Thankful for Running

November 26, 2019 by 20 Comments

Running brings challenges.. successes both big and small…. it brings joy…and sometimes frustration.

It provides a quiet space to sort through a cluttered mind or a mix of emotions.

It opens a connection to others…who cheer, commiserate, and support – it brings friendships.

It presents an opportunity to answer the “what if’s”

Sometimes the steps come easy…often the steps come with great effort. I’m grateful for both…as long as the steps come.

I am thankful for running and all that it brings to my life.

I am linking up with Kim and Zenaida for Tuesday Topics.

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Filed Under: gratitude, Tuesday Topics

Weekly Run Down – Catching up

November 17, 2019 by 18 Comments

Halfway through the month already!

While things have been extra quiet in my little corner of the blogosphere, the workouts have been happening, I’m making progress on my November goals, and I may have found a new obsession!

Running

With the exception of one very sluggish day, my runs over the past two weeks have been pretty good. Mother Nature has essentially pulled the plug on fall weather, so I’ve pushed most of my runs to the afternoon when it’s relatively warmer. And, given how hectic work’s been lately, the added bonus to these afternoon runs has proven to be a good stress-reliever. With the distances hovering between 3 – 5 miles, I’ve been playing with picking up the pace, and have been rewarded with a handful of negative split runs!

Orangetheory Fitness

One of my big goals for November is to focus on more cross-training so this week I finally got a chance to check out Orangetheory Fitness. And, let me just say, it was love at first workout! OTF offers first-timers a free class so I signed up for my first class on Wednesday. The theme of the class was “Power” – it was fun and challenging, and I really liked the vibe, so I was in! I followed up with my second class on Friday and can’t wait to go back next week!

Other November Goals

On my other November goals, so far it’s a bit of a mixed bag. While my plank streak is holding strong on Day 17, my eating habits are, at best, still a work in progress. And, on the race calendar planning, I’ve got my first 3 races for 2020 by registering for the New England 10 Miler Series. I love 10-mile races so I’m really looking forward to this!

So tell me, have you registered for any 2020 races yet? Ever tried Orangetheory?

I’m linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.

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Filed Under: OTF, race calendar, Weekly Run Down

Weekly Run Down and November Goals

November 3, 2019 by 29 Comments

Each month I like to set a couple of monthly goals to help me stay on track. So with October now in the rearview mirror, it’s time to share some goals for November.

But first, I’m linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.

Weekly Run Down

Monday — Strength training

Tuesday — 3 soggy miles

Wednesday — Rest

Thursday — 3 miles. Wrapping up October with 63 miles.

Friday — Strength training and the start of a new plank streak

Saturday — 3 more miles on a gorgeous morning!

Fall running makes me happy!

Sunday — Got a brisk morning walk with my husband and pup before settling in to watch the NYC Marathon.

November Goals

A new month means new goals! What are you planning? #goals #last90days #runchat #keepshowingup Share on X
  • Plank Streak — I’ve been really inconsistent in my core work, so I’m going to use daily planking to build some consistency.
  • Clean up my eating — Honestly, I’m still eating like I’m running all the miles! LOL! It’s time to reel it and get back on track.
  • Cross Training 2x’s/week — I’ve been itching to try OTF, and with less weekly mileage on my plan, it feels like a good time to try it out.
  • 2020 race planning — WIth just one more race on the calendar for this year, I’m going to start sketching out what next year could look like.

How was your week? Did you watch the NYC Marathon? Any November goals?

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Filed Under: goals, Weekly Run Down

November Coffee Date

November 1, 2019 by 20 Comments

Hello November!

2019 continues to roll along at a swift pace and now there are just a mere 61 days left in the year – say what now?!

Well, what say we kick this month off with a little catch up over coffee. I’m linking up with Deborah and Coco for the Ultimate Coffee Date, so grab a mug of your fave hot beverage and let’s chat.

