Boston’s Run to Remember

Thursday Thoughts (aka 3 Things)

March 14, 2013 by Michelle 4 Comments

Returning to Running

After Sunday’s not-so-long long run, Coach Bennett insisted on 3 days of no running. Cross-training yes, strength training yes, but no running. Of course, Mother Nature decided to serve up some of the best weather days of the month so far – but I left my running shoes in the closet and stuck to my strength work and walking my dog. But today I get to run, and despite the crazy drop in temps, I’m going!

More Race Shopping

Well now that I’m not running the New Bedford Half this weekend, I want to find another race of a decent distance this spring before Boston’s Run to Remember at the end of May. A ten miler would be perfect and I think I may have found the race! It’s at the end of April so the timing is perfect. I’m going to see how cooperative my ITB is over the next couple of weeks, but I’m tentatively penciling this one in 🙂

ZOOMA Ambassador

I’m very happy to say that once again I been selected as a race ambassador for the ZOOMA race series. I was an ambassador for their inaugural race in Falmouth, MA last fall and had so much fun! I’m very excited to be part of such a great group of women when they return to Cape Cod in September! So stay tuned, much more fun stuff on this to come!

Filed Under: 3 things, Boston's Run to Remember, ITB, New Bedford Half, Newport 10 Miler, race shopping, ZOOMA Cape Cod

Good stuff happening

February 11, 2013 by Michelle 11 Comments

First off — Welcome to the new and improved Running with Attitude! After announcing on more than one occasion that I wanted to move from Blogger to a self-hosted site I’ve finally made it happen — Thanks hugely to Rita at Blog Genie, who I swear has the patience of a saint for answering all of my many questions 🙂

As for the Blizzard of 2013, I’m happy to say the RWA household had a good time. Despite the incredible winds and 24 inches of snow, we didn’t lose power and all around us seems pretty intact. There were lots of movies, games, snow fort building, snowball fights, cooking, laughing and, yes shoveling. The only downside is school is closed again today which means at this rate my boys won’t finish the school year until June 26th! (But that’s a bridge I guess we’ll cross later)

I’m also thrilled to say to I’m teaming up with running coach Bennett Cohen again! Bennett specializes in coaching women boomers (yes those of us 40 and older), and if you’ve been around here for a bit then you know he helped guide me to three PRs last fall. Bennett’s going to help me get ready for my spring goal race, Boston’s Run to Remember. We’ve got 15 weeks and it starts today!

How was your weekend?

Filed Under: Boston's Run to Remember, running coach, weather

Race plans taking shape

January 14, 2013 by Michelle 16 Comments

We had a pretty low-key weekend around my house, which went a long way in helping me to get back to feeling like myself again. I did manage a decent 8 miles on Saturday – actually, I felt surprisingly good! It was the kind of run that reassured me that despite not logging in a lot of miles over these last couple of weeks that I haven’t done too much damage to my fitness level, and that I’m not too far off from where I want to be right now.

So fingers crossed that this cold/crud thing is behind me, I took some time this weekend to try to flesh out my race schedule for at least the first half of the year:

February:
Wampanoag Old-fashioned 10 Miler
Frozen 5K/10K (Virtual race to benefit the American Cancer Society sponsored by Josephine over at Plant Based Runner – check out the details HERE)

March:
New Bedford Half Marathon

April:
BAA 5K

May:
Boston’s Run to Remember (Goal Race!)

June:
BAA 10K

Registration hasn’t opened yet for the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) races – and they are popular so I’ll have to be quick on the keyboard to get in. I will probably add a local 5K in somewhere along the way. My oldest son has announced that he would like to run a 5K with me this spring so I cannot wait to make that happen!

Filed Under: #13in2013, BAA, Boston's Run to Remember, family running, Old-fashioned 10 Miler, race calendar

Thursday Thoughts (aka 3 Things)

December 20, 2012 by Michelle 9 Comments

1.
You know that feeling at the beginning of week when you have a mile-long to do list,you’re staring at the calendar trying to figure out how to wedge in one more commitment, and then you get thrown a curve ball and all plans go haywire? Well, my curve ball came in the form of having kids home sick on two different days. On the good side, both boys are feeling better and I got some quality snuggle time with my kiddos 🙂

2.
I did make it to the chiro this week for another appointment. After seeing him twice a week for the past few weeks I’m happy to report that the majority of my ITB pain is gone! We’ve agreed to take a couple of weeks off and then see how I feel as I start to build my mileage back up – fingers crossed, nothing will flare up.

