Finally have a race set with my son – it will be his first 5K! Can’t wait!
If you have kids – do you run/race with them?
Missed goal – #WhatsBeautiful Update
June 7, 2013 by 14 Comments
As you know I’ve been participating in Under Armour’s “What’s Beautiful” campaign. I’ve been hard at work on my stated goal:
“Focus on speedwork, strength training and core work so I can own new PRs for the 10K and the half marathon; and most of all, be a stronger version of myself!”
My first chance to achieve part of that goal was running Boston’s Run to Remember…. but I fell short of my target by 2 minutes.
My stomach went south around mile 8 and despite my best effort I couldn’t overcome those lousy two minutes!
So what do you do when you fail to reach your goal?
Have a pity party? Question how hard you trained? Take time off? All of the above?
Well I’m having none of that! I’m choosing to …. Assess, re-group and get going! While I’m ticked off that I missed my goal, there are some good lessons to take from the race and training cycle to help fuel me as I get ready to go after my goal again:
- During this training cycle I ended up not running enough longer runs with RP miles – in part because of the timing of other races I had on the schedule and because of a cranky ITB
- Once I started paying attention to the strength exercises Coach Bennett gave me for my IT, the IT became a non-issue in my training and in the race.
- Looking at my splits I can see that my time on the track is starting to pay off.
- While there was more core and strength work during this cycle, this is still a weak link for me.
So as I go after my 10Ks this summer and start training for my fall half marathons, I WILL:
- Put in more long runs with RP miles
- Keep doing the exercises my Coach gave me
- Continue to hit the track and hills for speed
- Be consistent in my core and strength work
- Find new nutrition game plan – while I treated every long run as a dress rehearsal for my races in terms of fueling something’s going terribly wrong on race day. So I’m starting from scratch here – I will keep a food journal and go back to trying new options pre-run. I will not let my stomach derail another race!
So what do you do when you fail to reach your goal?
It’s National Running Day
June 5, 2013 by 9 Comments
How are you celebrating National Running Day?
I’m feeling a run coming on…
……and maybe a little race shopping 🙂
May Rewind & Lock Laces Winners!
June 3, 2013 by 10 Comments
Maybe it’s something that comes with age, but I continue to feel like I blink and the month’s gone!
Good things for May:
- Boston’s Run to Remember!
- Featured in Another Mother Runner’s “Follow this Mother!” series
- Selected to be a part of Under Armour’s “What’s Beautiful” campaign through FitFluential.
- Solid month of speed work at the track.
The not-so-good:
- Stomach issues plagued my for a the second straight race
What’s up for June:
- Another race through the streets of Boston! This time it’s the B.A.A 10K (the second race of their Distance Medley)
- Returning to both Pilates and TRX – I haven’t done either in a while and I want to mix up my strength-training to keep it interesting!
- Continued focus on my nutrition – I have to get to the bottom of my stomach troubles
What do you have on tap for June? Are you racing or do you take a break in the summer?
Lock Laces Winners!
Selected using Random.org the winners of a pair of Lock Laces are:
- Felicia
- Jen
- Patis2
Congratulations! Please contact me at runningwithattitude (at) yahoo.com and I’ll get you set up. Thanks again to the folks at Lock Laces for sponsoring this giveaway!
Boston’s Run to Remember Race Recap
May 30, 2013 by 7 Comments
On Sunday, I had the great opportunity to run Boston’s Run to Remember. This is really a special race! It is put on by the Boston Police Runner’s Club to honor Massachusetts Law Enforcement Officers killed in the line of duty. Of course, following the Marathon bombings, this race took on extra special significance. There was a special tribute to the Marathon Victims and Officer Sean Collier and his family and an acknowledgment of all of the police officers from the many cities all across the country who had come to run.
Three years ago this was my first half marathon – and I loved everything about the experience (it will always have a special place in my heart). I had planned to run last year but a respiratory infection put an end to my training. I registered for this year’s race back in December – that’s how much I wanted to run it again!
Despite the cold, rainy conditions, the energy among the runners was just awesome – throughout the race everyone was cheering, thanking police officers and volunteers and encouraging each other. As we moved through the streets of Boston, the crowd support was great – there were lots of chants of “Let’s go Boston” and “Boston Strong” – emotions were high all around. The moment I will never forget was coming around a bend on Memorial Drive and seeing a line of patrol cars with lights flashing – in front of each car was a police officer. They were cheering and high-fiving as many runners as they could – the line seemed to go on forever – I couldn’t believe how many of them were there! Running along that line and high-fiving those officers, thanking them for being there and having some of them thank me for running – seriously?! – something that will stick with me for a long time.
I was feeling great and moving at a great pace for the first 8 miles – my brother, J and my boys were out cheering – it was all feeling good….and then my stomach went south again and there were too many walk breaks. I continued to give it my all – in that environment, how could you not, right? I cheered and encouraged other runners, and happily accepted their encouragement in return. The volunteers and crowd support was great and I took it all in. I pushed as hard as I could right through the end – I ended up running my second fastest half…but I missed my target by 2 minutes. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed – I felt like my training had peaked at just the right time and that my goal was attainable. For the second race in a row, my stomach has been my downfall and I’m going to have to go back to the drawing board to figure out what’s going on there. But, I am so very happy I got to be a part of this very special day – even when it got really hard I was still happy to be out there.
