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?

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?

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Recap

I ran my 5th ever race yesterday, The Cherry Blossom 10-Miler. I know that it seems like I run all of the time, but I don't race all of the time. I try to pick a couple of events here and there and train for them. I did mostly a good job following the free intermediate training plan provided by the race. Unfortunately, I missed 2 weeks of runs over 4 miles because I hurt my back and then was having foot issues. I figured it was better to rest than to hurt myself more. I think my training showed those missed runs. I wasn't quite as well prepared as I hoped I would be. 

Anyways, so here's how it all went. Friday, I dropped my younger son with my mother-in-law (Thanks, Mom K!) and took my older son down with me to pick up my race bib at the National Building Museum and then we visited the National Museum of Natural History. If you live in the greater DC area, that is a great place to visit. My little guy couldn't get enough of the dinosaurs and other skeletons. I think he could have spent all day there. 

So, I was a little disappointed in my grouping for the race. I thought I should have been in the corral prior to mine. Although, my placing ended up being correct. I was excited to have a bib with my name on it! 

I couldn't sleep Saturday night. I had to get up at 4am and walk the dog before meeting at my friend Danielle's house at 5am. When I walked the dog, I thought "Yeah, shorts will be tolerable in this weather when I start running." Yeah, I was wrong. We drove and Metro-ed down to the National Mall. We were able to meet up with some people who traveled separately, which was lucky since this was a race with 17000 of your closest friends ;)

Somehow I only managed to get one picture of the group, and I was missing a couple of members, but here are most of the Running Divas that participated (Sorry, Chris and Melissa).

Danielle was in a faster corral than I was, but since she is recovering from a marathon 3 weeks ago, she said she would pace me for the race. I told her I wanted to stay under 10. I did pretty well with that for the first 6 miles, then we hit Hains Point. We were on the water most of the race and I never got warm. My calves hurt and my feet cramped up. If you've never run with cramped feet, it's nearly impossible. Then there is the "My 2-year old brought home a cold" factor. For those of you who race, you know the first few miles are spent trying to dodge runners and figure out your pace. We weren't able to do that. In fact, Danielle and I crossed the finish line at the exact same time as 4 other runners. That makes it tough to figure how to keep yourself steady. I finished in 1:42:29, two minutes and 30 seconds slower than my goal. I'm not unhappy. I beat about 1000 people in my division and over 6000 people overall. I can deal with that.

So, thank you Danielle for helping me get through this race pretty close to my goal. As you can see, they are working on the Washington Monument after the damage from the earthquake in 2011.

I don't get down to DC very often, so here is the Capitol Building. 

The medal was an additional cost, but it's pretty. I am building up my bling wall, so it is a beautiful new member. 

My knee hurt a little. Milk Dud was so amused by the ice pack that he decided to sing to it.

My much-deserved refreshment for the evening. 

I would totally do this race again next year, but I'm wearing pants and not shorts if it is under 50 degrees at start time. Lesson learned. Time to train for my half in 5 weeks. 

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?

Of injuries and unplanned rest

I've really cut back on my training. I only ran 10 miles two weeks ago and only 4 last week. I'm usually a super trainer. I follow a plan as closely as I can and I have been doing the intermediate one for the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler. Then, we had a weekend with 2 birthday parties and a sore back for me.

I don't know what I was doing that hurt my back. I had problems standing for more than 20 minutes and spent an entire evening on and off of an ice pack. So, my back was better and then my foot started hurting. I have no idea what went wrong there. I could barely walk, let alone run. I did the 4 miler last week, knowing full well that I shouldn't have. I treated it by extra stretching and rolling it on a water bottle that I had frozen. I think I must have had the beginnings of plantar fasciitis, but it feels much better now, so I haven't been as concerned.

This week, it has felt fine. I've be very careful to wear my most comfy running shoes and I have been wearing sneakers most of the time, even at home. I have a 10-miler scheduled for tomorrow. I guess I will see how that goes.

Trapped Under a Former Milk Dud

Last night, I went to bed at 10 with plans to meet a friend for a 6-mile run this morning. My back has been bothering me and I wanted someone to look at my running form to see if I was doing something wrong. I feel like I've been hunching or something. It's worse after days when I run, so as I head into the meat and potatoes of my training for the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler and the Maryland Half Marathon, I don't want to be in pain for days after I'm done.

