Long runs and long legs

16. April 2016 · 6 comments · Categories: running, running gear, Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

I ran 10 miles yesterday afternoon.

FullSizeRender Sometimes it just makes sense to get the long run out of the way on a Friday so the weekend can be uninterrupted. I’m lucky to have the flexibility in my schedule right now. And today while Mr. SOTSS is getting his long run in, I’ll be chilling back at the house with his 10-year old. Teamwork!

I didn’t have it in me to do a long run in the neighborhood again so I took it to the beach and ran along the pretty trails alongside the ocean and through other parts of the national park area.

I love living on a coast.

I love living on a coast.

quiet, secret trails

quiet, secret trails

The weather was gorgeous. Bright blue skies and about 59 degrees. I started out a little too fast for a long run but it caught up with me. I did however bust out my fastest mile in the last mile for the win!splits

And here’s a great shot AND an outtake from my timer-camera pit-stop about midway into the run.

successful timer-camera action (and when do i retire this shirt? I've been wearing it for 3 years now! I get so attached to my marathon finisher's shirts)

successful timer-camera action (and when do i retire this shirt? I’ve been wearing it for 3 years now! I get so attached to my marathon finisher’s shirts)

Unsuccessful timer-camera shot. LOL!

Unsuccessful timer-camera shot. LOL!

And no, unfortunately (or fortunately) I’m not the one with the long legs….Duncan is:IMG_2429

I need your help.

My running capris are getting really worn and I’m going to have to replace them soon. The ones in the pics above are not made anymore. They were the Brooks Essential Capri. Who’s got suggestions for good running capris?

  1. They need to stay up,
  2. not unravel along the seams,
  3. have a zipper pocket in the back,
  4. be closer to compression gear but not that tight and not come too far below my knee.

What’s the weather like by you this weekend? Ever do your long run on a Friday?

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  2. My goals for the NYC Marathon
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My not so secret NJ Half Marathon goals

15. April 2016 · Write a comment · Categories: fundraising, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , ,

Hi,

First, with today being the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bomings, and with Monday being this year’s Boston Marathon I thought it would be the perfect time to share this opportunity for you to feel the intense passion my friend Roger has for running and for helping find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

Roger is one of the 5 of us who ran the Mainly Marathons Center of the Nation Series back in 2013.

Roger in Wyoming on his self-declared "Boston Strong" day. We all wore blue to support the Boston victims

Roger in Wyoming on his self-declared “Boston Strong” day. We all wore blue to support the Boston victims

The short version is Roger lost 113 pounds in 9 months to run the Boston Marathon and raise money to help support Team Boomer and the important research being done to conquer Cystic Fibrosis.

Roger’s niece Julia has CF and while Roger was morbidly obese and could barely breathe he realized that his niece was also struggling to breathe. But he had a choice to remedy that. He’s been a force like no other I’ve yet to meet in my life. You must go here to donate if you can. He chooses one marathon a year to be his big fundraising effort and this year it’s Big Sur.

Here’s his amazing video:

Best of Luck to you Roger and I can’t wait to see photos from the race! Big Sur is a sight like no other.

____________

In other big news Duncan got his stitches out yesterday! Yippee!

IMG_2418

And I’ve been eating too many Peanut M&Ms.

There is no such thing as sharing. I don't share my Peanut M&Ms

There is no such thing as sharing. I don’t share my Peanut M&Ms

I was feeling rather sore in 2 spots after the Love Run, my left calf and my right piriformis. So I didn’t run at all on Monday and Tuesday. But Wednesday and yesterday I ran about 4 miles each at an easy pace.

Wednesday easy 4

Wednesday easy 4

Thursday easy 4

Thursday easy 4

My calf still feels a bit achy and i’m actually planning to get in my long run later today, so i’ve been wearing a compression sleeve, and massaging and foam rolling it, and using ice/heat too. After today, I’ll most likely take a few days off completely.

____________

NJ Half Marathon Goals

So now I’ll tell you about my goals for the NJ Half Marathon in 17 days. I was going to keep them a secret but something compelled me to share. First of all, after 3 years running the full at NJM, this will be my first time running the half there.

Setting my marathon PR at the NJ Marathon in 2014

Setting my marathon PR at the NJ Marathon in 2014

The last 2 races (Cherry Blossom 10 miler and Love Run Half Marathon) I’ve kept a 10 min overall pace with plenty of splits between 9:37 and 9:45. And I was completely in control of my breathing the entire time. I’d probably consider these tempo runs. So, I have decided—barring any injury or crappy weather on race day—that I want to push myself and try to keep a 9:45 pace for the entire race and finish sub 2:10. I’ve run about 35 half marathons in my life ranging in time from 2:05 to 2:54 and only 3 of those were sub 2:10 (2:05:03, 2:07:54 and 2:09:18) So if I can keep to a 9:45 pace I can finish in 2:08. I know it’s going to be tough but I want the challenge. And this course is not only flat, but I know every turn like the back of my hand having run the full marathon 3 years plus doing multiple training runs on the course. I’m not going to be devastated if I can’t achieve this goal but I’m excited about trying 🙂

 

What or who inspires you?

Any fun weekend plans?

Will you be watching the Boston Marathon on Monday?

