20 miler in the books!

Last week’s training started off great with a solid run and a spin class then took a terrible turn when I went to do my Thursday tempo run.  I got on the treadmill ready to go and just couldn’t hang, my body was sore… my stomach hurt and I eventually (to my extreme disappointment) had to bail after 4 slow miles.  I am not one to bail on a run, I am a bit on the competitive side… but I really didn’t want to push it with my big 20 miler on Saturday.

Before we get to that though, I wanted to share a special picture of me, my mom and my brother (below)

This picture was taken shortly after my mom finished Boston a little over 12 years ago and represents the day my dream to run Boston was born.  I never thought I would be able to do it and now I find myself 20 days away from the starting line.  Despite my frustrating run on Thursday, I have had a great training cycle and am looking forward to race day!

Now for the fun part…my 20 mile run in the SNOW.  Yes, you read that correctly.  It snowed on Saturday for the millionth time this season on long-run day.  Despite the poor weather I was excited to run.

I had a very relaxing evening Friday night, dinner with Paige 🙂 and an early bed time so I could get up early for my team run.  I treated it like a dress rehearsal for Marathon Monday because the TEAM bussed us out to Hopkinton to the starting line.  I got up (practically skipped) out of bed, made my coffee and my toast and quickly got dressed.  Despite the snow I was very excited to finally set foot on the first part of the course.  Once I arrived at practice, we had an amazing presentation with two very special mission moments.  Hearing my teammates stories is an incredibly inspiring way to prepare for a run.  I love being a part of this team and feel honored to be running and raising money alongside these amazing people.

Boarding the Busses!

When we got to Hopkinton we were greeted with this lovely sign and tons of other charity runners.  There were several other teams out on the course Saturday so it felt a little like race day (although way smaller).

I started out with one of my teammates and we kept an 8:45ish pace for most of the run.  Our team had AMAZING water stops (shout out to all of our wonderful volunteers) set up every two miles which were very helpful for simulating race-day fueling.  I stuck with Caitlin (my teammate) for most of the run and really enjoyed chatting as it made me conscious of keeping my pace easy, so I could speak, and made the miles fly by!  I felt really strong heading into our “home turf” of Natick and Wellesley.  I lost Caitlin for a bit around mile 15ish and felt great until mile 19 where I began to mentally struggle with the hills.  I turned up my music for the first time on my run and got ready to defeat the hills when I heard Caitlin calling, she caught me!  It was perfect timing to get me through my rough patch and we finished together with smiles on our faces.  Our TEAM volunteers and the local police officers did a great job keeping us all safe and hydrated on our run, I can’t thank them enough!

Wet and Cold but DONE!

This run was a huge confidence booster for me going into my taper.  I had a rough training cycle because of work and was concerned that my pace would suffer.  All of my long runs so far have been in the low 9s for average pace and this one came in just under that (8:45!).  I felt strong physically the whole time and after my brief rough patch felt like I could have kept running, what is another 6.2 miles…right?!

I made sure to stretch and foam roll on Saturday and did some yoga and more stretching on Sunday.  My muscles were definitely sore (first 10 miles downhill are no joke for the quads) but I felt fully recovered by Tuesday and was able to get in an easy run.  I can’t believe the marathon is in 19 days!  I am only $750 away from my fundraising goal of $5,000, please consider donating to my efforts for Team in Training.

Who else is running Boston?

What are some of your strategies for recovering from a rough training day?

One Month till Boston and a Fun Weekend

I had a really great training week after last week’s 18 miler; I’m starting to feel the exhaustion of peak mileage but we are officially less than ONE MONTH away from Marathon Monday!  I’m looking forward to my taper but still focusing on getting in quality workouts.  Let’s take a look at my week:

Monday: Strength training and yoga video.  Definitely felt the burn during my strength session.

Tuesday: Track day!  Actually went out to the local track (see blurry pictures below)  Completed 2 lap warm up with 4x800m repeats.  The wind made this extra tricky but I kept my pace around 3:20-3:25 per repeat.

Wednesday: Off day

Thursday: 4 Mile pace run, 7:47 average pace.  Felt really strong during this run despite the cold (spring come faster!).

Friday: Off day

Saturday: 13 snowy miles with my TEAM 🙂 9:11 average pace.  Legs definitely began feeling heavy but I powered through!

Sunday: foam roll, stretching and some at home yoga.

This week: 21 miles total, all outdoors!

Onto the weekend… We had a date day Saturday that started off with a trip to the Museum of Science.  We hit up the Mayan exhibit (our art project is below) and the Omni theater for a great show about humpback whales.  We always have such a great time at the Museum of Science, I can’t wait to go back!

