I suck at blogging... I will work on that

You may have noticed the many month lapse in my blogging. Life just got in the way. 

My last post was right before I ran my second DC Ragnar. That event was affected by the US Federal Government shutdown. Actually, my legs in particular were affected. Instead of staying on a train until the end for my first leg, I had to run WITH traffic on a busy road that had no shoulder in the dark. It was terrifying and sucked. My third leg was basically eliminated and I got to run across the Wilson Bridge with one of my running buddies. That was nice but it was miserably hot and I had a blister on the bottom of my foot from running 8 miles on a gravel road during my second leg. 

Two weeks later, I ran the Komen Race for the Cure with my gym. I got a shiny new 5K PR from that. 

On October 27th, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon as my first marathon. It was an amazing experience and I got to do it with two of my good running buddies that I talked into running the event with me. 

I haven't done much since then. I had a giant blister and some knee pain after the marathon and basically spent half the next 2 months resting. I need to get back into it because I'm doing the Ragnar Trails Appalachian relay in June. My only real fitness goal for the year is that I want to be able to do a chin-up by the end of the year. 

Happy 2014!

More than a half marathon

As everyone knows by now, I'm training for the Marine Corps Marathon, my first full, on October 27th. I have only run two half marathons and a 10-miler. I have never run more than 13.1 miles. I learned a couple of weeks ago that my blood sugar has been all over the place lately and at that point, I switched to a walk-run format. I run for 4 minutes and walk for 1 minute. People say it makes you faster. I am inclined to agree on a good day.

Today was one of those good days. I had a 14-miler scheduled, but my parents were here last night to help us set up the boys' bunk beds they brought from Florida. I didn't know if I would get out and be able to do it at all. I figured I would get out the door at 6 and see how I felt. Well, I hit 7 miles and felt awesome. I figured I could get at least 10. When I hit 10, I knew I could do it. Unfortunately, when I hit 12, I was getting a little run down. I finished strong and actually did the 14 in less time than my personal record for the half marathon!

Next weekend, 15!!

Goals for 35. Ack!

I will begrudgingly admit it... A little over a week ago, I turned 35. This one was easier than 30 because I was not miserable and pregnant.

I planned a couple of goals already for this year. I have signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon and committed to do the DC Ragnar again.

I want to successfully complete a couple of Coursera classes. I'm signed up for a Genetics class and an Evolution class. I think I can use information from those classes in the ones I teach for the Kids on Campus program.

Chip registered me for The 9/11 Heroes Run 5K in September. It's in the afternoon, but I'd like to shave off a little time from my previous race.

I might do the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler and Maryland Half Marathon again in the spring. I would love to run the Ragnar Trails Appalachian Relay in June to cap off my year.

Do you make plans and goals when you have a milestone birthday?

Hold me to it...

I've been a total slacker lately. Today is the first day I have felt well in about 3 weeks. I still wouldn't race. I need to get back on track with my training for Ragnar DC and the Marine Corps Marathon, but I leave today for vacation.

I need y'all to hold me accountable. I intend on running 4 days while I'm at the beach. I also intend on adding a new state to my "I've run there" list. Remind me on here or Facebook or Twitter (@AlyKen78) that I need to run.

Do you have problems getting back on track after an illness?

Ragnar and Marine Corps Marathon Training Starts Today!

So, I am now officially 20 weeks out from my second Ragnar and about 23 out from Marine Corps Marathon. Time to switch into training mode. This means, I need to figure out a plan that accomplishes both my need for extremely long runs and double/triple dipping for relaying. I hate *just* running. I know I need to cross-train so I can prevent burn out and make sure that I do not get injured.

I decided what I would do is follow a variation of the Ragnar intermediate plan, except instead of 6 days a week, I will schedule runs for 4 days a week. This does not take into account my running club at the gym. That will just have to be extra ;) My husband thinks I'm a little anal retentive about it and says "No one else follows a plan like that."

It's not THAT bad. Note: all measurements are in miles, not kilometers

I already did my 4 miles for today :)

How far out do you start a training plan? How good are you about following it?

Reflections on the Boston Marathon Bombing

I am a runner. This is a recent occurrence. I only started running December 1, 2011. I can count the number of races I have run on one hand and none of them is a full marathon. I am planning the Marine Corps Marathon in October. It's one of the largest in the country and doesn't have an unattainable (for me) qualifying time. I will likely never qualify for Boston. I'm too fat and too slow. I am still a runner and we are a community.

I was at Disney with my family when my brother texted me to tell me the news. The first thing I did was text my mother-in-law to find out if she had heard if her friend who was running in the race was okay. He was, thank goodness. Then, I cried. I cried for the father of the 8-year old boy who passed away. I teared up EVERY time they showed the gentleman in his 70s fall down. To train so hard for something and not be able to cross the finish line must have been devastating.

Then my thoughts turned to fear. Are the terrorists going to do something during the Marine Corps Marathon? Do I need to worry for my own safety at a race or my family and friends if they come to cheer for me?

Today, I was hopeful. Milk Dud took off on me at the airport and ran into a gentleman wearing this year's Boston Marathon shirt. I asked if I could shake his hand and wished him a safe trip home. I hope he didn't think I was a weirdo. I did wear my Cherry Blossom 10-Miler shirt ;) I have a plan. I am going to train my butt off and lose weight. Maybe one day I will be fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

How are you feeling after the bombing? Are you hopeful? Scared? Ready to get out there and run?

