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MCM Mama Runs for Beer and Bling

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Tips for surviving multi day race events

May 28, 2015 by MCM Mama 24 Comments

Tips for surviving multi day race events

Multi-day race events are becoming increasingly popular. They range from high mileage multiple day races like the Mainly Marathons races and Disney's Dopey to two day lower mileage options like the Frederick Nut Job (5k/half marathon) and the Shamrock marathon's Dolphin and Whale challenges (8k/half or full marathon). Since I've now run 5 half marathons in 5 days at both the Riverboat Series and the Dust Bowl series and two marathons in a row at the Independence Series, plus the Nut Job, I feel like I've learned a few useful things along the way.  So, for my free Friday participation with Cynthia, Courtney, and Mar, here are my tips. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 5 in 5, tips, training

Tuesdays on the Run: Will Run for Bling!

December 9, 2014 by MCM Mama 18 Comments

Tuesdays on the Run: Will Run for Bling!

Obviously, running for bling is a topic near and dear to my heart.  After all, my blog is called "MCM Mama runs for beer and bling." And since I wrote about beer (cupcakes) yesterday, today is a good day to talk about bling with Patty and April and all of our awesome #TuesdaysontheRun participants. [Tweet "Do you run for bling? Show us your favorite! #Tuesdaysontherun #runchat #bling"] As you might imagine, having run 2 full marathons and 37! half marathons, I have a bit of bling.  A few years ago, I had my dad build me a shelf for my medals.  Apparently I was a little short-sighted. Then: Now: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 14in2014, 5 in 5, half marathons, Tuesdays on the Run

How to run a race undertrained

October 10, 2014 by MCM Mama 48 Comments

How to run a race undertrained

So, I'm running a half marathon this weekend.  Or maybe swimming it.  Depends on how you read the weather forecast.  As I mentioned recently, I, umm, haven't been running a lot.  Other than a half marathon in Ireland in July and a half in Wisconsin in August plus Ragnar, I haven't run more than 7 miles in a row since June.  Oops. The race I'm running is part of one of the Mainly Marathon series.  For a lot of reasons (not the least of which is I'm totally untrained), I'm only running one out of the five this time.  And I'm really only doing it to see the friends I made in the last two series I did. I guess I should still set some goals, huh? 1. Finish with a smile on my face. 2. Take in fewer calories than I run off.  (What … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 5 in 5, half marathons

Lucky 13 Giveaway #9: Lift Your Sole charm/necklace

April 28, 2014 by MCM Mama 27 Comments

Lucky 13 Giveaway #9: Lift Your Sole charm/necklace

Half Marathon #9 in 79 days is done! It wasn't my best race ever, but it's done. Today's giveaway is for a "Live Love Run" charm and leather cord from Lift Your Sole . I first met Jill from Lift Your Sole back 2010.  I love her jewelry and I had the pleasure of meeting her at an expo and she was super sweet.  In fact, she sent me a personalized charm shortly after our meeting, which I reviewed here. In addition to the charm Jill made just for me, I have a couple of other charms from her: Run Happy and courage/26.2.  I have combined them all on a cord and it is probably my most worn piece of jewelry (other than my wedding ring and earrings that I never take off...)  The quality is awesome and I love how personal the necklace … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 14in2014, 5 in 5, giveaway Tagged With: jewelry, Lift Your Sole

5 reasons to run a Mainly Marathons series

April 25, 2014 by MCM Mama 30 Comments

5 reasons to run a Mainly Marathons series

I know that many of you think I'm certifiably crazy.  After all, I chose, not once, but twice to run five half marathons in five days. (Spoiler alert: Center of the Nation 2015, I'm there.)  But, if I'm crazy, I had plenty of company and I think YOU should join me next time (and nobody is saying you have to run all five - I'm only running one in the Appalachian Series and two in the Independence Series). Here's why the Mainly Marathon series rock! 1. The people Honestly, I've never met a nicer group of runners and volunteers.  And by nice, I mean obnoxious and hilarious.  And supportive.   Some of the runners have run 1000s of marathons.  Some of the runners were running their first half marathon.  No matter what you were doing or … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 5 in 5, half marathons, Mainly Marathons

