I tried pushing through the pain and breathing into it. About half way up the first hill I saw my friend Tim and his wife and I was running with my right arm over my head and my left arm pressing on my flank trying to get rid of the pain. He asked if I was ok and I grunted "noooooo" to which he responded, "suck it up!" And that's exactly what I did. I gutted it out and started to feel better just as I got to Heartbreak hill. I practically sprinted to the top. The 30K was my slowest 5K on the course, but after that damn side stitch went away I picked up the pace and finished strong. My friend Cherie met me at mile 21 and ran me in the last 5 miles. I passed my Lowell friends at mile 23 and then my friends Ann and Jack at mile 25. From there I knew I could do it.

Cherie stayed two or three steps ahead of me and kept me going. We made the turn right onto Hereford and then left onto Boylston and Cherie said "this is it, don't leave anything on the course". I could see the finish and I picked up the pace and sprinted past people on that last stretch (I thought - crap if I had this much left maybe I could have done a little better on the hills, but who cares I'm almost done). We crossed the finish line and I gave Cherie a HUGE sweaty hug and looked at my watch - 4:16!!!!! A new PR by 11 minutes!!!!

We made our way through the finish corral and got water, food, and then of course, the medal (just for me, not for Cherie, in case anyone is thinkin' she grabbed one just for running 5 miles with me, she didn't). And just like last year, as soon as the medal was around my neck it hit me, I had just finished the Boston Marathon and I started crying.

I pulled myself together and we continued through the finish area, got my bag, and more food and met up with my friends and family. Here we all are (Ann, Jack, my brother Aaron, me, my mom, and Cherie):

Check out the awesome t-shirt Cherie ran in to draw attention to me and make people cheer for me. It was great!

Boston Marathon 2011, part 1

2011-04-21T03:08:00.000-07:00

It really doesn't get any better than this race. Everything about it is amazing. Where do I begin? I guess I'll start where most runners started their race weekend, the expo. Last year was so simple, I went Friday after work by myself and took my time really enjoying the experience and taking it all in. This year was the exact opposite. I decided to meet a ton of people there on Saturday (the busiest day) AND I still needed to get my singlet to run the race in.

So, the plan was to meet my friends Jenine and Mandy at 11:00, they were leaving Melrose at 10:30. My friends Scott and Paula were also planning to get there around that time so I told them I would see them there too. I got there a little after 11:00, traffic was insane and parking was only easy because I have a small car, thank God. As soon as I got to the Hynes Convention Center I texted Jenine and Scott and see if they were there yet. I should have known it would not be that easy. Jenine is chronically late (and I still love her to death), she called to say Mandy had forgotten her Garmin at work and they were stopping to try and get it. Why they couldn't do that on the way home from the expo when someone wasn't waiting for them is beyond me, but I accepted it and sort of expect unexpected delays when meeting up with Jenine. Lucky for me (and unlucky for my visa bill) there was plenty to keep me distracted while I waited. Scott was relying on the Green Line to get him and Paula and their two kids to the expo (along with the other 20,000+ people in the city for the weekend). So, naturally that was taking longer than they anticipated.

11:45 still waiting at the expo, Jenine stuck in traffic and trying to find parking, Scott and Paula on the Green Line with about a 5 minute walk to the convention center once they got off the train, a happy coincidence occurred. One of my blog followers happened to be in town for the weekend also running the marathon. We had been emailing back and forth for about a year and now we were in the same building. One of the things I love most about running, and probably the main reason I keep doing it, it's amazing ability to bring people together of all shapes and sizes and levels of experience and fitness. I joined the soccer team in high school to try and meet people and failed miserably, had I known then that I just needed to sign up for a local 5K maybe high school would have gone a little differently. Anyway, it was so great to finally put a face to the name I had seen in emails for the last year and connect in person with someone that has connected with me and my "funny stories" (his words not mine) online. Here is a photo of us (me, Gideon, and his two daughters Celia and Sadie):
His wife was kind enough to take the photo. His daughters were a little shy, but very polite. I told them I was shy at that age too, but I eventually came out of my shell. Although, now that I think about it, kids probably shouldn't talk to strangers their parents meet on the internet. Good thinkin' girls! :)

Scott and Paula finally made it to the Expo and shortly after Jenine and Mandy showed up. I left Scott and Paula to find Jenine and Mandy and then attempted to navigate the expo with the two of them. By this time it was the peak hours for the expo and it was insanely crowded. It was Mandy's first marathon so I can only imagine how overwhelmed she was feeling. I still needed to find my singlet somehow in the chaos and I wanted them to get to look around a little before we went to lunch. I got a text telling me a person to see at a particular booth to pick up my singlet and started asking people, "is this booth 1929, are you Dom?" Eventually, I found Dom and my singlet, but I lost Jenine and Mandy. I texted Jenine and she tried to call me, but it was so loud I couldn't hear her. We managed to find each other and Jenine decided it would be a good idea to call the restaurant and make reservations for lunch. It was about 12:45 and she wanted to make the reservation for 1:15. I tried to tell her to give at least an hour for us to get out and get to the restaurant, but she insisted 1:15 would work. We slowly moved through the crowded isles and didn't stop unless they were giving away free food (that wasn't loaded with junk and artificial colors). Made it to the street and walked to the restaurant, got to the hostess and asked about our reservation.......well, since it was now 2:15 they couldn't hold our table so we had to wait.

It was totally worth the wait. We ate at Cafeteria on Newbury St. It's not ridiculously expensive like everything else on Newbury St. and it's not snooty or pretentious, they serve simple food like grilled cheese and tomato soup and burgers and fries and the best brunch ever, BUT it's all locally sourced and the meats are all hormone and antibiotic free and the burgers are made with grass fed organic beef. It's delicious! I had a bacon cheese burger with fries. YUM! I'm drooling just thinking about it.

After lunch, I actually had to go BACK into the expo to swap my singlet because the one I got from Dom was too small. So, I had to bring it back to him and then find a girl named Sarah at the Gatorade booth. It was like a twisted scavenger hunt in the middle of the most chaotic crowded ever. At least now I was on my own and not concerned with meeting anyone or losing someone. I found Sarah and got my new larger singlet and then relaxed and shopped around a bit before leaving. Boy am I glad I did. Not only did I find some really cute stuff and load up on freebies, but as I was walking back through the Prudential Center and over to Copley Place where I had parked my car, walking in the opposite direction was this oddly familiar tiny brunette walking with her friend. She was pulling her hair over her face, unlike most girls that tuck it behind their ears, which I thought was strange until I figured out who she was. It was Kara GOUCHER!!!! I didn't want to cause a scene and try and get a photo or disturb her and possibly ruin her pre-race calm before the storm so I quietly went on my way knowing that I had seen her and to me that meant a sign from above, I was gonna run fast like her (well, maybe not as fast as her, but fast for me). It was AWESOME!

I got home sort of late and I was exhausted so I passed out on my couch around 7pm and woke up around midnight and went to bed. I tried to sleep in, but my cat had other plans, he was hungry. I still got about 10hrs of solid sleep so it was ok. I lounged on the couch all morning and caught a few more z's here and there between segments of the Today Show. Then I texted my friends to see who wanted to join me for a pre-race lunch at Flatbreads. Shannon, Kim and our newest Lowell lady, Ryann joined me and we had the most delicious pizza ever. The Carne special was chicken, bacon, ranch and the Veggie special was bell peppers and baby spinach with fresh figs. We got one of each. We almost finished both, I ended up taking home a few extra slices (which I pretty much inhaled as soon as I got home).