A Challenge to Myself

So, I've been running for about 16 months now. I've done a 5K, a 10K, an overnight relay race, and a half marathon. I have the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler next weekend and the Maryland Half Marathon in May. Yeah, there are lots of things on which I could work with all of these distances, but there is one goal I have always wanted to reach: the marathon.

When I was 10-years old, my mom gave me this novel she bought at a yard sale entitled The Girl Who Wanted to Run the Boston Marathon. It was kind of low-key teen-lit. They've since changed the name and republished it. When I was 10, that was my goal, too. Then middle school and high school hit. I didn't run at all after 9th grade. I wish I had kept it up and done cross country in high school instead of dance, but hindsight is 20/20.

When I was in grad school, I thought I would try to run a marathon, but I didn't even know how to get started running. Then I met my now-husband and focused more on school and him than my athletic goals. I don't regret it. I have a wonderful husband and two adorable, but crazy, sons.

Cut to a couple of months ago... I decided I wanted to do the Marine Corps Marathon 10K again. It was a great race and I truly enjoyed all of the people along the course cheering. There is something humbling about running in honor of our service personnel. My brother was in the Navy until last year, and I'm incredibly proud of him. A friend of mine and I were joking around about maybe doing a full marathon this coming year. I'm turning *gulp* 35 in July and it just seemed like a good idea as a goal for the year to run the Marine Corps Marathon in honor of my brother, my Army veteran father, and all of my other friends and family who have been in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Yesterday, I spent 2 hours in front of my computer to register myself and two friends who weren't able to access a computer. It was incredibly annoying and frustrating. I swear the two most annoying words on a website are "Service Unavailable." FINALLY, I was able to register.

I know many people who weren't able to get into the race. There is a terrific list of charity partners for whom you can fundraise and earn a bib. I've actually been thinking about joining the Hope for the Warriors team without the full fundraising commitment.

Any tips for running my first marathon? Have you ever run for a charity?

Am I Crazy?

So, I know lots of people run races all the time, but I'm relatively new to the running world and have really only raced a handful of times. Right now, I'm scheduled for the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler on April 7th and the Maryland Half Marathon on May 11th. To me, that's 2 very long races very close together. I will probably just have 1 or 2 long runs after the 10-miler and then taper again for the half. This isn't something I've done before, so it will all be new to me.

I'm hoping to do the Marine Corps Marathon this fall. It'll be my first. One of my friends is planning to run it, too. She's mararthoned before. I am going to rely upon this fact ;) That's at the end of October. We had been talking about doing this for months, so it's not the crazy factor. Here's the crazy factor, I am going to hopefully do the DC Ragnar again. It's at the beginning of October... the weekend I am supposed to have a 20-mile training run. My hope is that I can have a high-mileage runner number. I'd really like to be runner 11 or something similar. I honestly think I would be able to handle the high mileage and would work best with my training plan. Not to mention, I'm getting faster than I was :)

I limit my races because I like to actually train for each one individually and can't really afford to race as much as I would like.

What's the craziest race schedule you've planned?

I am an athlete

Dictionary.com defines an athlete as "a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill."

I am not gifted in exercises of contests. I'm not very fast. I'm not coordinated at all. Heck, I've been known to trip over cracks in the sidewalk. I'm not very strong. I have to have my husband open jars for me on a regular basis. I am not very agile, as is evidenced by the fact that I refuse to take a step aerobics class at my gym because the first two times I went, I fell flat on my face. I get out of breath while I run or climb up and down the stairs a lot.

Even with all these facts showing that I am in fact not an athlete, I will argue that I am. 


I train. I train hard. I run 6 miles on days when all I really want to do is to take a nap. I drag myself out of bed and run in the dark with a headlamp and reflective vest. I am a Floridian who hates the cold, but I run when it's 25 degrees and windy. I run 3 to 5 days a week, sometimes multiple times a day, depending on for which event I am training. 
I have injuries. Last spring, I switched types of shoes and hurt my knees. This fall, I switched back to a type of shoe I prefer, and injured my IT band two weeks before my race. I have had shin splints. During a race, I hurt my foot and finished the race running, but could barely walk for the next week and had to take a couple of weeks off from running. 


I participate in races. It isn't very often because I'm on a limited racing budget, but I have run a couple of 5Ks, a 10K, a half marathon, and an overnight relay race. I am scheduled to run in the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in April. I am hoping to run my first full marathon in the fall, with the Marine Corps Marathon as the goal. I'm trying to improve my speed and get some new personal records. Running these distance races requires a lot of stamina. Most people can't just roll out of bed and run 10 miles. I did 6 this past weekend and and I was zonked and sore. 


I may not be thin. I may not be fast. I may not be agile, strong, or gifted physically, but I am an athlete. 

My next adventures!

Sunday marks my last race of 2012. It isn't a real race for me. I'm a buddy runner for the Girls on the Run 5K to act as an encouraging running partner for a 3rd to 8th grade girl in one of her first races. The runners complete a 12-week program with a coach prior to the event. I'm excited, but I think these girls will make me look like a fat, lazy blob ;)

I'm planning for next year, too. I entered the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in DC. If I don't get into that, I want to run the Iron Girl Half Marathon at the end of April. I know a bunch of people who are planning to run it, so that would be a lot of fun for me. Other than that, I am planning on running the Marine Corps Marathon 10K in the fall, but I haven't planned out the rest of my racing schedule. I would like to do at least one more half marathon in the fall, but am looking for suggestions :)

What's on your racing schedule for 2013?