Boston Marathon 2013 Race Recap

First of all, I cannot believe it has been almost a month since that day, second of all, I do not know why I have not been able to write this up. Third of all, I am not going to write this based on what happened after I crossed the finish line. I did that already. I want to move on from the tragedy and pain that happened and I want to really talk about the joy of running my favorite marathon of the year, and I want to celebrate. Perhaps that is why it took me so long to write, I wanted to let some time pass, I wanted to let the chaos of everything pass a little while.

For me, the Boston Marathon is an event that has been in the making in my running mind for 2 years. The idea of trying to qualify began to burn a fire inside of me even when I was training for my first marathon during the summer of 2011. Living and working in the Boston area, it is impossible not to get sucked into the Boston Marathon excitement and enthusiasm. You tell people you are training to run a marathon, or have run one, and their immediate first question, have you run the Boston one? It is really like a right of passage around here.

As someone who is consistently driven by time goals, and measurements I was attracted to the allure of trying to go for a Boston qualifying time. It made me feel like a real athlete trying to go for a goal, other than just to finish a race. I trained hard, and I got to my BQ in Febraury 2012. That meant I would wait 14 long months to run my race, the prize for all that hard work, The Boston Marathon in 2013. Little did I know then what I would be doing is using the Boston Marathon to help me reach a new level of running and training.

By the end of the year in 2012 I had new goals in mind, I still cherished the marathon but I now began embarking on a new adventure, running ultra marathons. I completed my first 50 miler in November of 2012 and it only made me hungrier for the race I already knew I wanted, the 100 miler. So with that new goal in mind I began training in January 2013 for my very first
100 mile attempt on June 14, the Tarc 100 in Weston. I would work Boston into my training schedule. In true Colleen style, I wanted it to be epic :) So I decided I would run the Boston Marathon as a back to back long run, I completed the DRB (Don't Run Boston) 50K on the day before. Ironic, the 50k designed to be the complete opposite of the marathon, and I run both. I recapped that 50K race here.

Sunday night was interesting. I laid in bed, exhausted from a 50K in the Blue Hills, and doubting myself for the first time ever that weekend. I ran strong on Sunday and smiled every time someone told me how stupid I was to be going out to run the marathon in the morning. I said don't worry I am going to take it slow, just nice long back to back runs, nothing more. Inside I was getting annoyed, but by Sunday evening I guess I let it get to me. I turned to my partner and told him that I don't know what I was thinking and that I was not sure why I was doing this. I told him I was too tired. He agreed, he thinks I am crazy most days (although he hides it well), but he did not really listen to me much more, just encouraged me to sleep.




















I woke up at 5am on Monday the 15th, with excitement in my heart and all of a sudden feeling great. I am sure that it was adrenaline and anticipation but I just felt good. I did not feel nearly as bad as I had the night before. I got suited up and got ready and began the 5 minute drive to the bus! Yep I took the bus in with my new running club here in my new home town of Nashua NH the Gate City Strders. I figured getting bussed in would be much easier, plus the bus left at 7AM leaving me extra time in the morning to rest. My Peanut went to school but she was excited to send me off in style :)

I got to Hopkinton and met up with one of the Tarc group members Liana and we hung out waiting for the race to begin! This is the beauty of Boston, you meet so many runners in the morning there before the race, it is fun. Everyone was getting ready to go and before I knew it, it was time to head to the corrals. We bumped into Robin and she and Liana headed for the speedy corral. I waited patiently in mine, knowing that today was not about anything more than one sole thing: having fun.

I look at the Boston Marathon differently than some. I look at it as a party for 26.2 miles, because in my heart that is what it is. I have raced for time and speed on multiple occasions, and I went into this race with a BQ already under my belt for 2014. So I needed to enjoy and celebrate my Boston work. And really in my mind, that is what I would recommend. It is so crowded, and so busy that to spend stress trying to go for a pr or bq just is not worth it to me. Plus, it takes some of the joy out of it. I like to be able to enjoy myself when I run a race with this much support. This is something that has come with time, I have learned I can enjoy a race and use it as a celebration.

