Hey Loopsters! It's been a while, but I wrote this one because I had an epiphany (?) of sorts. I don't want to overshare with weekly updates and whatnot, but I thought this one might be useful to somebody out there.
Hey, hey hey! After last Sunday’s half marathon (read about it here, if you like), I’ve had some thoughts about how it went and what I might have learned from it. There are lessons to be learned from so many races that we run, both the good and the bad (probably the ugly
My brother, Kevin, has three amazing kids: Kolby (8), Kortney (6), and Kacey (2). I am extremely close with them and treat them like they are my own kids. From what I can tell, they absolutely adore me as well and it is such a great feeling. Not only do I always want to be their “cool” aunt but I also want to be their favorite aunt (I have four others to compete with and I’m also the oldest!). Even though I’m older than their other aunts and I’m older than their dad, they think I’m a teenager. I
A year ago I was a week out from my first round of PT since Blue Cross didn't want to approve the MRI my doctor wanted to confirm my meniscus tear. Of course, since I have such a fragile psyche I spent most of my days trying to wrap my head around a life without running. Turn in my "IRUN262" license plate, take the 2016 Boston magnet off Abby, throw away the 20 or so white tech shirts with stains on the armpits that I couldn't wear in public, toss the running shorts and tights, donate my NYCM
I feel like all my posts have been full of dread and woe for months as I complained about aches and pains and slowness. Yet here I am in the midst of Monster Month, with four weeks to race day, and somehow I'm feeling energized and optimistic! Go figure. Shouldn't I be exhausted and sore and negative about now? Well, not so much.
Just finished my two biggest weeks, with 54 and 51 miles. And my gimpy ankle has healed up. My balky knee still aches sometimes, but less and less. It seems the pr
When what you love doing becomes not fun anymore, you should take a step back and assess the situation, right? That is what I’ve decided to do with running, except the step back isn’t to not run at all but to just have fun with running again.
Circa 2011 – North Carolina
The thought of taking a step back or easing off scared the shit out of me. It wasn’t long ago that I started running consistently again. It was the end of 2017 and it feels just like yesterday. It was a dark time f
Flashback to the end of September 2018 (from memory):
There’s a local 5K in the town by our house held by the high school every year. It’s a great race, we live within walking distance the start and finish, it’s reasonably priced, and supports a scholarship for a local high school student, so no excuse not to run really. Side note - the bakery in town provides cupcakes as prizes to the age group winners – best award EVER! This year it was 4 weeks after I was cleared to run- about 10 weeks
No more weird heart rate episodes this week. I'm going to call BS on Garmin for showing that during my Snowbuster. Looking back a few weeks I see little spikes like that sometimes in a run, just never for more than a second or two. I'll keep an eye on it.
Anyway, afterwards, there were a few days of really nasty cold and wind, so I just didn't run. Stairs on Monday, strength on Tuesday.
It was borderline on Wednesday and I was deciding whether another session on the stairs was on tap
Two weeks ago, it rained Monday through Friday and I was over running in the rain. If you live within a 6 hour radius of Atlanta, you probably feel my pain. So. Over. The. Rain. I took my speed workouts to the treadmill and cranked it up to speeds that were close to what I had been running on the track. I noticed after my Tuesday workout I had a bit of soreness in my foot (the same one that wore a boot last year) and then again after my Thursday workout.
I had one of my biggest trai
If you still haven't sent in your results of your Snowbuster race, it is now too late. Sorry, but I warned you.
The number of participants were down slightly from last year, but the competition was pretty fierce and the fun was universal, except perhaps my solo effort that ended up with an 8 minute positive splits and plenty o' walking. But let's let that go for now.
While he didn't actually enter or was even likely to be aware there was a Snowbuster going on last weekend, I'm still go
I’ve been holding out on switching from the full to the half at New Jersey. But why? I think I was trying to give myself one last hoorah before I call it quits on long distance running (for a while). I also let it float into my mind that I shouldn’t be travelling so far to just run a half marathon (even though I’ve been doing it the past three years for Rehoboth!). Obviously, I haven’t fully embraced the JFR status yet. I’m not allowing myself to just go ahead and do it.
Deciding to go t
I’m Back…running/training again that is! And hopefully as a more active member of this community.
I wrote this entry back in September 2018 and never posted it, not sure why, but I think I got distracted by running/walking and taking care of my new little girl. We have been blessed with a fun-loving, smiley little girl that is laid-back, but constantly moving, and very easy to keep happy. I absolutely love being the mom of this wonderful girl!