Our Mayan block project

Then we headed home for a Blue Apron dinner.  I have seen Blue Apron on a few of my favorite blogs and I thought it would be fun to try.  Blue Apron sends a refrigerated box filled with proper portions of ingredients for three different meals directly to your door.  I was thrilled when we got our package Saturday morning and could not wait to dig in!

Our special delivery!

We decided to go for the Turkey Chili as our first meal.  Jack and I cooked together and had an absolute blast!

All of our ingredients

The pictures included with the recipe made it very easy to follow.  We each enjoyed a beverage in our new UConn glasses as we cooked.

cooking beverages are a must

Final Product!

It came out AMAZING.  We both agreed that we would like to have this meal again, and with the recipe it will make it nice and easy.  I can’t wait to try our other two Blue Apron meals! We topped off our Saturday night with some more beverages and March Madness.

Next up we had an art project, inspired by a post I read on Peanut Butter Fingers, we attempted a gallery wall.  Friday afternoon we headed to Ikea to get all our supplies and then took Sunday to assemble, I’m thrilled with how it came out!

              

How was your weekend?

What are you looking forward to this week?  I am definitely looking forward to our 20 miler on Saturday (yikes!) I can’t wait to get out on the Boston Marathon course for some practice.

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend 🙂

The Budget is DONE!

Now that the Budget is over life has returned to normal… I will play some catch up with this post and then finally get back to regular blogging this week (stay tuned for a fun post about this weekend!).  Enjoy 🙂

Breakfast of Champions! Note: work phone in the top right corner…always working

Sometimes Dove chocolate just gets me

Budget Outfit! Courtesy of Stitchfix, my latest obsession

First Post-Budget Long Run: feeling strong and enjoying running outdoors

Night out with the girls!

Bruins game with the little bro

18 Miler complete! Very proud of my pace on this one. Also, am I the only one who runs for Chipotle? I dreamed of this burrito bowl for the last 4 miles #motivation

resting with Milo after the 18 miler

What are your favorite post long run treats? I go for Chipotle every time

Where have I been?

Hi! How have you been!?  It has been over a month since my last post, I have been super super busy with work and training so I thought I would catch you up on my life with a lot of pictures and some stories.

Ten strong miles on the Charles (this run was in early January), I felt strong despite the cold but I was very happy to get inside.

 Sleepy Milo, this is how I feel after all of my long runs.

 Runners World yoga videos: I have been all about these lately since I have been so pressed for time.

Brunch Date 🙂

Walk on the beach before the winter really kicked up in Boston

 Celebrating my promotion!  Part of the reason I have been so busy at work is that I was promoted in the middle of January, there is no better way to celebrate than in my footie pjs with a glass of champagne 🙂

The first storm that hit us this winter: two feet of snow

Snow = treadmill runs for days

Trying to channel my inner Summer with this outfit.

Venturing out into the storm because I couldn’t handle another treadmill: 10 miles on the roads, 2 miles on the mill.

Beautiful Valentine’s flowers from my favorite Valentine 🙂

The scene at my gym yesterday… I actually had to dig out the door so I could get in, it was quite the warm up!

Once I finally got inside I had the place to myself.  In the windows you can see snow drifts 10 feet high!  We have had quite the winter here in MA and the South Shore has been hit extra hard.  I am not one for a ton of treadmill miles but I felt strong for my entire 14 mile run on Sunday.  I broke up the run into three pieces 4 miles slow (10 min/mile), 6 miles of progression (9 minute down to 8 minute), 4 miles slow.  I felt great and strong the whole time!  It was awesome to get such a great run in despite the terrible weather.  I’m really looking forward to my week of training and 16 miler Saturday.

I will try to be better about posting but busy season will officially be over in two weeks… I will definitely post more regularly after that.  I hope everyone is staying warm in all of this snow!

Boston Training update & Budget Season Begins

Sunday – 90 minutes of Yoga.  After my long run Saturday I was feeling particularly tight so I decided to check out a local yoga studio for a power yoga class.  I haven’t done yoga in about three years so the class was definitely challenging.  I woke up on Monday feeling very sore but very grateful that I had gone… I think this may need to be a weekly tradition!

Monday – Rest

Tuesday – Track Day!  It was super chilly out on Tuesday so I hit up the gym with Jack for 4x800m repeats.  I deleted the timing data from my phone (silly me) but I focused on feeling strong the entire time.  I completed each repeat faster than the last.  I think this is the most successful speed workout I’ve had to date – WIN. 6 miles total.