The Boston Marathon has some of the best crowd support of any race I have ever run. There is literally people cheering along the entire 26.2 mile route. Children lined up, college students with fun signs, and just the over all support of spectators is amazing. I make it my mission to hand out as many high fives as possible, and I think I succeeded this year!

I had fun every step of the way. I will write about the back to back running mechanics of it next week, I want to just share here in this post the fun, the smiles the waves and the joy :)

I got a pat on my bum and turned around to see a smiling Sheryl Briggs :) She is a fellow Tarc member and was running happy as ever!

I then got to see the smiling Gail Martin!!! It was nice to have a familiar face along the course and I think it just kept me refreshed.

My aunt Lisa, and cousin Ryan were around mile 20 and I had a sign made just for me :) I felt special

I love love running into that finish area, for the last mile of the marathon I just kept me arms up high fiving everyone!!!!!!

I finished in 3:59 I was amazed. I went into this race not knowing what to expect from my legs. What really was nice was I was pleasantly surprised, my legs carried me through the entire race very well. I never hit a wall, I kept an even pace throughout the race and most important, I was able to finish with a huge smile. I had fun!!!!!

I came home and gave my Peanut the biggest hug ever. And of course she confiscated my medal :) I was more than happy to hand it over to her!

Don't Run Boston DRB 50K Race Recap

Where do I begin?

I looked forward to this weekend for so long, months and then it came, and ended in a fuzz. Now as I sit and gather my thoughts for my recaps I keep hitting this mental mid block. But I want to take time and celebrate, and this is one way I always am able to do that. To recap a great day I had running on the trails with some wonderful members of the Trail Animals Running Club.

I woke up at 4am on Sunday morning with a smile in my heart and swiftness in my step, it was race day!! The DRB 50K has been going on since 1997, it is the oldest Tarc event. It is a small, unmarked, little supported ultra race. It is really a good representation of why I have come to love ultra running. These small events, on these tougher terrains, they just bring you to the simple reason you run, for fun. There is no fuss, no crowds, in fact the DRB is designed to be the polar opposite of the famous marathon that takes place the next day, the Boston Marathon.

We were lucky to have beautiful weather for the day and it turned out great!

     17^th Annual Trail Animals Don’t Run Boston 50K and  4^th annual TARC 50 mileSunday April 14, 2013       40° at 6 am, 45° at 8 am.  48-50° and mostly cloudy throughout the day.  Mostly dry day and course (no significant rain)5000+' of climb in 50K  Non-repeated winding trails.About 6000’ climb in 50 mile.                                                                                      Ultrarunning ratings:Surface:  50K = 5;  50 mile = 4Terrain (elevation):  50K = 4;  50 mile = 3

The DRB is basically a group training run with an official start time, distance, and some food we all bring for each other and snack on from the back of  a car. I enjoyed it. Honestly, the Tarc running group has become like a second family for myself and my running buddy, they have embraced us with open loving arms, and I am so happy we found them. II have not met one trail animal who is not smiling during a run, offering advice, and living by the motto: no animal left behind. Yes when we train together, we stick together the whole time, no matter your pace, we wait. That is one thing I love about everyone.

I got to the Blue Hills in Milton at 5:30am ready and excited to head out. I was also surprised to see one of my friends and running buddies Cesar! He came out bright and early just to say hi and cheer us off. After running Traprock 50K the day before! This was my first race since my 50k in January, so for me, going 3 months without a race is rare, and I was in need of it!! I brought my usual favorite race aid station food salted boiled red potatoes, and some Gatorade and milky ways for the rest of the group. I had my camel bak packed with everything I needed for the whole day: watermelon Nuun, Dole dates, figs, dark chocolate df gf espresso beans, craisins, and a bonk breaker energy bar. This has become the way I eat during long trail runs and I was eager to test this on a race.