Love this race and I already know I will be back again next year! #BostonStrong!
Lock Laces Review & Giveaway
May 28, 2013 by 19 Comments
I’m all for anything that will make my life a little easier – even something as simple as not having to tie and retie my shoes when I’m out on a run. I’d heard about Lock Laces through social media and thought it was an interesting idea, so when they contacted me offering a pair to try out I said “absolutely!”
from Lock Laces website
If you don’t know about them, Lock Laces are an innovative product developed especially for the demands of athletes. Unlike regular old laces, they provide flexible compression across the top of the foot with each stride. As you move, your foot changes shape – Lock Laces stretch and contract to fit the changing needs of your foot. Lock Laces’ simple clasp mechanism eliminates the need to tie your shoes over and over. You simply slide them on, secure the clasp and go!
Well, the folks at Lock Laces didn’t just send me one pair to try – they sent 5! My oldest son quickly spied them and begged for the neon green pair (he’s now making a case for the red ones too!) Needless to say he’s a fan and, now that I’ve been running in them for the past month I have to say I am too!
At $7.99 retail, Lock Laces is a very affordable piece of fitness gear! I love that they come in so many colors – and the fact that they’re water-proof makes them a win for my boys…especially with lots of summer hiking and days at camp on the horizon.
The generous folks at Lock Laces is offering to send a pair each to three Running with Attitude readers!
Three easy ways to enter this giveaway – leave a comment for each action below ~ Good Luck!
- Check out the Lock Laces website and come back and tell me what color you’d pick
- Like Lock Laces on Facebook and tell them Running with Attitude sent you
- Tweet “I want to win a pair of @LockLaces from @RunAttitude http://wp.me/p3alX4-jd”
This giveaway is open to residents of the continental US only and will close on Sunday, June 2, 2013. Winners will be selected by Randon.org. I received Lock Laces to try. The opinions expressed here, as always, are my own.
Thursday Thoughts: Idle legs, weather watch and playlists
May 23, 2013 by 8 Comments
- I’ve been so itchy to run this week! I have a lot spinning around in my head and running has really become a great way for me to process things. But with the race Sunday there haven’t been many miles this week…which has left me just a tad…shall we say edgy?
Adding to the edginess is the ongoing weather watch. Yes I know…I know I can’t control it so why worry about it right? Earlier this week the forecast was showing picture-perfect conditions, but now it seems some front has stalled and we could be looking at a very wet race day. This is why you train in all kinds of weather…but I’m still doing my “keep away” rain dance just the same!- My playlist for Sunday is coming along but I’m still short a few songs. I need suggestions please! My taste runs the gammut – really I’ve got everything from Jay Z and Kanye West to U2, Aerosmith and the Dropkick Murphys so fire away with any of your favorites. The only thing I can’t take is country!
Talk to me – what’s your playlist must have?
Week 15 – Race Week
May 20, 2013 by 3 Comments
It’s week 15 of my half marathon training plan and it’s finally race week! 
Yes I know I’ve already run four races this year, but when I started this year with the goal of running 13 races I had circled a couple on the calendar that are in my mind “goal races”…and this weekend’s half marathon is one of them.
So the wonderful Coach Bennett went about designing a 15-week plan for me that would allow me to fit in the other races while keeping my eye on this goal race. Not an easy task I’m sure and I know there have been moments as he’s looked the race schedule where he’s been shaking his head – but to his credit he’s not discouraged me and I’ve appreciated his support!
This week is all about some light running, yoga, getting enough sleep, prepping a playlist, setting race goals and carefully watching what I eat (no repeats of the Newport 10 miler drama!). In general I think race week is really all about the mental prep – the training’s done so the trick now is not to psyche yourself out before you get to the starting line.
So tell me — How do you handle race week?
Five for Friday
May 17, 2013 by 11 Comments
Hello Friday…what took you so long to get here?
This is the first morning all week where I’m not racing off somewhere as soon as I put the kids on the bus (or they even leave the house!). So with coffee in hand, here comes a little randomness for this Friday morning….
- I would like to ask all teachers to please find a way of spreading projects, field trips and the like more evenly throughout the school year so that the final couple of months of school don’t feel like such a scramble!
- After a solid race pace run last Saturday, this week marked the beginning of my taper. It’s been a nice week of easier runs – but I did enjoy hitting the track yesterday just to push my legs a little.
- The one thing that has not gone well in the training department this week is my sleeping – yes, I consider getting enough rest as part of training! I’ve gotten into a very bad habit this week of falling a sleep on the couch and then when I head to bed I’m wide awake! I’ve got to work on doing a better job of logging some sleep as I head into race week.
- I was thrilled to hear the news that B.A.A. has extended an invitation to the 5000+ runners who were not able to cross the Boston Marathon finish line. I know a number of runners who were stopped short of fulfilling their dream and I’m so glad they’re getting another chance.
- It will be another weekend filled with the boys’ sports – at last count, at least 3 lacrosse games and two baseball games. I’m hoping to get some time in my very neglected garden and my hubs and I planning to sneak out for a date night!
For now I’m going to pour a second cup and catch up on some blog reading before I get on with the day!
What have you got planned for the weekend?
Newport 10 Miler – Race #3
May 13, 2013 by 15 Comments
“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.
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!
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!
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!