3.
The lottery gods were unkind to me for the Cherry
Blossom 10 miler lottery, so it stays on my race bucket list for another year.

I did lock in the early bird rate on Boston’s Run to Remember for the end of May, but am still on the hunt for another half marathon or 10-miler for the spring – Any suggestions?

Filed Under: 3 things, Boston's Run to Remember, chiropractor, ITB, kids, race calendar, to do list

Decisions, Decisions – To Race or Not

May 21, 2012 by Michelle 12 Comments

Do you ever get the feeling the Universe is trying to tell you something?

I’m six days away from the Boston’s Run to Remember Half and I’m not sure if I’m going to make it to the starting line.

From the start, this has felt like an odd training cycle — while the tempo runs and track work have been decent, the long runs have been underwhelming. In fact, because of the odd foot pain I was having a couple of the long runs were cut short. The foot pain has passed, but the new wrench in the works is a nagging cough that showed up more than a week ago – allergies most likely. Again it put a big crimp in my final long run on Saturday to the point where I wondered aloud for the first time – “How am I ever going to get through 13 miles of this?”

The truth is there’s been something that has just felt off to me over the last 4 weeks or so, and I have done my best to try to ignore it. But, as Sunday edges closer I cannot ignore it any longer. I’m going to have to make a decision to either run the half, drop down to the 5-miler or pass on the whole thing and look for something else down the road.

I really want to run this half – it was my first ever, it’s a great course and my whole family will be there along the route. However, I don’t want to limp through this half…no every race doesn’t need to be a PR, but I don’t want to struggle through it either if this cough won’t let me run it the way I want to. I’d rather keep the great memory I have of my first run and hold off for another year – does that make sense?

Right now I have no idea what the right call is. I’m going for a short run this morning to see if the allergy meds are having any effect.

Have you ever been on the fence about a race?
How did you make the call?

Filed Under: Boston's Run to Remember, to race or not, training

Shaking up my training

March 28, 2012 by Michelle 8 Comments

The other day I mentioned that I felt like I needed to shake up my training plan but wasn’t sure exactly what that meant yet. So I spent a little time this weekend looking back over my plan for RnR USA and plans from Runner’s World Smart Coach and Hal Higdon – hoping to cobble something together, to find something to push me out of my comfort zone a bit.

Then this showed up in my mailbox!

My copy of Train Like a Mother: How to Get Across Any Finish Line – and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity

I have been eagerly waiting for this book! I so enjoyed Run Like a Mother – you can read my review here – and have no doubt I’ll love this one as well! (Going to start reading it as soon as I’m done with this post!)

I immediately flipped through to the Half Marathon “Own It” training plan and it seemed to be just what I was looking for – a solid mix of speedwork, hills, cross-training, tempo and long runs. I’ll be modifying the plan just slightly to account for the fact that it’s a 13 week plan and I have just 9 weeks til Boston’s Run to Remember. But, otherwise, I’m all in!

I’m excited about this plan and can’t wait to see what comes of it.

Filed Under: Boston's Run to Remember, Train Like a Mother, training

Some of the Best of 2011

December 22, 2011 by Michelle 5 Comments

Recently, Miss Zippy posted a great list of questions on the “best of” for 2011 and invited us all to do the same…so here are my answers!

Best race experience?
Without a doubt Boston’s Run to Remember – this was my first half marathon! I felt like I had achieved a huge accomplishment just making it to the start line, and the whole race I had this “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this!” feeling. Also, I had my whole family there and they went through herculean efforts to see and cheer me on in multiple sports throughout the race. It was a great first experience and laid the groundwork for my growing love affair with the half distance!

Best run?

Another first — the first time I ever ran 10 miles. It was one of those perfect runs, everything felt good and even the traffic lights cooperated so I never had to stop. I remember my confidence growing as the miles ticked off and when I finished I did a little happy dance in my driveway (neighbors must have loved that!)

Best new piece of gear?