Wednesday – Rest.  This rest day was definitely not planned but after working late I figured it would be better to get some sleep than to sneak in a late cross training session.  I did do some stretching at home though.

Thursday – Marathon Goal Pace workout.  This is something new to my training cycle this time around and I have to say I enjoyed it!  I warmed up for 5 minutes at 10min/mile pace then ran for 20 minutes at 8:12/mile and 20 minutes at 8:00/mile with a 5 minute cool down for a total of 5.7 miles.  I was super tempted to stay on the treadmill to make it an even 6 miles but was so tired by the end of the workout I left it at 5.7.  I still haven’t officially decided on my goal pace, originally I was thinking 9:30, but my training has felt really great at 8:12-8:30 pace so I will have to decide 🙂

Feeling silly after my MGP workout

Friday – Rest.  This week at work was super crazy, we are going through a pretty significant transition and also have to produce a budget by March 4th… needless to say this week took a lot out of me!  I was hoping to sneak out of work around 5pm to get a quick run in on the treadmill but that didn’t happen.  Instead I opted for drinks and catching up with Meg, the gin definitely was a better idea 🙂

Saturday – Rest.  During busy season I usually work weekends, this was the first Saturday I was planning on working so I carefully planned out my day: work 10-2, run 2:30-4, PATS game, Grandparent’s 85th birthday party.  My plan was going really really well until I got ready to run and realized my running shoes were still sitting at home, FAIL.  I was definitely disappointed but opted for an extra rest day and enjoyed the time with my family.

Jack & I at the 85th Birthday Party!

Overall this week was pretty successful, my legs felt good during all of my workouts and I was able to see my family.  I’m hoping that this coming week will have more consistent training (read: less rest days).

Total Mileage: 11.7 miles*

*I did my long run (10 Miles) today (sunday) so technically my week was 21.7 miles, but who is counting 🙂

Goals for the week:

1. Get to another yoga class
2. Get in at least one early morning workout
3. Drink lots of water

What are some of your goals for the week?

Boston Training Update and New Year Goals

Sunday – Rest

Monday – 35 minutes on the elliptical (3.5 Miles).  I deviated from my schedule slightly this week to make room for celebrating the New Year

Tuesday – Track Day!  This Tuesday marked my third “speed” workout of this training cycle, 6x400m.  I started with 1/2 mile warm up then did 6 repeats focusing on making each repeat a little faster than the last.

I felt strong finishing the last one, though my legs definitely felt tired.  I finished off the workout with 1/2 mile cool down for a total of 3.5 miles in 31 minutes.

Wednesday – I took Wednesday off because we were having a few friends over to celebrate the New Year.  Instead of running or cross training I got dressed up and welcomed 2015 with some of my favorite people.

Happy New Year!

Thursday & Friday – Rest and Recovery.  I took Thursday and Friday off from training to catch up on sleep and to clean up our apartment from all the Holiday excitement.  I did some stretching and foam rolling but otherwise took it pretty easy.

Saturday – Long run!  I woke up bright and early Saturday to head off to TEAM practice.  We had 9 miles on the schedule and I was excited to get back out to the hills of Wellesley with my Team.  Practice started as it does every week with a wonderful mission moment, where one of my teammates shares why they run for TNT.  Each week the stories are incredibly moving and help to motivate me to complete the long run.  I paired up with two women on the team who were planning on running a similar pace (sub 10) and headed out for a very chilly run.  I really enjoyed learning more about two of my teammates and the constant chatting made the miles fly by!  We finished 9+ miles (the route was a bit long) at 9:41 average pace.  After an off week of training it felt great to get a solid run in with my teammates.

Total Weekly Mileage: 16

Now for the fun part of the post –> 2015 Goals

1. Stick to the Plan: One of the struggles I constantly have when training for a race is sticking to my plan, this training cycle I want to focus on trusting my training plan and making conscious adjustments (not skipping workouts just because).
2. Cross Train: I am prone to overuse injuries and my current training plan incorporates lots of cross training.  I want to make sure I make the most of these days to focus on Yoga and Strength training.  Putting the time in now will pay off come Marathon Monday, I just need to remind myself how important these days are.
3. Early Workouts: This is going to be the most challenging goal for me this year.  Busy season at work starts over the next few weeks, meaning my evening workouts may be difficult to fit in.  Starting this week I want to make morning workouts a priority at least three days per week. This will allow me to get in my speed workout, PACE workout and a cross training workout in every week before work.  I may end up rotating in an extra rest day as work really picks up but early workouts 3x a week will help me feel more secure in my training.