I spent Sunday night relaxing and going over final preparations for the big day. My bag was packed, a made a mental list of things not to forget in the morning - body glide, garmin, iPod, camera, gloves, throw away shirt, etc. Pinned my number on my singlet and tried it on to make sure it was straight and wouldn't bother me while I was running.
I was as ready as I could be. I tried to go to sleep at 8:30 but tossed and turned and woke up every hour anxious and excited to run. Good thing I got so much sleep the night before. Stay tuned for my race day recap and post race update......

The race is the reward for the training

2011-04-15T03:12:00.000-07:00

I have to keep telling myself that. In the past few days I've really started to get nervous and anxious. Last year I was excited and overwhelmed with the idea that I was about to run the Boston Marathon. This year is different. I've done it before and I know what to expect, but I'm even more nervous than I was before any marathon I've run up til now.

Tuesday night was the start of the Good Times Spring 5K series and a chance for local runners to get in one last tune up race before Boston and then chat over pizza and beers about their training and time goals and the weather forecast for Marathon Monday. I ran to the race with my friend, Nutter, and we warmed up along the course. We did a little over 2 miles and then headed to the bar to get her registered for the race. The Good Times series is fun because it's a different theme every week. This week was BYOB (bring your own buddy), basically buy one registration get one free. Since I was already registered, Nutter ran for free. I had no time goal going into the race and just treated it as a training run. Taking it easy and not pushing myself is very hard for me to do, sometimes impossible. The gun went off and I instinctively jumped like a jack rabbit and ran off with the pack. The first mile went by fast, maybe a little too fast. I ran it in about 8 minutes. Second mile was the same, 8 minutes. If I kept it up I might set a new personal record, then I remembered, 'hey idiot, you're running a marathon next week, cool your jets'. The last mile and a tenth I stayed almost even pace, but slowed up a little. Finished in 24:50, not far off from my PR (24:24) and 14th place overall for the women. I'd say I'm ready for the BIG race.

Wednesday, work went by slower than death. It seriously seemed like the clock stopped at some point during the day and Father Time was taking notes from Mother Nature and being kind of a douche. I made it through the day and went to the gym for a little light cross training and stretching. I jumped rope for about 10 minutes to warm up and then hopped on the elliptical for an hour of intervals. Nothing too crazy, I lowered the resistance from what I normally do and made sure my heart rate stayed at a moderate level and didn't get too high. After that, I stretched for about 20 minutes. Probably more than I have stretched over the last 20 weeks of training. Felt really good, I should maybe try doing that more often.

After I left the gym I went home and instantly got bored so, yup, you guessed it, I baked some cookies. I made some Oatmeal Awesomeness. I would LOVE to bring them to the Copley Marriott for the DFMC runners, but with over 500 people on the team plus volunteers I think I'd need to bake about 10 batches. So, instead, I ate about a dozen cookies for them. I still want to swing by the Marriott and wish them all luck, it may just have to be empty handed, but open arms for free hugs. :)

Thursday, I woke up in a panic. My heart racing and thoughts running through my brain faster than a Kenyan. I'm not really sure why, but I started having an anxiety attack out of nowhere about the race. I think it's a combination of last minute nerves and the high expectations I have for myself. Either way it sucked. I started worrying that I might get sick last minute and not be able to run or I'd trip up the stairs at work and hurt myself and not be able to run. I checked the weather forecast and it says 60 degrees and sunny, gorgeous day to watch a marathon, but a little warm for running one. What if I get dehydrated and sick and start throwing up at mile 20 like I did 2 years ago at Disney? Deep breathes, calm down, the hay is in the barn (thank you Jack Fultz), my training was perfect, I will be fine.

After work, I did my last run before race day with Nutter. We did an easy 4 mile out and back on the same route I ran last Saturday. I was kind of hoping I would find another dollar bill in the road, but that didn't happen. It was still an amazing run.

So, now it's Friday and I have nothing left to do, but rest and go to the Expo tomorrow to get my bib# and maybe a few other things. Oh yeah and EAT. I mean, it's not like I'm going to have a bucket of pasta strapped to my face for continuous feeding over the next few days, but I'm definitely not going to be counting calories as much as I would during training. After all, I am going to burn approximately 4000 calories on Monday. Great motivation for anyone out there thinking of training for a marathon, but don't run to lose weight, run to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I get to eat more, but I still eat all good stuff. I splurge on ice cream and cookies, but I eat all natural no chemicals or crap added in treats. I can't wait for some post-marathon treats. I'll make sure to post all the details of my awesome meals over the weekend and next week. :)

Until the next post, remember a few of my favorite running mantras, "Find your happy pace", "don't worry about how far you've gone or how far you have to go, just run the mile you're in", "the pain is temporary, the pride lasts forever", "just keep running", and my favorite "The Race is the Reward for the Training". I told my friend that is running her first marathon on Monday, "Don’t think of it as a challenge or obstacle you have to overcome. Think of it as a celebration of things you’ve already done!" And that's exactly how I approach the marathon. So, let the celebrating begin!

OMG, waiting is torture

2011-04-12T02:51:00.000-07:00

If anyone ever needs to interogate me they only need to tell me I can't run to get answers. These last few days are always the hardest for me. Not the days of doing 18 and 20 milers and 50+ mile weeks, but the week of nothingness. I mean I'm not doing "nothing" just drastically scaling back in preparation for the big day. It's driving me insane.

This weekend was the beginning of the downward spiral into craziness. After finishing the Newton Hills on Thursday in record time and having a blast at Crossroads when I was done, Friday I was exhausted. Only about 4 hours of sleep and I had to get up for work. I muddled through the day like a zombie and made it to quittin time. Then the decision, what to do with the REST of the day. Key word being REST. I texted my friend Kim and we went for a walk with her baby girl Ryann. When we finished the walk it was still only 4:30. I headed home and started laundry. Made some dinner - Baked Sweet Potatoes with Warm Black Bean salad. Spent the rest of the evening on my couch watching TV.

Saturday I actually slept in (until about 6:30am) and then spent most of the morning in my PJs sipping tea and watching the Today show. I would like to say I folded my laundry, but it's still in the basket, clean, but not folded. I hate folding laundry. I vacuumed and mopped and dusted and even went through all my old race shirts and made a pile for Salvation Army. By noon I couldn't take it anymore, it was gorgeous out and I needed to get out there and go for a run. A SHORT run. I really wanted to go for like 10 miles but I held back and limited myself to a nice easy 4 miles. As much as I HATE shorter runs this one turned out pretty awesome. I found a dollar bill in the road just after the turn around on my out and back. If I had done a longer run it would have taken me on a different path and I would have missed the dollar bill.

So, another 35 minutes of my day gone by but still tons of hours left. I took a shower and went to the mall in search of the elusive Runner Fit Jeans. Seriously, why is everything slim through the hips and thighs right where my glutes and quads need to go? I tried on several pairs and still have not found a brand that fits just right. Then for shits and giggles I started trying on cocktail dresses. Express has this wicked hot dress on sale right now that I really want, but I have no occasion to wear it. I tried it on and looked AMAZING in it, but I can't justify spending $100 on a dress I may never wear. That's like two half marathon registration fees or a new pair of running shoes.

