White Mountains Marathon

This recap is mostly for me so I don’t forget any details & can reflect back. The race was in Conway, NH, about 2.5 hours from where I live. I stayed in an air bnb that I booked way back in December, as I was sitting in the airport in Cali waiting to get home from CIM. I knew what I wanted for lodging: I wanted to have the ability to cook my own meals, I wanted to stay within 15-20 minutes of the race, and I wanted to sleep in my own bed the night after the race. I booked the sweetest little house in Jackson, NH. But I’m not telling anyone further details about it so that I can rent it next year, too. HAHA. My friend Julie also wanted to run the half & we headed out on Friday for a fun weekend!

We went up on Friday night; this was perfect. Long drives always take a toll on my body. It was great to have a night to relax and sleep in on Saturday. I wanted to stay off of my feet as much as possible on Saturday—> This is something that really works for me the day before a goal race. I did my shakeout  & strides through the cutest little mountain town and over covered bridges. 

Next, we headed to the expo for bib pickup. I was shocked at how many people were registered: just about 4000, split fairly evenly between the full and the half.

Fueling beforehand: I did a 3 day carbload. I REALLY had to work to get them in. My husband makes amazing homemade pretzels; he made them a little bit bigger than normal; each pretzel was 76 carbs! (and delicious). By Saturday, carbs were grossing me out but I’m proud of myself for getting them in! It helped a lot. 

After the expo it was pizza for dinner, staying off my feet, and an early Nana bedtime of 6:45 pm. 

I set my alarm for 2:00 to make sure I was ready to leave by 3. I ate half a bagel at the air bnb and toasted a full additional bagel to eat while I was waiting for the 6am start. 

The race was run on the Kangamangus Highway. There was both a full & a half marathon; marathoners started 13.1 miles above where the halfers started. Everyone started at 6 am.

SHOES: I debated between my Saucony Endorphin Elite’s and the Nike Alpha Fly 2’s.I waved back and forth over the last two weeks and in the end, chose the AF’s because my last workout was in them, and it was phenomenal. I wanted to carry that good energy over to my marathon!

OUTFIT: Pocket joggers, flyknit racerback tank, sisters bra: All from Oiselle. The pocket joggers, IMO are NOT cute. But the deep side pockets hold a crap ton of things so that was why I wore them. 

Race Day:

The weather was absolutely prefect. No sun, cool, low 40s, no wind and the lightest mist when I started. I was a little chilly but it was worth it to know I was FINALLY getting a decent marathon weather day! 

Plan from my coach: (shortened here!) The goal was to start in the 7:30’s for the first 4 miles, then increase to 7:20s. Don’t sweat the out and back section with the hill from 10-12. The course flattens out in the second half; be the strong, capable runner that I am. Hold steady to 7:20’s even when it feels hard. Don’t skip the water stops even though it’s cooler outside. 

I didn’t get to warmup because the lines for the portas were insane. I went three times before the start; I would go to the bathroom and get right back in line. I knew that I would have to go again and it was more productive to do this! I was able to get down half of my bagel and most of my maurten 320. Honestly I could not stomach another carb so this deviation from my original plan was a-okay, haha. 

The race started at the top of the Kangamangus and we were in a cloud

We went out right at 6. I feel good, and very calm right from the start.  I let people pass me and didn’t care one bit. Even though my opening miles were faster than 7:30, I could feel myself holding back on the paces & trying to pump the brakes. For the first 9 miles, I rolled with the course and let it dictate the paces. I would say my effort was 4/10. I didn’t feel like I was racing, made no moves to pick it up and quite literally “rolled with it” (HAHA). Even though there were about 2000 people running the full, I never felt overcrowded, no elbows in the face or tripping over people. I lined up in the exact right spot (for me) but also – there was a lot of room and THAT was LOVELY. 

Miles 10-12 are a hilly out-and back. The hill was definitely hard. It didn’t feel too difficult going up it, but I was amazed at how steep the drop felt when I was going back DOWN it. As the leaders began to emerge on the right side of the out-and back, I began to figure out my placement by counting how many women were ahead. I was #62. When I went around the turnaround: I said to myself “ok, now you can start to pick it up and pass people”. I was so happy to have the hill over with that I zoomed on mile 13! I started to pass everyone after that: No one was safe! Men, women, the half marathoners that were walking the course… haha. I was so happy to have this stored energy and to be able to ZOOM. I ended up getting myself into a top 50 finisher spot with #47. The only time I was passed was in mile 25, by a girl that I’d passed in mile 22. 

My attitude and mindset were STRONG on Sunday. At mile 17, I started to do the math for the finish time I would hit if I ran the rest of the race at 8 minute miles. At that point, I was going to run a 3:20. It was fun to do the math for each mile and have my finish time drop from a 3:20 to a 3:19, 3:18, etc. At mile 20, I knew that if I kept it up, I would likely be coming right up on my PR of 3:15. But 22- 26 were so, so hard. I never hit “the wall”, but my legs were exhausted. I wanted to stop. I wanted to walk the water stops. But I DIDN’T. If I stopped to walk, I don’t know that I would’ve started to run again. I had to get gritty and really dig the f*ck in. I think I lost the pr in the last 4-5 miles. I was dropping the hammer and REALLY working for it but it wasn’t enough. Originally, I’d hoped to be able to clock sub 7 paces for the last 5k. I knew I was trying my best because I was giving it ALL that I had at that moment and it FELT like 5k effort. My legs were lead and I did the best that I could.

Revel’s website stated that this would be a one time special edition race. I truly hope this isn’t the case because it was SO MUCH FUN. Everything was incredibly organized; from the expo to the bus pickups. The course was well marked and they had tons of people making sure runners knew where to go. Most of the roads were closed, and I felt safe the entire time.The course was so beautiful: I loved looking at the mountains and rivers as I ran by them!

Social media vs

…the reality of finishing a downhill marathon, ha

Downhilll marathons are so much more difficult than I gave them credit for. I’m really glad I did so many workouts on rolling downhills. It definitely helped get my legs ready.  The out-and-back section was hard, but not as hard as the hills I ran in my training. Also, this course is downhill but there were a surprising number of smaller hills (besides the out-and-back section). My breathing felt pretty good the entire time; the biggest challenge was making my legs go faster when they wanted to stop. I know a lot of people knock downhill marathons…to you, I say: Try one and let me know how you feel, ha. So much harder than I was anticipating! This was the hardest course I’ve ever run. I was unbelievably sore until Wednesday. By Friday, I felt like myself again- the recovery from this was unlike anything I’ve experienced!

I had a great day and ran my second fastest marathon. I haven’t run a 3:1x marathon since 2018. And I came through the 26.2 mark at 3:16:08. Technically one minute off of my PR. I do think I ran the tangents as I never bobbed and weaved, and I was always on the left side of the road (that was the side that was closed off). Some courses are long! 

Race stats: 

First 13- 1:37:55

Second 13- 1:36:46 

 ..I’ve never negative split a marathon before (Also it partially annoys me that they didn’t have a half clock out there to give me an official time, haha)

Placement: 47th female out of 950; 13th of 164 for my AG. 

And lastly…I kept this marathon almost a complete secret: My immediate family, my coach, and less than 10 others knew I was racing. Normally, I post a lot of workout stats and long run accomplishments but not this time.  With CIM, I put it allll out there, and it didn’t go my way. That was pretty gutting and I lost some confidence. 

I signed up for this race back in September.. I was still months out from CIM! I was so excited for it. Enter March: I really started to doubt how I would do here. I wasn’t motivated to work my butt off like I was during my CIM training & 26.2 miles felt daunting not exciting. And if you’re not thrilled about it: 26 miles of anything is a long ass way to go. I told my coach I wanted to switch down to the half. But every time I logged on to the website, I couldn’t pull the trigger. I gave myself a pep talk and decided I deserve to give myself a shot at this race. So what if CIM sucked? I’d had an incredible build for that. I know race day won’t always go the way I want it to but why not give it my all? So for 8 more weeks, I got to work. I tried my best to mimic the course and be on rolling downhills for my long runs. I added easy run routes where I looped a mile that had lots of downhill. The excitement returned.

