Greetings from the great state of Maine! I’m back in action to recap the Old Port Half Marathon I ran in Portland, ME last weekend. First of all, apologies are in order. I 100% lied about taking this race nice and easy and not gunning for a PR, and I blame it on the weather. For spectators, it was an awful day–rainy and chilly and in the low 60s. But for us runners, this was fantastic! Just enough rain to cool us off without being too chilly.
We arrived Friday to pick up our bibs at the expo, which wasn’t much to speak of but it was a good chance to get a sense of where the starting line was. After a delicious dinner at the original Otto Pizza (zomg the best gluten free pizza–check out this baby with pear, blue cheese, and arugula), we convened to cheer on my buddy Bry’s cousin Travis, who was running in the finals for the men’s steeplechase at the Olympic trials. It was super fun to watch him run and get ourselves psyched up for our race! Bry and I ran the half with her dad, while her sister ran the 5k. Plus boyfriend spectators, we had a nice crew and it was a great pre-race evening.
After calling it a night and heading back to our AirBnB, we got up just before 6 the next morning to head down to the waterfront for a 7am race start. Other than a long bag check line (as per usual), the logistics were really seamless–we were able to zip right into the portopotties (no lines!) and slot ourselves into our corrals. I lined up in between the 1:40 and 1:50 signs, and we were off! The first few miles were easy warmups, and then we hit the hills. Miles 2-4 and 6-7 of this race are really hilly, so I kept my effort at a medium level, although I noticed that without working too hard I was averaging well under my 8-minute goal pace.
Given the amazing conditions and the fact that I was feeling strong, I figured I might as well shoot for the moon and give a PR a whirl, especially as the showers picked up and despite the hard effort I wasn’t hot or sweaty. I picked a couple of strong-looking folks to pace behind and held onto decent paces–and then started doing math in my head which led to me believe that a couple of fast final miles would lead me to PR. I dug deep and ran a 7:09 and a 7:03 for miles 12 and 13. 
Despite my watch saying differently, I clocked an official time of 1:40:29–two seconds slower than my PR, 12th in my age group and 45th woman overall. Not PR-ing was a little bit of a letdown, but this race felt relatively easy and I’m pleased to see that I was able to hold onto my time without my brother there as a pacer, like he was at the Hyannis Half Marathon.
After the race, we celebrated with coffee, lots of donuts (from the Holy Donut–the BEST both gluten free and regular donuts) and some extra gf treats from Bam Bam Bakery. All told it was a lovely race in a super fun city–despite the hills and rain! And a fantastic way both to make my official race debut as a member of the Heartbreakers and to celebrate Bry’s big birthday.
Onwards and upwards to more marathon training fun. Sub-1:40 half marathon, this fall you are MINE!
Linking up with Patty, Erika, and Marcia for Tuesdays on the run.
Greetings from another week of marathon training–I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Jeremy was out of town hiking the last of the 48 4000+ ft. mountains in NH (and he did it–YAY J!) so I had a quiet start to the weekend with a solo 14 miler. It definitely was my best training run so far this season–everything really just clicked for me and I felt strong and happy the whole time. It helped that it was a gorgeous morning with temps in the 60s the whole run. I’m really loving running on the Boston marathon route, since it takes me out into my hometown and works a few hills into my training.
I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing holiday weekend! I was thrilled to be in town after so much traveling–and doing my 14 miler on familiar turf didn’t hurt either (more to come in the weekly recap on Thursday). I finish up my first summer course on this week, which means I have one weekend of freedom without having to worry about school before my next class starts up. Of course, we’re going to be out of town–first heading to Portland, ME for a 
Hard to believe it, but I’m recapping the first full month of Chicago Marathon training! (Click here for my recaps of weeks 
After a busy couple of months of weddings, racing, and travel, I finally got up to my favorite place in the world this weekend–my family’s little cabin in Maine. My favorite thing to do up there? Absolutely nothing 🙂 Just a whole lot of sitting by the lake, reading, swimming, and hanging out with the fam. We actually had a little bit of unexpected excitement when we discovered a family of flying squirrels had nested inside our roof, so there was a lot of running around and some nasty clean out. Never a dull moment…
For me, the two most essential pieces of marathon training are getting in at least one “hard” workout and one “long” run every week. Beyond that, there is some flexibility–and you have to live your life and do what’s right for you. That said, marathon training is a commitment and takes a ton of time, energy, and planning. Especially at the beginning, it’s incredibly important to set yourself up for success by creating a routine of good habits. If you start off by skipping runs and slacking on workouts, you’ll pay for it later on (been there done that!) Like all good things in life, it’s all about finding the balance that works for you.
Howdy, y’all! I can’t tell you how happy I am to be reaching the end of week three, mostly because I spent a good chunk of the week cramming for a midterm and then immediately taking off for a wedding weekend in New Hampshire. This week’s training had a number of fun new additions. On Thursday, I went to my first 
On Tuesday night I met up with some of my training buddies from last summer for a track workout. It was my first time doing track without pacers, so I definitely went out a little bit fast, but it was a fun challenge to work on feeling out my own pace (and so nice to catch up with the Boston Fit crew–miss you guys!)
I absolutely loved 
The concept/logistics of a Ragnar are a little bit hard to wrap your head around until you’ve done one, but the idea is that you have a team of 12 runners split up into two vans. Everyone in the first van runs, handing off at designated checkpoints, and then they head to eat/rest while the six runners in the second van each take a turn. The vans leapfrog the runners to make sure the next runner is ready for the hand-off at each exchange. 
This is repeated until each runner has gone 3 times. When the process is over, there has constantly been someone running for 30-ish hours and the team has covered around 200 miles. Individual legs vary between 2.5 and 10.5 miles, with the total mileage per runner ranges from 12-22 miles. Got it? No worries… neither did I about a week ago!
Leg One: Friday at 5:30 p.m., 4.84 miles across the Bourne Bridge. As runner number 12, I was the last person on our team to tackle their first leg. I was pretty antsy to get started, since I had been cheering on my teammates since the morning, and despite the humidity and fog I happily sped off along the banks of the Cape Cod Canal. Most of my legs had been classified as “hard” since the van couldn’t drive next to me, but I liked doing some of the running solo on bike paths and trails. I took a quick and weird spin through a trailer park and scooted past traffic and up and over the bridge–officially entering the cape! I finished at an 8:15 average pace just as the raindrops began to fall.
Leg Three: Saturday at 11:00 a.m., 9.5 miles from Truro to Provincetown. The weather Saturday was gorgeous–75+ degrees and clear and sunny. While cheering my teammates on during their last legs, I focused on getting in as much hydration as I could (btw, I highly recommend 
Despite being sleep-deprived and warm, this run was amazing–SO scenic, and the best part was that my entire team joined in to run through the finish line together. I managed to wrap up this leg up with an 8:46 average pace.
Shorter and Faster 