Old-fashioned 10 Miler

A Slow Start

January 6, 2019 by Michelle 38 Comments

Well, I had hoped to come out of the gates strong to start the year, but this migraine/cold/crud thing I’ve been dealing with since New Year’s Eve threw a wrench in those plans. Aside from some yoga on New Year’s Day, this week was largely about listening to my body and resting.

By Friday, I was itching to get out for a run and the stars aligned. It was in the 40s and sunny, I was feeling decent enough to try a run, and I had the safety net of my husband J, who was working from home, on standby if I needed to be bailed out. The hope was to get at least 3 miles, but I felt surprisingly good and decided to deviate to one my five-mile loops.

I think my smile here tells you how this run went!

The run went really well, but boy was I wiped out afterward. Back to the yoga mat and cross-training in the form of putting my house back in order from the holidays. I’ll be back at it on Monday.

First race on the horizon

Laying low on my couch left me with lots of time to peruse all of the registration deals filling up my inbox. And first up on my race calendar this year will be the Old-Fashioned Ten Miler (OFTM)! This is a great race put on by one of the local running clubs. It’s been a few years since I’ve run it, and I love that its early date (Feb 17) will force me to not hibernate this month.

And that’s a wrap!

I’m joining Wendy and Holly for the Weekly Wrap. Be sure to stop by and show both of these great ladies some blog love!

How was your week? Are you good about resting when you need to?

Filed Under: Old-fashioned 10 Miler, Weekly Wrap

2017 Race Calendar

January 10, 2017 by Michelle 19 Comments

As I mentioned over coffee the other day, I’ve been going round in circles on my race calendar. And, while the fall still pretty fuzzy, I’ve got the first half of the year pinned down.

Super Sunday 5 Miler — This race is being billed in part as a celebration of completing the Winter Challenge. There will be live music, food and beer post-race, with all proceeds going to the Race Cancer Foundation. Plus many of my BGR teammates will be there – sounds like a good way to kick off Super Bowl Sunday!

The Old Fashioned 10 Miler — This is a great local race that I’ve missed the past couple of years. I love 10 milers and this is a challenging course.

NYC Half Marathon — Running through Central Park, Times Square and finishing in Battery Park – what’s not to love?!

Boston’s Run to Remember Half Marathon — I opted for the 5 miler at last year’s race because I was far from “half marathon” shape. This is one of my favorite Boston races and will be my goal race for the spring!

Finish at the 50 5K/10K — While I’m not a fan of summer racing, this race has such a fun vibe, with a finish at the 50 yard line at Gillette Stadium, followed by 4th of July fireworks. Added bonus, this will a family affair with both my sons and husband all running!

As for the fall….

I know I’d like to run at least one half marathon…maybe two…the wish list is all over the place, including:

B.A.A. Half — Boston Athletic Association always does a great race and this half sells out in record time. The year I “ran” it I was injured and was out there to be moral support for a friend who was running her first.

RnR Montreal and/or RnR Savannah — Both cities are on my “must see” city list.

Newport Half — Such a pretty course!

And, given my goal to mix-up the distances, there are also a bunch of great 10Ks within driving distances to consider.

Decisions, decisions…guess I’ll see how the spring goes and then figure it out from there.

Have you run any of these races? Got a suggestion for me for the fall?

I’m linking up with Erika, Marcia and Patty for this week’s Tuesday on the Run, where the topic is weekend warrior vs racecation – which do you prefer? Be sure to stop by and see what others are planning.

Filed Under: BAA, Boston's Run to Remember, Finish at the 50, NYC Half, Old-fashioned 10 Miler, race calendar, RnR, Tuesdays on the Run

The race that didn’t happen

February 18, 2013 by Michelle 8 Comments

So Mother Nature was in a mood this weekend and Sunday’s race didn’t happen. When a race director describes the conditions as “treacherous” thanks to a combination of a couple of inches of snow and 45 mph winds – I’m good with the decision to postpone the race.

