Settling into Summer

June 20, 2012 by 8 Comments

After a whirlwind weekend of lacrosse tournament games (my son’s team won the whole thing!), t-ball, birthday parties and …oh yeah a little running, we officially wrapped up the school year yesterday and have flipped the switch to “summer.”

As first mornings go we’re off to a good start – my youngest is sleeping in, my oldest is deeply engrossed in a book and the dog and I are lounging on the deck enjoying coffee and the quiet (hope this lasts for a bit!) It was so nice not to face the morning scramble to get the door in time for the bus! I’m looking forward to some down time before camps start, where we just take each day as it comes – kind of nice to leave schedules behind for a bit.

Since I ran yesterday morning, I’m going to try to get some strength training in before the boys and I get out and about for the day. According to the weather folks, summer heat is suppose to kick in full force today and stick with us for the foreseeable future — should make tomorrow’s track work torture… challenging! I refuse to complain – it is summer after all (someone please remind me I said that as the temps start climbing!) With a serious focus on hydration today and an extra early start in the morning, hopefully it will be manageable.

Have you faced the summer heat yet? How are you fairing so far?

 

 

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Filed Under: summer mode, weather

Figuring out the final tweeks

March 6, 2012 by 16 Comments

My long run Saturday was 12.25 – my longest training run to date. It was a solid run despite running 3/4 of it in a downpour. I loved the look I got from a woman in her car as I waited for the light so I could cross – she literally shook her head at me as the rain was blowing sideways. I just nodded at her and smiled – “Yep I’m out here baby and loving it!”

I felt more solid on the hills than I had the previous week. The play list still needs fine tuning (no pun intended), but it’s coming together nicely. The one thing that didn’t go so well was my fueling – I ran out of gas in the ninth mile and it became a mental bargaining game from that point to the end.

Looking back on it I think I would have done better to take GUs at 4 and then again at 8 — I’ll try that this Saturday and see how it feels. I’m also going to need to make a decision about whether or not to wear my hydration belt. While I’m still not in love with wearing it, I have done all of my long training runs in it. When I ran Philly last fall I wore it and given the congestion at the water stations I was glad to have it. I didn’t use it for the Wampanoag 10, but then again it was a significantly smaller race. RnR USA is sold out so given the potential numbers, I’m leaning towards wearing it.

I’m too far out to start checking the 10-day forecast and obsessing about the weather. Which means the race day attire is still up in the air – not a huge problem I suppose since I know better than to wear anything new without testing it out first. I just know how unpredictable DC weather can be…but I have no control over it so I need to let it go.

OK I’ll stop obsessing for now….my five mile run calls!

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Filed Under: general musings, long runs, RnR, running dilemnas, weather

Monday Motivation

October 31, 2011 by 7 Comments
Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks
“Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?”
— Peter Maher
Thanks to this weekend’s Nor’easter, my race on Sunday didn’t happen. It’s been postponed until this coming Sunday. Since I woke up yesterday to a bad cough and no power & no heat, I was just as happy to hold off. The good news is the early forecast shows next Sunday be a clear day in the 50’s!
It looks to be another crazy week ahead but with a little creative calendar juggling I think I can get all my workouts in — including the 11-miler I’m off to do now!
Have a great Monday & Happy Halloween!
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Filed Under: crazy week, Monday Motivation, Schedule vs Training, weather

Friday Five

October 28, 2011 by 6 Comments
  • Weathermen in the Boston area are just giddy as they track the Nor’easter heading our way tomorrow. This in addition to the snow that arrived last night. It was just a mere two weeks ago that they were all a flutter over the “record heat” of Columbus Day weekend, and now this. Mother Nature’s twisted sense of humor continues….
  • Given that I raced that weekend and will race again this weekend – I’m not amused. I could care less about snow…I grew up in New England I’m use to it. But, Fall’s my favorite time of year so I’m feeling a little gypped these days. OK, my weather whine is over 🙂
  • J’s joining me for Sunday’s race! We’ll be running a great local race – J’s taking on the 10K and I’ll be doing the 5K. I haven’t run a 5K since this race last year – should be fun!
  • Did you know that there are only 57 days until Christmas? I’m vowing to get out in front of the madness this year – to start planning menus, gifts, cards, etc. early so there’s also time to actually kick back and enjoy the holidays instead of getting to New Year’s Day exhausted.

    •  And, speaking of the holidays – if you’re looking for a little added motivation during this season, check out the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge sponsored by Amanda at Run To the Finish I participated last year, along with 500 others. Amanda does a great job putting this challenge together with great prizes for a little added incentive! Definitely head over to her site and check out the details.

