Sometimes I just can’t be creative with my post titles. So, here are some Friday Favorites:

1. Inspirational: You must read about these 7 inspirational Boston Marathon stories. That Jeff Bauman and his wife…..they are my heroes!
2. Happy Chicken: I ran 4 miles Wednesday and was so happy about my decision to chicken out of my NJ Marathon goals because I was struggling so much that I most definitely would have been grouchy had I been trying to keep a certain pace. I think I ran too soon after a big meal and after today’s run I also think the seasonal allergies are getting to me.
3. Capris: Yep, I ran again yesterday.
   

   Testing out the Saucony Bullet capris

   The sole purpose was to give my new running capris a test. I went ahead with the Saucony Bullet capri recco (Thanks Steph!) and they fit great! They didn’t budge one bit. And I LOVE the side mesh pockets that are big enough to hold my iPhone 6 and fuel. I might be able to lose the spi-belt for races if I wear these. The only issue is that I sweat so much. I’ll have to get a waterproof case for my phone. In the 3 miles I ran with it the camera lens got all wet since it’s the only part of the side of the phone facing my thigh that isn’t protected by the case. But the phone stayed put and I didn’t even feel it. I picked the pattern over solid because I saw a review that said if you sweat a lot it will look like you peed yourself. LOL. I have to say the pattern does a great job of masking that.

   

   This big iPhone 6 fits in the pocket.

   

   Ta-dah!

4. Freshly Groomed: Duncan went to the groomer and upon returning home exhausted he grabbed his corn on the cob toy and proceeded to take it to bed for an afternoon siesta. I love how he picked a color coordinating toy.
   

   sleeps with yellow things

5. Seeing Duncan’s Pal: Before the groomer we walked at the park and bumped into Chance, the boxer, Duncan’s pal. We haven’t seen Chance in at least 6 months and I think his tongue grew a few inches.
   

   This is Chance and his ridiculous tongue

6. Talking About Running: I was interviewed for a podcast series this week and it should be out next week. I’ll share all the details as soon as I get them. Stay tuned! Spoiler alert: I admit to wanting to run another 5 half marathons in 5 days in 5 states like I did at the Center of the Nation Series.
7. Honeysuckles: They’re starting to come out—earlier than usual—but I’m not complaining.
8. Sunsets: Especially when the create a glowing doodle tail.
   

   he’s glowing

   What are your Friday Favorites?

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

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!

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

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

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

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?