I have a couple of big ones coming your way today, my friends. First, I am so excited about this year’s Tufts Health Plan 10k for Women! Like pretty much everyone else who has run this race before, it is one of my all-time favorite events in Boston. Why?
- It starts and ends at the Boston Common, and features a flat, fast course.
- It’s just so darn pretty, going up through Back Bay and then out along the Charles River for some skyline views before looping back.
- It’s geared towards women, so it has the loveliest, most supportive atmosphere I’ve ever experienced.
- Great snacks and swag! And of course the shirts actually fit because they’re made for women 🙂
- It’s in early October (Columbus day), which means perfect race day weather and pretty foliage to boot.
I haven’t been around for the past couple of years’ events because I’ve been running fall marathons, so I jumped at the chance to sign up for this year’s event as soon as registration opened. And I pretty much leapt at the chance to help promote the event! If you use this link to register before 9/15, you’ll get 10% off your registration. Share it with your friends!
The other exciting piece of news (drumroll please) is that I’m going to be one of the new Oiselle Volée leaders for the MA/RI team!! This team has quickly stolen my heart and been such a fun way to meet and connect with a badass group of lady runners. In case you’re wondering, Oiselle is a kickass women’s running brand (click here to save $20 on your first order from them–you won’t regret it). The Volée is… well, I’m going to steal some language here because I can’t explain it any better than this: “a global community made up of women with diverse running backgrounds and competitive goals. We work hard to raise the bar in terms of how women support other women, fostering strength and leadership – not just through healthy competition, but in daily actions big and small. Our mission is to continue to build our sisterhood: one that is strong, supportive, passionate, and all in on a woman-up world.”
You can learn more about the team and when it next opens up for new members here. While I’m not jumping fully into things as much as I’d like to until after my wedding (14 days!), I’m so excited and honored to be taking things up a notch and assuming a leadership role in the running community. It has given me so much, and I’m honored to be able to give something back.
That’s all for now! Things will be pretty quiet over here until after the wedding. After which there will be pictures and lots of happy, calm, married bliss 🙂
Disclaimers: My 10k race registration and Volée membership have been graciously comped–but of course, all opinions are my own.
From there, we took a couple of quick photos at the 
From there, I hit the porto potties and took an easy shuttle to the start, while J took off for a 5 mile jog to meet me at the finish. The shuttles dropped us off on a rural road surrounded by farmland, and I was able to get in a bit of a warmup jog up and down the fields. The start was self-seeded so I slotted myself into the 7 minute mile corral. My A-goal was to run sub 7s, netting out to about a 42-43 minute 10k. I wanted to be fairly cautious because it was an unfamiliar course and especially because it was close to 100% humidity–not anyone’s favorite race conditions. My B-goal was any time under 44 minutes. I was glad I had that all in mind because the course was much hillier than I expected–rolling hills the whole time with a major climb near the finish.
I ticked off the first mile a bit fast (oops) on a slight downhill. The next couple of miles felt fairly steady at 6:54 and 7:08. I grabbed a couple of quick sips of water and pushed through a 7:00 and a 7:04. Then, the hill hit. Mile 5 was a steep climb into Fort Williams Park, and a much slower 7:24. I gritted my teeth and picked up the pace to a 6:20 for the final .2 sprint to the finish. My final time was 43:57, just about a 7 minute average pace and 23rd in my division.
Shorter and Faster 