Tag Archives: Marathon

Boston Marathon: The Emotions

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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

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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 →

Boston Marathon Registration Anxiety

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About this time last year I put a reminder on my calendar for Sept. 8, 10am EST to register for the 2015 Boston Marathon. As luck would have it, I was out on maternity leave when 09/08/14 rolled around and had nothing much to do other than watch the calendar for registration to open. In preparation I visited baa.org to make sure I knew the process. Continue reading →

The Art & Science of Race Selection

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I spend a lot of my time while running thinking about racing. Even when I’m not training for a specific race, I’m thinking about racing. I think about the “perfect” race. I think about what it would take to win a race (in my age group). I think about races of different distances and set crazy stretch goals for them quickly followed by aggressive goals and truly realistic goals. When I went about thinking about my race plan for 2014 I realized there is probably an art and science to race selection. Continue reading →

From Painful to Pain-Free

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I am very pleased to report that I’ve been running pain-free for about four weeks. I give enormous credit to Doyle & Taylor Physical Therapy in Annapolis and also have to admit that a reduced weekly running schedule (3 days) combined with diligent strength exercises and stretching have allowed me to resolve the sources of my hip pain. I’m not entirely convinced the pain is gone for good but I am most definitely back to my normal running pace, comfort level and optimism. Continue reading →

The Baltimore Running Festival Finish Line

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10232860003_a4674beea2If you want a race with a fantastic after party, the Baltimore Running Festival does it right. Taking over parking lots at M&T Bank Stadium makes for a perfect post-race tailgate. An awesome band for live music, tons of food trucks and tents, moon bounce and other fun kid games, plenty of porta-pots (though not necessarily with TP!) and even rows of long tables where runners could pick crabs in true Maryland style–this plus more made up the finish area for 5k, 13.1 and 26.2 finishers. I was among the crowd in a form rare for me–as a spectator. Continue reading →

Hip Pain: It Came Out of Nowhere

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I was on my second to last long run before the Big Cottonwood Canyon Marathon, 13 miles. It was early on an August Saturday morning so not too hot and I was doing well with my LSD pace. All of a sudden, on the flat stretch of my local trail with about 2 miles left to go, my left hip seemed to twerk out from under me. I felt a stabbing pain in my hip that seemed to shoot around my glute and hamstring area. I slowed down a little. The pain kept on. I limped and hopped and kicked my legs up behind me to try and shake it out but the pain persisted. I did something I never do and stopped and stretched. Stopping seemed to make it worse and after a brief stretch I powered through the painful final stretch home. Continue reading →

Big Cottonwood Canyon Marathon | BQ Attempt #1

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bigcottonwood (7)The Big Cottonwood Canyon Marathon in Salt Lake City was my first attempt to run a Boston qualifying race and my sixth marathon. I spent 13 weeks training for this race and had months of previous training and races under my belt. The big thing I was never sure I could properly train for was the significant amount of downhills at this race…18-20 miles of downhill to be exact with the final miles on a relatively flat grade. I also had never traveled this far for a race before so there were some additional prep and logistics to take into account. There were a lot of lessons learned at this race and while there are some things I would do differently, I think one sign of a good race is knowing that I would do it again. To quote a phrase of my old boss, “last line first.” I was running this race with the hopes of qualifying for the 30-34 age group 2014 Boston Marathon. I came in 42 seconds shy of a BQ and finished in 3:35:42. Now for the details! Continue reading →