And I continued to keep it close to the chest. I wanted to do something for ME. It was SO FUN keeping this little marathon secret. I did this once before (I think it was 2021) and it was the BEST. Besides runs with my dogs, I did not post one thing on social media. There have been so many people who asked me what was next or what I was training for; I tried to change the subject whenever I could. Sorry to those of you who I basically lied to about my next race! I highly recommend running a secret marathon – it made me really fall in love with the process all over again.

I had SO MUCH FUN at the Revel White Mountains Marathon. It went by in a blur…it wasn’t until the last few miles that I felt like I was out there racing and it was HARD.   I’m not going to play the “if I had done this” game to justify why I didn’t hit a new PR.. I worked really dang hard. Some races end up being days that are not “your day”. But this WAS my day, and I brought my A GAME. And that is enough 🙂 3:18:15 and incredibly  proud of it.

New England Half Marathon

What a day! It was one where everything went exactly the way I wanted it to.

I got there in plenty of time so I didn’t have to rush, hit the porta lines at a great time, did a small run before stripping down to my race outfit. I had just enough time to not be cold for too long. It was a PERFECT morning!

The little things:

*Dinner the night before was roast duck, mashed potatoes & stuffing. This sounds really fancy, I know. My husband wanted to make a roasted duck dinner…. I’m not really a duck person but what I *definitely* am is a person who is sick and tired of cooking, and if my husband wants to make dinner- I’m happily going to let him, ha.

*Breakfast was an asiago bagel topped with everything bagel cottage cheese. This has been my go-to brekkie so that I get in enough carbs & protein. I also drank one 16 oz bottle of nuun.

*I drank a Maurten 160 about 30 minutes before starting the race. Something different/weird that I’ve been doing is drinking the 160 in half of the water recommended; it’s basically the strength of the Maurten 320 because it’s half of the water. Is this explanation a little confusing? Yes, I apologize. I have the Maurten bottle and figured out where half is & marked it with a sharpie. Sometimes the full bottle of 320/160 is too much for me to drink and I will do this instead. It’s not an exact science, but it makes sense in my head so let’s roll with it. I’m sure the strict scientist people at Maurten would take offense to this, ha.

*I wore my Saucony Endorphin Elite shoe. I love this shoe so much.

*Since the start of September, one product I’ve been using religiously for every weekend workout/race is Swiss RX Nitric Oxide — you can read all about it on the link. I take it 45 minutes before starting. I’ve been having a killer fall so I think it DOES work. The race started at 8 so I took the 6 capsules at 7:15 am (I set an alarm in my phone so I wouldn’t forget). I feel very powerful every time I take it and I’m able to cruise smoothly up hills without feeling like I want to die!

*I took 3 Maurten gels – one in between miles 3 & 4, one from 6-7, one from 10-11. The second was caffeinated. I don’t really like the consistency of the Maurten, but it works really well for me. 

I have run this course once before and I studied the elevation beforehand so I that I knew where to push. It’s net downhill, but there are still PLENTY of hills. It contains just about one mile of trail running. This took me by complete surprise last year! It’s also a little long; I made sure to line up in the exact right spot so that there would be no additional bobbing and weaving. I knew I was in a position to run a new PR; I just had to run smart. 

First mile 7:12. Everything felt calm & the bod felt great. I told myself to keep it in check. 

Second mile: 6:37. There’s a lot of drop here (279 feet). As long as I didn’t feel like I was pushing to hit that pace, I was happy. 

Mile 3- clicked by in a blur-7:01. Mile 4 – 7:21; big hill. I pumped my arms to get up, and coasted on down. I remember nothing about mile 5 in 7:11. Mile 6- this mile has a ton of drop so I rode it all the way to a 6:32 mile. At one point, I was at a 5:59 mile time but I pulled back. There was still too much race left to push it too hard!

Mile 7- 6:53, still feeling great. I kept thinking ” when is this going to feel hard? This is where I allowed myself to do the MATH. At this point, if I slowed and ran 8-minute miles, I was going to run a 1:35:xx. I knew I’d be running faster than this! I started to get really excited about hitting a new PR! 

Mile 8- I kept waiting for the trail mile. I had it in my head that we hit it at the start of 8. 8 came and went with no trail, 7:05.

Mile 9 was my hardest mile. It was a sloooow uphill near the hospital and it was annoying. I prefer a grind of a hill where I can pump my arms to get myself up! Came through 9 in 7:25 . Mile 10: THE TRAIL! I had been nervous about this portion because it’s been so rainy; I was worried about slipping on wet leaves. I thought that if anyone was going to pass me, it would be here. Surprisingly, I passed 3 ladies (all very encouraging!) and one male (who heaved a big ‘ole sigh and seemed very annoyed that he was passed). I’m super proud of coming through this mile in 7:32. I’m a very clumsy human which makes me a terrible trail runner.  

I passed a lot of people during this race-nearly all were super encouraging. I kept thinking that I SHOULDN’T try to pass them & maybe just draft off of them for a little while. Maybe I was running TOO hard and would bonk too fast if I left them in my rearview. I kept checking in with myself and saying “OK, how do I feel? Do I feel strong enough to pass them?” and the answer was always YES. The only time I was passed was during the last mile; a girl pulled up on my shoulder and we stayed together for most of mile 13. We ended up crossing the finish line within two seconds of one another. I felt camaraderie in that last mile instead of competition. It was really nice.

OK MILE 11: LETS GOOOOOOOO – 7:05! Mile 12- 6:54, 13- 6:46. I still felt super good and like I was running a great tempo run. I think I could have pushed harder here. I was enjoying it so dang much-It was a moment that I knew I would cherish forever and I kind of wanted to just live in it for a little while longer. These moments don’t happen all the time. When you hit mile 13, you can hear the announcer. You still have to go around the capital to get to the finish line (I dislike this). I clicked my watch at the 13.1 mark-1:32:29! YAHOOOOO!!! Came through the official half at 1:33:33 with a huuuuge smile on my face!

I’ve been trying to break 1:35 for NINE YEARS! I set this PR back in 2014 at Half Marathon by the sea with a 1:35:54. Since then, I’ve run 1:35:xx 5 more times:

Seacoast Half 2018-1:35:48

CIM 2018-1:35:47(during the marathon I set a new half PR as well!) 

Cheap Marathon 2019- 1:35:33

Baystate 2019-1:35:53

Rockfest 2023-1:35:29 (this was a workout that I PR’d during)

And there may have been another time that I’m forgetting because this dang 1:35 has haunted me for so long, haha.

Someone asked me why I got a PR NOW and not any of the (many) other times I was shooting for a PR. It’s a great question! I think my mindset had a lot to do with it. Yes- my training has been great but it is more than that. I went into the race with a very positive mindset: I believed I could do it. There is nothing more powerful than the belief you have in yourself.

Thanks for reading!

Run Free, Run Strong!

Maine Coast Marathon -5/7/23

This is like a giant brain dump. It’s mostly for myself so that I can go back and reread. For the races that really stick out to me, I like to do a longer recap.

While watching this year’s Boston Marathon, my heart started to feel the tug to return. I’ve run twelve Boston Marathons (and have been registered for an additional 3 I didn’t run; one from injury, one from covid; one due to vaccination status.) I’ve made no secret about still being salty that I was not allowed to run in 2022 due to my vaccination status (this was something I openly addressed last April, if you have a burning question, feel free to DM me on the ‘gram). I needed a year to cool down from my sadness & anger and wanted no part of Boston 2023.

But in April I started to get the itch again; I didn’t have a BQ for 2024 and suddenly: I wanted one. I had already booked a trip with some running friends to Wells Maine for the first weekend in May; we were all planning on running the half marathon on Saturday. This race also had a 5k option (Saturday) and marathon (Sunday).

I started training for the half in January; I consistently ran 15 mile long runs and I think one weekend in April, I had a 17 miler. For me, 15-17 is my personal “sweet spot” for a long run. Most of these long runs had a workout in them. Most of the workout portions landed anywhere between 6:45-7:15 for average paces (depending on what the workout was). So given the fact that my long runs averaged out to be a much faster pace for a shorter distance… I knew I had a fighting chance to nab a BQ. Yes, 26.2 is much longer than 15 miles, but I would be running it slower. And my runner’s brain whispered to my runner’s heart…”What’s 11 more?” 

