Newport 10 Miler – Race #3

May 13, 2013 by 15 Comments

Newport 10 Miler

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

This is how I started my email to Coach Bennett to let him know how the race went (my apologies to Charles Dickens) – pretty much sums up this race day.

A couple of weeks ago I ran the inaugural Newport 10 Miler with my running buddy E. Let’s just say this run did not go as I had hoped — in a nutshell, my stomach mysteriously decided to not cooperate just a mere 2 and half miles into the course. I have no idea what set it off because I have become boring and predictable in my pre-run/race fueling. But,  it was not happy and any attempt at picking up the pace was met with serious discomfort….not a great way to spend the remaining 7.5 miles!

By the mile 4 water stop, I was walking – I urged E to keep going saying I would catch up. And while I kept her in my sights for the next 2 miles, by the mile 6 water stop I did something I’ve never done in a race before – I came to a deadstop! Not good! This race really was a mental battle – there was a lot of self talk going on – I used every mental game I could think of to will myself through those final miles.

So what about “the best of times” part?

The course was beautiful! Seriously Newport is a beautiful spot to run – we were either along the water or running among the mansions. The wonderful scenery helped to be a much needed distraction.

Newport group 3

Jill, Nancy, Samantha, me & Amy

A chance to meet-up with these wonderful ladies is always good!

 

Got to finally meet the lovely Kim, co-leader of Black Girls Run Boston.  She hung out with E & I at the start and best of all I spotted her with just over a mile to go – she became just the focal point I needed to push hard and we ended up crossing the finish line together!

With Kim at Newport 10

Despite my stomach distress, the rest of me felt really good and still managed to will myself to tie my 10-mile PR! And while I wish I had been able to run every step with E, she absolutely rocked this race and is now talking about joining me for a half marathon – so proud of her!

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The race itself was a good one – a couple of first year kinks like running out of some of the post-race food and poor planning on the t-shirt distribution…but those were minor. They were super-responsive to questions pre-race; it was a beautifully laid out course; and, they had a great group of enthusiastic volunteers at every water station. I will definitely be back to run this one again next year!

 

 

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Filed Under: #13in2013, blogger meet-ups, mental toughness, Newport 10 Miler, PR, race report

B.A.A Distance Medley – 5K Race Report

May 3, 2013 by 7 Comments

This year I’m participating in the 2nd Annual  B.A.A. Distance Medley which consists of a 5K, 10K and half marathon. The 5K was held the Sunday of the Boston Marathon weekend.

It was a great morning for a run — sunny but cool (just 40 or so). J and the boys decided they wanted to come cheer me on so the whole family headed into downtown Boston. Getting in and parking was easy. It was definitely chilly so I left the guys to do some warm up strides. Just as I was heading over to get my good luck hugs from my kiddos, I was lucky enough to find fellow FitFluential Ambassador Amy from Running Escapades and her husband in the crowd!

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As we stood in the shadows of the high-rises it was even cooler and I did my best to stay warm and loose. I chatted with some of the other runners and just tried to soak in the atmosphere. I couldn’t get over the size of the crowd for a 5K (5,000+ runners)  – the energy was great!

The downside of a crowd that big on a course that winds in and around the narrow streets of Boston’s Back Bay was the amount of bobbing and weaving I had to do.  IMG_1989There were also a fair number of people who clearly didn’t seed themselves properly as I found myself running up on people who stopped to walk within the first half mile….seriously?! But I settled in the best I could and just enjoyed the run.

The B.A.A. had set the course up so we would finish the final “right on Hereford, left on Boylston” stretch and across the Marathon’s famous finish line. J and the boys were watching from the grandstands and said they could see me make the final turn on the jumbotron — my boys thought that was pretty cool and allowed my oldest son to catch these shots of the finish. (My youngest liked that I passed that guy right at the end!)

BAA 5K Collage

I made my way through the corral, got my medal and a bag of snacks and found my wonderful cheer squad!

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Overall I was happy with my time of 30:56 and I’m really looking forward to the B.A.A. 10K in June!

 

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Filed Under: #13in2013, B.A.A. Distance Medley, FitFluential, race report

April Rewind

May 1, 2013 by 6 Comments
I’ve always loved turning the page on the calendar and see a whole new month laid out before me. While April clearly provided some agonizing days, there were, for me, many good things mixed in there too!

 

Good things for April:
  • Continuing to run injury-free….always something to celebrate!
  • Returning to speed work at the track — truly my favorite workouts
  • Ran races #2 and 3 for the year (BAA 5K and the Newport 10 Miler) — race reports still to come
  • Fun blogger meet-ups
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Jill, Nancy, Samantha, me, Amy

  • Volunteering at the Boston Marathon!! This was hands-down one of my most favorite experiences! I was assigned to the Athletes’ Village working as a “bus greeter.” The energy of all of the runners was just the best and I had an awesome team of volunteers to work with.  There is no doubt that I will be back to volunteer in 2014!
 