We all began in a line drawn in the sand by Howie the race director and at 6am we set off into the woods. I stuck with the pack, I am terrible at map reading and directions, so my plan for the way was to run with Dan and Chris, 2 Tarc members who knew the course already.

I started out feeling really strong and my legs felt good. The beginning of the course was a loop around the lake and for the most part the first 6-7 miles were fairly runnable. Then we got onto the blue trail, the tougher part of the course. This is where you begin climbing the rocks, and doing some more hiking rather than running :) This is also where I lost Dan and so I stuck with the rest of the group. I bumped into another runner I met last year at my first 50k and we ran together and caught up for a few miles. It was fun, he was excited to hear about my 100 miler in June and I found out he will be volunteering there. It is nice to know I will be surrounded by familiar faces that day.

There is something so peaceful and serene about running in the woods, and that morning we ran as the sun was rising. It was absolutely beautiful.

The beauty of running with Chris? He made everyone climb to the top of the tower, he insisted upon it. If he had not been there I probably would have kept on going. But I am so glad I did. It was again a beautiful picture of serenity and the very reason trail running is so appealing to me, I love nature. When you are running in the woods you cannot get much closer to it than that.

After the first half we looped back down and I was relieved to know the worst part, the rocky climbs were over. We stopped at the aide station trunk open :) and fueled up. I had some nuun and decided I wanted to head back out to the trails, BIG mistake. This is where I should have waited for the group. I assumed they would catch up to me so I headed out onto the yellow trail. It was marked so I figured I could not mess it up. For the first few miles I was ok, but then I took a wrong turn and got lost. Luckily someone else was lost too, so we kind of stuck together. I ran that way for maybe an hour or 2, I don't really have a good gauge on time. All I know is I was meandering around the trails and around mile 26 for me, 25 for the group we ran into each other. 

I was super relieved! But also discouraged. This always seems to be a problem for me running trail races once I get off course I get out of it mentally and begin to get discouraged. I blame the road running ;) BUT I decided to stick with the pack and finish up with them. Chris led us around the rest of the race, he was great. I felt more comfortable for sure, but still felt defeated at getting off course and wasting time on my feet.

My legs felt ok throughout the race. On some of the steeper climbs I had to really push my walking. My calves tend to cramp up badly and I have not yet perfected the whole power hiking, this is definitely something I need to work on before my 100 milers. One thing that I have gotten much better about is my fueling. My Camel Bak is the perfect addition to my trail running. I have this model, the Octane LR and it has side pouches which allow me to get my food without removing the pack at all. I feel like I am wearing a fuel belt without the aggravation of having bottles and things around my waist. It also allows me to drink freely whenever I want. 

We rounded out the 50k with a lap around the lake and I felt strong as I powered through that last mile. I ended crossing the same sand line and Chris wrote my name in the scratch sheet that was tucked in a corner at the gazebo at Blue Hills.

Once I was done I hung out in the parking lot for a little bit to cheer on those going back out for 19 more miles, those brave 50 milers :) And of course snapped a few fun pics! This no frills race was fun and it is something I would definitely want to do again, I just would like to learn the course better so I do not get as lost ;)

I was happy to end my day with 32 miles in 7:23 on some tough trails. Probably the toughest race I have tackled yet since starting to ultra run last year, and I felt good. If I was not planning to run the Boston Marathon the next morning, I honestly probably would have stayed out and finished up the 50 miler with Chris and the others. I felt like I could keep going. But, I had my heart on running Boston and I knew I would not be able to do that unless I stopped at the 50k.

Luckily my sister picked me up and I spent the next few hours trying to recover as best as I know how. I sat in an ice bath for 20 minutes then shivered for 2 hours :) But it did help. My legs were not sore, and cramped up like they normally do after a longer race.