I didn’t switch registration until bib pickup. I think switching UP to a LONGER distance was a first for the lady who handled it: She’d assumed I was switching DOWN to the 5k; I quickly corrected her and said “oh no… I’m switching UP…to the marathon.”

I have to say that it was really fun to have this decision be so up in the air. I’m a pretty committed person to my running plans. Being so nonchalant about it was a fun change. I kept thinking to myself “ I might be running a marathon this weekend!” It gave me a little thrill every time I thought about it.

Friday night was checking in to our AirBnB, bib pickup, and a delicious dinner at Angelina’s in Wells, Maine. Two of my friends were running the half/5k on Saturday and needed to carb UP.

SATURDAY’s HALF MARATHON & 5K ISSUES:

I’m not sure where to add this next part but it NEEDS to be documented: The race day that I experienced, & the day my friends experienced were extremely different. My two friends left at around 6 am for the start of their races: Half marathon at 7, 5k at 7:30. 

Both had been instructed to park at different school parking lots & board their shuttles. 

I’m going to bullet point what happened:

-Parking lots filled up quickly; half marathoners were directed to other lots because there was no parking. 

-Bib pickup (for those who didn’t grab ahead of time) lines were wrapped around the building

-Shuttle lines wrapped around the building; There were not enough shuttles for 2000 people.

-Start time of the half was pushed to almost 8 am (from 7 am); 5k start time changed from 7:30 to 8:45 AM(!!!!)

-Sporting events were going on at the schools folks were parked at; as a result: no parking for parents anywhere

-4 porta potties for all of those people 

-Post race, runners had to wait in extremely long lines for a cup of water and any of the food options. 

-After-party not moved to accommodate the late start(s).. they were kicking runners out of the after party even though it started hours after it was supposed to. I’m sure there were legality reasons for this, but it still sucked for my friends who ran Saturday.

My poor friends had crappy races; imagine perfectly timing your morning nutrition, water, coffee to align with your race start time… even your warmup is done.. And THEN you have to sit around to wonder when you’re actually going to start. AWFUL.Since the start was delayed, it continued to heat up to over 70 degrees and the last hour for the half marathoners was extremely warm. Water stops were only every other mile; they needed more. 

MY OWN RACE

I did a 3 mile shakeout on Saturday morning; it felt awful —> this was a sign that i was going to do well Sunday: my shakeouts that are crappy usually result in a great race day.

Race morning was beautiful with a clear blue sky and the sun shining bright. Dinner the night before was a lobster roll, breakfast was an asiago bagel and herb gouda cream cheese (local peeps: they sell at Shaw Farm) I also mixed myself a Maurten 320; I started drinking it at 6:30 AM and finished the entire thing while waiting to start. I also ate a whole pack of GU chews while waiting.

The “Omg I’m running a marathon today face

 I parked easily in a nearly empty parking lot, boarded one of the 4 bus shuttles awaiting the marathoners, and had a quiet ride to the start. Many porta potties awaited the runners at the start line; the race went off without a hitch. I ran over to the portas 7 minutes before the start and there were no lines.

Porta’s were a runners dream on Sunday.. so different than Saturdays race!

I’d studied the course over the weekend; I needed to break 3:40 to obtain a BQ. The first 12 miles were a gradual incline. After 12, it’s rolling down hills (but still a few good climbs in there). A 3:40 is an 8:34 pace. My plan was to run very relaxed through 12, and then if I felt good, slowly pick up the pace.

The miles clicked by SO FAST. I’ve never gone out in a marathon and tried to NOT race it. It was a CONSTANT ego check. For the first couple of miles, I was passed by a TON of runners. I had to consistently remind myself that this was THEIR race, and that I needed to do my own thing. I stayed very patient. I kept checking in with myself to see if I was going too fast and if I was, I’d reel it back. I easily coasted up the hills → this is one way I could tell that I wasn’t “racing” this marathon. Normally, hills during a marathon feel challenging. These felt smooth and the same as running on flat pavement. 

The first 12 miles went by and I picked it up a little bit after that. I wanted to wait until 19-20 before picking it up more and I once again checked my ego. I came through mile 20 at 2:40:24 and I did the math… Even if I continued to run 8 minute miles I would hit 3:28 at mile 26. I couldn’t believe it. I still felt soooooo goood. 

But at Mile 21 (about 10:15 am) it was starting to get VERY VERY HOT (temps at the start were about 52 degrees, it was easily climbing to over 70 degrees by 10:00 am) . My body still felt GREAT, mental game STRONG… but I could tell I was overheating. I pulled the pace way back to stay safe. Starting at mile 20, I was taking three cups of water… two to dump on myself, one to drink. I saw sirens go by several times and at the finish line, I heard how people were dropping at different checkpoints. I will tell you that I don’t think I could’ve all-out “raced” a marathon with weather like last Sunday. I’m definitely not a hot weather runner and will choose a cold rainy marathon day over a hot one.

My heart rate also felt out of control so I’m really glad I backed off the pace. The last 3 miles, I walk-ran. I knew that even if I hit a 10 minute mile, I was going to come in under 3:40. That was such a cool feeling. My body still felt really great- my legs never tired. I was so hot and my heart rate was crazy high so I walk- ran. I’d already asked sooo much of my little body! I asked it to run a MARATHON and it was NOT trained for 26.2 miles!!! My body was GOOOOD to me on Sunday ❤

I think it was mile 22 (or maybe 24) and I was at the water stop… the nice volunteer lady handed me one cup of water, one sport mix. I yelled “ CAN I HAVE THREE WATERS” and then “I’M SORRY I’M SO AGGRESSIVE!! I’M REALLY HOT!” Sorry to you, really nice volunteer lady. I was salty and NEEDED water stat. Also- a dude with a camera pointed it down and in my face at THIS exact moment: I am NOT sorry I yelled “NO PICTURES BUDDY!” at you. Read the room, buuuuuddy.

I do feel that mile 22 needs its own small blurb: you ran down a tightly packed dirt road. The website states that it’s .60 miles long. I was definitely dreading this stretch. 

 I’m no trail runner; This was not that bad. I think I was mostly happy here that the strong sun was off of my damn head. 

I knew it was a good day for me because of how many people I passed in the second half. I really wasn’t trying to take people down and silenced my “Competitive Nicole” voice and marched to the pace of my own run. I passed 15+ people. Nobody passed me in the second half. Even though I was suffering from the heat, I was shocked that I wasn’t passed!!!

The finish was a bit annoying.. You turn down the stretch that is assumed is the finish line but you STILL have to go a quarter mile, on grass and dirt, to hit the finish. The course was long; 26.48 miles. There were only 250 marathon runners; I did NOT bob and weave as there was no need & I definitely ran the tangents. I’m used to ridiculously long marathon courses by now. It’s still ANNOYING… but I expect it.

I crossed the finish line and was SO HAPPY that I did it! Besides the heat really setting in near the end, I felt GREAT for the entire race. I never hit a wall and I always knew I could do it. 

Believing in myself really made the difference. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I was going to BQ. It also helped that I treated it as a “work day”.. It’s a business transaction and I made a deposit in my “future marathon bank.” 

Fuel & hydration notes: 

As I mentioned in the beginning, I drank an entire bottle of Maurten 320 before starting, and a bag of GU chews. I took 5 gels along the course; I alternated between Maurten Gel 100 and Maurten Gel Caf 100; the 5th gel was a watermelon GU. I ran out of Maurten so that was why I took a GU. . Since I had not planned ahead for this race- there wasn’t time to get more. Maurten is a weird substance and I struggle with swallowing it while I’m also moving..but it’s what works the BEST for me. I took my fuel at 5/10/15/20/23.  

I drank water at every single water stop. By the second half of the race, I was taking two cups- one to dump on my head, one to drink. By the end, I was dumping two cups on myself. Water stops were every two miles; they needed one every mile. May, in New England, can be extremely warm. 

I told myself I would list out the things I “didn’t do” …

-I didn’t taper. I took Friday off but that is NOT a taper

-I wore brand new, fresh out of the box sneakers. This pair will go down as one of my all-time favorite pairs of sneakers!