Anyway, Sunday morning was my trial run with my friend Cherie who plans to pace me from Chesnut Hill to mile 25 (or the finish if she can stay on the course). We were doing 6 miles and it would be my last long-ish run before race day and her first long-ish run since her last marathon in the fall. She was worried that she might not be able to keep up with me, but I told her not to worry, no matter what distance she could run with me it will give me a mental boost just at the point of the race when I need it most. We ran the hills of Methuen near her house and she did AWESOME! We averaged 9:30s (my garmin said 9:20s) and ran a bunch of really tough hills. So, she should be fine for the last few miles of the marathon considering it's mostly flat except for my least favorite hill right at mile 25 coming into Kenmore Square. That little "bump" over the Mass pike SUCKS!

After the run, we got back to her house and her son Mitchell had made us his signature blend of coffee. I don't drink coffee often, but when Mitchell makes it I have two or three cups! It's seriously the best coffee in the world. I don't know how he brews it or what he adds to the coffee but it's delicious. We sat and chatted over the coffee and Cherie made me pancakes. I'm so excited to run I'm practically jumping out of my own skin. I was telling her that while I was getting ready to go to her house I was watching the Channel 4 news and they kept playing commercials for the marathon. I was getting goose bumps watching them and one of the commercials almost made me cry!

I spent the rest of the afternoon on a high partly from the awesome run we completed and partly from Mitchell's coffee. I went grocery shopping and baked some more cookies. I tried another new recipe of my own creation, chocolate chip, but I replaced the chocolate chips with Trader Joe's mini peanut butter cups. I told my friend Kim her husband might have to arrest me because the cookies should be a controlled substance. They were RIDICULOUSLY yummy. I think I ate about a dozen of them at least.

Monday was the longest day EVER. And I have a feeling the rest of the week will be just as painfully slow. The clock seemed to move backwards time went by so slow. I finally made it to the end of the work day and decided to skip the gym and just relax, "the hay is in the barn" as Jack Fultz says. I went home and found a new issue of 'Running Times' in my mail and blew through it in a matter of minutes. I finished Dean Karnazes new book and even took a little cat nap. Then I ate some cookies. :)

Here's hoping the rest of the week FLIES by although I know better and it will be painfully slow. SIX MORE DAYS...........

Last “long” run before the big day

2011-04-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

Last night was bittersweet, but WAY more sweet than bitter. I drove into Boston to Crossroads and I ran the Newton Hills for the last time before race day. We hit a ton of traffic on the way there and got to Crossroads after everyone else had already left, but that wasn’t going to stop me from getting one more hill run in before Boston. Charles and I ran to the T station and got on the Green Line to Woodland for one last time. We chatted during the ~40 minute ride about how beautiful this section of the course is and how it definitely ranks in the top ten favorite runs for both of us. We talked about race day logistics and previous marathon experiences and random fun facts like how many concussions I’ve had and some of my funnier blonde moments (I didn’t figure out til college that Han Solo and Indiana Jones were the same person).

Finally, the train stopped at Woodland and we hopped off and started running. Made a quick pit stop at the Newton Fire Station to use the restroom and then hit the hills. Charles is much faster than me, but was nice enough to give me a little bit of a head start from the Fire Station. I made it to the top of the first hill before he blew past me and wished me luck. After that it was just me, my sneakers, and the road that I have grown to love and respect. My GPS didn’t pick up the satellites right away, so I just ran by feel and I felt GREAT!

I made it up and over the first few hills and then onto Heartbreak. Someone had spray painted hearts on the road! It was so cool. They wrote things like “the beat is in your heart” and “is your heart breaking?” and “we heart you”. I wondered if other runners noticed them or if they just run right over them not looking down. I was secretly hoping to run into Kara Goucher out for a training run, but that didn’t happen. I said “See ya in ten days” when I got to the top of heartbreak and then continued the rest of the way into Boston and down Beacon St. to the Crossroads bar.

Got to BC and past Eagles Deli, OMG, it always smells so good. I need to make a special trip there to treat myself to a greasy burger and fries. Every week the aroma teases me as I run past. After that I weaved my way through Cleveland Circle and down Beacon St., the longest road in the world. For some reason last night it didn’t seem so long. I was making incredible time. I actually looked at my watch at one point and thought I had about 2 miles left to go, but didn’t believe my watch. If I was running my usual pace I had 3 more miles, but I knew I was closer than that. And I was actually closer than 2 miles left. I reached the intersection that I KNOW is one mile from Crossroads and to my surprise, Charles had looped back to run the last mile with me. He even said he hadn’t expected to see me so soon.

We picked up the pace a little more and I pushed to finish the last “long” run strong. Nine miles up and over the Newton hills and through the last miles of the marathon course; it was AMAZING!!!! I finished the run in 1:20, breaking my previous record for the run by about five minutes!

After a few high fives and nearly hacking up my lung from the all out sprint in the last tenth of a mile Charles and I joined the rest of the runners in the upstairs bar at Crossroads and as promised I brought cookies; chocolate chip to be specific. This picture is from last week, but you get the idea. Post-run refueling with cookies, maybe not in any training manual or issue of Runner’s World, but I highly recommend it.

10 days to go!!!!!

Weekend race recap

2011-04-06T02:53:00.000-07:00

Well, Mother Nature might have been kind of a douche on Friday, but she made up for it on Saturday and Sunday with two beautiful running weather days. Mid-40s and partly sunny, a little windy, but not too bad.

Saturday, I ran Shifter's 5K in Waltham - a fundraiser for Dana Farber. It was great to see some familiar faces from DFMC and some new friends from Team RaceMenu/Mix1 too. Oh yeah, I'm on that team now. I warmed up around the neighborhood with the guy that recruited me to the team, Brian. Then we made it back to the starting area just in time to line up and here Shifter yell "GO!" The course was a nice lollipop through some local neighborhoods, starting and finishing behind the Waverly Oaks Athletic Club. I didn't want to push too hard because I had a half marathon the next day and technically I'm tapering and suppose to be taking it easy. Finished in a respectable 26 minutes.
After the race I went home, showered, and passed out on my couch for several hours. Now that's how to taper! I love naps. Why do we phase them out somewhere after kindergarden and only bring them back into our lives after retirement? I think we should keep naps as part of our daily routine, I felt amazing when I woke up and took another shower and headed out for the night to go to a friend's birthday party. I tried to eat something quickly before the party so I wasn't starving when I showed up. I can be like a hoover when I'm hungry and inhale everything in sight. That plan backfired because I ate too fast and scalded the roof of my mouth so bad it formed a blister. Well, on the brightside, the blister kept me from demolishing the beautiful spread of food my friend had at her party. I left the party around 9:00 and went home and straight to bed. Had to get up early the next day.

Sunday morning, I woke up, not by my alarm clock as planned, but by my fat cat "Slim" whinning in my face at 4:00am!!! He has no concept of weekends and sleeping in and demanded fresh food and water. I tried really hard to ignore him, but he's very persistant. If the loud obnoxious meowing doesn't work he proceeds to jumping up onto my dresser and knocking everything on it off so it goes crashing to the floor with loud bangs that piss me off and force me to get out of bed to try and kill him. Anyway, I was up and had to get ready for the Great Bay Half Marathon anyway (even if I now had a few EXTRA hours to get ready).

Great Bay is run in Newmarket, NH in and around the estuary and nature preserves. It's really a beautiful area, only about 5 miles from where I went to college. I can remember swimming at a nearby waterfall the summer after my freshman year. Those happy memories faded when I started running and remembered why I vowed to never run this course again 2yrs ago when I had last done the race. It's never ending hills that are just as steep as they are long. You can easily ignore the beauty of nature when you're cursing a hill that you can almost walk up faster than running up it. PLUS.......Mother Nature threw in a headwind to make it more challenging.