I spent the evening trying to stay off my feet and trying to get my stuff ready for my big race in the morning. I was exhausted. Trail running takes a toll on my body physically, and it is not painful but I always experience this extreme sense of exhaustion. By 10pm I was ready for bed and although I was excited for Boston in the morning I was beginning to worry that I would not have the energy to power through a marathon.

Stay tuned to see how I did ;)

Boston Marathon After Thoughts

I had one of the best weekends running, I have ever had. I want to blog my race recaps, I want to scream and shout and let it all out, but every time I sit down to recap and write I get this block. I start to get into my writing and my mind keeps drifting back to that sinking feeling I had once those bombs went off. Once the chaos ensued.

I will not let who ever did this ruin my joy, as one of my friends put it, if you do that than they win. I will not let them win.

I will write about it all now, all my emotions, all my feelings, and try to get them out the best way I can. Then I will hopefully be able to move on better, be able to recap how much fun the expo was, how amazing it felt to run a 50K at the Blue Hills, and then how amazing the Boston Marathon was for me. I may sit and write it all today, I am hoping because it feels like I am being weighed down right now with it all.

First of all, I feel lucky. Lucky I got to finish the race, lucky none of my many friends and family members who were running, and or out cheering are all ok. I feel grateful that Peanut went to school and was not anywhere near that finish line.

I was taking pictures, celebrating my victory, hanging out in the finish area, thanking volunteers, collecting my clothing bag, and then in a instant my whole world got thrown upside down. We heard blasts, we saw people running in all directions and we all wondered what happened. You see, there was no tv to turn on for a news update, there was no one telling us what was going on. It is the first time in my life that I have been in a situation so chaotic, and so scary all at once. I immediately pulled out my cell phone, but it would not even turn on.

People began crying and telling us, a bomb went off, others were yelling at us, telling us to stop spreading lies there was no bomb, that a man hole cover must have blown off. No one knew what was going on. And then the sirens began, one right after the other, loud sirens came in from all directions. I was in a stunned state. I had no idea what was going on, and I had no idea what to do. I kept trying to head to the family meeting area where I had planned to meet my boyfriend. Under the M. All I kept thinking was, I hope hes ok, I hope he made it to the M, I hope I can find him. By now people were running and rushing around me and I began to feel sick.

I knew something bad was happening, and I knew that there was nothing I could do about it, but I was all alone, and I was terrified. I finally made it to the M and I just waited, and waited. I did not know what to do, by now I knew it was a bomb, and I was really worried, the last text I got was from my boyfriend telling me he was getting on the T to come to the finish line. Frantic, I was just frantic. By now the sirens were all around, helicopters were flying low over us and the noise, commotion, it was all just scaring me.

Finally someone recognized me from social media I assume? I was so out of it, I did not recognize her, but she let me use her cell phone and I heard his voice, he told me he got kicked off the T, that everything shut down, but to wait and he would come find me. I was relieved, and thankful for that friend who let me use her phone! Then I just waited. I think I was just in shock that this all was happening.

It seemed like forever, and then I heard my name being called and I saw him. I think I was shaking, I was so scared at this point, now I had only one thought: get out of the city as quickly as I could, get home safely to peanut. That became my next mission. It was almost an impossible one too. Our way out was to take the T back out to Newton where our car was parked. At first, we planned to walk around, my bf had to go check out something, I was scared I really did not want to go but I knew he had to. Then as we were walking I heard a blast and that was it. I wanted out then and there and did not want to go anywhere but home. He agreed and we walked to a different part of the city so someone could give us a ride to our car. We were lucky to get out. I do not even know how far we walked, or what, I was on an adrenaline rush so I just kept moving as fast as I could, feeling no pain from just running or anything.

We finally got home and I snuggled my Peanut as tight as I could. She was excited to see me and my medal, she claimed it as hers and it brought me some comfort. But I was so depressed. Inside I was hurt and crying. I was sad for all those injured, those who lost their lives, and those who will be affected by this for a long time. I was still in a daze, and I was still shaken up about it.