Fresh outta the box!

Random things that really worked out for me:

-Luckily I DID get to do one of the best parts of a marathon training cycle-i CARB LOADED!!!! 

-I listened to my body and backed off paces when it was too hot

-All week, I was aware that I was going to be running a race over the weekend, so I increased  my sleep time and went to bed early every night. 

-Researching the elevation of the course really helped me. I knew what mile I wanted to stay at an “easy” pace through, and then, I knew where I wanted to start PUSHING it. 

If you’ve made it this far…you’re the real winner here though, ha! It’s not lost on me that I was able to go out and BQ without a real training cycle. Once upon a time, I’d tried for YEARS to qualify. My first BQ was 3:28 in 2014 at Baystate. My marathon PR is now 3:15 but that 3:28 time on the clock back in 2014 is one of the proudest moments of my life. Sometimes I forget that my PR is actually 3:15 because the day of my first BQ shines so brightly in my eyes. If you need hope and wonder to yourself “can I do that” .. you can. TALENT can only get you so far; if you’re willing to work your ass off: You can get there too. I have immense pride in myself for what I was able to accomplish.

I was the 7th female finisher and 22nd overall. I also won my age group; as a prize, the race organization comped me with one free entry to a future race of my choice. Prettttyyyyyy dang psyched about this!  It’s always fun to place in the top 10 of a marathon..one day I would like to win the whole dang thing! 

Thanks for reading! Run free, run strong

🫶🏽TGWRE

All things REFLECTIVE

Daylight Savings Time has arrived and it’s time to break out your reflective gear. I’m a morning running and use my reflective stuff for around 9ish months out of the year.

If it’s reflective- I pretty much *need*to have it.  I have a really large collection by now so I thought it would be helpful to put together a post on things I like & find worthwhile to spend the $$ on. Plus with Christmas coming up, you may want to add some of these things to your list!

 

My (Basic) Reflectivity Rule 101: Whether you’re running in the early morning with the sun about to come up or racing the sun as it sets- you need a basic outside reflective layer- even if it’s something super cheap that you can throw on top of your shirt so that you’re seen by headlights.

 

Vests

• I used to have a vest similar to this one from Amazon- It’s really cheap ($10.99) and easy to thrown on top of whatever your wearing.

 

 

 

• If you’re looking for something more fancy, there is this option from Oiselle ($68). I asked for it for Christmas last year and absolutely love it & I want it in the Queen Flying Birds color.
• 

  
  Since it’s a vest I can throw it on over anything or just wear it solo in the summertime. I get tons of use out of it. And the fact that it has a pocket is excellent. I bought the s/m and it’s very loose on me. If you have sizing questions I would recommend reading the reviews for this vest because there are a lot of ladies who wrote helpful stuff. Vests are my #1 favorite since I can wear it over whatever else I’m wearing that day.

 

• I also have this vest but it appears Oiselle doesn’t make it anymore. I love it but I have to say I love the other Oiselle one above more (the pocket does it for me!) I’m sure you could still find it online somewhere or on ebay. This one is a little weird because it doesn’t absorb any of your sweat so it can feel pretty wet when you take it off. I usually run it under cold water and allow it to air dry vs washing it because I don’t want to damage any of the reflectivity of it.

 

• Nike Flash Vest: This vest is pricey. I wear my Oiselle one more. The zipper tends to jam on this one so it’s not my go to anymore. I do like the look of it though .. I’ve seen several links on ebay for it used and gently worn so if you have your heart set on this and don’t want to spend the $ this is the way to go! Click here for Link for newer model of vest:

 

 

 

 

Long Sleeve Tops: I have this firecracker top from Oiselle in hot pink and in black, I wear both a lot in the fall.

Jackets: Once the winter really hits full force I’ll grab one of my jackets. I have this jacket from Brooks and I really like it because it’s very light and I can layer underneath it. This also satisfies my rule of my top outside layer being reflective. This jacket is from Brooks and it’s a few years old. I’ve seen it deeply discounted on eBay. Just search “brooks reflective jacket” and it’ll pop up with a bunch of them- I think this jacket was unisex. It has lot. They do have a nice jacket out now that is comparable for men/women.

 

Light up accessories:

–THESE SHOE LIGHTS ARE GAME CHANGING. They’re $59.95, and rechargeable. I love rechargeable things, don’t you? They truly light up the roads and are worth the investment. I have the older model and I think I’m going to ask for the newer model for Christmas. The battery life is starting to go in mine; I think I’ve had them for about 5-6 years now.

–Light up vest: This vest doesn’t provide light for you to see (IMO) but it definitely helps me to BE SEEN which is extremely important. It’s on sale now for $39.95 for daylight savings time. I love this vest..my only complaint is that it takes batteries (three AAA’s) and isn’t rechargeable. You know the batteries are low when the vest doesn’t let you change colors and will only light up in red. The odd thing about this vest though is that I got one for my dog too..and his is rechargeable. But mine isn’t. I find that weird. (I checked the website before posting this in the event that they released a re-chargeable model. They didn’t. Come on, Nox Gear. Pls make a rechargeable vest. Thanks bye.

 

 

–headband: I wouldn’t say this is a “necessity” but I wanted to add this here because I love this headband and wear it all the time. It’s something so simple but extremely reflective.

 

Pants:

I have a pair of reflective pants from Nike and one from Saucony.  I can’t find links online for either.. But here is my latest favorite, from Brooks. I plan on asking for these for Christmas. I love Brooks leggings and have found every pair that I own to last a long time so I don’t expect anything different from this pair.

(Nike tights pictured here)

-Shorts

I have several reflective pairs of shorts. The main pair I wear is from Nike but they’re a couple of years old and I can’t find a similar link online for them.

I do have these shorts from Oiselle and I love them:

 

I know this entire blog post is mostly geared to women (sorry dudes but I’m a girl and only run in girl stuff haha) but I did notice that Brooks has a really great selection for men. If you’re looking to get the runner man in your life something reflective look here

I hope this is helpful for you. Let me know if you’ve found any products lately for running in the dark that you LOVE!

 

 

2018 C.I.M. RECAP

2018 C.I.M. RECAP: (better late than never)

I made this an Instagram post but decided to post it here too, on the blog I haven’t posted to in about 2 years! I’m posting here because I think it’s much easier to read a long ass recap via a blog post rather than a Instagram one with my 5 comments describing my race experience. It’s an easy way for myself to look back on the details from the day and it gives me an opportunity to phot dump the 84,000 pics I took that weekend.

I registered for this race back in March of 2018. I was still injured(2 pelvis fractures; one in front/one in back on min weight bearing areas) and starting to run a few miles (slowly) at a time. Looking forward to something that was so far away made me extremely excited and ready to work hard to get myself back into PR running shape after taking 6 months off.

December 2, 2018:

I had a great race; a Dream day. Almost every single thing went right, the stars aligned and those wonderful weather gods smiled down on me. But to back up:

Number pickup and leaving on a jet plane!

It was very early no judging pls

STAY:

We stayed at the Sheraton Grand: it was the CIM host hotel & we wanted our stay to be as easy as possible. Kristina and I live in Massachusetts, north of Boston. This was a big trip for us; Leaving our kids and husbands and 🐶🐱was a HUGE deal.

RACE PLAN:

I met with my coach on Friday for lunch (Esther was running it too) to discuss my race plan.

Me and my coach, Esther! (Who ran a friggen 2:36 on race day!)

Plan was to stop at every water stop for the 1st hour. Reason being that your body takes an hour to use the water that you’ve taken in: if I waited to take in water; i wouldn’t be using it efficiently and would become dehydrated. Water stops stress me out & I’ve never been skilled with stopping at them. She suggested I start with a bottle & eventually toss it.

As for fuel; Plan was to fuel at the start of 7; every 5 miles after that. I planned on taking 2 Maürten gels & 3 GU with me.

RACE DAY:

One thing that really helped us was that we purposely did not adjust to the time change. We went to bed/ woke up on east coast time-this helped a ton. The 7:00 am start felt like 10:00.

K before the race! We are very cheerful for people who are about to go through so much pain, haha!