I held a pretty decent pace throughout the race and just thought to myself, "go easy and don't leave your marathon on this course" and "if you can finish THIS course in a decent time than Boston should be easy". I made it to the last 5K and I was on target to finish in about two hours. So, I picked up the pace and figured why not go for it. I just made it and finished in 2:00:27, not bad considering the hills and headwinds. I'd say I'm ready for April 18th.

Monday, shuold have been a rest day, but I was bored so I went to the gym and just did some upper body strength training. I need to get ready for Tough Mudder after Boston and I really want to be able to get over the 8ft walls and navigate the monkey bars without falling into ice cold water. That should be interesting.

Yesterday, I did an amazing workout, a little combo of my favorite things and my least favorite things. Here's what it looked like:
5 minutes jumping rope - FAST!
1 mile dreadmill sprint on incline
3x10 plyo squats
3x10 jumping jacks
3x10 Mountain climbers (10 each leg)
3x10 push ups
3x10 burpees
3x10 speed squats
3x10 pull ups
3x10 alternating lunges (10 each leg)
3x10 inverted rows
3x10 high knees (10 each leg)
5 minutes jumping rope - FAST!
1 mile dreadmill sprint on incline
It was a good warm up for the Tuesday night Lowell Ladies run and my friend Kim's first post baby run. We did a nice easy 3 miler in the rain. Kim did an awesome job. Right back at it, soon she'll be kicking my butt in the Good Times 5K series.

OK Mother Nature joke’s over……

2011-04-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

Really??? Come on! Snow on April Fool’s day. And not just a dusting, there was at least 2 inches of heavy wet snow on my car this morning and it’s still snowing! Whatever, I’m so over this winter and ready for spring and summer.

This week has been rough and by rough I mean boring. Taper is tough. After the 20 miler Sunday, I took Monday as a rest day. And guess what I did with my down time???? Yup, I baked. I made some delicious banana nut bread (and muffins). I kept the muffins for myself and gave the bread to a friend. I might have been bored, but on the bright side, my house smells amazing!

Tuesday, I went for a short 5ish at 5:00ish with the Lowell ladies. I was still really tight from the 20 miler. My hamstrings and glutes are killing me, maybe time for another massage. We did a 3 mile loop and I added on to make it about 5 miles, but it was slow and I felt it. After the run we went for a walk with the newest Lowell lady, Ryann Ann, my friend’s new baby girl. She is not cleared to run yet, but she’s chomping at the bit and ready to go (mom, not baby).

Wednesday, I had a dentist appointment after work so I had to skip the gym. I LOVE the Dentist! It’s like a massage for your teeth. Plus, all the hygenists and the dentist I go to are runners so it’s fun to catch up with them every six months and tell them what I’ve been up to and see what races are next on their list. After my cleaning it was beautiful out (in the high 50s and sunny) and I really wanted to go for a run, but still a little sore, I listened to my body and resisted the urge. So, what to do with my down time….? I got new shoes for the marathon and swung by the grocery store to pick up a few things, then I went home and made cookies. New recipe with dried mango, cranberries, and blueberries. I think I will call them “Mango-berry magic”. They’re pretty good, no Oatmeal Awesomeness, but still pretty yummerific.

Thursday, I picked up my new iPod from the Apple Store and went to R.E.I. to spend my member dividends and then headed into Boston for the weekly Crossroads/Newton Hills run. I hit the sweet spot for traffic and made it there in record time, unfortunately that meant I was EARLY. I could either wait around for 45 minutes to an hour for other runners to show up OR I could hop on the T and start my run ahead of everyone and hopefully ahead of the Nor’Easter too. I opted for gettign on the T and starting my run. As the T moved outbound towards Newton the rain started to come down. Just light sprinkles, nothing crazy. Then closer to Newton it started to look more like snow and less like rain and it was coming down pretty hard. Oh well, I was out there and there was only one way back – the 9 mile run over the hills (well, I could have just taken the T back, but come on, I’m not one to turn down a fun challenging run in a blizzard).

I started out and headed up the hills. I felt really good. Like AMAZING! I swear sometimes I think my body’s natural state is running because I’m way more comfortable running than I am standing still. Everything aches and snaps and pops and cracks when I’m not moving, but once I start running, it’s like my body turns into a well oiled machine. I finished the 9 mile run in 1:25 and got a bunch of red lights along the way so I can probably shave 3-5 minutes off that. I was totally soaked and dripping wet, but I felt awesome. Changed into dry clothes, stretched (something I rarely do and need to do more often) and waited for the other runners to finish. Overall, a little soggy, but a great run, and finished out the month of March with just over 200 miles!

Taper Time!

2011-03-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

But before I get to that, let me rewind a little and go over my training for the last few days. Thursday was another Crossroads run. I was still a little stiff and sore from my intense workout the day before so I decided to take it easy. I ran the hills with my friend Jack, a newly retired Boston Firefighter. It was a great run. We pushed each other. When he started to fade I’d pick up the pace and when I started to slack off he practically sprinted. We finished the 9 mile run at a decent 9:40 pace and both of us felt pretty good at the end. And as an added bonus for all the runners that night, not only did they get the usual free pizza, I brought homemade cookies! Chocolate Chip AND oatmeal awesomeness. Of course they were a huge hit and I made lots of new friends fast.

Friday, all the hard work caught up to me. I woke up wicked stiff and my resting heartrate was 68 BPM (usually in the 50s). So, even though I felt ok by the afternoon and Mother Nature was tempting me with beautiful running weather, I listened to my body and took a rest day. AND made more cookies. I made some oatmeal awesomeness without white chocolate chips because one of the DFMC runners told me she gave up chocolate for lent.

Saturday morning, I got up early to sneak in a short run with a friend before heading to Newton to deliver my cookies to the DFMC runners on the course. We did a nice easy 5 mile loop and I added on a mile and a half each way running to my friend’s house. Newton looked AMAZING! There had to be thousands of charity runners on the course and all kinds of teams training and tents with water stops set up from all kinds of different vendors. It was almost as beautiful as seeing those hills on race day. I got to the BC athletic center and gave the runners cookies when they finished up and helped pour water and gatorade for them too.

After the cookies were all gone, I headed out to run a few errands. I had fried my iPod during my intense interval workout on Wednesday so I brought it to the Apple store at the Burlington Mall. You would have thought it was Black Friday or something, there wasn’t a single empty parking space to be found ANYWHERE. I finally found a spot about a mile away from the Mall and walked to the entrance and found the Apple Store and waited forever for them to tell me the iPod was indeed fried and I would have to wait for them to order a new one because warranty stock is separate from saleable stock. It’s the same damn thing to me, I just want a new iPod. But I have to wait. Stopped at Trader Joes before heading home and got all kinds of yummy deliciousness, including some snack mix (trader joes version of chex mix) OMG, it was so good I ate the whole bag!

Good thing for me I need to load up on some carbs because Sunday was the Eastern States 20 miler. A race that starts in Kittery, ME and ends in Salisbury, MA and runs all along the coast of NH. It’s beautiful. 3 states in one race, tons of fun. I got up early to head to Hampton Beach where the buses pick you up to go to Kittery. I ate breakfast and packed my fuel belt and filled my travel mug with some tea and headed out the door. Somewhere near the NH-MA border I realized I wasn’t thinking when I packed my fuel belt because I only packed enough gels for a half marathon, not for a 20 miler. Thank God for the support of other runners (Jessica Costa) who chipped in a few extra gels for me to use.