I woke up Tuesday still in a haze. I did not know what to feel, or why I was feeling the way I did. I felt guilty for being depressed and upset, after all I was not injured and I got home safely. But I could not shake the feelings I had, I tried all day to snap out of it but I could not. I did not want to talk to anyone on the phone, or respond to the texts. It was heart warming to know everyone wanted to reach out, but I just was not ready to rehash it all. I did not realize how scared I still was until I went to the grocery store later in the day and when a helicopter flew by I got into a small panic. It brought me back to the streets of Boston the day before. To the chaos. It reminded me of it all over again. I stayed in a haze for most of the day, and just felt depressed about it.


 Then I went for a run. I was not angry until I began running.

I love running. It has changed my entire life for the better. I felt that as I was running. I thought about all the people who also share this love, and those who come cheer for us, those who got hurt doing all of that, and it made me angry. How could someone do this? How could someone try to take this joy away for such a wonderful, simple sport. It made me angry. I was almost crying as I kept running, I ran fast. And I ran hard, all I had in me was 3 miles but it was a good run. It was therapeutic in a way.

I feel like I am still in a daze about it. It is hard to watch news coverage for it. It is hard to walk around and listen to people talk about it. It is hard to keep reliving those moments with people when they ask me what happened. It is so hard, you usually enjoy walking around after a big race in your shirt and jacket with pride. Last year after I ran Boston everyone was excited and would ask how it went. This year when they see that marathon gear they get a look of concern and ask did you finish? Did you see the bomb? I know they do not mean it in a bad way. But it takes away the joy and recognition that normally comes after a finish. I feel like I want to put it away and forget about it, but I know I cannot. I know it did happen and I know that facing it and moving on is best for the soul.

I am beginning to heal, I am beginning to move on, but there is a hole in my heart, there is a pain that I carry, when I think about how the day unfolded. I have an almost 4 year old daughter who knows mommy runs, who loves the unicorn logo and is well aware of the Boston Marathon. I have kept her away from all news and media on this, and I do not want to tell her what happened. I know if she found out she would worry about me every single time I go for a run, she would obsess about my safety, as that is her nature. It makes me upset that something so pure and simple like running a marathon can be changed in an instant. I would like to keep her joy about it, and shield her from this. I know I cannot as she gets older, but for now I can and will protect her from things like this in the world. It makes me sad to know she is growing up in a world where things like this happen though.

I love Boston. I have lived here my entire life. The Boston Marathon became my goal race, qualifying was an honor, and I looked forward to running it for months. Nothing will take the joy I felt away from that day. Nothing will take me away from running it next year, and the next and the  next. As long as my legs will qualify me, I will run it every year. It is a party for 26.2 miles as I told one of my friends that day. The best crowd support, the most fun running I have. I will not let the actions of a negative individual or individuals take away my love and joy for the Boston Marathon. I will mourn the way things unfolded this year, but I will take comfort knowing that everyone will stand united, and we will run it that much stronger next year. After all, endurance runners are a tough breed of stubborn people, we never give up.

My Big Ultra Test Weekend!! Running A 50K and the Boston Marathon

The weekend has arrived!!!!

When I thought about this weekend a few months ago, it seemed far away, almost like the finish line at the beginning of a race... so far away but also so ominous in my thoughts.

When I qualified for the Boston Marathon 14 months ago, I never thought the day would come. I was elated and eager to run it and enjoy it. Now it is amazing that in that short time I have shifted my goals to include other races, and other distances. The marathon will always hold a special place in my heart, it is the distance that I fell in love with, and it is the distance that helped me discover my true love, ultra running. If I had never trained for a marathon, I would not be ultra running today. The first time I set out to train for a marathon one of my training runs before the race was 29 miles. I knew that day that distance running was where my heart and body belonged.

