After 14 weeks of FIRST training, marathon day arrived, and to skip ahead, the quality training plan paid off. Technically the FIRST plan is 16 weeks but I was coming into it after already having had a solid base and by the time I was ready to start marathon training, I had 14 weeks until race day. Continue reading
Baltimore 10 Miler Recap: The Goal? Run Fast.
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I’d always heard about the Baltimore 10 Miler. I knew small parts of the course from the Celtic Solstice 5 Miler. But everyone talks about how hilly this course is, about how the hills will be brutal. I had signed up for the Baltimore 10 Miler with the full intention of racing, to test out where I am with speed and to decide if I am capable of getting fast enough to try for another BQ this fall. Well before the Bmore10 I went ahead and registered for the marathon (Leigh Valley Via Marathon) so that just left the goal of testing out my speed. Six weeks post-Boston, how fast could I run? Continue reading
Boston Marathon: The Emotions
I don’t think I’ve ever obsessed over the weather nearly as much as I did leading up to Boston. I had added Boston to my weather app about three weeks before the race and checked their weather daily to see how close or far off it was from what I was training in in Severna Park. Once in Boston, I probably looked every hour, or more, at Monday’s weather. By the time it was clear that there was a guaranteed chance for rain I began obsessing over the hour by hour and how long I’d actually be running in the rain and how long we’d be facing head winds. Continue reading
Boston Marathon: The People
Leading up to the Boston Marathon I talked to many runner friends who’d done the race before. Every single one of them had a comment about the people. The runners, the volunteers, the people of Boston. Everyone tried to say how nice they are, how genuine, how much they make the race. I believed them of course but now, now I really get it. There’s something about the people, or this race, or the combination of the two that makes it so incredibly memorable and also so worth doing again. Continue reading
My Boston Marathon Recap
There’s so much to digest about the Boston Marathon, so much to share and probably never enough room in any single blog (or any reader’s patience) to detail it all. I’ll highlight just the things I would have loved to have known going into it. Continue reading
Chesapeake Bay #10kAcrosstheBay
The inaugural Chesapeake Bay Bridge Run, dubbed #10kacrossthebay in social media, was my first race post-baby just one week after she hit the two month mark. I went into it wanting to be able to run a consistent 8:30 pace and was pleasantly surprised to average an 8:00 pace. Albeit, half the race was downhill. The uphill first mile and a half of the race I found to be a nominal incline and not nearly as challenging as I expected it to be. My miles 3-4 and 4-5 were just sub-8s which is a pace I’ve not hit in a LONG time. I was hopeful I could maintain that pace through the finish but I also literally didn’t know what I could do. Halfway through mile 5 I knew I had plenty left in the tank and ran hard to 6 with the intention of pushing it the last .2 miles. Because it was a race, I’m glad I took this approach but it is also clear to me that I’ve got a ways to go before I will have my long distance base built and before I really have consistent speed again. Continue reading
The Self-Critique
My feet are falling heavily. My stride is too short. A small stitch in my side comes and goes. My shoulders are tight and clenched. My breaths feel forced and inconsistent. My pace is all over the place. I used to be good at running!! What happened?? Continue reading
A Running Rain Jacket Done (Almost) Right
I laid in bed listening to the rain and was excited to get up and run in it for two reasons. One was that it was going to be my first post-partum run sans stroller and sans walking. The other was that I was eager to try out a new jacket from Under Armour designed for the exact purpose of running in the rain. Continue reading
The First “Run” Back: A Walk-Jog Combo
It’s nearly impossible not to ask a pregnant person, or a person who’s just had a baby, “how are you feeling?” So I will start this post by saying that with the exception of being tired and feeling a little flabby in the core area, I feel great. And because I feel great, I decided to try some jogging. Post-jog, I can now add that I also feel a little tender still in the pelvic floor area but by no means is it painful. And the feeling I had for the majority of pregnancy that my ligaments were ripping apart is gone, so I consider that a good sign of being on the mend. In order to really start running again I have to start somewhere and a walk-jog combo on a beautiful fall day that also happens to be my last day of maternity leave seemed like a good place to start. Continue reading
Post-Partum Return to Running
As I enter into my fourth week post-partum I am struggling to find the balance between physically letting my body recover the way it needs and mentally keeping myself from pushing too hard too soon. I’m also trying (obsessing perhaps) to figure out the best way to running and cross-training. Continue reading