It’s here. Race week. In the words of Janice…
By this time next week, I’ll have run the New York City Marathon. I’ll have a second World Marathon Majors medal hanging on my wall. I can’t believe it is THIS WEEKEND. Continue reading “New York Strong: It’s Marathon Week!”
Everyone knows two things about marathons: a) because they are hard on your body, you should probably only run one or two per year maximum, and b) you can’t tell marathoners what to do. Am I right?
When I started out training for the 2015 Baltimore Marathon, I didn’t realize that about halfway in, when I moved to an apartment less than a 10 minute walk to the Marine Corps Memorial, I would get a serious longing to run the Marine Corps Marathon again. I hadn’t entered the lottery, so my only option was to enter the race through a charity and raise money– not my strong suit. Plus, more importantly, the Baltimore Marathon was only 8 days prior to the Marine Corps Marathon. It was a lot to consider. But the more I did consider it, the more I thought, “Pffft, I can do that!” I mean, why not? I would have the opportunity to give back to a good cause and I remembered a time when running a half-marathon on Saturday and a marathon on Sunday for the Goofy Challenge was out of my league, but in 2013, I did just that. I wasn’t trying to take on too much here, but I couldn’t see a reason why I shouldn’t do it. So I registered. Continue reading “How I Ran Two Marathons In One Week”
I’ve really been struggling with finding the right words to say to recap my experiences at the 2015 Baltimore and Marine Corps Marathons. Usually, after a race, I like to write my most honest opinion about the race itself. What was the expo like? The swag? The atmosphere? The course? I intend to write those posts, because frankly both races are absolutely worth their while and deserve a review, but I trained for both of these races together so it’s hard to separate the emotions I have about them. The only other time I felt even a fraction of how I feel now is after finishing the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon– my second one– as part of the Goofy Challenge because I literally had no idea that I could do it. This is different because instead of leaving it to chance, I actually worked for it. As in, I trained instead of following a training plan that I hoped would work on race day. I’ve always worked hard in training, but I found out there is a difference between owning your training and being owned by your training. Continue reading “You Find a New Dream”
Fundraising Update: I’m at 100% of my goal with $600.20 raised for Team TAPS! Thank you to my very generous donors. You can still make a donation to help the families of our fallen heroes through TAPS’ programs for grief counseling.
Ahhhhh, hello taper week. I know a lot of runners get freaked out by the “T” word, but I don’t. I love tapering time. Perhaps its the subconscious realization that I may never be an ultra-marathoner because running super long distances is, for me, very hard and borderline un-enjoyable, or perhaps it’s more that I know I need to rest and recover and allow myself the rejuvenation that comes with 3 weeks of fewer intense runs and less mileage and getting psyched for a big event that you’ve been preparing for. Think about it– not many big important events in life have a taper time. I certainly never see brides at their calmest the three weeks before their wedding. High schools and universities don’t schedule finals week three weeks before graduation. Marathons practically require tapering, so it’s definitely the best part of training for 26.2 miles. Some runners freak out and get cranky; I don’t. Continue reading “Week Sixteen/Fifteen: Baltimore and Marine Corps Marathon Training”
Fundraising Update: I’m at 100% of my goal with $600.20 raised for Team TAPS! Last week, at this time, I was at $330 and 55% of my goal. I cannot believe how much that increased in just a week! Thank you to my very generous donors. I can’t believe I met my goal, and all it took was a simple ask for help. THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart.
It’s Peak Week. Week Fifteen. After this week, I have three weeks of tapering before the big day. My strategy for getting through Peak Week is this: Get through one run at a time; don’t think about tomorrow’s run. Get as much rest as I possibly can. Eat foods to recover. No ditching runs— if I have to wake up super early to get one in, I will get up super early to get my run in. No backing down when I am on the trails– if I am tired, I will power through. I will not let my problems off the trail interfere with my runs. I will foam roll and plank and foam roll some more to keep my achy leg issues at bay. I will not let my past successes scare me out of creating new successes. There will be no doubt in my mind that I am strong and that I have prepared well enough to do what I have set out to do. And I will treat my last long run of the training season as my dress rehearsal for the race. Overall, I will rise above and be amazing. Continue reading “Week Fifteen/Fourteen: Baltimore and Marine Corps Marathon Training”
Fundraising Update: I’m at 55% of my goal with $330 raised for Team TAPS! Make a donation today and help the families of our nation’s fallen heroes. Last week, at this time, I was at $196 and 32% of my goal. I cannot believe how much that increased in just a week! Thank you to my very generous donors. Check out my post about why I am running for TAPS. I can’t do this without your generosity and support.
Also, my friend Sarah is hosting a Jamberry nail wraps party through September 28– ONE WEEK LEFT!! 10% of proceeds will go towards TAPS. Access the party here, or at tinyurl.com
/TAPSJamberry to place an order by September 28!
I ran 35 miles last week. I’m ready to take that into 40 this week. I have a lighter long run to get through; it feels do-able to get over 40 miles done.
My Planned Training Schedule: September 14 – 20
Part of setting yourself up for success is identifying potential pitfalls. That’s why Wednesday will be a rest day, unless by some stretch of fate and determination I wake up early enough to get in a decent run. This week’s long run will thankfully only be 12 miles. After having bumped up from 16 to 18 to 20 in the last three weeks, I am due for it. Continue reading “Week Fourteen/Thirteen: Baltimore and Marine Corps Marathon Training”
Fundraising Update: I’m at 32% of my goal with $196 raised for Team TAPS! Make a donation today and help the families of our nation’s fallen heroes. Check out my post about why I am running for TAPS. Thank you to all who have contributed! I can’t do this without your generosity and support.
This week, I started out with a feeling of being ready to re-commit to training. I have to remind myself that no one is making me do this– it’s all my idea and my desire that has put me in this spot. But life happens during marathon-training, whether it’s something big or it’s the compounding of daily life that stacks and builds up. This week wasn’t a great one for me, but so it goes.
My Planned Training Schedule: September 7 – 13
This week was a little on the high mileage side, but I tried to cut down where I could since I was looking at one beast of a weekend long run. I haven’t run 20 miles in over three years. In 2013, I trained for the Run for the Ranch Marathon up to 18 miles (during which I turned around at mile 9 on a day that was somewhere in the negative wind chill range) and in 2014, I also only trained up to 18 miles for the Chicago Marathon (having just come off an injury). There is always one glorious 20-miler that I ran back in the fall of 2012, when I was training for the Goofy Challenge, that I remember well. Very well. I ran it with an average 9:56 pace and a sinus infection. When I stopped, I remembered that I just wanted to keep going. That’s how I wanted to feel after this run. That’s the kind of runner I want to be again. I would LOVE to have another 20-mile run like that one. Continue reading “Week Thirteen/Twelve: Baltimore and Marine Corps Marathon Training”