What are some of your goals for 2015?

I will leave you with a picture of my sleepy kitten, have a great week!

First Weeks of Boston Training & Holiday Recap

It has been a busy busy few weeks here with the Holidays and Training finally beginning to ramp up.  I wanted to check in to give you a quick update on my progress.

Let’s take it back to December 13th – my first TEAM run!

The morning started out a little chilly so I pulled on a few layers and headed out to practice.  I was a little nervous to meet everyone and go on our first run, I am usually a solo runner so the team aspect is slightly outside my comfort zone.  Luckily, everyone on my team is phenomenal and made me feel welcome right away.  The day started with a kickoff ceremony where we heard mission moments from survivors and one of our honored heroes, Darla, sang God Bless America for us before we hit the streets.  It was a beautiful way to kickoff the season and the run was excellent.

First TEAM run! 4 Miles

Training Week of December 14th

After a great Team run on Saturday I was not feeling too well, I ended up taking Sunday-Tuesday off to recover.  By Wednesday I was feeling up to running and decided to do the scheduled track workout.  I completed 3x800m repeats on the treadmill (8.0,8.3,8.5) with 1/2 mile warm up and cool down.  I felt really strong by the end, unfortunately I wasn’t fully healthy and had to take Thursday and Friday off due to a cold.

Saturday the 20th was beautiful and snowy, I went for my 6 mile run (picture below).  I felt great and averaged 8:42/mile for all 6 miles.

After the run I got to work baking gingerbread cookies, a holiday favorite in our house 🙂

Gingerbread

Training Week of December 21st

Coming off a great long run I was really looking forward to a week of family and friends.  My running definitely took a back seat for the holiday celebrations but I was still able to get in my hills on Christmas Eve and an 8 Mile run with my parents (they did the first part with me) on Saturday.

Sorry for the very long and very overdue training post, I will do my best to keep the blog more up to date as training ramps up!  I will leave you with my two favorite pictures from the Holidays, I hope everyone has had a lovely Holiday!

Why I Run

As I begin to prepare for Marathon training (revving up over the next week – YIKES) I wanted to take a minute to share with all of you (and remind myself) why this training cycle will be different than any of the ones before.  Unlike previous training cycles where I had a personal goal, this time I am running for a reason that is bigger than myself.  I am running as a part of Team in Training raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).  The money raised by myself and other members of our Team will continue to allow LLS to fund millions of dollars of research to help advance new treatments and cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and provide critical education and support to cancer patients and their families.  To date, my Team has raised over $200 K!

Nearly 50% of all cancer drugs approved by the FDA during the past decade were for blood cancers. And they are helping other patients as well. Five of those drugs have been approved for patients with solid tumors and others are being tested for other indications. Survival rates for children with leukemia have improved from 3% 40 years ago to 90% today; Hodgkin lymphoma patient survival rates have more than doubled to 88% since the 1960s. And the survival rate for myeloma patients tripled in past decade. (source)

As I have mentioned in previous posts, running the Boston Marathon has been a dream of mine for years.  I have known for a while that for me to accomplish that dream I would likely be partnering with a charitable organization and fundraising. The Boston Marathon has an incredible charity program that raises millions of dollars each year for many local and national organizations, but LLS stuck out to me in my search for a team.  Not only does LLS provide an incredible team experience for the marathon, but it also does important research to help find a cure for a disease that is close to my family and friends.

​I will be running the Marathon this year in memory of a very special family friend, Erica who courageously battled acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) for many years.  Though I never met Erica, I know through stories from my Dad and her Dad, Eric, that she fought with courage and strength. I hope that in completing the Marathon this coming year I can carry Erica’s strength with me for the 26.2 miles to raise awareness and funds for LLS and the important research they do.

Every day when I am training this winter I want to remind myself that I am running for something that is bigger than me or one race.  If the money I raise can help one person or family during their fight then it is worth it.  I am so excited to be a part of Team in Training and to continue to learn more about the work that LLS does to fight blood cancer.

Thoughtful Thursday – Thanksgiving Edition

So I know I’m about a week late on my Thanksgiving post but it has been a busy busy week!  Let’s start with Thursday (Thanksgiving), I woke up and had a relaxing morning with Jack before driving into the city to see the family.  Mom and I had originally planned on doing a local Turkey Trot 5 mile race but our plans changed and we couldn’t make it.  Instead we decided to go for a leisurely run long the Charles River. It was gorgeous out, a little chilly but PERFECT running weather.  My Garmin couldn’t find satellites so we decided to go off feel.  My guess is that we went about 2 miles at around 11 min/mile pace.  It was so great to enjoy a run with my mom!