November’s Ultimate Coffee Date

Over coffee, I would tell you that I’m sorry to see October go! There was so much good stuff happening – long-overdue catch-ups with friends, parents’ weekend at my son’s school, the family’s annual apple picking outing, celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary, blogger/IG friends meet-ups…and that little 26.2 jaunt through the streets of Chicago!

Over coffee, I would tell you how much I’m looking forward to driving out to western MA this weekend to see my son’s cross country meet. I can still remember how happy I was the first time he asked if he could run with me and I love that he’s embraced running the way he has.

Flashback to his first 5K and probably the last time I could keep up with him!

Over coffee, I would tell you I’m on another one of my purging sprees. While I admit to letting some things slide during marathon training…cause honestly who has the energy…I swear all of this stuff in my house cannot be ours!

What would you tell me over coffee?

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Filed Under: Ultimate coffee date

Weekly Run Down – Recovery Mode

October 27, 2019 by 22 Comments

Happy Sunday!

After taking a full week off following the Chicago Marathon where I did nothing more than some stretching and lots of rolling, I used this past week to slowly ease back into working out. I’m linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.

Recovery Mode

Monday — Kicked off the week with a strength workout.

Tuesday — Rest day.

Wednesday — Cross training on the Arc Trainer.

Nice to get reacquainted with my fave cardio machine

Thursday — Time on my yoga mat, plus a trip to the massage therapist.

Friday — 3-mile run. It was a beautiful morning and it was great to see that my legs hadn’t forgotten how to do this running thing!

Saturday — I had planned to run, but knowing that I had a big work event in the evening that would require me to be on my feet for hours (and hours), I opted to spend the day running errands instead of miles.

Sunday — As I suspected my legs were toast this morning so I’ll be dragging out my yoga mat again later today.

As you can see, I kept things nice and low-keyed this week, and I’m totally good with that! For the upcoming week, I’m planning on returning to 6 days of working out with at least 3 runs. At the moment, I don’t have anything on my race calendar until the Chocolate Marshmallow 10K in early December, so I’m looking forward to running by feel vs. training plan for a bit.

Sending out a huge congratulations to all the runners taking on MCM in tough rainy conditions today!

Are you running for fun or training at the moment?

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Filed Under: Weekly Run Down

October Runfessions

October 25, 2019 by 15 Comments

So here we are once again in the final few days of the month – and what a month it’s been! Marcia has opened the runfessional to give us all a chance to cleanse our souls (or is that soles?) before the new month begins, and I’ve got a few things to share, so let’s get started, shall we?

October Runfessions

Following the marathon, my run coach urged me to take a week off from running. At first, I balked at the idea, however, taking those days off proved to be much easier than I thought – I runfess that I didn’t miss running!

Last month I runfessed grand plans to run a November half marathon so all the Chicago mileage I built up didn’t go to “waste”. Well, I runfess I’m kinda over it. Any of the local halfs I was considering are coming up in the next couple of weeks and, truth be told, I’m just not interested in running long – so now I’m eyeing 10Ks.

If you had talked to shortly after crossing the Chicago finish line, I was pretty clear that 26.2 miles was ridiculously far and that it was one and done for me. Well, it’s amazing what a difference a few days make – I runfess that I’ve started thinking about the possibility of running another one.

OK – your turn….what are you runfessing this month?

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Filed Under: Runfessions

Chicago Marathon – I did it!

October 18, 2019 by 30 Comments

After 18 weeks of training, I can’t believe that race day has already come and gone! I’m not even sure there is any way to sufficiently recap a marathon. There was so much to take in – the sights, the crowds, the distance…and unfortunately an angry hip flare-up that almost derailed the whole thing!

Chicago Marathon Recap

I was so happy to learn that IG friend Pam was not only staying in the same hotel but was also in my corral! So we made a plan to meet in the lobby at 6:45 to walk to the start together. I only managed to get a few hours of sleep Saturday night – no surprise – and I was up and moving long before my alarm. My husband J and I met Pam and made the 3/4 mile walk to the start. J and I said our goodbyes and Pam and I headed through the gate. It was so great hanging out with Pam, we chatted like old friends and it really helped to keep me calm.