I can run fast, but I can run stronger and better when I run longer. I am a stubborn person by nature. This stubbornness while not always as helpful in my personal life, makes me a good endurance athlete. I can endure. And I refuse to quit. Even on the tough long solo runs where I have faced adversity I have always willed myself to finish. This trait comes in very handy to have when attempting ultra marathons.

I am going to channel that stubbornness this weekend for one of my biggest challenges I have faced while running yet, I am attempting to run a 50K, The Tarc DRB (Don't Run Boston) 50K and then getting up the next day and running the Boston Marathon.

I decided to do this a few months ago when I was mapping out my training plan for my big goal this year, a 100 mile race in June, the Tarc 100 in Weston. I have had my eye on the 100 mile distance for a long time, since before I even completed my first 50 miler in November, I knew I wanted to attempt it and keep working until I completed one. So when the Boston Marathon got weaved into my schedule, I knew I wanted to use it as a training run.

Then this idea of the Tarc DRB 50K came into my head and somehow I merged the 2 together and thought it would be a great test for me to attempt both and use it as 2 long back to back training runs. To many, it sounds crazy, even out right stupid. But to me, I have learned if nothing else, that you should always attempt what others may think is crazy because once it is complete, it does not sound so crazy any longer. I always think back to my old self, the 272 pound woman on 7 medications, if someone told her she would lose 120 pounds and become a marathoner, even a half marathoner she would have called them insane, and crazy. Now she just knows that idea was the right one.

So on Sunday morning at 5:40AM I will be at the Blue Hills in Milton, channeling that stubborn girl, channeling that will power and attempting to run around a course that is "not an easy one" according to the description ;) It will be a fun challenge for me and I am looking forward to it. I love running through the woods and I also love the Trail Animals running club that is putting this on. They have assisted my love affair with ultra running and are teaching me so much about it. Every single time I show up for a group run or race I meet new people who are so welcoming to a new runner like me and also so helpful, teaching and talking about all they have learned. So I am really looking forward to Sunday.

I will also be looking forward to getting up Monday morning and getting on a bus with my new running club in my new home town, Nashua. The Gate City Striders!!! I will be heading into Hopkington with them and getting to the start line of the race that drove me to run fast, the Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon carries such a weight with local people here. It is the one race that no matter where you go someone has heard of, and people are awed when you tel them you are running it. I love the crowd support and the energy that is in the city for this race. As long as I am willing and able I would love to keep running it year after year just for the energy and enthusiasm it brings to running. It is an honor to be lining up on Monday morning and racing into the city where I have lived near my whole life. I have been looking forward to this day for 14 months since I earned my qualifying spot, and I will relish every single second of it.

So you can be sure of a few things: I will be smiling from now until Monday afternoon, I will be high fiving as many people as possible on Monday as I run on one of the oldest and most inspiring courses in the country, I will be on the trails for the entire morning on Sunday and be working my body harder than I ever have before, but I will be happy :) And no matter what the outcome of my big running weekend is, I am grateful to have all the support of my family and friends along the way. I say it all the time, or maybe I do not say it enough, but having a supportive partner in life and training keeps me going, it keeps me able to be me, and to do crazy things like run a 50K and a marathon the next day ;)

Training For an Ultramarathon Month 3

I cannot believe another MONTH has gone by!!!! It seems like just yesterday I started thinking about mapping out my training plan for the Tarc 100 on June 14.

The month of March was pretty intense mileage wise. It is the first time since September of 212 that I ran over 200 miles! That month I ran 207 miles, I was training for my first 50 miler then, and it was tough. For the month of March this year I ran a total of 261 miles!!! That is a lot of stinking miles. I logged a total of 298 miles between running and cross training. When I cross trained I cycled and did some elliptical on non running days.

I am happy that a lot of my miles towards the end of the month were on trails. The rotting snow is finally melting! YAY spring :)  I really find running on the trails to be much better on my recovery, my legs do not feel nearly as strained as they do after running on the road. I am physically tired, but my body is not throbbing achy after a long trail run.