Sept 2018 - I am preparing myself for th
I love that Dave puts together the Snowbuster Pikermi every year. I always enter, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually run a hard 13.1 miles for it. I typically take the longest or best run that I have within that date range and enter it. This year the weekend fell 3 weeks before my next marathon, so I had my longest long run of this cycle planned – a 23 miler!
After a really rough patch in January, I took 8 days off running and decided I wasn’t going to run my March marathon after a
Inspired by all the recent posts, I thought I'd do a quick write-up about my Snowbuster "Race". I'm at work and basically buried in looming deadlines, but what the heck?!!
The only other time I did the Snowbuster was 2017. I did that one as part of a 14 mile run that was primarily with my running group. Two years ago, I was routinely running longer than most of them, so the first half was with the group and eventually I was alone toward the end. I just made a point of noting my 13.1 time.
Since Phoenix my muscles in my lower abdomen have been hurting every single time I run. It's so frustrating. (If I'm honest this pain started around Rehoboth -- December. I thought it would go away by now. 😕)
Anyway I did a nice 6 miler last week that was fairly peppy but left me really sore. After that run I decided to pull the plug on running. We've officially broken up until 3/17.
My Snowbuster entry is being submitted under the "Unconventional" Category -- a triathlon of sorts if y
I've already got Boston on my weather app. Spring is coming, right?
So, six weeks sounds pretty close. Still plenty of time to get in better shape though (thank God). I've got three more heavy weeks planned and a gradual taper. So far I have been able to stick to my plan. Haven't missed any runs yet. No real injuries to derail me. Just the usual aches, pains and constant fatigue. Last night I slept ten hours. It was wonderful.
So, let's see. A week ago I was supposed to do 17. I met up w
"...goin wherever it leads..."
Geez, it’s been awhile.
Last time I blooped was what, well before Wineglass? Yep. I went to Corning and ran a half marathon with Aubree and Tim (it’s been so long that I have no idea what the loop names are anymore) and had a great time pacing with Tim for Aubree’s sub- 1:45. Some belated pics, because I know how much everyone loves to see #raceface.
I also ran a 5k with Juliet, who is a tiny little bundle of running awesomeness...
If I live to run a billion miles, I'm certain I'll never make real, honest and education assumptions about what pace I should run on a given race day. Generally, I'm almost adequate with the easy run, taking off and adjusting how fast I go to get through the miles I have planned. For racing? Not so much.
I really enjoyed the first half of this winter of 2018-19. Nice weather, no snow to speak of. But the old man recovered his mojo for the second half and has pretty much destroyed the slow
February 2019 in Review
Total mileage for the month: 245.0
Jan. 28-Feb. 3: 3 (2:06 strength training, 12:52 cross-training)
Feb. 4-10: 30.3 (2:00 strength training, 8:10 cross-training)
Feb. 11-17: 73.4 (1:57 strength training, 2:00 cross-training)
Feb. 18-24: 85.6 (2:35 strength training)
Feb. 25-March 3: projected at 90 if all goes as planned - peak week!
It's important to look at these totals within the bigger picture; before the off/li
2-11-19
If Jen and Angie were not coming into my hometown to pace a half marathon, I would have never found myself at the start of the Suwanee Half Marathon on Sunday morning. They both signed up to pace in 2018 when I was freshly out of the boot and unsure of my running future.
Sidenote: Jen ran a 100 miler the prior weekend. Angie ran a 100 miler 3 weeks ago. Both had run races already since! My friends are badasses.
The weekend snuck up on me and I realized as it got close, I n
Tuesday - Sunny and 31. Took a chance that the walks would be clear enough. They were, for the most part. Did have to stop my out section a tad short and add on at the end to get the full six miles. Stopped at the rehab center where the Amazing Amanda has fixed me up a few times. The last time I was there was August, working on the knee. I don't know if they cared, but I thought it would be nice to drop in and say hi. Sadly, it appears that Tuesday is their early day and they were gone. But the
I go to a local run club on occasion, however, I haven’t been in months. In fact, the last time I went was November 29th! Wowza! I hadn’t realized it’d been that long until I searched for the last one on Strava. I typically run alone unless I go to run club or if I get to runch with my gal pals at work on Fridays. I enjoy getting to share some run time with others and am grateful when it happens.
The Denver Milk Market and bRUNch Running have teamed up to host a fun brunch run the last
I’m down to my last pair of Saucony Triumphs 3’s. Since last year was a bust I still was hoarding a couple pairs at the beginning of last year because the Triumph 4’s were TRASH. Luckily the 5’s are a better iteration, so while I’ll be disappointed I won’t have another pair, I’m comfortable with the 5’s being the new go to shoe after my last pair of 3’s cross the rainbow bridge. I could tell you how much I loved the 3’s but why take my word for it?
“Fact. These are running shoes.” ~