As our corral inched its way towards the start I started to get a little teary – I was really going to do this! Pam and I hugged and wished each other a great race and like that, we were off!

Early miles

My plan was to break the race up into 4-mile “buckets” much the way I did with my long runs. Bucket 1 flew by in a blink and J was right where I thought he’d be. J had a pretty elaborate plan to try to see me multiple times on the course – I didn’t think there was any way he could hit all the spots he had planned…but spoiler alert he pulled it off, and I’m so glad he did!

The miles continue to click off and I was feeling so strong. I was hanging near the 5:30 pace group and the miles felt breezy. I hit mile 8 – bucket #2 was done. I started feeling some mild discomfort around my right hip. I saw J again and mentioned it to him but wasn’t too concerned. I snagged some Biofeeze from one of their tents, quickly slathered it on and pressed on. By mile 10 the discomfort had quickly gotten much more intense and I slowed a little.

Mid-Race

I plugged along and enjoyed every moment of the crowds. People were amazing and so encouraging! I stopped at the next aid station around mile 12 to get some help working out the intensifying knot in the muscles around my hip. While my angry hip had flared up occasionally during training, I’d been feeling really good during the final weeks leading up to the taper. I was so frustrated, but my new friend Larry helped to loosen the knot enough to get me moving again.

I hung on until just around 17 before making my second stop at an aid station. Here I met an angel of a woman named Michael. She was so positive and encouraging and did some deep tissue work to get my hip to cooperate again. When I told her it felt better and I was ready to roll again she yelled “Go finish this thing!” and I was off.

Final Miles

The crowds through Pilsen and Chinatown were amazing and I really fed off their energy. By the time I found J again at 23+ my right hip was beyond unhappy and I took my longest walk break. I remember telling myself that this was a good day because I was out there going after my goal and a lot of people don’t get to do that. There were just over 2 miles to go.

As I came down Michigan and looked up and saw the street sign for Roosevelt I thought I was going to cry. Up “Mount Roosevelt” and as I turned the corner I could see the finish line. I pushed with whatever I had left and reached my number one goal – I crossed the finish line upright and smiling!

Some Final Thoughts

I cannot say enough good things about the Chicago Marathon! I loved the course running through all of the neighborhoods and the spectators throughout were just incredible. The course support from the water stops & aid stations were top-notch.

To be honest, I am disappointed that my finish time doesn’t reflect what I think was a really solid training cycle. I know that you “shouldn’t” put pressure on yourself for the first marathon, but, as with any race, it is hard to train well and not have it come together on race day. Nonetheless, it was an amazing feeling to cross that finish line, and I’m really proud of my effort on a tough day.

A huge thank you to everyone for the support and encouragement – a special shoutout to my family, and my amazing husband who put up with my special brand of crazy these past many weeks!

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Filed Under: Chicago Marathon, race report

Chicago Marathon Week 18 – Race Week!

October 13, 2019 by 18 Comments

I finally made it to the last week of training! And, let me just say taper about put me over the edge! It was a week of trying to stay relaxed, light workouts and a trip to Chicago!

Chicago Marathon Training Week 18

Monday — Rest day, plus planks to keep the streak going.

Tuesday — 5 miles. A quick and easy run before endless rain descended on the area.

Wednesday — After a crazy workday I drove out to watch my son’s cross country meet. 3 hours in the car round trip, plus scaling hills in the pouring rain = not happy legs. But on the plus side, my son knocked a couple of minutes off his course time!

Thursday — After Wednesday’s adventure, I opted to pass on the 3-mile run on my plan, and instead spent some much needed time on my yoga mat, followed by a trip to the massage therapist.

Friday — Travel day! My husband J and I had an easy, uneventful flight to Chicago and we hit the expo after checking into our hotel. The expo was sensory-overload for sure, but fun!