At 1:45am, my door was slammed open. Milk Dud wanted to sleep in my bed. Sigh. Every time I would move, he would freak out and grab for me. At one point, he had both arms around my head. Finally, at about 4, he settled on my chest. Yeah, great for my back. OUCH! I haven't been physically trapped under him at night in a long time. My alarm was set for 6am. He started crying when I went to the bathroom. He didn't want anything to do with his daddy. He's such a mommy's boy. 

So, no running for me with my friend this morning. I guess I will have to have someone at the gym look at my running form and find some time to make up the missed miles. The joys of being loved ;)

Also, since I'm mentioning the race, please help me raise money for the University of Maryland Medical Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center! My goal is only $100 and I'm almost there!

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?

Things I love about running

I haven't been able to do as much running as I would like, but would like to share with my readers a few things I love about running on this Valentine's Day.

First of all, I'm a stay-at-home mom 95% of the time. I love being able to get some time alone and either listen to my music or enjoy nature.

Secondly, I like being able to run with a group of friends. I did the DC Ragnar back in September and had a lot of fun with a group of 13 other women. I've continued running with some of them and am running the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in April.

I love the community that running creates. I participate in #runchat on Twitter and it has helped me connect with lots of running friends who share my interests and encourage me to continue running.

I love that you can run almost anywhere. I ran on my vacation last August and when I was visiting my family in December. I only needed my shoes, some exercise clothes, and my water belt.

Lastly, I love that races are often done to support various causes. My first ever race was The Red Shoe Shuffle to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Baltimore. I had a lot of fun and raised about $200. I'm currently training for the Maryland Half Marathon which benefits the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center. You can sponsor me HERE.

That 4-7 mile run will have to wait...

It's week 3 of Cherry Blossom 10-miler Training. I cross-trained on the Monday rest day with a trampoline class at my gym. I did the minimum of 3 miles. My calves and quads hurt, but I did it.

Last night, I realized that the 4-7 miles of interval training were going to have to wait. My 4-year old popped a fever and has been acting lethargic. We went to the doctor. He doesn't have the flu. He passed the quick strep, so we just sit and wait. No gym for mommy or school for Squirty and I hate early morning runs in the dark.

I don't mind being a little off on my training, but I hate missing the two longer runs of the week. I'm really more upset because he's going to miss his Valentine's party at school.

Happy training!

It's getting easier

I started running in December 2011. I used the very popular Couch to 5K program that many people I know had used with great success. On this date a year ago, I ran 2.54 miles in 30 minutes. I probably struggled through it as the slightly faster than 12 minutes per mile pace. I was just getting into the groove of running and thought I was awesome when I could handle that amount of time running. I had agreed to be on the Ragnar team, but our team pace had to be faster than 11 minutes per mile. I was dreading putting in the work to get there.

Today, I did a tempo run. That's where you do a mile of warm-up and then a few miles at your 5K pace and then a mile cool-down. My warm-up and easy run pace is 10:54. My tempo pace is 9:40 minutes per mile... or at least it has been. I breezed through the 2 miles at the increased speed. I think maybe I should start slowing increasing my tempo pace, especially since I've been doing some 9 minute mile runs around the neighborhood.

For me, the distances and speeds are definitely getting easier. I am scheduled to run 6-7 miles tomorrow. I think I can handle that ;)

Some days the magic just doesn't happen

I could have gotten up and run in the dark, but this Floridian living in Maryland is terrified of black ice and falling flat on her face. I could have gotten up and gone to the gym and run on the treadmill, but my 4-year old had a little accident about 3:30am. He woke up his baby brother and I had an impossible time trying to get Milk Dud back to sleep. Yeah, last night sucked.

Today is the day I teach at the community college, so I didn't get to go to the gym like I did last week. My husband had a lot to do for work and I now have a sleeping toddler on the couch.

I'm exhausted and want to eat my weight in fruit snacks. I know there are always other runs. I will probably run at the gym tomorrow and both days this weekend.

Some days, the magic doesn't happen.

Cherry Blossom Week 2 Wednesday

My knee was a little sore, so yesterday I skipped the 2-4 miler in favor of 30 minutes on the exercise bike. Today, I put on the knee brace and hopped on the treadmill. Wednesdays are interval days. I stuck with my 5% grade hill intervals. Today called for 3-6 miles with 1-3 miles of intervals. I figured I'd get to 3 miles with the intervals and see how I felt. Well, I got to the 3 and felt fine. I continued with the intervals until I hit 4 miles and then just ran at a normal, slowish pace until I hit an hour of time. My total mileage was 5.52 miles. I kept my pace intentionally slow to watch my knee and to get in the miles. It was a good day. My knee feels okay, even though my back has hurt all day. 