This one’s hard – I did a lot of….um..er…accumulating this year 🙂 It’s a tie between my Brooks running skirt and my Saucony Kinvaras – for both it was love at first run!

Best piece of running advice you received?

Everything I learned during my time with Ryan Miller, certified ChiRunning instructor! Also, to make the transition to minimalist shoes slowly.

Most inspirational runner?

Way to many to pick just one! I have been inspired and motivated by so many runners’ stories this year – from daily training, to racing, to overcoming injuries.

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be?

Moving in the right direction!

There is so much to reflect on this year. This list was a fun way to get started!

What were your 2011 highlights?

Filed Under: Boston's Run to Remember, ChiRunning, firsts, year in review

Boston’s Run to Remember Race Report

May 31, 2011 by Michelle 27 Comments

I don’t even know where to begin – it was a really good day…hard but good!

(Shirt– front and back)

The night before the race I got a nice surprise when my hubs J revealed that he had t-shirts made up for all the family members coming out to cheer me on! He had also taken care of all of the logistics to have family strategically stationed at key points along the route — gotta love that man!

Race morning I was up by 5:15, followed my usual routine and with my brother and mom set to take care of the boys and bring them to the race later, J and I headed in. On the way in, I read tweets, texts and re-read comments to my Race Goals post — you all rock! The support is greatly appreciated!

There was of course no traffic at that hour so we flew into town and found parking without a problem. I had plenty of time to make one last pit stop and take a quick warm-up run. We spotted a couple of friends, chatted with them and took a couple of pictures before they started calling for runners to line up. I decided to line up at the front of the 11 min group, still totally unsure of what my knee would tolerate. It was already crazy humid, and the race announcer was urging people to be careful and to take water at all the stops — at least there was cloud coverage to start!

Race ready!

The race started and finished at the Seaport World Trade Center which sits out on Boston Harbor – so at the beginning we had to cross a bridge to head into the city. Coming up to the top of that bridge and seeing all those runners, I was overwhelmed with the thought “you’re really going to do this!” There was a little bumping and jostling in the first mile, but all-in-all not too bad given Boston’s narrow streets and the number of runners. For the first few miles I was feeling good – kept an eye on my Garmin to make sure my pace was steady…so far so good. I spotted my dad and step-mom just where I expected them to find them just after the 4 mile marker. Then just before the turn-around, I found my brother, mom and the boys waving the cheer banner! One of the great things about this out-and-back course meant I was going to see them all a second time after the turn-around — I cannot even describe what a lift it was to see them all cheering! J had made it over on the subway by the second time I passed my dad and step-mom again and joined in the cheering. I was still feeling really good but as I charged up the bridge my left leg announced that it was not happy and would no longer be cooperating! Fine be that way – I took a short walk break just before the 9 mile marker, hoping to shake it off, but as I started again I knew my pace was slipping. I ran and chatted with a woman who had stopped to walk when I did. It was getting hotter and people were starting to drop along the course. The medics were busy as we crossed 10 miles — pretty scary!

I fell in with a couple of other women as we started encouraging each other that there was only a 5k to go. We ran the next mile and a half together, chatting off and on – it was good to have the distraction. My left leg was yelling at me pretty good by now, and shortly after I passed my family one more time (yes they were everywhere and I loved it!) I took another walk break…this one longer…the heat was really draining. I knew I was close to the 12 mile water station so I told my leg to shut up cause it was time to finish this thing! The crowds were getting bigger as we made the final turn and headed back over the last bridge. Once again the sight from the top of the bridge was awesome! Finishing strong was one of my goals, so I dug in figuring I could endure whatever my leg could throw at me, and actually managed to pick a few people off on my way to the finish. I crossed the line with a big smile on my face – time 2:35:15!

Attitude Cheer Squad!

Overall, I thought this was a great race — good crowd support, great group of runners and fairly well-organized…though I do think they should consider adding more water stops given how crazy hot it can be in Boston on Memorial Day weekend. The police along the course were great, many cheering the runners on and the volunteers were really enthusiastic. I have to give a big shout out to State Trooper Riley, who I ended up chatting with a bit post-race after he loaned me his cell phone so I could track down my family.

And to my family…there are just no words…your support along the course meant everything to me!