What am i doing with my hands? I have no idea.

BUS to the start! VERY exciting, I know.

Race day came; K and I were up at 3:30ish. We knew that we wanted to be down at the buses for 4:30-4:45; we were told by a nice expo man that bus lines get long and to get there before the 5 am pickup. (We were also told that no one gets left behind 😍)

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Breakfast was a plain bagel. And 30 min before the race, I drank Maurten 320 & half a serving of UCAN (K & I split one serving bc it was 😝🤮)

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The bus ride was long but we just talked quietly about our plans & reassured one another that WE CAN DO HARD THINGS and that we didn’t come all the friggen way to Cali to run a crappy race.

We peed 30 min before the start; I got my fuel in order, we checked our bags and Then it was time to line up! The time before the race went by SO fast; i didn’t have time to be nervous.

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got to hug my Mel too 💜

Jessie, Kristina & I

We walked to the corral and seeded ourselves accordingly. The corrals were FULL & somehow we would up outside of the barriers; trying not to start at the back. K got to the 3:20 mark, kissed me, pushed me forward; my bambi-like legs stumbled to the 3:10 pace group (there was no 3:14/3:15 pace group lol). some nice fellow figured that he could actually open the corral and we outsiders could slide in. Thank you, Mr Man!

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National Anthem🇺🇸, hand over my ❤️…i welled up a bit; the National Anthem gives me the feels💙GO TIME.

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START:

I was amazed that i didn’t feel bottle-necked in this large race. I found my groove very quickly and didn’t weave at ALL. I started with a water bottle. It was way too heavy so I tossed it before mile 1. I stopped at every water stop & took in a sip of nuun and water until mile 15, then after that I just grabbed the cup and gulped. I was fine stopping-it was only a couple of seconds. I took Maürten gel at the start of miles 7 & 12 and then GU at 16 & 21. I wish I had brought along more Maürten; I think that worked much better for me than the gu. The annoying part of Maürten is that you’re basically eating it while running but i think i could’ve handled it! My stomach felt great this whole race and I think it was due largely to the fact that I followed the plan for water and nutrition exactly as my coach prescribed.

Something I need to put in this recap (so i don’t forget next year, ha) is that the one strange thing about this race course were the raised street dividers. I don’t have those near me; i was very afraid that I would trip on one (#clumsyaf) and in fact a friend of mine had it happen to her. So if you have run this race before, or plan to in the future: be aware of the raised dividers in the road!

I really tried to hold back the first half and not focus on the times on my watch; I only looked when it beeped. The miles clicked by and felt effortless. I saw my time at the half and it was 1:37:10..obviously it was not right since the clocks displayed the official start time. When I viewed my splits later, it was 1:35:47-it was actually a 1 second half PR, ha!

One of my girlfriends Mel came up beside me at mile 16ish, and we stayed together until 18. I felt great through then. It was almost too easy!

I love that a photographer caught Mel and I together! And Yup, I’m refusing to pay money but thank gosh for screenshots!

Around mile 18, My right quad started to hurt a lot. I was worried the muscle would seize up so I slowed 15-30 seconds per a mile with my paces for the remainder of the race. I let Mel go because I think staying with her may have done damage (she went on to finish in a fast 3:08!) When I finished the race, My husband told me that I had been on pace for a 3:11 through the 30k; that is really cool.

My quad hurt all the way to the finish but there was no way I was stopping to walking or stretch it out. I picked off people mile to mile and I knew I was looking at a huge PR & that i just had to hold on for a little longer. My confidence never wavered. I was so happy and proud of myself during this race. The marathon usually defeats me; not this time.

My last .35 mile was an 8:04 avg and that kills me bc that was the difference between 3:15 and 3:14! I didn’t smile while crossing the finish line (I regret this!); I think I was in shock.

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but I was all smiles after the race! Photo cred to McKirdy

Photo below: Jessie, (she ran a 23 min PR to nab herself a 3:32!) her friend who also BQ’d, Kristina & I post race! We all BQ’d And PR’d! K got a shiny new 3:26 PR. I’m so proud of her, let me tell you that she worked her ass off for this, in between having two babies and breastfeeding she continued to work and it paid off with her smart training! I could write a whole (very long) post on how much I love her and respect her. She is my lucky penny!

Some of the food post race.. we got room service; best idea ever after a marathon!

Just a little photo dump here, don’t mind me!Kristina & I! We wanted to ring the PR bell but the line was SO LONG so this pic in front of the capital building will have to suffice!

Immediately after finishing I called my husband, (cried!!! He was so happy for me! He knows how hard i work, even though running drives him nuts) then my mom, then my BFF Joelynn who is my OG of running support (she has always been there for most of the marathon finish lines since the beginning of my crazy running days) I cried to all of them and thanked them, and then cried some more after hanging up. .

Finally hitting a goal you’ve trained for is HUGE. My heart was overflowing in the best way possible & this finish line moment will forever be a bright light in my mind.

Looking back: i don’t remember details of scenery except that it was pleasant. I was laser focused on running & fueling. The rolling hills were not as challenging as past runners had warned me that they would be. I personally found the most challenging section to be the last 6 ish miles because they had flattened out. I actually would’ve preferred more of the same thing we had just done! I’m sure the rolling hills caused my quad to start screaming; the flat miles didn’t help it though! If my quad hadn’t seized, I know i would’ve held onto my 7:20 pace and would’ve been able to push at the end instead of a flat pace.

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This race meant a lot to me. It made me want to throw up with anxiety and also push myself as much as possible: I think that’s the best way to toe the line for a goal race: equal parts fear and excitement. I kept telling myself that i wasn’t going all the way across the country to run a sub par race: NOPE. This was the way I was going to fully close the door to the past. I’m no longer injured; running this race was the way that chapter finally ended for me.

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During the last 6 miles when the pain was hitting my quad hard, I started doing MATH. When i hit the 20 mile mark i knew that even if I ran 8 min miles, I would still PR. That motivated me to start picking off people and pass them by.

I held on tightly to my PR desire and pushed myself to keep going-I knew i wanted that big PR & dammit I was going to get it! Crossed the finish line in 3:15:03. A 10 minute and 22 second PR & the absolute best way to cap off a wonderful year of running 🏃🏻‍♀️

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It’s been 4 weeks & I’m still riding that PR high! I’m very happy with the day & I’m excited for what 2019 will bring 🏃🏻‍♀️🥇🏅

The 2016 Baystate Marathon

Hi friends!!!! On Sunday, October 16th-I ran the Baystate Marathon. It was my 6th Baystate. This is by far, my favorite course. I have so much to say about my PR race and thought it was time I did a recap☺️.

Sunday was SO MUCH FUN-I lived a lifetime of memories in one day and I’m going to do my best to sum it up here!

Friday.
Packet pickup on Friday with my twin, Nicole. I LOVE HER. We have been one another’s support system lately: all training considerations and thoughts are bounced off each other. We are so much alike and say that we “share a brain”. So OF COURSE  we had to do packet pickup together!

I had #11…how cool is that? (I always register RIGHT when registration opens!)

Friday night dinner: Steak tips and sweet potato.

Saturday.
I try to stay really low key the day before a marathon. I do little things like laundry and clean my bathroom (aka boring chores that I’ve been putting off forever and ever) and try to sit on my butt as much as I can!

I mostly hung out with my new puppy…LOOK AT THIS FACE!!!!!!!! His name is Tucker and I’m totally in love with this pup 🙂

Saturday night dinner: PIZZA!!! This is always my go to food before a race. THis time, it was the Polynesian pizza (Hawaiian pizza with bacon too)

Sunday: RACE DAY!!!!
Up at 5, race started at 8. Breakfast- one egg, a piece of toast, and some juice. Nothing new on race day! I made the decision to bring my hydration pack with me: I’ve never done this during a marathon before, but I had done a lot of pace miles with it on before and I felt confident that it was going to help me during the race!

My dad picked me up at 7 to bring me to the start. After my sweet Dad dropped me off, I stopped at the porta potties…And who immediately spots me upon my exit but one of my FAVORITE runners Francine! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!! It was SO AWESOME to have a little pre-race chat with her!!