Eat all the things Wednesday

April 23, 2014 by MCM Mama 14 Comments

Eat all the things Wednesday

AKA What I ate Wednesday...   Last week, I ran 68.5 miles.  I'm pretty sure that's my highest mileage week EVER.  Five half marathons + a 3 mile recovery run = a lot of running. It also equaled a lot of eating. Like constant eating.  Here's how I came home weighing exactly what I did when I left LOL: Breakfast: Every morning started with either a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a peanut butter sandwich and a banana.  (I never thought I could get tired of PB&J, but I am.  I can't stand to even think about one right now.) During the race: I relied mostly on nuun.  Even though I could have eaten an oreo (or potato chips or a sandwich or a snickers or...) after each lap, I found that I really didn't eat … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 5 in 5, WIAW Tagged With: beer, clean eating

Running in circles

April 22, 2014 by MCM Mama 22 Comments

Running in circles

I think the question/comment that came up most after my five half marathons in five days was "How do you stand the loops?" My answer may come as a bit of a shock: I LOVED THEM! No, really, I did.  And here's why: Have you ever run a small race on a point to point course?  I have. Lots of them.  What happens?  You end up by yourself.  A lot. And how much do you really see of the "scenery" when you run? I noticed the monuments when I ran RNR USA, but Beer Geek once asked me when we were downtown if I'd run past a certain location during Marine Corps Marathon.  My answer?  "I have no idea, I was just trying to survive." I know some courses have great views of a city or enough different experiences to keep them interesting, but most … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 5 in 5

#BostonStrong, recovery day and Lucky 13 winners

April 21, 2014 by MCM Mama 9 Comments

#BostonStrong, recovery day and Lucky 13 winners

Today is the Boston Marathon.  Today, runners will line up at the start line to take back the race that ended in such a horrific way last year.  Today, runners across the nation will wear their running shoes to work and run miles to dedicate to Boston. Today, I will be cheering from afar as many of my friends line up to race. I may never run Boston, but today I will watch and cheer as we take "our" race back. Today, we are all #BostonStrong.  Today, I will also be recovering from my adventures of last week.  Amazingly, my body feels great.  I've run two short runs since Wednesday and my legs felt completely recovered on both.  Mentally, though, I'm still recovering.  Running my A races, all back to back, and finishing with a PR in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 14in2014, 5 in 5, giveaway

Half Marathon #8 for 2014: Riverboat Series Day 5 – Louisiana

April 18, 2014 by MCM Mama 19 Comments

Half Marathon #8 for 2014: Riverboat Series Day 5 – Louisiana

Riverboat Series Half Marathon - Louisiana April 16, 2014 2:13:06 (Yes, this is a PR!!) Temp: high 30s, but sunny What I wore: hat, Bondi band, short sleeve shirt, Champion half zip, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt, PROCompression socks, Brooks Essential Run jacket, gloves, and my trusty Altra Intuitions I ROCKED this race!  ROCKED.IT! It was chilly again, but the wind was a lot milder and the course was more protected for about half of it. The course was about 1.2 miles in a lollipop shape. Half marathoners had to do 11 loops. This was one of those races where I was glad I went by the start-finish so many times, as I played yet another game of "strip half marathon." My first mile was rough and I thought I was going to just … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 14in2014, 5 in 5, 50 states