When we got back home there was a true team effort to get dinner on the table.  It was a success 🙂

After Thanksgiving I went into full on Christmas decorating mode which included chopping down our very first Christmas tree.  As you can see in the picture below, I should never be handed a saw…

After a few minutes of struggling we successfully cut the tree down and packed it on top of my Prius (quite the site to see) and headed back home.  Milo was quite confused by the new addition to our living room, he spent quite some time exploring the tree on Saturday and Sunday while we decorated.  below are some pictures of our decorations and Milo.

 

Now onto the present day…

Heading into this week of work I felt refreshed and ready to go.  My first TNT meeting is on Saturday for a shoe and gear clinic, I couldn’t be more excited.  I decided to set some goals for the week in anticipation of my meeting and thought it might be fun to share them here, enjoy!

Weekly Goals 12/1:

1. Run Early – my schedule at work gets busy this time of year so if I am going to have a regular running schedule I need to start prioritizing morning workouts.
   • So far this week I have completed 1 early morning run, 2.5 miles on Tuesday at 8 minute pace.  I’m hoping to go again tomorrow — we will see how that goes!
2. Drink More Water – I find I always feel better when I’m running if I have been conscious about my hydration
   • This week I have been pretty good about this, especially in the mornings.  I have been trying to finish a full glass of water before my morning coffee each day.
3. Healthy Eating – this is an ongoing goal for myself but will become more and more important as I get into training.
   • This week I have done a decent job of packing food for breakfast and lunch at work and ending the day with healthy dinners.  I would like to do a better job of meal planning to make the week nights easier, but that can be a goal for another time.
4. Sleep – I want to try to get into a consistent sleep schedule to help with goal 1.
   • This has gone well this week! I have been in bed between 10-11 each night and am starting to feel more rested.

That is all for now, stay tuned for a weekend running update and a TNT meeting recap 🙂

 

 

Not Running and $1,000 by Thanksgiving!

First of all I want to thank everyone who has donated to my Team in Training effort so far.  I have raised $1,000 which gets me closer to my goal of halfway ($2,500) by Christmas.  I am very thankful for all of the donations I have received so far, each dollar brings us closer to a world without blood cancer!

As for running…I haven’t posted in a while because there hasn’t been much running.  I haven’t found a groove since the Chilly 1/2 and have been running 1-2 times per week due to a very busy work schedule and some other buys life things.  During these few runs I have been trying to reflect on my goals for the coming months and find a good rhythm before I officially start training for Boston in December.  Below are three thoughts on my recent running (or not):

• Time Does Not Always Matter: On a run over this past weekend  I decided to take a little “me time” on my run and go without my trusty Garmin.  I put on some of my favorite music and set out to enjoy the brisk fall day.  I have no idea how far I went or how fast I was going and it was such a great feeling.  I just enjoyed running for the sake of running rather than worrying about pace or distance.  I definitely need to remember to mix a few of these types of runs in especially as I get into my training cycle and busy season at work.  Sometimes it is just nice to get a run in 🙂

After my Garmin-less run

• Sometimes Wine > Morning Run:  Last week was particularly rough for me, between working 14 days straight and trying to keep up with all of the other fun things in my life my running definitely got away from me.  Saturday was going to be my first day off in two weeks, so naturally I planned on going for a kickass long run.  However, when I got home Friday night a cozy dinner at home with a movie and lots of wine sounded like a better idea.  I postponed my run until Saturday afternoon and reduced the planned distance to fit everything in.  Sometimes taking care of myself means adjusting my running and making more time to relax with my people 🙂

Friday Night Dinner

• Running Helps Bad Days Feel Better: Yesterday was a really long difficult day at work for a number of reasons.  We had just come off an exhausting stretch with intense deadlines and pressure and are now expected to go back to our previous goals/work to catch up in time for the holiday.  When I got home the last thing I wanted to do was run…then Jack reminded me how much better I always feel after a run.  I sucked it up and decided to go to the gym to do a quick run (no distance or pace goals).  I turned on my music and had an AMAZING run, 5 miles in 38 minutes (7:40 avg pace).  I hadn’t intended to do any speed work but was feeling my music so I decided to do mini intervals during the choruses of each song. It felt great to feel strong for such a tough workout, I’m looking forward to my speed workouts during marathon training after this one.

I am looking forward to keeping this going with a Turkey Trot on Thursday before spending the day with my Family 🙂  Happy almost Thanksgiving everyone!