My plan was to run the race very conservatively and just get the 20 miles in and save my energy for Boston. So, I found some friends running the pace I wanted to keep and hung out for the first 17 miles. They started to slow down and stop to tke walk breaks after the first 12 miles or so and I was feeling good. I tried to hang with them and help them push through the pain and gut it out, but they cramped up and couldn’t hold the pace so I took off in the last 3 miles and finished strong. 3:18 for the 20 mile run, about 5 minutes faster than last year’s time and I wasn’t really trying.

I didn’t realize until I got home and weighed myself that I was severely dehydrated. I had lost 8lbs. in sweat. No wonder my stomach was upset, I was shivering even after a hot shower, and I had a dull headache. Spent the rest of the day on the couch watching Mean Girls. I’m not a fan of basketball and it was the only thing on. I ended up falling asleep anyway so it didn’t really matter what I was watching. Went to bed at 6:30pm! Let the taper begin!

My biggest challenges

2011-03-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

1. Dealing with Boredom during Taper
2. Staying motivated/pushing through rough spots
3. Deciding what do I do next?

I know my taper doesn’t officially start until NEXT week, but the madness is setting in a little early. After running a total of over 30 miles this past weekend, I decided it would be a good idea to take a rest day on Monday. Work went by sort of slow and by mid-afternoon when I was heading home I was already bored. I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a few things and went home. Unloaded my groceries, put a load of laundry in, set out ingredients to bake some cookies and waited for the butter to soften. Meanwhile, I caught up on some TV and read the new Dean Karnazes book. I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies and then looked at the clock and realized it was not even 5:00 yet, so I baked some oatmeal cookies too. Downside of taper for me is boredom, benefit for my friends is I tend to bake when I’m bored.

Tuesday, I returned to the gym after work, but I was feeling kind of “blah”. Maybe because I ate a few too many of the cookies I baked or maybe delayed fatigue from the running and racing over the weekend, either way I was not very motivated. I pushed through an hour on the eliptical and called it quits. I could have done some strength training, but it’s my least favorite thing to do on a good day so, it’s the first thing to fall off my “to-do” list on a bad day.

Wednesday was much better. The day at work flew by and I got to the gym pumped and ready to go. I decided to do the treadmill workout that may be the magic behind my recent speed over distance and feeling like I have rocket shoes. (100 jump rope skips + 2 mile treadmill run on incline increasing speed with each interval + 2 mile bike to recover from run) x 4, would like to do 5, but it already takes me about 2 hours to complete so one more interval would be a bit much.

The first interval felt a little sluggish and slow, but I decided to continue and try to relax into a groove. My first few miles are always the toughest anyway. Second interval was a lot better. I relaxed and found my groove. Third interval I kicked it up a notch and increased the incline AND the speed. For the last interval I decided to make the run my timed 2 miler for the week (a mini-challenge at the gym – try to beat your own time week to week). My previous week’s 2 miler was 16:10 and I was determined to get under 16:00. I started out a little slow and increased the speed every quarter mile until I was at an all out sprint for the last half mile. Stopped the clock at .......... 15:50!!!!! Beat my time by 20 seconds!

Finally, I know I haven’t even reached my current training goal, but my mind is already wandering to “what next”? I have been looking at various triathlons for the summer and over the past two years I have debated doing a half ironman. I really want that 70.3 sticker for my car. So, I registered for one. It’s not until September so I have all summer to train and there’s a full turkey dinner at the finish!

4 weeks to go!

2011-03-21T06:18:00.000-07:00

I kind of feel bad for my friends right now because I'm so focused on Boston it's all I talk about. Only 4 more weeks then I'll be talking about summer races. Hahaha

What an amazing week I had last week!!!!!!!

Tuesday, I did a timed 2 mile run in 16:10, trying to get under 16:00. Will attempt again this week. Then I went for a 6 mile hill run with a friend.

Wednesday, I discussed active rest with the trainers at the gym because it's the one thing I struggle the most with - REST. Who woulda thunk it, I'd rather run 18 miles than take a rest day. I ended up doing 45 minutes on a stationary bike to kill time and try not to raise my heart rate too much. It was a fun challenge.

Thursday, I did another 6 mile hill run with another friend and visited our running friend that just had her baby girl, Ryann Ann, on Monday. Adorable!

Friday, did a nice easy 7 miler and some yard work because it was gorgeous out.

Saturday, 18 miler at race pace. I felt AMAZING! I still can't believe how awesome I did. I went out easy in the first 4 miles and then found my stride and held onto it for the rest of the run and even picked up the pace in the last 3 miles. Here are my splits:
1- 10:33
2- 9:44
3- 10:34
4- 9:55
5- 9:25
6- 9:17
7- 9:48
8- 9:33
9- 9:20
10- 9:35
11- 9:07
12- 9:22
13- 9:31
14- 10:23 (huge hill)
15- 9:55
16- 8:55
17- 9:08
18- 8:56

After the run I got lunch at Life Alive and brought some food to my friend and visited with the new baby again.

Sunday morning was the Historic Quincy half marathon. I wasn't expecting to break any records considering that I ran 18 the day before and did it super fast. So, I met up with a friend from the Thursday night Crossroads runs and decided to try and stick with his pace. We were targeting 10:00s for the first 3 miles and ended up going out quite a bit faster. I felt really good. When we reached the first water stop my friend stopped and I kept going. He never caught up. I was in the zone. I reached the half and realized I was on pace to PR and maybe even break 2 hours. I just needed to run 9:00s or less for the last 5 miles. AND I DID IT!!!!!!!!! Here are my splits for the race:
1- 9:13
2- 9:13
3- 9:13
4- 9:12
5- 9:09
6- 9:14
7- 9:04
8- 8:58
9- 8:58
10- 9:13
11- 9:01
12- 8:43
13- 8:22
.1- 7:16

I felt like I had rockets on my shoes. I need to go back to the running store and get another pairs. Like Forrest Gump said, "they were my magic shoes".

Time Flies when you’re training for a marathon

2011-03-15T09:40:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe it’s been over a week since my last update. Holy Cannoli! (oh, man that makes me want to go get a cannoli in Worcester at Wholly Cannoli it’s an amazing little bakery, but I’m getting off track)

OK, so here’s the short summary of what I’ve been up to:

Saturday March 5th – 18 mile training run
Sunday March 6th – Claddagh Classic 4 mile race
Monday March 7th – Spin for Hope cycling event for American Cancer Society
Tuesday March 8th – Strength/30 mins elliptical/7.2m hill run
Wednesday March 9th – REST DAY
Thursday March 10th – Strength/60 mins elliptical/Newton Hills run with friends
Friday March 11th – (100 jump rope skips/2m dreadmill run/2m bike) x4
Saturday March 12th – 16.5 mile training run
Sunday March 13th – Hynes Tavern 5 miler race (plus 1.25 mile run there and 1.25 mile run home)
Monday March 14th – Strength/60 mins elliptical

Let me see if I can go back now and fill in the details. My 18 miler was AMAZING! It was relatively warm out (~40 degrees) and sunny and I did my favorite hilly loop through Tewksbury into Andover, back to Tewksbury and then back to Lowell. I averaged a really good pace and felt great the entire time. I raced home because I had plans to go out to lunch with my running buddies to my favorite Lowell eatery – LIFE ALIVE. I made it home with just enough time to do a 20 minute soak in an ice bath and then a quick defrost in the shower. Lunch with the Lowell Ladies was great. It was nice to catch up because we hadn’t been doing our weekly runs for a while.