Half Marathon #7 for 2014: Riverboat Series Day 4 – Mississippi

April 17, 2014 by MCM Mama 16 Comments

Half Marathon #7 for 2014: Riverboat Series Day 4 – Mississippi

Riverboat Series Half Marathon -Mississippi April 15, 2014 2:17:19 Temp: low 40s and windy What I wore: hat, Bondi band, short sleeve shirt, YMX arm sleeves, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt, PROCompression socks, Brooks Essential Run jacket, gloves, and my trusty Altra Intuitions Once again, the weather decided to throw us for a loop.  It was cold and windy, but sunny.  I was so glad that on a whim I'd packed a pair of gloves and my arm sleeves!  The course was another mostly flat 1.31 mile out and back.  Thanks to the previous day's rain, the course was changed a bit and I liked the change a lot.  This was the first race where I could tell I had trained hard all winter and I felt AWESOME the entire time. The good: The course was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 14in2014, 5 in 5, 50 states, Half Fanatics Tagged With: half marathon, Mississippi, venus

Half Marathon #6 for 2014: Riverboat Series Day 3 – Arkansas

April 16, 2014 by MCM Mama 11 Comments

Half Marathon #6 for 2014: Riverboat Series Day 3 – Arkansas

Riverboat Series Half Marathon -Arkansas April 14, 2014 2:24:22 Temp: low 60s and damp at the start, torrential downpours at the end What I wore: hat, short sleeve shirt, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt, PROCompression socks, and my trusty Altra Intuitions How shall I describe this race?  Never.a.dull.moment. We started the day by following Google map's directions to the start.  Their directions involved gravel roads on the levee, big puddles, and cows standing mere inches from the road. Thankfully, Beer Geek grew up driving on roads like that, so we beat the GPS time by 3 minutes.  (If I'd been driving, we'd still be out there...)  The race only got better from there... The course was a 1.31 loop that half marathoners had to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 14in2014, 5 in 5, 50 states, Half Fanatics Tagged With: Arkansas, half marathons, venus

Half Marathon #5 for 2014: Riverboat Series Day 2 – Tennessee

April 15, 2014 by MCM Mama 18 Comments

Half Marathon #5 for 2014: Riverboat Series Day 2 – Tennessee

Riverboat Series Half Marathon - Tennessee April 13, 2014 2:18:41 Temp: mid-60s, humid, and windy What I wore: hat,  short sleeve shirt, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt, PROCompression socks, and (sadly) a new pair of Brooks Pure Flow 2 This race was everything that the first one wasn't.  It was all paved, the hills were slight rollers, and there was a good amount of shade.  I woke up feeling pretty good and was ready to go.  In fact, I rocked the first five miles and then made the decision to slow down so I would have enough for the rest of the week.  Unfortunately, at mile 8, I discovered that the Brooks shoes hurt my foot.  The last four miles were a bit of a struggle as I tried to land lightly and not hurt my foot.  Even with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 14in2014, 5 in 5, half marathons Tagged With: Riverboat Series, Tennessee, venus

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Who is MCM Mama?
A slightly obnoxious mom and wife who loves good beer and running, who struggles a bit with depression especially in the winter and when running isn’t allowed, who’d rather go on a fun vacation than upgrade the kitchen or add a master bath, and has a minor addiction to the Marine Corps Marathon.

Recent Posts

  • Coffee with a side of rain
  • Half Marathon #83:Appalachian Series – Alabama
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  • Training for Back to Back to Back Half Marathons
  • Runfessions of a Really Cold Runner
  • Kicking off the year with coffee!
  • Wrapping up 2021: a roller coaster year
  • Half Marathon #82: Probility Ann Arbor Half Marathon

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A slightly obnoxious mom and wife who loves good beer and running, who struggles a bit with depression especially in the winter and when running isn’t allowed, who’d rather go on a fun vacation than upgrade the kitchen or add a master bath. Read More…

Coffee with a side of rain

Coffee with a side of rain

Apparently I only write coffee posts when I’m in Michigan. I guess my body is hard wired to wake up early, but the college kid has no interest in an early wakeup call. I’d run, but it’s raining and I did not bring the right running clothes, so here I sit. I’m joining Deb and […]

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