What’s up for May:
  • RuntoRem Boston’s Run to Remember Half Marathon! This is my goal race for the spring and with all that has happened in Boston, I know this is going to be an extra-special race this year!
  • Log 100 miles
  • Another 30-day Ab Challenge
  • Continued focus on my nutrition

How ’bout you – any big plans for May?

 

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Filed Under: #13in2013, B.A.A. Distance Medley, blogger meet-ups, Boston Marathon, Boston's Run to Remember, month in review, Newport 10 Miler

Race #1 Done, 12 to go

February 25, 2013 by 10 Comments

The Frosty Virtual 5K/10K/Half was benefiting the American Cancer Society – a cause I was very happy to support.  I lost both my grandmothers to cancer and both of those amazing women were on my mind Saturday morning.

Frosty 5kI stuck to my plan and got out early to run my 5K to beat the predicted snow storm and my son’s hockey game – the snow turned out to be nothing, but it was fun watching my son have one of his best games in his team’s win!

My running buddy E was heading out for 8 so we set out and ran the first mile together. I settled into a comfortable pace – not looking for a PR, just a good solid run and to enjoy a rare day of  no wind nor frigid temps.  Once I hit the distance, I decided to re-trace my route so I could get at least 6 miles in.

Thanks again to Jospehine over at Plant-based Runner for hosting this race.  She raised $1,000 for the American Cancer Society and even provided all of us with medals! She’s got some other races planned so be sure to check her out her blog.

Week 2 of half marathon training is done, school vacation week is over and it’s time to get more focused! Still in base-building phase, so this upcoming week looks like this:

Monday – 6 miles on a hilly route

Tuesday – Cross-training — Haven’t decided what I’ll do yet, but I may break out Jillian Michael’s 30-day Shred

Wednesday – Rest

Thursday – 8 miles with 5 at tempo pace and my 2 hr killer yoga class

Friday – Rest

Saturday – 10 mile LSD

Sunday – More cross-training

I’m also still working on the 30-day ab/core challenge – just 15 minutes a day to build a stronger core. It looks like the weather gods should cooperate this week and I’m looking forward to staying off the ‘mill and being outside!

What have you got planned for this week?

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Filed Under: #13in2013, core work, half marathon training, virtual race

Here we go again

February 22, 2013 by 3 Comments

It’s been school vacation week here and I will admit this is usually a week I dread because it’s usually too cold to be outdoors and every museum, movie theater, arcade, bowling ally or other possible indoor activity is jam-packed with other desperate parents looking to keep the kids entertained.

But despite my apprehension it’s been a good week – We’ve kept the boys busy with skiing and snowboarding, sledding, board (and yes, some video) games, and time with friends. While my running has definitely taken a backseat this week, there’s been some cross-training and my boys have really gotten into the 30-day ab challenge with me 🙂

Once again we’re expecting another snow storm this weekend – yes that’s the third weekend in a row for those of you keeping track! tired20of20snow

The local weather people can barely contain their excitement while I’m seriously not looking forward to another round of cross-training in the form of shoveling.

And, once again I’m scheduled to get my first race in of 2013 – this time it’s the Frosty Virtual 5K/10K/Half Marathon to benefit the American Cancer Society. Since the snow/rain mess is due to kick in sometime Saturday afternoon my plan is to get out uber early on Saturday morning and get my 5K in before my son’s hockey game. At least I know this race won’t be canceled 😉

Are you racing this weekend?
Or have a date with a snow shovel?

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Filed Under: #13in2013, general musings, race, school vacation, virtual race

First race this weekend!

February 15, 2013 by 3 Comments

My first race of 2013 is Sunday – the Wampanoag Old-Fashioned 10 Miler.

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(Yes this is last year’s poster)

I ran this race last year with my husband J as a tune up to the RnR USA half marathon. It was a fun race on a nice course and right after the race I pretty much decided that I would run it again this year.

I like the timing of this race – it has kept me motivated to keep hitting some double digit runs post-holidays…something that, given the frigid temps and snowy conditions we’ve had, I have definitely needed. I’m so psyched my friend E will be running this one with me — this will be her first 10 mile race! It’s suppose to snow Saturday night so it could make for interesting conditions. We’ll be keeping our goals pretty flexible and see what the course gives us….and, of course, have fun!

Anyone else racing this weekend?

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Filed Under: #13in2013, Old-fashioned 10 Miler, race

Goals – One month down

January 31, 2013 by 8 Comments

So it’s the end of January – 2013 is 31 days old.

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How are you doing with your goals so far?

My goals? Well it’s still early but I’m doing the things I need to do to lay the foundation.