Sunday was the Claddagh Classic 4 miler. It’s a torturous course with a hill I like to refer to as a WALL because it’s so steep. I dressed for the occasion in a cute green and black kilt. It was sunny and really warm, mid-50s. The only good thing about the giant hill on the course is getting to fly down the back side of it screaming “ON YOUR LEFT!!!!!!!!!” to everyone as I blow past them. The benefit of being a slightly heavier than average runner……gravity is your friend on downhills. I finished the 4 miles in 35:17, a new PR for the course.

Monday and Tuesday went by pretty fast, I was stressed about work still AND it was time for my annual review which was scheduled from Monday and then got rescheduled for Tuesday, prolonging the anxiety. I was terrified, but pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Wednesday, I brought my stuff to go to the gym and I was totally ready for a workout after work, but decided it had been a while since my last rest day and my body would thank me for the break, so I went home and relaxed.

Thursday, was time for another Newton Hill run. This time, Charles and I drove together and met up with my friend Scott and his friend and first time Boston marathoner, Paula. Paula is running for the Greater Lowell Road Runners (GLRR, or as I like to refer to them “Good Looking Road Runners”). Since it was only Scott’s second run on the course and Paula’s first, I stayed with them over the hills and then picked up the pace into Boston. Charles ran with the wicked fast guys. My pace was a lot slower than usual because I wanted to make sure Scott and Paula didn’t get lost, but it was still a great run and sometimes it’s good to do lower intensity workouts.

I made up for it on Friday with a super high intensity interval workout. I did the (100 jumps + 2 mile Dreadmill run + 2 mile bike) x 4 workout and I did the dreadmill runs on an incline increasing the speed every quarter mile until I was totally maxed out and dying. My last 2 mile split was 16:35.

Saturday morning, I started to sort of regret that high intensity workout when I went out for my 16 mile run. Granted it was a “recovery” week for me and I was backing down on mileage, but the first 3 miles my legs felt like lead weights. I went out nice and easy and just loosened up, then I found my stride and fell into a great rhythm. I made up the time I lost in the first 3 miles and still averaged sub-10:00s for the entire run. I felt so good at the end of the run I added on a half mile just to keep going. After the run, was another ladies lunch at Life Alive. I brought one of my marathon cheering signs slightly modified for my pregnant running buddy Kim. It said “THE RACE BIRTH IS THE REWARD FOR THE TRAINING PREGNANCY” and on the opposite side it said “THE PAIN IS TEMPORARY, THE PRIDE LASTS FOREVER” She loved it and brought it with her to the delivery room the next day.

Sunday was the Hynes Tavern 5 miler and the last of the 3 races in the Wild Rover Series. I sported my kilt one more time and ran another PR! 43:08. Not bad considering I ran 16.5 the day before and I ran 1.25m to the race (and then 1.25m home). It was really windy out too. Strong headwinds for the entire race. Still lots of fun. After the race I went grocery shopping and made myself some yummy butternut squash brown rice risotto and sauted baby spinach and baked some chicken to go with it. Not a bad way to finish up the week and head into a new week with only 35 days to go until the marathon.

Oh and FYI, my bib# is 23195.

Challenging but rewarding

2011-03-04T07:15:00.001-08:00

That pretty much sums up this week. Tuesday, I had another lovely day in hell despite my best efforts to focus on my job and get work done, work managed to ruin another 8hrs of my life. I left almost in tears, frustrated and overwhelmed with stress. I skipped the gym and opted for a 90-minute therapy session instead (massage therapy, that is). It was exactly what I needed, not just for my mental health, but for my tired muscles too. I felt so good afterwards that I went straight home and changed into my running clothes and went out for a 7 mile run. Just me, the road, a new pair of running shoes, and my thoughts.

Wednesday was a new day and I went to work optimistic and ready to face the day with lots of positive energy, then my computer decided to be totally whack again and prevented me from doing any work at all. I took a break from waiting for the helpdesk to call me and fix the problem and went to eat breakfast. It’s my favorite part of my entire day. I get 5-10 minutes of peace while I jam my food in my mouth and I try to savor the whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter, banana, and honey on it in as few bites as possible so I don’t get in trouble for sitting at my desk too long. Well, on my way back to my desk, drooling over my delicious creation in anticipation of the joy I get from eating it, I DROPPED IT and spilled scalding hot tea all over myself and honey and peanut butter and banana went everywhere BUT in my mouth. I was devastated and almost lost it right there in the hallway. I got some paper towels and mopped up my mess and went back to my desk empty handed and hungry and waited some more for my computer to magically start working again.

After 4hrs of staring at my screen unable to do anything and no response from the helpdesk, I left and used another 4hrs of personal time to get outta dodge. I went to the gym and did a quick 20 minute upper body circuit (oh and I found my missing jump rope!), ran 2 miles on the treadmill for time (new challenge at the fitness center, I did it in 16:38), then 60 minutes of intervals on the elliptical.

Thursday, I made plans with some friends to go into Boston and run the Newton hills. We were able to leave on time and even got there a little early, met up with the other runners at Crossroads and headed to the T station to go to Newton. Somehow my friend Scott and I missed the train everyone else got on and ended up waiting 10 or 15 minutes for the next one. We made it to Newton by 6:50 and started running up the hills. Immediately I remembered how amazing the Boston marathon is and how awesome it felt to run that section of the course. Here are the splits for the run:

Mile1 - 10:01 (First hill, over a few obstacles and around lots of ice)
Mile 2 - 8:28 (When Scott asked me "why are we running so fast?")
Mile 3 - 9:41 (second hill)
Mile 4 - 9:47 (third hill)
Mile 5 - 9:50 (heartbreak)
Mile 6 - 10:15 (cleveland circle, Scott stopped to tie his shoe)
Mile 7 - 9:29 (Eagles Deli, mmmmmm, burgers smell so friggin good)
Mile 8 - 9:33 (Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn, bonus hill)
Mile 9 - 9:30 (Kenmore Square, mass pike bump, I hate that bump)
Mile 10 (the last 400yrds) - 8:14

This is probably about a minute faster per mile than my pace last year over the hills. Totally ready to tear it up on April 18th!

Frozen Shamrock Race recap

2011-03-01T04:41:00.000-08:00

Sunday's snow ruined any chance I had of getting in a long run, but the race in Haverhill was on. I got my green plaid mini skirt on (with under armour underneath to stay warm) and put little green bows on my sneakers and headed off to the race. It was slushy and still snowing a little, but not too bad. The roads were clear for the most part and afterall, it was just 3 miles. I've run longer in worse conditions so I wasn't worried.

The race started promptly at 1:00pm. It was a bit crowded at the start and as people dodged puddles and ice the pack slowed down dramtically around the first few corners, but after that it opened up. I was able to power up the first hill past a bunch of people and I was looking forward to really opening up on the downhill and picking up some speed. Unfortunately, the only section of road that was NOT cleared was the downhill. It was covered in hard packed snow and ice. So I had to slow down. Coming over the bridge into the last mile the wind picked up and made it a little more challenging, but I gutted it out and finished strong in 25:45. I wonder how fast I would have been without the snow.

