Every Mile Earned

Right before the finish line **sorry in advance, there are a lot of pictures.  It was a mini runcation for us too, not just a race ~ scroll to near the end for the race recap** It's been about two months and I still don't think I've fully processed my marathon and all the emotions attached. This was my second marathon.  My first was in 2010.  It took me 5-1/2 years before I was ready to run another one, even then I'm not sure I was really ready for this one. It was an emotional weekend all around.  We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday visiting Philly for the first time.  It's a beautiful city. Officially my second favorite city after Boston.  I love the historic cities. Thursday night I made chia seed pancakes. I have come to love them for my fuel. They are natural, healthy and give me lots of energy! I'm so grateful to my friend, TW, for introducing me to these! Friday morning, we put Tink on the bus, finished packing and hit the...

Happy New Year's fellow running and blog followers! 2015 was a good year of running for me.  I started the year running from sadness, depression and pain and ended it running towards the joy of running and the fun of challenging my boundaries. I had very low mileage in January and February because of the bitter temperatures and because I hurt my back. March and April brought in a lot of panicked running so I'd be ready to endure and survive my first half marathon (13.1 miles). I ran the race in May with the goal of a sub 2:30 and I was so happy to reach that goal.  I also had a great race, where I met some wonderful women to run the whole thing with. June had two more new races for me, a 10k (6.2 miles) and a 20k (12.4 miles). I went to the 10k hoping to run a sub 60 and was very shocked that I accomplished that goal.  The 20k was a fun and challenging course that I hope to run again this year. July had the first of my 5k's for the summer. I set a PR that blew...

I'm sure you are all just sitting around waiting, breathlessly, for the race recap from My Musician and I at Runner's World Half Marathon and Festival and for my Philadelphia Marathon.  I am working on them and unfortunately they may not get done till after the first of the year. But to tide you over till I finish the posts, I have some exciting running news. My Musician and I have finally succeeded in registering for RRCA Coaching Certification Course. I literally (and yes, I do mean literally!) have been stalking the page for over a year.  I have had the tab open on my laptop, my phone and my iPad since Spring, checking it almost daily (while proofreading this, hubs said it was more like 10x's a day), hoping to get into a fall class.  Of course the classes that we could attend, filled up immediately and the ones that didn't fill up in one day, seemed to fall on all my major race days. December 3rd started like every other day. It was a Thursday, so after getting...

Most non-elite runners know the major players of running. There are many elite runners I look up to but two of my favorites are Meb Keflezighi, Olympian, NYC and Boston Marathon winner and Deena Kastor, Olympian, U.S. record holder for numerous races at varying distances. I love watching the televised races they are in because no matter where they finish, they give their all and are a constant source of inspiration. There are many others in the running community I admire for their sportsmanship, accomplishments, drive, willingness to give back to other runners, and for their general attitude of no runner left behind. But for me the true heroes of running are those that support the average runner. The ones that support and encourage those of us who are up at 5am to run.  Those who sacrifice weekends for races. Who rub sore legs and deformed feet.  Who listen to hours of running chatter, stats, the newest research. Those that tolerate the bedroom that looks like a running st...

On Sunday, September 13, I ran the Surftown Half Marathon in Westerly, RI.  It was the second half I've run.  When I first mentioned it to My Musician I wasn't sure he'd be keen on traveling for a half marathon, at least not 5 hours away.  But I had barely said the words "It's by the ocean" and he was telling me to register.  We decided to splurge a little and get a hotel right on the beach and to take a couple days to enjoy it and have a mini vacation. Right from the moment I registered, this has been a goal race for me. I wanted to run it in under 2 hours. I was sure I could till two weeks before the race.  I really struggled for almost 2 weeks with physically and mentally rough runs.  My pace was way slower than I wanted it to be, my legs felt sluggish and heavy, the temperatures were higher then they'd been all summer and my mind, oh my mind wouldn't stop torturing me with all the negatives it could conjure up. I wasn't even sure I was ...