How am I coming up with my mileage? I am pretty much following to a T the training plan in the awesome book I read last year and used to train for my first 50, Relentless Forward Progress. The plan is for training for a 100 miler with 70 miles a week being peak weeks. I have not yet hit those 70 mile weeks, hard to believe, given I have been running so much. In February my weeks ramped up to the 50s and in March I started hitting in the 60s.

I like following a training plan like this one because it keeps me accountable to my running. It gives me a daily, weekly total of miles to focus on and this is what motivates me to get up everyday and run. I ran 5 days a week in March and did back to back long runs on the weekends. A training plan also follows the periodization principle. It gives 3 weeks of a slow ramp up of miles, and then dials it back for a week of recovery. This built in slow progression with recovery is EXACTLY what an over eager achiever like me needs. I need to recover, I do not want to get an over use injury, and for me that is how I use the training plan. When I do not have a concrete plan I tend to over do it and that is when problems come.

The toughest week in March for me was the 14 mile mid week run. 2 weeks in March I had to run 14,6 and 10 for my Tues, Wed, Thur runs and follow that with back to back 10, and 20 or 12 and 20 on weekends. It was a lot of miles to cover on a weekday for me, when my body is not used to it after covering such a distance over the weekend. The first 14 miler was a struggle, I ran on trails at Mines Falls here in Nashua and the trails were simple but it was a mental battle to finish. The first one early in the month I ran in 2:24, and I had to force myself to finish. The next time I had to do it 2 weeks later went much better and I ran on the same trails but I did it in 2:09 and I felt so much better after I was done.

Doing those 14 milers taught me some thing big about this training cycle, it showed me just how much progress I was making over a short period of time. It also showed me how much stronger I was getting as the weeks dwindled by. I am glad each and every time I go out for a run and I feel stronger.

During this month I really started to notice too how much trail running is a total body workout. I kicked up my strength training a notch and have really been doing a lot of functional training and it is paying off when I hit the woods. My core strength can be felt when I am climbing hills and my quads can carry my swiftly on the down hills as well. I have also noticed a big change in my body composition. I have been focused on my nutrition, that will need an entire post on its own ;) but using My Fitness Pal is helping me realize how much I need to eat to recover better and be stronger. I am taking in higher quality calories, and eating super clean and vegan gluten free. My body fat is dropping significantly and so is my weight. That goal of race weight is finally on the horizon!!

Combining my running with a good cross training, core strengthening and weight training program each week is a ton of work, I am often logging 16-20 hours of exercise and it is a part time job really. But the dividends are being seen each time I conquer a new distance, trail or step on that scale. I feel stronger mentally and physically and I also perform better.

April is bringing some exciting aspects to my ultra training! I have the Don't Run Boston 50k on Sunday April 14th and then the next day I have the Boston Marathon :) I am looking forward to both of those races and also the test for my body on super long back to back runs. It will be an attempt to cover almost 60 miles in 2 days and I know it will be a challenge but I am looking forward to it and testing myself. Then at the end of April I have the Spring Classic 50k. I am hoping to race this one since I will not be racing either race in the middle of April. I want to use that as a test to see if my 50K time has improved in the last few months.

Month 3 is in the books and I am really looking forward to month 4, it will be the most challenging yet, but also very fun!!!

Do you find a training plan helps keep you on track?

Countdown To The Boston Marathon!

So life has been super super busy!!! I am in the process of moving, training for a 100 miler, working, taking care of peanut, and just being a girl. LOL needless to say, blogging has to take a back seat and a big one. I miss writing and when I can I will sneak on and do it. Once we are moved and settled I know I will work it into my regular routine again.

But, I would not be me if I did not come on to talk about the biggest race of my spring :) The Boston Marathon!!!!!!!