After the race I enjoyed what I really went there for, the beef stew. OMG it's so good. I don't care how nasty the weather is I will always run this race just for the stew. I had my cup of stew and headed out and on my way home I realized I was really close to my favorite running store and totally due for a new pair of shoes. So, I stopped in and got some shiny new asics 2150s on sale!

My plan after that was to go grocery shopping and then go home and take a nap on the couch for the rest of the day. Clearly I didn't think this plan through very well because I was still wearing my green plaid mini skirt. I got a few funny looks in the store, but whatever, I looked good.

Yesterday, I went to the gym after work and attempted my (100 jump rope jumps + 2 mile dreadmill run + 2 mile bike) x 4 workout, but half way through the last set I got a bad case of boo boo belly and had to stop. So, I only got in 7 miles instead of 8 and didn't do the last 2 miles on the bike. I went home and made acorn squash with swiss chard and white beans. It was delicious. My tummy eventually settled, but I still feel a little yucky this morning. I'm hoping it passes.

When life gives you lemons……squeeze them in the b*tches eyes and run

2011-02-27T04:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, it’s been a crazy few weeks. Sorry I haven’t updated much. Mother Nature continues to be a giant douche. And it seems everywhere I turn lately people are just cranky and not nice. Drivers on the road nearly running me over and neighbors parking so no one else can park and threatening to call the police on a bunch of elderly people that mean well, but suck at life. One of my best friends gave me a bit of advice a few years back and it always comes in handy around these type of circumstances - "don't let the bitches get you down". Works on so many levels.

I work for a large pharmaceutical company that is doing “Capacity Planning” and “Future State Discovery” (aka – how many people can we get rid of and still make money?). It has been going on for about a year and it makes for a very stressful work environment. We are told to focus on our work and try not to be distracted by the fact that your badge might not work when you come in tomorrow. I try to make the most of it and look on the bright side; at least I have a job …… for now.

The one bonus to this craptasic scenario is that my company has an onsite fitness center. So, while Mother Nature has made it difficult to train outdoors, I have been utilizing this employee benefit every day after work.

Monday I did some strength and an hour on the elliptical. Tuesday I did my new favorite “jump rope-run-bike” workout. Wednesday I did more strength training and elliptical. Then Thursday, my plan was to drive into Boston and run the Newton Hills for the first time this year. Unfortunately, we left too late and got stuck in traffic and couldn’t find parking then just ended up doing an out and back to BC. It was still about 9 miles of hills, but not the same scenery.

Friday was the mother of all bad days. My computer crashed and I was unable to do any work so I sat and stared at a blank screen totally helpless and annoyed. I left early because it was driving me nuts. I went home and decided to take a rest day and use the free time to go grocery shopping and do my laundry and watch a few movies.

Saturday morning was another Lowell Ladies run with my prego friend Kim and our running buddies. Yup, she’s still running. You have no excuse if you say you can’t get to the gym or go outside for a walk – She’s 37 weeks pregnant and STILL running! It was cold and windy but we managed to finish a nice 5 miler (plus 3 miles for me to and from her house).

Sunday I got up early and did my 14 miler then took a quick ice bath and a hot shower and met some friends at my favorite restaurant in downtown Lowell – Life Alive. Lunch was awesome. I got home, relaxed, and made plans with some other friends to go back to Life Alive again the next day because I actually had the holiday off.

Life Alive Monday was delicious as expected and my friends convinced me to take another rest day because I ran a total of 22 miles over the past 2 days so I went home after lunch and watched a few movies before going to bed.

This week was almost identical to last week. Go to work, then the gym or a run, and home.

Wednesday night was the annual condo association meeting. It’s always entertaining and stressful. There are only 8 units in my condo association. Half of the residents are elderly; one resident is a completely insane psycho; one resident is a new girl that doesn’t say much; then there’s the young couple that didn’t even show up to the meeting; and me. We do the best that we can with the resources we have available to us and every year the psych guy threatens everyone and yells the entire time. The elderly woman that is the treasurer tries to justify wasting money. Everyone else just sits there.

This year I couldn’t take the chaos anymore. I stepped up and facilitated the meeting. I showed the treasurer all her accounting errors and demanded that we stop throwing money away on non-essential stuff. I cut the psycho off mid-rant and made him leave because he was off topic and disrespecting everyone. After he left I blew through the agenda and adjourned the meeting within 15 minutes. Hopefully, we can follow though on all the action items and keep the crazy guy from killing us all. We already have a report on file with the police department and if he tries anything I’ll put his ass in jail.

Thursday was a pretty normal day at work followed by an awesome hill run in Lowell after work. I went with my friend Scott and took him on the hilly non-hill 7 miler. It felt really great. The weather was perfect; in the 40s and partly sunny. The roads were sort of clear from some of the warm weather melting everything. Cars were still not nice and I had to jump into the snow bank a few times but overall it was a fantastic run.

Friday flew by and after work I went to the fitness center to get my body composition measured again. I could tell immediately when Beth wrote down the first few numbers that I had changed significantly since the last time she measured me. The first few numbers were in the single digits. We plugged the numbers into an online calculator and hit “calculate”. I’m down to 16% body fat!!!! No wonder my clothes feel huge and everyone keeps asking me if I lost more weight. I can’t believe it. From couch potato to lean marathoner in three years, blows my mind.

I went home and baked cookies for Dana Farber and Saturday I volunteered at their long run in Lexington. I didn’t think it was suppose to be very cold, but when I got to the water stop we were working, the wind picked up and cut right through me. I was shivering for 3 hours and I still needed to do my own long run. I got home and put my running stuff on, but with my fingers still numb, my legs really stiff and still frozen, and the clock ticking away the daylight hours, I decided to skip my run and warm up instead. I fell asleep on my couch and woke up 3 hours later. So, I guess I needed the rest.

Now it’s Sunday morning and it’s SNOWING AGAIN!!!!!! I have a 3-mile race this afternoon and I wanted to try and squeeze in a few miles before the race to get my long run in for the week, but it might be too dangerous while it’s still snowing and the roads are not cleared. We’ll see if it looks better in an hour or so. In talking with some of the veteran runners at the Dana Farber training run yesterday, they were all convinced that a tough training season means a nice race day. I really hope they’re right.

Happy “I’m single and I hate cheap chocolate and hallmark cards anyway” day!

2011-02-14T07:41:00.000-08:00

I will be so happy when I don’t have to see another friggin’ Valentine’s Day commercial or chick flick on TV for a while. I mean, I love a nice romantic comedy now and then, but it’s nauseating in February. Even Facebook was flooded this morning with status updates wishing everyone lots of love. Blaghhh.

Last week flew by. I did two days of intense intervals on the dreadmill and stationary bike, one day of easy lifting, and a day of easy elliptical exercise. Friday night I went to Trader Joe’s after the gym – BIG MISTAKE. Traffic was terrible and it took me forever to get there and what should have been a quick trip to restock on peanut butter turned into a “everything looks good because I’m so hungry my stomach is eating itself load up on junk and eat it on the way home” trip. I was able to resist the sea salt brownie bites and chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels, but caved and got some mango sorbet and Trader Joe’s version of Doritos.