  • My pursuit of the 13 in 2013 Challenge begins with two races in February. I also recently registered for the Boston Athletic Association’s Distance Medley, which adds 3 more races. So I’m more than half way to my goal (at least from a registration point of view!)
  • PR goals will have to wait for my goal races in May and June.
  • Now that I’m back to double digit long runs, I’ve returned to the chiro (in addition to yoga and foam roller) to stay off of injured-reserve.
  • After reading Jason’s post on Cook Train Eat Race about core work, I joined the 30-day Ab Challenge-Core Work Facebook group. The goal is to do 30 straight days of core work — this will go a long way towards my strength training goal!
So that’s where things stand for me. 
Tell me – how did things go for you in January?
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Filed Under: #13in2013, BAA, goals, month in review

Race plans taking shape

January 14, 2013 by 16 Comments

We had a pretty low-key weekend around my house, which went a long way in helping me to get back to feeling like myself again. I did manage a decent 8 miles on Saturday – actually, I felt surprisingly good! It was the kind of run that reassured me that despite not logging in a lot of miles over these last couple of weeks that I haven’t done too much damage to my fitness level, and that I’m not too far off from where I want to be right now.

So fingers crossed that this cold/crud thing is behind me, I took some time this weekend to try to flesh out my race schedule for at least the first half of the year:

February:
Wampanoag Old-fashioned 10 Miler
Frozen 5K/10K (Virtual race to benefit the American Cancer Society sponsored by Josephine over at Plant Based Runner – check out the details HERE)

March:
New Bedford Half Marathon

April:
BAA 5K

May:
Boston’s Run to Remember  (Goal Race!)

June:
BAA 10K

Registration hasn’t opened yet for the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) races – and they are popular so I’ll have to be quick on the keyboard to get in. I will probably add a local 5K in somewhere along the way. My oldest son has announced that he would like to run a 5K with me this spring so I cannot wait to make that happen!

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Filed Under: #13in2013, BAA, Boston's Run to Remember, family running, Old-fashioned 10 Miler, race calendar

Are you ready?

January 2, 2013 by 20 Comments

Happy 2013! 

I woke up yesterday morning feeling very revved up to get this new year off to a great start! I truly love that feeling of staring at a blank calendar and the anticipation of what lies ahead (OK in truth my calendar is already filled with my sons’ hockey games, lacrosse and baseball skills clinics and various other school activities…but you get my point!)

Over the past few days, I’ve poured over various race listings trying to get a handle on how I’m going to tackle the 13 in 2013 Challenge and balance my family’s ever-busy schedule. I’m still playing with several ideas, but I do know that I want to run another half this spring before running Boston’s Run to Remember Memorial Day weekend. So I’m targeting St. Patty’s weekend – it gives me 11 weeks, and with my current base and the Old-Fashioned 10 miler next month, I should be in good shape. The next question is which race? I’m considering  RnR USA, New Bedford Half or the Historic Quincy Half. While we had a fun family weekend in DC at RnR last year, but I’m leaning towards staying local this time around.

In any event it’s time to get moving! I’ve got my training plan mapped out, and kicked it off yesterday with an easy 5K. Today it’s time to get back strength training. Let the games begin!

Are you gearing up for a spring race?

 

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Filed Under: #13in2013, half marathon training, race calendar

Recharging for 2013

December 29, 2012 by 8 Comments

We’ve been in full holiday celebration mode for a week now around my house – soaking in time with family and friends. After all of the rushing around and planning, it’s been great to be present in the moment and just enjoy the days as they’ve unfolded. It wasn’t until late yesterday afternoon, curled up under a blanket nursing a sore throat that I really started to think about goals for 2013.

Looking back at the running goals I laid out in January, I’m happy to say that I hit almost all of them (the 10K PR still eludes me). I had a heck of a lot of fun this year with lots of highs:

  • taking the whole family along for a race in DC
  • getting to meet a bunch of runner/bloggers
  • serving as a ZOOMA race ambassador
  • getting away with my friend E for run and fun at ZOOMA Cape Cod
  • working with my running coach Bennett Cohen – learned so much!!
  • new PRs in the half marathon, 10-miler and 5K
  • ran over 900 miles

Now that I’ve had a little down time, I’m looking forward to kicking up my training for a half marathon in March (still debating which one!). So, what are some of my running/fitness goals for the upcoming year?

  • complete the 13 in 2013 Challenge— I think I’ve almost got the race calendar sorted out!
  • looking to shave some more time off my best times for both the half marathon and 10K (specific target times to come later) – I really need to find a flatter course for the half!
  • continue to do all of things that I believe helped to keep me off the injury-reserve list — yoga, strength training, massages and time with the chiro.

But, as always, the biggest goal is to continue to have fun — to run with friends, to run in some new locales, try an obstacle course race (or two), be a race volunteer, and have more blogger meet-ups!

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Filed Under: #13in2013, goals, keeping it interesting, PR