I met up with my running partner, Kristina and my twin Nicole … Then we connected with Marissa and Nari and it was the PERFECT pre-race moment!

We had some laughs, took some pictures and before we knew it….

(Kristina, me, and Nicole at the start)

IT WAS GO TIME!!!!!! (I wish I could use the new Iphone 10 update here & have fireworks go off for you as you’re reading this!–> I was that FREAKING excited and it felt like a PARTY was about to happen!!!)

I was in line for the start, and all of a sudden I heard my (main) running partner behind me: my friend Shannon! So exciting to see her right before the gun went off!!!!! We weren’t sure if we were going to bump into one another at the start, and normally she doesn’t bring her phone with her while she is racing so I hadn’t bothered to text her beforehand to meet up-so it was FATE that we found each other!

There is something about this marathon that always gets me: I’ll be standing there in the cold, shivering uncontrollably (partly from my excitement AND partly because I’m usually frozen). I always feel like I’m standing on the edge and about to fall into something wonderful. It’s a pretty special feeling and it makes me well up when I think about it! The way I see it is that we don’t get too many REALLY SPECIAL moments in life and if you are able to recognize ahead of time that THIS MOMENT that you are in RIGHT NOW is pretty magical? Well you are pretty darn lucky. My brain took a million tiny pictures that day because I KNEW it was going to be a great one.

The gun started and I forgot to start my watch! I think I started it at 15-20 ish seconds in? I also still ended up running 26.50 miles, even with the shorter time!

Shannon and I ended up running together for about 15 miles. Somewhere along miles 2-3, we talked briefly & decided we wanted to pace & push one another for as long as we possibly could. I felt pretty great for those first 15 miles…. Our pace felt really smooth, and Shannon and I are used to running together and push each other naturally so it felt like just another long run.

At mile 12, My stomach started to hurt… I felt like a hard weight was in my belly:it felt like cramps and intense GI pain combined. It was AWFUL. At mile 15, the pain was  I slowed down and couldn’t match Shannon’s pace anymore.

By 16- I knew I wasn’t going to make my goal time. and, over the next 10 miles, I stopped several times and walked for a few seconds. It was awful and I felt SO defeated.

By 18: I had to stop taking GU. I had sipped on one, slowly, for miles 6-9, and another from 12-14. But my 3rd GU, I literally couldn’t swallow it and I choked it up. My stomach was in so much pain & it didn’t want any food in it. I could still take in water and I’m really grateful for that because otherwise I would’ve gotten severly dehydrated.

At 19.5- I saw one of my good friends Kaelagh!!! I ALMOST MISSED HER BEAUTIFUL FACE!!!!!!! She was pulled over in the most random spot and I’m SO GRATEFUL for her because seeing her made me get out of my pity party/waaaaaaaahmbance!!!!!

I had told myself that I couldn’t do the MATH for my finishing time until mile 20. I knew that I had slipped to an 8 min/mile pace.. but: I knew that if I kept that pace up-I WAS STILL GOING TO PR with a 3:21/3:22 time.

I saw my friend Marli at both 13 & 22 (Baystate is primarily a double loop marathon course and certain spots along the course are great because spectators can see the runners twice)….I just love her positivity!!! At 13-I knew she was cheering me on-but by 22: I *NEEDED* to see her and was looking for her face in the crowd: she yelled to me on her megaphone that I was looking so strong and that I was a BEAST! 😘😍

Marli took this of me! Side Note: I will never race in this shirt again because it is way too big on me and NOT flattering at all, LOL!

For those last miles, I had to dig deeper than I have EVER had to dig!!! I kept telling myself that YEAH, I had a bad second half of the marathon, but I DID NOT/WOULD NOT/REFUSED to give up: I didn’t run all those crazy hard, and FAST workouts JUST to give up: I came to this race to mother f*ing PR!!!!!

The fact that I was going to PR got me to the finish line. Even if I didn’t hit my “A” goal of 3:15- I knew KNEW, without a shadow of a doubt that I was going to PR!

At mile 22: I kept saying in my head “Aly, my family, Aly, My family”

I knew my family was only 4 miles away: I NEEDED to see my daughters cute little face!!!!

I tried to speed up as much as one with basically crippled-feeling legs CAN actually speed up. I just wanted to finish! ((SOMEBODY TELL ME WHY PHEIDIPPIDES RAN 26.2 AND NOT LIKE 20??THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER JUST SAYING))

I kept thinking: OMG PLEASE LORD LET ME BE FREAKING DONE!!!!!!!

From then on it was a battle of ONLY the mind. I knew that I would be able to finish because my body is TOUGH. But I needed to actually see my People before I could quit…

At mile 25, I saw the adorable Katie cheering me on..and she is just as cute in person as on her IG!!!!!! (Sidenote: She walked to mile 25 to cheer on the marathon runners after she finished her half-SO BADASS)

And then, in all it’s red glory, came the Aiken St bridge (Ouellette Bridge), there was mile 26…at exactly 26.2: I had a 3:23:02 time on my watch. (Screw you long course!!!!)

I saw my family at 26.10 and they were SOOOO FREAKING LOUD and I know that I am SO DAMN LUCKY!!!!!!!! My daughter and my niece were jumping up and down and cheering for me!!!!!! I SPRINTED to the finish with a 6:30 pace and got an “official” PR of 3:25:25!!!!!!!!!!

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My SIL took this of me!

I set out to run a 3:15 marathon & It didn’t happen.

But what did happen:

I ran with my heart.

I dug so freaking deep into my soul to finish this run: it took everything out of me.

I learned how tough, physically & mentally that I really am.
First half:1:37
Second half: 1:48

Official finish time: 3:25:25

(again with the shirt-where did my shorts go????)

My watch -3:23:02 for 26.2, 3:25:02 for 26.50.
Don’t stop believing friends! 6:30 down to a 3:25. Sub 3:15… you will one day be MINE

Splits: 7:19, 7:01, 7:15, 7:15, 7:17, 7:28, 7:18, 7:24, 7:23, 7:23, 7:24, 7:25, 7:25, 7:43, 7:55, 8:15, 8:03, 7:58, 8:04, 8:00, 8:06, 7:57, 8:33, 9:15, 7:56, 8:01, 3:37 (.50)

My family and I at the finish!

One really amazing moment that I have to brag about: My twinnie, Nicole, GOT HER FIRST BQ!!!! Girlfriend got a 3:35 and we are BOTH going to the 2018 Boston Marathon! It was so special to see her after the marathon. My head is always a little foggy when I finish, and I wasn’t sure yet where exactly she was along the course. I was in the finisher’s chute, and all of a sudden-I looked up and THERE SHE WAS! I’m so PROUD of her for achieving her dream of a BQ. And you are only just beginning girlfriend! 🙂 🙂 🙂

 

After the race, we went to one of our favorite watering holes. I got a sandwich as big as my face….

My Niece and I have a tradition of her wearing my medal and us taking a picture with it 🙂

And some family pictures. Aly is pointing to me because she would like you to know that I am the champion!

More family pics 🙂

 

And I made my puppy wear my medal. How could I NOT????

 

And now you have the whole PR story. If you’ve made it this far- THANK YOU!!!!

Hollis Fast 5k

Hi! Remember me??? Don’t worry, I’m still alive and kicking! I’ve done a few races and 5ks lately (Boston to name one of them!) and I haven’t been motivated at all to write any sort of review- or post. I’m sorry. Please forgive me!

But Thursday night,  I raced the Hollis Fast 5k and I thought to myself:”I should really do a blog post on this one because it was really cool.”

Before I tell you about the race, I have to give you a small story: I didn’t run my first 5k until 2014. I have always been a distance runner, and I used to consider 5ks to be “beneath me”. HA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA. Oh Nicole. So silly. My first 5k was the Hinkley Allen Manchester 5k in July of 2014. My goal was to break 21 minutes. And I did, with a 20:50. After that first 5k I said 3 things:

-I feel like i’m going to puke (I didnt’)
-i hated that
-I want to break 20 minutes.