What I was not good with was the email from the race director I received later that said they were not going to reschedule (as they had originally announced), but instead cancel the race! I think if you’re going to host a race in New England in February you should have contingency plans in place that account for the weather. Leaving 1,000 runners with no alternative but a $10 off next year’s registration didn’t sit well with me… and I told the director as much. I was not looking for a refund but a good faith effort to move forward with the race and I’m just not certain that every effort was made to find a way to reschedule the race in the few hours that passed between the decision to postpone and the decision to cancel.

I’ve had a race postponed due to weather safety issues before and I remember how thrilled all of us runners were when the race was rescheduled – it was a great day out on the course and the runners literally applauded the race director and volunteers for getting it done. Needless to say I returned to run that race again the following year.

Have you ever had a race canceled? How did you feel about it?

Filed Under: Old-fashioned 10 Miler, race, to race or not, weather

First race this weekend!

February 15, 2013 by Michelle 3 Comments

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

(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?

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

Race plans taking shape

January 14, 2013 by Michelle 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!

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

Wamapanoag Old-Fashioned 10 Miler Race Report

February 20, 2012 by Michelle 12 Comments

On Saturday, J and I drove the course to get a better sense of the race’s director’s definition of “rolling hills.” Well they didn’t lie – a nice fairly flat start and then the rolling began around mile 3 and continue through mile 6, but nothing dramatic. Mile 7 was one longer climb, but by 7.5 it leveled off to a nice flat finish.

OK so now I knew what I was in for, I had two simple goals for the race: 1) finish uninjured and 2) finish ahead of my 10-mile split from the Philly Half (1:53:48). The one thing that had me worried was that I felt horrible when I went to bed. Both my stomach and head had not been cooperating for the past couple of days – I just hoped that whatever it was would be gone by morning.Yeah well, no such luck!

I went through my usual morning routine but I was not doing well. At one point J even asked me if I was sure I was going to run, and for half a second I considered not going. But I figured, if all else fails, it would just be a slow training run. We picked up our numbers and chatted with people while waiting for the bathrooms (indoor ladies’ room – score!). It was warming up nicely so we went back to the car to dump our extra clothes and then I made a critical mistake – I took a GU. By the time we did our warm-up jog over to the start, my stomach was doing flip-flops again. Uggh…here we go.

J’s plan was to stay with me for the first mile or so – this was his first time running 10 miles and he was worried about going out too fast (He ran a great race, by the way!!). But once we started I knew almost immediately that we were going too fast. I glanced at my Garmin around a half mile – 9:36…yeah too fast! We slowed just a little. By 1.5 miles I could tell he was itching to move a little faster so I told him to have fun and sent him on his way. As the rolling part of the course started I knew this was going to be more of a mental race than anything else – could I keep myself distracted from my stomach and headache enough to hold a decent pace? I tried to enjoy the scenic course and beautiful weather. I thanked volunteers, said hi to the little kids cheering, encouraged other runners and focused on my music (I was grateful for a new playlist!). The fresh air definitely was definitely helping my headache…the stomach was just angry!

I managed the hills well, but did need to briefly walk part of the final climb. Once I hit mile 8, I knew it was flat to the finish. Frankly, I was tired of feeling like I was going to throw up – I just wanted to be done! Somewhere along the final stretch I heard someone call my name – it was Jose from And So It Burns! He had already finished but ran along with me towards the finish. Alleluiah the finish! Garmin read 10.08 miles 1:51:35! J, Jose and I chatted a bit before he headed out – it’s always great to meet the people behind the blogs you enjoy! (Jose I’m so glad you found me and stopped to say hi!)

So I hit my goals – no injuries (legs felt really good!) and a 2:13 PR despite feeling cruddy! Definitely a confidence boost with 4 weeks till RnR USA Half. All-in-all it was a good local race I would definitely run again!