I have been so excited and looking forward to this race for months. It was the race that got me motivated to run marathons faster. I trained my a$$ off to get that BQ last year and I feel so lucky to have gotten it and now be running the biggest marathon here in Massachusetts.

You cannot understand what it is like to tell people you run marathons and then the next question always is, oh so you run the Bostoon? When you live here in New England it is the one race everyone knows about. What they often do not realize is how hard it is to get into Boston, or how runners would love to be able to run it all the time.

All the buzz, all the hype, I just am getting super excited! I am looking forward to heading down the expo on Saturday and bringing Peanut with me for the first time. She is so into running lately its adorable. I know she will like seeing everything and heading into the city. I am looking forward to picking up my number and wearing it with the pride that I earned getting it. All the work, it will pay off for me that day.

It still boggles my mind that I got up off the couch, started to lose weight and then started doing an activity I always hated. Running. Now I run almost every single day. Now I live for it.

The Truth About Ultra Training

It is a ton of work. Honestly I feel like its a second job. And really, truthfully it is. I spend a lot of hours a week running and exercising. I was thinking about that a lot this past week. My training for this ultra has really kicked into high gear. I am running an average of 60-65 miles per week. I run 5 days a week. I run Tuesdays-Thursdays and Saturdays and Sundays. It seems like I am always planning my run or running lol

On Mondays and Fridays I am at the gym. I cross train. I row, use the elliptical, or upright bike and aim to get an hour of cardio both days. About 4 days a week I strength train. This is a combination of upper and lower body exercises. And 5 days a week I do at least 15-20 minutes of solid core work with planks, sit ups, lower ab work, and stability ball work. Why?

It makes me stronger. I truly do love to do it. And I love the way my body looks because of all of it.

But, like I said it is a commitment and really a part time to full time job. I looked at my polar heart rate monitor last week, which I wear for 90% of my workouts and it said I worked out for 16 hours and 17minutes.

I thought about that for awhile during my run on Tuesday. 16 hours is a lot for a week, and it is not even my peak training of 70 miles per week yet, those will be coming. That is more than an average of 2 hours per day. That is a lot of freaking running and exercise. This from someone who 3 years ago never set foot on a trail, treadmill or even a gym.

I do not mean this to be a complaining post, and I am not complaining, but I am thinking that, running ultra marathons, consume a lot of time. It takes a lot of dedication, and a lot of juggling. Often on the weekends I wake up at 4:30am so I can head out for a long run. I want to be able to still be a part of family activities so to do that I start early so by 10am I can be home and in the Mommy zone. But its tough. I wake up during the week pretty much at 5-5:30am daily for work and mommy duties, so there is not a day during the week I sleep in. Though my body is usually awake, I wonder if it would be nice once in awhile to sneak in a late sleeping day.

I was pondering this all on my run, and often people ask me where do you find the time to do it?

I asked myself that question this week, and the answers began coming to me. I do not watch television anymore. I never was a big tv watcher but I did watch usually about an hour or 2 a day of it. Now I watch an hour or 2 per week. I do not spend nearly as much time on social media as I used to. I used to blog a lot more, I do love to do it, but honestly, if the choice comes between a run and blogging or even chatting on Facebook, obviously I choose my run. I do not go out and do much outside of my healthy activities. I am lucky my partner likes to workout too, our date night is often a gym session, or a weekend away is to a race. It is just the way our lives have evolved. I live a lot more simply. I am not off and out every weekend, or even once a week doing things like going to the movies, or a bar, or the mall. On my down time, I am spending time with my loved ones, or working out.

I thought about it and just realized that for me the shift came naturally over time but it really did shift. And I also thought about if I missed out on anything like tv or computer time, and I hate to admit it but I do not. While I love blogging and sharing my life, it is not a priority. While tv is nice to relax too, it is not valuable enough to carve out time for. I love running, and I love exercising. I would really not trade it for anything else at this point.



Have you found your habits shifted over time as you picked up different hobbies, or healthy living?