5k’s are my “scariest” race distance. So how do you get over that “I’m freaking terrified right now” feeling? YOU DO MORE OF THEM. I have never been able to truly find my rhythm in this distance. It’s so short that you really don’t have time to make anything up, and if you’re looking to push it, you’ve got to do it from the very start. It’s truly 3.10 miles of riding the Pain Train. Sometimes I crash and burn, and sometimes I feel good the whole race only to realize later that the only reason that I felt good is because I didn’t push it enough.

In 2015, I set a new PR at the same 4th of July race that I did in 2014. New PR: 20:07. On my bday this year, (May 1st) I ran a 5k in town (because why NOT run a race on your birthday??). It wasn’t a chip timed race and I ran a 20:17. However, when I uploaded my Garmin later and reviewed the splits, my watch said a ran a 20:05. If I hadn’t run 16 miles the day before, I KNOW I would have PR’d by more than only 2 seconds!

So I was heading into the Hollis Fast 5k with the knowledge that I was GOING TO PR. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind. My mental game was STRONG.

 

The Pre Race Stuff Logistics:
The Hollis Fast 5k was one of the best races I’ve ever run in my life. There are so many good things to say about it that I’m afraid I’ll forget a few! It was extremely well organized and a closed course- I LOVE THE CLOSED COURSE.Runners had the option of picking up your bib at a local running store, or on site the day of. Since I like running stores, and since I like this particular running store (Fleet Feet), I opted to pick up my bib ahead of time. (bonus to Fleet Feet for including a 20% off coupon on the back of the runners’ bibs!) 

OH. I haven’t mentioned the course and elevation profile yet, have I? Well take a look at the elevation profile….

 

AMAZING. Now you can see why I was so excited, right??? The race drops 224 feet over the 3.1 miles and it is a point to point course. You are basically running on one road for the whole race-there is one turn. I loved that. Compared to some races (like the Good times race series) that are filled with a TON of twists -it was really refreshing to run this course!!!

A lot of runners commented on the IG post that I wrote about this elevation profile and how it looked like a race to blow your quads. It really wasnt though…The downhill is very slight, and I found it easy and not very steep. So instead of feeling like you could be falling down the hills because your pace feels out of control, it is more of a manageable decline.

The Race email suggested that runners arrive early: to the 6:30 start: This is a 5k that 1400 people registered for…holy smokes that’s a lot of peeps for a 5k! I knew it would be busy, so I listened and got to my parking lot by 5:15. Runners were bussed to the starting line (that is something new-to-me for a 5k!)

The weather was PERFECTION for race day: I was in a skirt and tank, and wore a sweatshirt to the start because I was a little chilly. There was a slight breeze and for the first time EVER, I didn’t actually mind the wind because it was a freaking TAILWIND that blew us down the course!!!!! I have done so many races where I’ve been too hot, too cold, it was too windy, etc…All The Stars aligned and the Running Gods were smiling down on me!!!!

Once I arrived at the race start, I hit the porta potty, took my GU, and just waited around a little bit. I didn’t run into any trouble with lines, and I saw several porta potties-and still never really noticed a line at any of them. So either people used their own bathrooms at home, or lines moved fairly quickly! It suddenly occurred to me about 15 minutes from go time that I forgot to:

a.) warmup
b.) make a playlist.

Are you kidding me??? I’m chalking this up to the fact that my brain was centered around a new 19:xx PR!

Stuck this penny made by one of my besties in my little zippered pocket. It can’t hurt to have luck on your side, right???

After a 3/4 minute jog around the school lot, I checked my sweatshirt with the gear bus, and went to line up out front. I spotted the lovely Run Far Girl and went into total fangirl mode. I had to say hi to her because I love her IG, her merchandise, and her positive attitude that she always displays! Plus I love reading all of her mom posts! It was so nice to meet her!

 

THE RACE.
Before I knew it, I was off! I didn’t want to look at my watch unless I felt my pace was slipping. I always go out too fast in 5ks and I didn’t want to make that mistake this time. I also wanted to go by perceived effort. I kept the pace pretty even and I reminded myself that this was MY RACE. For once, I didn’t care about placing or winning or any other crap like that. I didn’t care if anyone passed me or passing people: I was solely focused on A NEW PR.

The first mile felt good, a little painful as most 5ks feel to me. I got out of my own head and beat the Negative Nancy’s way down. I had no idea of the pace I was keeping, I focused on even effort, breathing, and letting Rihanna and Calvin Harris sing to me. First mile clicked in 6:18!

2nd mile: I knew that, in order get a PR of 19:50-19:55, I would need to keep the pace under 6:30. I kept saying to myself “just keep it under 6:30, you can do this.” I felt really good and snuck a peek at my watch…6:11! YOWZA. I tried to just keep this pace which made me realllly happy! I started to pass people, mentally high fiving them in my head. I don’t know about you, but I can’t get out a single word when I’m running a 5k!!! I tried to focus on the race report that I read and remembered that the writer said when there were flat areas, he would tell himself to just keep this pace for a little while longer and it would start to go downhill again. The 2nd mile was by far my favorite mile: there was a really pretty field, and this was the mile that I felt the best in. My watch clicked in 6:06—> I actually couldn’t tell this because there was an instagram notification blocking half of my screen. (Note to self to turn off notifications when I’m in a race!)

3rd mile: I shall refer to this mile as the death march mile. Gahhhhhh. It was terrible. I wanted to cry. Everything hurt! Where I was able to speed up considerably in the 2nd mile, by the 3rd my whole body was like “Betch please, we’ve had ENOUGH!” The best part of the 3rd mile is that there are signs when you have 1 mile to go, .75, .50, .25…that was a freaking godsend!!!!!!! I kept saying to myself “JUST MAKE IT TO THE NEXT SIGN.” I saw my pace slip from 6:12 alll the way up to 6:25. I ended up running the 3rd mile in 6:32. (I know, i know, it’s not a bad pace, but it wasn’t the great paces I held in the first 2 miles!) 

I spied the finish line and I was sooooo happy!!! I went through under the clock reading that it was 19:47!!!!!!!! I was so happy and crossed with the BIGGEST SMILE on my face! I stopped, crouched on the ground, and kissed the asphalt (YUP, I was that crazy girl…) because I couldn’t believe the new PR that I had wanted for SO LONG was all MINE!!!!!!!

Official Gun Time: 19:45 🙂 🙂 :). I was the 23rd female. To place in the top 25 for this race is really darn good!

Here I am crossing the finish line with a big fat smile. And as you can see, I really did kneel down and say a little prayer of thanks!

So lets talk about some of the things that went right:
-Number pickup the day before was really quick and easy, and so was the parking day of. I was pretty close to the finish line, so I was able to jog the mile-ish back to my car post race.

-The weather. OMG I loved it.

-My attitude. Going into a race with an attitude that you are going to PR is HUGE. The power of positivity is a real thing. The only way I can describe how I felt all day is to say this: I felt like I was standing on the ledge of a cliff and about to fall into something GREAT. The nerves were excitement, not stress nerves. It was a really great thing to feel.

-I was my own cheerleader. I backed, no PUSHED myself out of the dark corners of my mind, and I was yelling at myself that I knew I could do it, and I knew I could be better than what I was.

-The Course. While I did certainly love that it was a downhill course, I feel that I have learned how to really push myself towards new PR’s. I think the course was just a minor thing and that me giving it my best was the real winner.

What went wrong….
Too often runners (myself INCLUDED!!) focus on what went wrong during a race. The only thing that I think slowed me down was the fact that I’ve been doing a lot of BBG lately and even though I skipped leg day for the week, there are still plenty of burpees and squats in the other days that left my legs sore. But, I really love BBG and wasn’t willing to skip the whole week!!!

This race showed me that I should be shooting for a sub 19:30 time: If I had stayed at my average combined pace for my first 2 miles, I would have wound up with a 19:15 -19:20 5k time. Now I know what to shoot for next!!! I loved this course, and I love running downhill. I think the downhill course helped me get the PR, but I also think that my positive attitude made me kill this race and I feel very good about duplicating this effort on a regular course!

Thanks for reading!

Ever had a race day where EVERYTHING went right for you?? (it is MAGICAL when this happens!)