Oh, Monday I decided to try the Bounce class at my gym again. I had a lot more fun this time. This is not why my knee hurts. My knee actually started bugging me after my Sunday run. I had more fun doing it this time. It was definitely a great low-impact workout. I'm not sure that their claim of 10 minutes of bouncing is equal to 20 minutes of running, but taking the class will certainly help my core strength.

Tomorrow is 2-5. I'm going to aim for 4. I might get my lazy butt up and do it in the morning. I teach on Thursdays, so normal gym times aren't available. My other option is to take my running clothes with me and run around the college campus. I can always go to the gym when I'm done, but I feel like I should take advantage of the hills and decent weather available to me on the campus.

Keep on chugging!

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. 

Cherry Blossom Thursday Week 1

Thursday's schedule was 2-4 miles. I thought about getting up and going this morning before taking Squirty to school. Chip and I stayed up too late watching a new show on FX called The Americans. I have always liked Keri Russell, but to me she will always be a girl from The Mickey Mouse Club ;) Well, the first seen in the show is extremely un-Disney-like. We thought the show was going to be an hour, but it didn't end until 11:37. We were also having this crazy wind storm. I know lots of people do and that I have run in wind in the past, but I don't want to run in 30mph winds in the dark. I went to the gym after work and did 3 on the treadmill. I would have done the full 4, but I stupidly wore my Ragnar tech T-shirt without glide and more ouchies. I have been enjoying watching the HBO special "The Weight of the Nation" on my phone while I run. Of course, I then came home and ate a bunch of Doritos... and I don't even like Doritos.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I think I will do a kick-boxing or weight-lifting class at the gym tomorrow. 

Cherry Blossom Training Week 1 - Intervals

I didn't manage a run yesterday or get my lazy butt up at 5:30 to run this morning. Today was supposed to be a rest day, but I dragged myself and the boys to the gym for interval training. The intermediate training plan called for 3-5 miles with intervals for the middle miles. Since I was running on a treadmill, I didn't like the way their intervals were planned. You were supposed to run fast for 15 seconds and recover for 45 seconds, alternating until you get the 1-3 middle miles of your run completed. I like longer intervals and a little bit of a hill. I set the treadmill at 5.6 mph. For my intervals, I increased the grade for a minute. So I'd do 1 minute at a 5% incline and then 3 minutes at the normal incline. This works better for the way I train. I was thinking I'd do the lower end of the training, but ended up doing the full 5. I feel great, but I forgot the Body Glide and have some ouchie spots.

I'm going to get back on the plan tomorrow and get in 2-4 miles in the morning. My goal is to aim for the middle mileage on most days.

Day 1 Cherry Blossom Training part 2

Like I said in my previous post, I knew a run wasn't going to happen this morning between the rain and the snotty-nosed kid. I was scheduled for 2-4 miles according to the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Intermediate Training Plan, so I put in 30 minutes on the exercise bike this evening at a moderate effort for me. That was 7.25 miles. I HATE the exercise bike, so this was a struggle for me. I hate the way my butt hurts when I get off of it. I always feel like I walk weird up and down the stairs. 

So, I don't like a training plan where I have to run 5 days a week. I prefer to run 4 days with a long run on Saturdays instead of Sundays. I might have to alter the plan a little bit. I want to do Zumba and kickboxing once in a while. 

Will altering my training plan screw me up too much?

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Training Day 1

So... A little over a month ago, I found out I won the lottery... figuratively. I had applied for the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler lottery and my name was drawn as a runner for the race. I also signed up for the intermediate virtual training plan. It starts today. I'm supposed to run between 2 and 4 miles at an easy pace. This morning, we had lovely freezing rain on top of the snow we got Friday.

This is what it looks like outside. My wonderful husband has already shoveled our sidewalk, but they community association doesn't shovel unless we get at least 3 inches of snow.

I could go to the gym. Except Milk Dud has a snotty nose and looks like this:

I'm not one of those parents who dumps a sick kid in the gym childcare. I took my well kids there last year when there were sick kids and they brought home several colds and the norovirus twice. Vomiting small children isn't fun for anyone and with the new super bug that is going around this year, I don't want to take them unless I have no other choice. 

So, my choices are to run on the ice in the dark when my husband gets home from work, skip the training run, or to find some alternate training. We have a little-used exercise bike. I hate the exercise bike, but I am thinking that doing 30 minutes on there tonight while watching TV. It isn't the same training, but it is cardio and will be less pain on my joints. I know I need to work out or I will go crazy and look like this:

What do you do for alternate training when your plans don't happen the way you want?

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?