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The Philly Love Run 2016 recap

12. April 2016 · 2 comments · Categories: running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

I ran the Philly Love Run half marathon in Philadelphia yesterday. This race has been in existence now for 3 years and I’ve run all 3 years.

You get a mug each year as part of your swag. They seem to be shrinking each year. :)

You get a mug each year as part of your swag which I love since I’m such a big coffee drinker. They seem to be shrinking each year though. 🙂

The first year (2014)  I set my current half marathon PR in the pouring rain.

Such a wild day running in the pouring rain

Such a wild day running in the pouring rain

Last year (2015) my knee was still recovering and I was just hoping to finish without crippling myself.

Yay! Done! Knee ok. Let's eat.

Yay! Done! Knee ok. Let’s eat.

This year I knew I wasn’t in PR shape but I also knew after last week’s Cherry Blossom 10 miler that I could run strong 10-minute miles for at least 10 miles so my goal was to finish between 2:10 and 2:15. Well, despite the ridiculously big hills between miles 7 and 8 I did it and came in at 2:13 with a 10:09 average pace.

medal-watch-love-run2016

Each year the course has changed between miles 6-9 and that has always been the hilliest and most challenging part of the course. I’m going to do a comparison of all 3 year’s courses in detail at the end of this recap but first I’ll recap yesterday’s experience:

Expo: I’ve yet to attend an expo since I live an hour and a half from Philly. I’ve relied on my friend Jane (and her resources) to grab my bib and swag every year. They are fine with someone else getting your bib as long as you show a copy of that runner’s ID.Thank you Jane!

Philly Love Run Race Day

Pre-Race: I slept at Mr SOTSS’ the night before so at 4:15am when the alarm went off I got up and shut it off quickly, got dressed, made a travel mug of coffee and toasted a bagel with a little butter and wrapped it up in foil so I could have my breakfast on the road. Mr. SOTSS’ dog Chester eats breakfast really early so he was happy to see me moving about at 4:45 am. I fed him (and Duncan too) just before I left the house at 5am.

note

Old school note left on the kitchen counter. Wouldn’t want the dogs to get fed twice although I’m sure they’d be ok with it 🙂

I ate half the bagel, half the cup of coffee and had some water on the drive down and by 6:30 am I was parking. The lot was almost full! Each year the race gets larger so if you plan to drive be sure to give yourself plenty of time to park. There is street parking if you are lucky but I hate stressing about parking so I just shelled out the $20 for the parking lot and patted myself on the back for getting there as early as I did. The lot I parked in is only 3 blocks from the start. By 7:30 I had met up with Jane and her friends.

Start–Mile 4: It was cold in the morning. Temps were just below freezing. But graciously mother nature decided to ease up on the original predicted wind and there was plenty of sunshine too. I decided to seed myself in the 1:45-2:00 hour corral.

View from the corrals

View from the corrals

More »

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Back to back windy runs

07. April 2016 · 2 comments · Categories: labradoodle, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

I was doing laundry earlier and thought about how erratic the weather’s been lately as I washed everything from light short sleeve T-shirts and heavy fleece pullovers. I was running in 79 degree weather just last week and then just a few days later running with wind chills in the 20s. Today it’s in the 60s but this weekend we’re supposed to get more freezing temps. I guess the life lesson here is just learn to be flexible about ups and downs.

Trying to be flexible with his cone of shame. Poor little fella is really getting frustrated

Trying to be flexible with his cone of shame. Poor little fella is really getting frustrated

I should have gone out for a recovery run on Monday since I spent most of the day sitting after completing the Cherry Blossom 10 miler on Sunday—but it poured down rain all day and I just couldn’t get myself to go. So by the time I set out for an easy recovery run on Tuesday I was tight, sore and stiff, especially in the hamstrings and hip flexors. It was super cold and windy and actually felt worse than it did on Sunday so I was happy to just get in 4ish miles and come inside to warm up.

The cow tattoo still holding strong 24 hours later

The cow tattoo still holding on 24 hours later and my “lucky” 11:11 pace required a wish for sure.

Yesterday I ran another 4 since my workload was light and I had the time. Another cold and windy one.

Forgot about this Adidas hat of mine. I love it. It's got a nice short bill.

Forgot about this Adidas hat of mine. I love it. It’s got a nice short bill.

4 is the new 3 for me lately.

4 is the new 3 for me lately.

There might be one more short run before the Philly Love Run half on Sunday. Otherwise I’ll enjoy the rest and hope that it results in fresh legs for Sunday. I’ve run this race twice before. The first year (2014) I set a huge PR and it was POURING RAIN!!! You can read my recap here. Last year I was still recovering from my wonky knee and just wanted to get through it in one piece. Ironically I had time to realize that the course wasn’t as flat as I thought. It made me relish in the prior year’s PR even more. There is a HUGE hill at mile 6 and another hill at mile 8.

love-run-map

Duncan and I are hoping the next week flies. We’re halfway through his cone/stitches recovery. We ventured out in public and he’s been getting better adapting so that he can play with his toys.

Work it

Work it

Squirrels better not be making fun of me...

Squirrels better not be making fun of me…

How has your week been?

Ever been to Philly?

Ever PR at a race with a huge hill?

Ever run in the pouring rain?

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  3. What a weekend
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