    Good Luck to Everyone Racing This Weekend!

    Run Strong and Have Fun!
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    Filed Under: Holiday Bootie Buster, holiday sanity, race, weather

    Tufts 10k Race Report

    October 11, 2011 by 14 Comments

    I had a lot of fun yesterday – despite the heat & the cranky ITB! The Tufts 10k for Women is a fun event – there’s a great spirit and energy to it that was on full display yesterday!

    If you saw my quick post yesterday morning than you know I was going into this race with no idea how it would play out – I was just going to go run and see what happened. Did I mention that it was 82 degrees and a 12 noon start?

    This was my friend E’s first 10k so we headed in together and got to the race with an hour to go before the start. We hit the porta potties, stretched and chatted and hung out until they called the seeds to start lining up.

    The race announcer made a point of telling us that the temperature had climbed 2 degrees just in the time it took us to line up! (Fabulous!) Tufts is the USTAF 10k Women’s Championship so there were lots of cheering as the elites were introduced. But I think the biggest cheers came when the group of women who have run this race every year since it’s inception (35 years!) were acknowledged! 

    E was remarkably calm – I remember being so nervous last year for my first 10k! We had already discussed how we would manage the race – she had told me that she wanted to focus on running her own race and not worry about holding me back. So we hugged as we shuffled towards the start and then we were off.

    Did I mention it was HOT?! Yeah…it was.

    The first mile was a nice flat stretch with, most importantly some shade. But ohh those middle middle 4 miles, we were baking along the Charles River! The water stops were very chaotic – the volunteers seemed overwhelmed by the number of runners looking for water – there were crowds and you literally had to come to a dead stop, work your way through to get water and then work your way back out of the crowd…clearly not ideal! But the runners were great – passing cups to each other, some stopping to pour water for others, making jokes, just making the best of it. Gratefully, partial shade returned at mile 5 and thru to the finish.

    As I planned, I just ran by feel – sometimes my pace was good and sometimes the combination of the heat and my ITB told me to slow down and just take it all in. And I did – I chatted with other runners, encouraged where I could, thanked volunteers, rocked out to my tunes, high-fived the kids on the route and tried to enjoy the ride. Once again my family was out on the course cheering and I found E’s family along the way as well.
    As I hit the final stretch to the finish, the race announcer was actually urging runners to not sprint in because of the heat – trust me, not an issue for me at that point 🙂 Joan Benoit Samuelson was once again greeting runners at the finish line, and I got a high five again from her. Such a great touch to the race! I made it through the finishers chute, hit the water and food tables and circled back around to find E – she looked great and seemed to have had a good time!

    We eventually found each other and my family. We took pics, did a quick sweep of the expo and then my boys let it be known that lunch was long overdue, so we headed for the cars.

    Love this pic – just wish my little guy’s head wasn’t cutoff!

    All-in-all a good day. I would love to run Tufts again next year, but this time really “race” it. With the new course design (flat start vs. the downhill with a sharp turn at the end of years past) and more traditional fall weather, it would be really fun to see what I could do at this distance. But isn’t that one of the beauties of running, there’s always the promise of “next time?”

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    Filed Under: ITB, race report, Tufts 10k, weather

    3 Things – Record heat, Sony Discount, "My Run" giveaway

    October 6, 2011 by 3 Comments
    • “Record heat” — those were the words uttered by my local weather guy as he gave the forecast for the holiday weekend. They’re predicting 81 degrees for Monday – this is suppose to be fall race weather?!?  We had a frost advisory this morning and now record heat! C’mon Mother Nature! 
    • Sony Discount — As a member of Team Sony Walkman, I’ve been given some discount codes to share with my readers to save 10% off a W Series Walkman MP3 player! If you missed my review of the new W Series, you can check it out HERE   I only have a limited number of coupons and the offer expires on October 15th. So, if you’re interested, leave a comment below or shoot me an email.
    • “My Run” DVD — Don’t forget my giveaway ends tomorrow!

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    Filed Under: 3 things, giveaways, Sony, weather

    Splish, Splash, Run – Providence Rock ‘n’ Roll Recap

    August 8, 2011 by 17 Comments

    The weather people started predicting rain last Wednesday…and well let’s just say there’s rain and then there’s R-A-I-N! After worrying for weeks about preparing for hazy, hot and humid – I got a super soaker! Mother Nature definitely has a sense of humor 🙂

    I was up and out by 5 to make the drive down to Providence. I realized over the past couple of days that I was far more wound-up for this race than I was my first half and I couldn’t put my finger on why until that morning. With my first half, my goals were simply to finish, to finish strong and to have fun. Going into this race, I realized I was feeling a self-imposed pressure to PR. But every race is different right? In fact when I registered for this one I hadn’t even run my first – I was just psyched to do an R’n’R race right in my backyard! So on the ride down I let go of the pressure – just gonna let go and run!