Can you tell I’m a little excited to be there?!

Saturday — International Chicago 5K. We woke up to a serious drop in temps (try a real-feel of 28!) so instead of walking over to the race start, we shared a car with Kim and her mom. Staying warm while waiting in the corrals was a bit of a challenge, but the race itself was fun. We made sure to keep the pace nice and easy.

Later Kim and I met up with blogger/IG friends for brunch at Beatrix. So much fun! It was really nice to meet Jen, to see Erica again, and to finally meet Lacey.

Lacey, Erica, me, Kim & Jen

Sunday — Chicago Marathon! Race recap to come, but I am happy to say that I crossed that finish line!

Total miles for the week – 34.3
Total miles on the road to Chicago – 474.5

That’s my quick run down  – now I’m off to rest and eat all the things 🙂

I’m linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.

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Filed Under: Chicago Marathon, marathon training, Weekly Run Down

Chicago Marathon – Just 7 days to go

October 6, 2019 by 31 Comments

Seven days…just seven days! By this time next week, I will be out somewhere on the streets of Chicago. But, before I get ahead of myself, here’s a quick rundown of this past week.

Chicago Marathon Training Week 17

Monday —  I wrapped up September with a rest day and 140 miles for the month!

September miles

Tuesday —  5 miles. October kicked off hot and steamy. It was 74 degrees before sunrise – not cool Mother Nature! It was a really good run despite the humid conditions. I also started a new plank streak.

Wednesday — I woke up just feeling off so I did a short core workout, including my plank and called it a day.

Thursday — I don’t know if it was the rainy weather or my mileage catching up with me, but I was feeling creaky. So I pushed my run to Friday and opted for some time on my mat.

Friday — 6 miles. This was probably one of the worst runs I’d had in a while. I felt like I was dragging the whole time and could not get out of my head.

Yep, this sign in the road pretty much summed it up!

Saturday — 8.5 miles. And just like that this run was glorious! It was just 38 degrees when I started so I had to break out gloves for this one but I was not complaining. This run was everything Friday’s run was not!

Total miles for the week – 19.5
Total miles on the road to Chicago – 440.2

Today, and most of this week really will be very low-keyed. Daily planks, rolling/stretching, and my PT exercises. I have just two short runs this week plus the International Chicago 5K on Saturday…and then training is done. My biggest challenge this week will be keeping my nerves under control!

That’s my rundown for the week! Any suggestions for race week?

I’m linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.

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Filed Under: Chicago Marathon, marathon training, Weekly Run Down

October Coffee Date

October 4, 2019 by 8 Comments

Hello Friday!

Who’s ready for the weekend?! I know that I am. So how about we start things off by catching up over coffee. Grab a mug and let’s join  Coco and Deborah for this month’s Ultimate Coffee Date.

October Ultimate Coffee Date

Over coffee, I would tell you that we are once again experiencing weather whiplash around here. After getting a nice tease of fall, September finished on a serious warm note and October arrived here with temps in the upper 80s! What the what?! Thankfully, the forecast shows things returning to normal fall conditions this weekend.

Over coffee, I would tell you that my hubby J and I will be celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary on Friday. He’s being a good sport about spending half the day traveling to Chicago and then letting me drag him all over the expo. We do have a nice dinner out planned and may hit a blues club.

Over coffee, I would tell you that I’m working on a new marathon playlist. While I’m planning on not turning my music on until the second half of the course, I want to have enough tunes ready just in case.

Over coffee, I would tell you that I’m looking forward to going out to visit my oldest son for parents weekend later this month! There’s supposed to be a big presentation by the college counseling office laying out the whole process. We’ve already received a letter from the office encouraging students to start checking out colleges during vacation breaks. I just can’t believe we’ve reached this point – time’s going by way too fast!

What would you tell me over coffee? Any suggestions for my playlist?

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Filed Under: Ultimate coffee date