My Best 5K

July 22, 2013 by 14 Comments

Sunday morning I ran my best 5K yet!

And there was no PR or great bling involved. The race itself was full of logistically glitches typical of a new race (mis-measured course, not enough porta potties…you get the idea).

picmonkey_image (5)It was the best 5K because I got to run with my son as he completed his first 5K!

I watched him push himself to go further than he’d ever run before (and in very warm conditions!), watched him experience both the “I can’t believe I’m about to do this!” moments, along with the “what if I can’t finish” moments.

We had a great conversation along the way – none of which I’ll share here…stays between Mom and son. Except that I will say about half way through he started talking about his next race – “it should be in the fall when it’s cooler and I’ll be better trained” – at that moment I knew that despite the heat and walk breaks, he was really enjoying himself!

picmonkey_image (4) I especially loved seeing the look on his face when he knew the finish line was close and watching him sprint to the end! It was a proud mama moment for me from beginning to end – and I can’t wait to do it again 🙂

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Filed Under: #13in2013, family running, firsts, race report

Thursday’s this and that

July 18, 2013 by 12 Comments

It’s been a busy week so far around here – we’ve started a couple of new house projects, the boys both started camp this week (and are loving it) – which is perfect timing too as I started working with a new client developing their social media campaigns – should be a fun gig!

I also started my fall training this week and while I was psyched to get started the timing couldn’t have been worse. We’re in the middle of our 3rd heat wave of the summer here in the Northeast and with heat indexes approaching 100, I can’t seem to get up early enough to escape having my runs feel more like a swim. On the good side, the end is in sight and we should have some relief from the humidity by Sunday – just in time to run with my son in his first 5K!

I received my confirm for the B.A.A. Half Marathon yesterday morning!

BAA_Half_2013Banner_600x250

Registration opened yesterday at 10 and the B.A.A. announce they’d sold out in 12 minutes – what!?! Since this is the third race in the B.A.A. Distance Medley, I didn’t have to worry about trying to register, but I was thrilled to get a text from my running buddy E telling me that she got in! It will be her first half marathon – Can not wait to run this with her!

How ‘s your week going?

 

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Filed Under: 3 things, B.A.A. Distance Medley, weather

Monday Motivation – Fall Training Begins

July 15, 2013 by 5 Comments

 

young woman running on rural road at sunrise

The fall race schedule is shaping up to be a busy one – let the training begin! #AllforFall

What will you start today?

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Filed Under: #13in2013, #IWill, fall racing, half marathon training, Monday Motivation

The ABCs of Me

July 12, 2013 by 6 Comments

This Friday’s randomness is brought to you courtesy of Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, who tagged me a couple of days ago with a get to know you ABC game. So grab your coffee cup and here we go….

A. Attached or Single? Married for almost 21 years!

B.  Best friend? I’m very lucky to have some wonderful friends in my life – not naming just one!

C. Cake or pie? Flourless chocolate cake

D. Day of choice? Sundays – it’s the one day of the week where I may get to sleep in, we usually have a big family breakfast followed by a lazy, family hang-out day (except during Lacrosse season or if I’m racing)

E. Essential Item?  I am ridiculously dependent on my smartphone!

F. Favorite color? It seems to change – right  now I love deep purples – though you’d never know it by looking at my wardrobe

G. Gummy bears or worms?  Truthfully, neither.

H. Home town? Boston!  boston_skyline

I. Favorite Indulgence?  A good glass of red wine.

J. January or July? January – I love having a whole fresh year laid out in front of me!

K. Kids? Two great boys and one lovable German Shepherd

L. Life isn’t complete without? Family and friends

M. Marriage date? October 11th

N. Number of brothers/sisters? 1 wonderful brother

O. Oranges or Apples? Apples!

P. Phobias? Spiders…well all bugs, but especially spiders – skeeve me out!

Q. Quotes? There are several quotes I like, but one favorite is:

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” –Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

R. Reasons to smile? Without a doubt my boys!

S. Season of choice? Fall – it’s always been my favorite time of the year! Cool, but not cold, weather – perfect for running and football!  And the foliage in N.E. is beautiful!

T. Tag 5 People  I’m going to pass on tagging anyone – but if you want to play along, please leave me a link so I can read your post.

U. Unknown fact about me? As part of my major in college, I use to be fluent in Japanese – sadly I’m not anymore.

V. Vegetable?  Grilled asparagus

W. Worst habit? I’m very Type A which makes me a bit of a perfectionist.

X. Xray or Ultrasound? Odd question, but I guess ultrasounds because it meant I was seeing my baby!

Y. Your favorite food?  Sushi

Z. Zodiac sign? Leo

Have a great weekend!

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Filed Under: general musings, MLK, randomness

Summer mode

July 9, 2013 by 6 Comments

summertime1We have comfortably shifted into summer mode here in the RWA household – the pace has slowed, there’s far less clock watching and on some days this usually high-energy family has become downright lazy! And I say thank goodness 🙂

While getting out early in the morning before the heat really cranks up doesn’t allow for much sleeping in, I have passed on a couple of runs in favor of catching more ZZZs – I figure my both my mind and body will thank me later. When I do run, there’s been almost no attention paid to my Garmin – it’s just been about getting some miles in and trying to acclimate. I’m most definitely not breaking any land speed records and I’m good with that. I know that soon enough I’ll be focused in on hitting paces and more structured workouts as I start training for my fall races.  I am starting to kick my strength training up as I’ve started another 30 ab/core challenge and I’m heading back to my beloved Pilates classes later this week.

How’s your summer going? Have you started training for your fall race yet?

