First off, let me just say I have even more respect than before for those of you who have raced marathons (or really any races) on two consecutive days!State #12 : New HampshireI already wrote my report of the Warner Fall Foliage Festival this weekend, but here are some pictures from the race.Waiting to startMy incentive to run fast(she was on my heels for the last .1 mile or so)Pushing hard to the finishState #12: VermontThis race was the real reason we were in the area. We found the NH race just so we could knock out two states, but we drove 10+ hours each way so we could run the Harpoon Brewery's Octoberfest Race. When I heard it was only 3.6 miles, I figured it was going to be an easy one for me. I was … [Read more...]
Goals? What goals?
It's been a while since I visited my goals for the year. I'm beginning to think about next year, so I thought I'd check in and see how I'm doing this year. 1) Run at least three half marathons, with the eventual goal of a sub-2 hour half. All done, with two of them at sub-2. Revised goal: Beat 1:30 at the Army 10 miler in October. This is not looking likely. I'm just not feeling speedy lately, so I may just take it easy on this race and actually try to pay attention to where we are running. I've run near the monuments during races before, yet I really have never notice them LOL. I'd at least like to meet my finish time from the last time I ran this race, which was 1:35. We'll see. 2) Run races in at least three new states (but I'm … [Read more...]
State #5 – running in hell
At the hotel before the raceToday dawned warm and humid in Wisconsin and just kept getting more so. Dad and I walked over to the race start at about 7:30 am. Neither of us had gotten a great night's sleep and we'd been up for a while. With the heat and the sun, it felt more like we were starting the run at mid-day. Not what I'd call a good sign.Mile 1 was ok, with a fair amount of downhill, but by mile 2, I was already feeling the heat. The course turned out to be a bunch of long slow inclines (which I HATE) and not a whole lot of shade for big chunks of it. There were plenty of water stops and locals with hoses and sprinklers, but I should have taken my fuel belt with gatorade. Dad kept me on pace and we managed to finish the first … [Read more...]
40 oz and some 50 state musings
No, it wasn't one of those 40 oz beers you can buy at a gas station. Last night we went out to one of our favorite "good beer and kid friendly" places - Rock Bottom Brewery. A long time ago we joined their Mug Club (last night was my 20th visit LOL) and when you are a member, you get a 20oz beer for the price of a pint. In order to carb load for the race, I had two of their brown ales. I planned to come home and write a blog post, but instead, I came home and went to bed. Yeah, I'm quite a party girl. ;o)We have a number of stressful things going on right now, none of which I can actively do anything about. I'm not very good at just letting things ride and tend to get a bit obsessive and worry non-stop about things I can't control. … [Read more...]
Why do I blog about running (and beer)
Today's topic over at the Runner's Lounge is "running and blogging".I am approaching my one year anniversary of blogging. I've already finished the original goal I had when I started this blog - running the Marine Corps Marathon. As you might guess from my name, I didn't really think about where I would go from there - in regards to blogging OR running. If I had, I might have chosen a different name.I started blogging for two reasons: my friends were getting tired of the "all marathon all the time" conversations and I wanted some place that I could record the experience of training for and running a marathon so that I could remember what it was like. I'd been a blog lurker for years on blogs related to infertility and then pregnancy … [Read more...]
State #4, 5K PR, and a bonus
While we were on vacation, my dad and I ran in a local 5K so that we could count Florida as done. It was quite warm and we planned to take it easy with a 9 minute pace to start, working our way down to an 8:30 pace. We had no plans to PR, just a plan to run a nice race together near the ocean. It was a beautiful, flat race, on a big sidewalk along the beach.There were no chips and it was a small group, so we started very near the front. When the announcer yelled "go", we just went with the crowd. Apparently it was a fast crowd. At the half mile point, I realized we were at a 7:30 pace. Oops. I told my dad that I wouldn't mind puking at the end, but I'd prefer not to do it mid-race. We … [Read more...]
It’s all about the tempo
Today's topic over at the Runners' Lounge is speed. I'm not speedy, comparatively speaking, but I've been working hard at increasing my speed this winter and have been pretty successful. Last year when I was training for the marathon, I didn't do any speedwork at all and found that I'd slowed down quite a bit, even at shorter distances.My goal this spring was to get my speed back at least to where it was and to increase the distance I could stay at that speed. I'm happy to say I've accomplished that goal! I recently ran a half marathon at an average pace of 9:07, which is about where my speed was pre-marathon. Now I have a goal of finishing a half in under 9 minute miles (and I'll be happy with 8:59 LOL).To reach my goal, I … [Read more...]
February in Review
So far, having goals, rather than resolutions seems to be working for me...1) Run at least three half marathons, with the eventual goal of a sub-2 hour half. I have my first half of the year in less than two weeks. It's the Citizens Bank Caesar Rodney Half Marathon-2009 in Wilmington, DE. I took a look at the elevation and it looks like miles 6.5-8 or so will suck because of a big hill. Fun (not). I also recently signed up for the Pacer's Running Festival Half in May to replace the Marine Corps Historic Half in May and I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the Philadelphia Distance Run in the fall with a friend. Who knows when/if the sub-2 will happen. Between sick kids and snow, I didn't hit as many long runs as planned. I'm hoping to … [Read more...]
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