Saturday morning I went for a run with my lovely lady friends of Lowell. The plan was to do 5 miles, but I ran from my house to my friend Kim’s house which adds a little over a mile and a half each way for me. So, the total for me was about 8 miles and change. Kim is 36 weeks pregnant and still running! She’s proof that anything is possible. It was a great run, the sun was out, there was little to no wind, and we averaged about 10:00 minute miles. Here we are before the run:

After the run I had to rush home, freshen up and wrap a present for Kim’s surprise baby shower. I made her a hand stitched baby quilt. It came out so cute. It had little elephants, giraffes, alligators, and birds on it. Here’s a photo of her holding it up for everyone to see:

Saturday night, I just went home and finished my laundry and took a nap. I was sort of bummed out because I hitched a ride with one of my running buddies to the shower and on the way back to my house she was trying to fix me up with her ex. I appreciated the effort, but the more she talked about him and why I should date him, the more irritated I got and the more I just didn’t want to hear about it. He use to make her pancakes after she stayed the night and so we just referred to him as “Pancakes” and I kind of felt like saying “I don’t want left over pancakes, I want eggs and bacon!” Instead I just said “no thanks”. Then when I got home all the commercials and chick flick marathons on TV made me even more bummed out. Thank God I had a nice long run to look forward to the next day to make me feel better.

I woke up early Sunday morning and had my breakfast and tea and headed out. I felt pretty good. My legs were a little heavy and it was colder than the day before, but overall it was not too bad and it hadn’t snowed in a few days so that was a huge bonus because the roads were actually sort of safe to run in. The miles flew by. I couldn’t do my favorite 16 miler because some of the roads are still too narrow so I did the same hilly modified 16 miler that I did two weeks ago. I got to mile 7 and my iPod shuffle died, it was ok though. It’s been a while since I ran without music and it was kind of nice. I needed the “me time” anyway. I made it to the last 4 miles and felt really great so I picked up my pace and finished the last 4 miles the fastest and just in time for lunch! I had leftover Sesame tempeh quinoa and then went to the grocery store to pick up food for the week. I decided to try a new recipe and made Moroccan Vegetable stew with cous cous for dinner. It made my whole house smell amazing. Spices like cinnamon and cumin filled the air and then danced on my palate when the stew was ready for tasting. Before I knew it, I was thinking to myself “CRAP! Tomorrow is Monday!”

Another reason I love running

2011-02-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

I did another intense sweat session at the gym yesterday. (Jump rope + 1.5m dreadmill run + 2m stationary bike) x5 increasing speed on the dreadmill with each interval. Afterwards I had an amazing dinner - baked haddock, quinoa and wild rice, steamed green beans, but I was still hungry so I ate an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream AND still had a negative calorie balance for the day! Boooyah!

What a week

2011-02-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

Last week after running a TON of hills I started out easy. Monday, I just did a short sweat session at the gym, lifting and then doing some intervals on the eliptical. Mother Nature was still being kind of douchey and the roads were not safe to run in with another monster storm in the forecast.

I didn’t let it get me down. Tuesday, I registered for the Chicago Marathon in October! I’ve never been to Chicago so it will be really fun. A few of my friends signed up too so we’re already getting a small group together for the trip. After work I did another dreadmill workout. (100 jump rope jumps + 1 mile run + 2 mile bike) x 5 It’s pretty intense and by the time I finish I’m usually starving so it’s a good substitute for an outdoor run dodging traffic and snow and ice.
Speaking of snow and ice Mother Nature delivered MORE to us on Tuesday and Wednesday in a one-two punch combo storm. It was not nearly as bad as the whiteout conditions two weeks prior, but the freezing rain and sleet on Wednesday made it bad enough that for the first time in the 10 years I’ve been working at my company, they closed the site. I had planned on taking a vacation day anyway because I’m sick of dealing with the lack of parking situation when I get home, but I didn’t even need to use a vacation day. So, I didn’t get to the gym on Wednesday and I didn’t go for a run, but I DID shovel for 2 hours. Then, my a-hole neighbor that doesn’t know how to park his giant SUV came home just as I was finishing shoveling all the snow out of the street to clear the parking spaces in front of our condo and he plowed right into the snow bank with his car knocking over everything I had just shoveled!!! He even tried to park right in the friggin middle again until I told him to back up so other people had space to park too.

Thursday was insane at work because of all the stuff that didn’t get done Wednesday because of the snow. I was running around all day like crazy right up until quiting time. I went to the gym and did an extended version of my new favorite indoor dreadmill workout. (100 jump rope jumps + 1.5 mile run + 2 mile bike) x 5 It took me about 2hrs to do it, but it felt AWESOME!

Friday, I was torn. I didn’t really know what to do with myself. The Stair Climb race was Saturday and I didn’t want to do too much and go into it tired, but I also knew it was only going to take me 8-10 minutes to complete so I felt weird “tapering” for a 10 minute effort. I decided to rest. I always say it’s better to show up a little undertrained than injured and not able to race at all.

The rest totally paid off. Saturday morning I went to the Race Up Boston Place. My start time was 9:29:00am and I’m so psyched I got to go early. My adrenaline was pumping from the moment I woke up. I was so nervous and excited. I brought my jump rope with me to warm up a little before the climb. Finally it was go time. I lined up and waited for the clock to tick to my start time and the volunteer said “go”. I tapped my timing chip on the mat and started climbing. I went every other step and used my arms to help pull me up. It was tricky to find a good rhythm at first because the floors were all uneven and weird. One flight would be 3 stairs and the next would be 11 and then 7. It was really strange and not consistent. I realized after I made it up to the first turn I forgot to start my watch so it was a few seconds off. I was still doing awesome. I did the first 10 flights in 90seconds. I could hear the person that had start 15 seconds ahead of me and some other climbers only a few flights up. I was catching them! I passed one person, then another person, then a guy came up behind me and passed me. Before I knew it there was only 5 flights left to go. I stayed right on the heels of the fast guy that passed me and picked up the pace. I kept telling myself only 8 minutes of suffering. Push through it! I MADE IT. 41 flights, 789 stairs. 7 minutes and 58 seconds!!!!

I was coughing and hacking my lungs out at the top and one of the elite racers said to me “you did it right”. It was awesome! Only a short walk down to the 39th floor for a very nice recovery zone with tons of free stuff including my new favorite thing – Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt. It will be in stores soon, but not soon enough. I was very pleased to see that almost all the vendors there were supplying All-Natural and organic products.
After I recovered and enjoyed some more frozen yogurt my friend Jenna and I headed back down to the lobby to watch the other climbers go. I met up with my friend Jenine and her team of Fit Climbers from the Fit Lifestyle Studios in Melrose and saw a few familiar faces from Boston Fire and Portland Fire. Then as luck would have it, of all places in Greater Boston for it to happen, the fire alarm went off, in a building FULL of firefighters! We thought it was just a mistake until the volunteers started saying “it’s not a drill – GET OUT!” I guess there was a real fire somewhere in the building. Kind of random and funny at the same time just because the whole place was crawling with firemen. We got lunch at B-good after and then spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the eye candy.

Sunday, Mother Nature finally gave us a break and provided a nearly perfect day for training for Boston. It was about 35 degrees and sunny. Most of the snow in the streets melted and just a few spots were icy, but not bad at all. It felt like spring. I did my 14 miler with ease. I should climb ~1000 steps (we did an extra 25 flights after the climb) before every long run. I averaged under 10:00 miles for the entire run and I felt amazing. I hope Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction is right and we are really getting an early spring, but I’m not going to hold my breathe. I’m guessing that Mother Nature still has a few challenges up her sleeves for those of us that are trying to train for a little race to be run in Boston on April 18th.