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Filed Under: general musings, just having fun, summer mode

Finish at the 50 10K Recap

July 5, 2013 by 6 Comments

Finish at 50 logo

On Wednesday,  the whole family once again ventured out to Gillette Stadium to take part in the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50. This was our second year doing this event – my oldest participated in the kids’ races and I ran the 10K. J and my youngest son played chief cheerleaders – which quiet honestly may have been the smarter choice!

OK so how to write this recap without it being a complete whine-fest about the heat?! Let me start by saying it was 88 degrees with a dewpoint of 70 – translation the heat and humidity combination was downright oppressive! Combined with the late day start time (6:30 p.m.), this morning runner was way out of my comfort zone!

The Good Stuff

  • The kids races were a lot of fun and my oldest son did great!

    getting a "Congrats!" from Pat the Patriot

    getting a “Congrats!” from Pat the Patriot

  • They changed the location of the 10K starting line so we started in the shade this year
  • The 5K race started an hour before the 10K to help elevate the crowded start
  • Several wonderful residents of Foxborough took pity on us runners and broke out their hoses for some impromptu misting stations – bless them!
  • Enthusiastic volunteers did a great job at the water stops and generally just being really encouraging
  • Challenging course with the first 4.5 miles on a rolling out and back through residential neighborhoods before coming back into the stadium for 1.5 miles of ramps before the final tunnel run to finish at the 50-yard line

The Ugly Stuff

  • It was HOT people – just ugly, soul-sucking hot!
  • ramps-smallRunning those ramps — surprisingly, going up the ramps wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was running down them that proved a lot more challenging, especially when you threw in the hairpin turns at each level. By this point my quads were just screaming to be done!

IMG_2160Post race was like one big tailgate party as runners and their families hang out and wait for the fireworks. We enjoyed a great picnic dinner and the fireworks display did not disappoint!

Overall this is a really well-run family event and a fun way to kick-off our 4th of July celebration! I did say to J shortly after finishing that I just don’t see myself running this again next year – at least not the 10K. J said he may try it and I think I’ll be happy to swap roles as chief cheerleader 🙂

Do you run a 4th of July race?

 

 

 

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Filed Under: #13in2013, family running, Finish at the 50, just having fun, race report

Happy 4th!

July 4, 2013 by 1 Comment

Fireworks2

Wishing you all a very happy and safe 4th of July!

 

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Filed Under: 4th of July

Midway Point

July 1, 2013 by 6 Comments

Amazing to think that we are already through the first 6 months of 2013. Seems like a perfect time for some reflection on my goals for this year.

13 in 2013 Challenge — I’ve completed five races so far with two more on tap for this month. Despite missing two races earlier this year, both thanks in part to Mother Nature (1 canceled due to weather and 1 missed due to minor injury after slipping on black ice), I think hitting the magic 13 is still possible.

Chasing PRs — After missing my target at Run to Remember, I’ll have to wait to see what my fall races bring.  Knowing that I was so close in May despite battling stomach issues the final five miles of the race has me more fired up to get after this goal. I know when I resume training next week I’m going to be more focused than ever to crush it.

Staying off injured-reserve — A patch of black ice took me off my game momentarily at the end of February, but I wasn’t down long. Time with my chiro, yoga and some strength training has all helped to keep me feeling pretty good. I know there is a lot more I could be doing in the strength training department, so I will be giving this a lot more attention during the second half of the year.

Race Volunteer — Had the great pleasure of volunteering for the Boston Marathon helping to greet runners in Hopkinton – it was a great experience and I’m already looking forward to next year.

Run an Obstacle Course — My running buddy E and I are eyeing one for September – stay tuned 🙂

Keep having fun — Running with friends, blogger meet-ups, running in new locales and most recently running with my son — all good stuff and I’m looking forward to more of all of the above over the next 6 months!

How are you doing vs your 2013 goals?

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Filed Under: #13in2013, goals

Designer Whey Giveaway Winners

June 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

A huge thank you again to Designer Whey for sponsoring this giveaway!

Without further ado, the winners of a canister of Designer Whey Sustained Energy™ protein power, as selected by Random.org, are:

  1. Rena Jiang
  2. Renata
  3. Kelly @ Cupcake Kelly
  4. Raymond
  5. Suegene Wagner
  6. Half Crazed from Half Crazed Runner

Congratulations! Please contact me at runningwithattitude (at) yahoo (dot) com with all your contact information.

Happy Friday!

 

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Filed Under: #DesignerWhey, giveaways

Thursday Thoughts

June 27, 2013 by 7 Comments

It’s not the Heat it’s the Humidity….we’ve been in the midst of a heat wave since the weekend so that means the return to early morning runs! Making the shift is always a little tough the first few days, but I do love the feeling of being home and done long before the kids have to be out the door for school.

And speaking of school….we have finally hit the home stretch! Tomorrow is the last day 🙂 Hard to believe that I will soon be mom to a 2nd grader and a middle-schooler! As we’ve been inching closer to the last day of school, the boys have been steadily adding to our Summer Bucket List – they’ve got big plans for the next 9 1/2 weeks. Let the fun begin!

ramps-smallIn the “What is she thinking category?“…I’ve been debating between the 5K and 10K for next week’s Finish at the 50 and then I got an email with this picture. Those are ramps inside Gillette Stadium – they’re also the final 2.2 miles of the 10K course! We all know how much I hate don’t love hills, especially at the end of a run, but believe it or not I’ve decided I’m going to do the 10K. If this crazy heat continues I may be cursing this decision…stay tuned 😉

Don’t forget….my Designer Whey Sustained Energy giveaway  ends tonight at 11:00 p.m. EST

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Filed Under: #DesignerWhey, 3 things, early morning runs, Finish at the 50, giveaways, hills