LOCAL RUNNERS: Race Entry giveaway

  
  I’m so excited to be telling you that I’m hosting a race entry giveaway for all of my local runners!
The Edna K 5k in Lowell, MA will take place on Saturday, April 2nd. This is formerly known as the “Jig and Jog”. The race is a part of the Irish Cultural week and it was pushed back from a March so that we will (hopefully) have a gorgeous day in April! This means you get to wear your green stuff again—that rocks! The first 100 entrants are guaranteed to get a free shirt.

Number pickup starts and registration will begin at Dudley’s at 8:30am, and the runners will take off at 10am from the Ayotte Parking Garage (beside the Tsongas Center). If you have run the “Good Times Course” before, than you are already familiar with the route. (Click here for a description)

Here is the good part: I’M GIVING AWAY A RACE ENTRY! One lucky winner will get a FREEEEEE entry into this awesome 5k!
Winner will be chosen at random on Tuesday, March 29th. To enter: Leave a comment below! For an extra entry, follow me on Instagram and leave a separate comment telling me you did so!

Can’t wait to see if you win?  Use code “TGWRE” for a sweet discount!!
(Edited to add winner)And the winner is Jason Demers! I will be contacting you soon with instructions. Congratulations! 

 

A few of my favorite things!

Happy weekend everybody!!! Lately I have been using a few things ALL the time and I wanted to share their awesome-ness with you!!

BUT FIRST. This popped up in my memories -It’s from 2011. My husband built my little a snow fort in the backyard. She was only 4 in this picture and a tenny little thing! I just love this memory and I’m SO THANKFUL that it hasn’t been a bad winter!!!

1.) I would normally NEVER post pictures of underwear BUT I had to tell my runderwear loving friends about these. They are Under Armour and I love them! They’re one size fits all and I love how cozy the material is!

2.) I am OBSESSSSSSED with my Nike Vapor Flash Vest and Nike reflective running tights. They are REALLY expensive, but, in my opinion-totally worth the money (I got them for Christmas!). I will have them for years to come and I try to take really good care of them. This is the only pair of pants that I wear at night/during the morning for outside runs. They are very flattering and I am HIGHLY visible. I’ve been described as looking like I’m wearing “flashlights” while I’m out running!

The vest is fitted but I have found that I can still put a base layer on, comfortably, underneath it and not feel squished or like I’m suffocating. 🙂

I’ve read a lot of reviews on the pants and I was a little skeptical about getting them-A lot of people said that the reflective parts come off in the wash. I wash them inside out on gentle cycle, and I haven’t had any problems!

  Lights on!

Lights off! This is what a car sees when they drive by me. SO MANY LEVELS OF AWESOME!

 

3.) Nathan Firecatcher Hydration Vest. I bought this as an alternative to my Camelbak. I LOVE my camelback but I often get chafed by it in the summertime so I wanted to find an alternative. This vest came with two front bottles and I bought the bladder for the back of it. I’ve used the bottles before but I prefer the bladder. I think if I was an ultra runner, I would use the bottles too since it would be a piece of cake to refill them at stops.

I still love my camelback a lot, but this vest has yet to chafe me so it’s been the first thing I grab for all of my long runs this winter. I do like the way the Camelbak sits on my back slightly better than the Nathan vest, though.

The vest also has pockets on both sides of the front straps: a pocket and a zippered which is pretty cool!

 

4.) The Night Runner 270’s. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE these. This was another purchase that I was extremely skeptical about. I didn’t know if they were worth the $60, plus there was no store that I could go and check them out at. I don’t like to spend money on a product that I’m not absolutely sure about! I thought the concept of them was really cool and my headlight was uncomfortable & not that bright. I was looking for a better solution for running in the dark and a runner I follow on IG had posted about these.

Whenever I post a picture of them, I get a LOT of questions.  I think the company needs to market themselves a little more & put more info out about their product by way of more videos. (I’ve posted videos on my Instagram before but I don’t have a YouTube channel so I didn’t post it here) Their website is nice, but I think it needs a bit more info about their rockin product because it seems that people are just as skeptical as I am.

But I bought them anyway and hoped for the best. I use them ALL the time. ..morning, night: it doesn’t matter. They are rechargeable (love that) and you plug them into a USB to do so. I’ve gone up to 3 weeks without charging them and typically use them 2/3 times a week.

The range of visibility is incredible. You can read more about it on their website but here is how I like to describe it: They are really bright flashlights for my feet that make me feel safe & well seen. I also don’t bring my headlight along anymore-but if I’m out running in the dark, there are also street lights that are on. So this means that the roads are not TOTALLY dark to begin with.

I HIGHLY recommend them to all my night and morning runner friends. I’ve even taken them along with me to the dark track in the wee hours and I love being able to see my feet!

 

Happy Weekend, Friends! Have you tried any of these things, or tried any excellent running products lately??

Lionness

Since the weather has been so delightful lately and spring is on its way-I thought I would give a shout out to my very favorite running skirt: The Lioness!!

It’s no secret that I love Skirt Sports and their Lioness Skirt. I’ve been an ambassador for this incredible company since the fall of 2014. I love everything about the company: the people who run it, their constant devotion to empowering women, and their products. 

I discovered Skirt Sports and the Lioness skirt by accident during a weekend away back in August 2014. My husband and I had taken an anniversary vacation to the gorgeous Wentworth by the Sea. 

Now, let me tell you, before I found Skirt Sports, I did not like running skirts and couldn’t picture myself in one. I thought it would make me less girly and like I was trying too hard to show that I’m a girl who is out there running.

I had been searching for a while for an awesome pair of shorts with a bunch of pockets. I wanted something to stuff my GUs in for long runs so I didn’t have to wear a wrist pocket or my flip belt. Less is more!!! On our travels, we stopped at Runners Alley in downtown Portsmouth Nh. I saw this cute little skirt, and I was floored when I lifted up the ‘skirt’ part and saw the two deep side pockets that looked like I could easily fit my phone and a couple GU in there. PLUS— the skirt had a zippered back pocket which i knew I would use to put my housekey/money/debit card. I should’ve just bought the skirt on the spot because zippered pockets actually make me a little too excited…but I didn’t. In my head I kept saying “You don’t like running skirts.”

BUT….After a delicious lunch…I made my husband turn around and buy the skirt that I could not get off of my mind!! I even tried it on back at our hotel in FULL running gear because I was way, way too excited to wear it on a run!

Me in my first skirt!

 

I test drove the skirt the very next day. It was love at first run, and now I am eating all the words I ever said about running skirts being lame because the Lioness skirt freaking rocks.

Some of my favorite features:

-Comfort. This is very important to me. I love the material-It’s so soft and cozy. It does not chafe me at all. Being that I spend a ton of time in my running clothes, I need them to cause zero pain!! It also doesn’t ride up or need any adjusting. Once I pull the skirt on, it stays exactly where I put it.

-Style. I don’t like longer shorts or longer skirts. I’m a peanut and I like my bottoms to be short and sassy just like me. This skirt is irresistibly flirty. I never worry about it blowing up in the wind and showing my undies, because it has built in shorties underneath. BAM.

-POCKETS. This is my very favorite feature, by FAR. the shorties have two deep side pockets, and the skirt has a back zippered pocket.

This means THREE pockets to put ALL of your stuff in!!!!  Another thing I absolutely love about the pockets is that you can’t tell by looking at me HOW much stuff I actually have crammed inside of them:During the 2015 Boston Marathon, I stuffed 4 GU, my cell phone, portable cell phone charger, phone cord, a key, money, my debit card and some Imodium. (Because you never know). The skirt part is so sassy and bouncy that when you run, it kind of “flutters” around you and you don’t notice the bulging pockets.

 

I race almost exclusively in this skirt, and do all of my long runs in it. It has every single thing I need during a race/long runs: pockets to hold my endless amounts of stuff, cuteness, and functionality. I also have it in every single color. See below…

 

For the spring line-Skirt Sports has release 3 amazing new colors..I’ve bought 2/3 so far!

Free Love and Marine/Razz Stardust. I had to own them IMMEDIATELY…

To own your race-perfect skirt, RUN (haha) to the Skirt Sports website! Use code GWR20 for a 20% off discount!

 

Run Free, Run Strong….And race in Skirt Sports!!!!

xo I’ll be back for an update real soon!