    It was a continual downpour from start to finish but the bands, cheerleaders, some diehard spectators and fellow runners made for a fun race! And I loved that my family cheer squad was out in force again!

    Running in sloshing sneakers was not even a little enjoyable – it really took me about the first 5 miles to find a rhythm. I had this crazy headache and felt like I was running in a bit of a haze – really odd. I took some GU chomps and water and started to feel much better.

    By mile 8, I was feeling really good and when I spotted my family around 10 I was in good form and feeling pretty strong! I felt great as I crossed the finish line…um, who’s idea was it to make the last 100 yds uphill?!

    (This pic’s not out of focus – that’s rain!)

    So my second half marathon in 10 weeks is done! And, while there was no PR, training in all kinds of weather conditions this year (and I do mean all – bitter cold, snow, rain and crazy heat), really helped me to have the mental toughness needed to get through this race. And I loved that I felt stronger the late in the race! All-in-all a good day!

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    Filed Under: race report, RnR Providence, weather

    Me and Mother Nature on a long run

    July 24, 2011 by 8 Comments

    After seeing the forecast for Friday, with temps in the 90s in the early morning and climbing to 100+, I decided to do a tempo run and shift my long run to Sunday. I’m all for training in it if you’re gonna race in it…but there are limits!

    While the oppressive heat had subsided, Mother Nature was still clearly in a mood this morning. It was in the mid-70s with matching humidity by 6. Fine…bring it on! Slow and steady was pretty much the approach – today’s run was just about getting the miles and focusing on form.

    Around mile 7, the rain started – a good steady shower. Fine…bring it on! I’ll take running in the rain over the heat any day. Well…Mother Nature must have known was I was thinking because just as I got to around 9.5 miles, the sun came out in full force. I thought – I’ve got a mile and a half to go…Fine…bring it on!

    In the end 11.27 done and all in all it was a good steady run. I was surprised how quiet it was on the roads today – for most of the run, I saw no one else except for the occasional cyclist. There finally a few runners towards the end….unusual.

    While obviously not ideal conditions, I’m so glad out I got out there today. Only 2 weeks to go until R’n’R Providence – hopefully this past week of heat-running will serve me well on race day!

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    Filed Under: Half marathon, long runs, RnR, weather

    Heat-induced Randomness

    July 20, 2011 by 8 Comments

    I think this heat & humidity is turning my brain to mush. I can’t put a coherent thought together…but then, this is why then invented bullet points (isn’t it?)

    • I blew my streak of early morning runs today – slept through my alarm and then it was too late to get out before the heat and getting the kids off to camp. So it looks like I’m moving my tempo run to Sunday.

     

    • This is what the forecast looks like for the next few days. Friday’s 11-miler should be interesting…I may be looking to set a new PR for how early I can get out on the road. Tell me again why I registered for a half marathon in August?! 
    • I’ve been trying to plan a family vacation for the fall — the kids have a couple of long weekends so we thought we’d try to take advantage of the airline fares being lower then. Also wondering if I can loop in a race into these plans if the timing/location works. 
    • I’m still all over the place on fall races – the only one I’ve registered for is the Tufts 10k for Women. I ran this race last year with my friend Kathy and had a great time. As soon as it was over I knew I wanted to run it again!

      Have you figured out your fall race plans yet or will you just wing it?

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        Filed Under: general musings, Half marathon, Tufts 10k, weather

        Do you want cheese with that whine?

        July 5, 2011 by 6 Comments

        This morning was one of those runs where I was seriously questioning the sanity of planning to run a half marathon in August!

        Despite getting out by 6, the lovely bank display showed the temp was already 70 degrees. Mercifully, it doesn’t give the humidity reading — sometimes ignorance is bliss!

        4 1/2 weeks to go until 13 miles of heat-inflicted torture…er, I mean, race day. My training plan has this as a step-back week, but I’m not sure I want to cut back on my mileage too much. I think I’m just going to go by feel and see how far each run takes me – except I probably will cut back my long run to less than double digits. For today, 4 sticky thick miles felt like more than enough – ok I’ll stop whining now 😉

        Do you include step-back weeks in your training?

        Stay tuned for my McDavid USA compression review and giveaway coming tomorrow!

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        Filed Under: step-back, training, weather