To My Future Husband

Where ever he may be LOL

I was thinking about this on a run the other night and I thought it would be a good idea for a post. Being single and all I will be sure to warn the guy who wants to get involved with me. He will have to understand many things especially those involving my running and fitness lifestyle now.

So I thought I would write him a letter :) And then one day hopefully I shall find a man that will accept it hahaha or become a crazy old cat lady either one ;)

To my future husband,

I want you to know this now and be clear so that we do not run into any problems down the road. Speaking of roads, I spend a lot of time on open roads but not in a car. You see I am a runner, not just your typical a few days a week runner. I love to run, in fact I live to run. I know you probably already know this by now, but I just feel I need to warn you about somethings.

I run a lot. I am an ultra runner. This means, many many miles. Do not be surprised when I am out on a Saturday running for 3 or 4 hours and then again on a Sunday for a few more. This is quite normal behavior for me. I will also spend 3 days a week running, I promise those will usually be shorter though. I also in addition to the running, like to attend fitness classes and go to my ymca for cross training. I love to lift weights and stay in shape. I know it sounds like a lot, and it is, but this is what I do.

Do not be surprised that I am always "in training" and always have a plan mapped out. This keeps me on track and it is something I will probably always do. You see I love to run and I like to go to races. For me the race is the big reward at the end of a long training cycle. You will find I get excited and sometimes nervous before a big race. Just hang in there if I get nervous about my BQ or seem obsessive in the days leading up to a race, I promise it never lasts too long.

Do not be surprised when I want to plan vacations and trips around big races. You see this is why I run so much, I love to travel and run in new places and do these races for fun. I promise not to race too much, I know it can be boring waiting for a runner to finish a longer race. But I would like to make sure you are ok with me attending at least 4 a year. This also does not include the Boston Marathon, which as long as I qualify each year, I plan to run.

I may come up with a new crazy goal, like running a 100K or even 100 miles. Please do not be alarmed, and please do not roll your eyes and tell me I am crazy. I know it may sound crazy but for me, it is fun. I love finding new challenges and pushing myself to new goals, this is what drives me. I just want you to be warned, I do not plan to stop doing this, so I want you to fully understand it all.

Do not be surprised when you come home with flowers and I smile, but secretly wish you had just visited the local running shop instead. I am not hard to please I promise, but a new pair of running sneakers or some shot blocks instead of flowers and chocolates would really make more sense. You see I am also practical, this is part of who I am and it will really make things simpler for you to know it all now. Also the same goes for jewelry, I know it is nice to have sometimes, but really with the amount of time I spend running I will not be wearing it much. So please do not waste money on it too much, I would hate for you to be offended when it does not get worn that often.

Speaking of simple, I eat pretty simple things too. I like to eat clean whole foods, which means I do not mind cooking and packing lunches for everyone. Of course I like to eat healthy so I hope you do not mind that. I promise to always have dinner ready for the family. Do not be surprised if I do not like to go out to eat too much, I really prefer to just cook so I know what we are eating. Do not worry, I am not forcing you into eating healthy of course, you can always make your own food, I will not be offended :)

Do not be surprised if you roll over on a Sunday morning and find me already gone at 5am. If I sneak out really early for my run, this just means I want to spend more time with the family while they are awake. I promise I will always run home no worries :) You will probably realize (if you haven't by now) that running is my stress reliever. So it really is best for everyone if I get my runs in. I promise I am much less cranky after a run. So if you see I am stressed out or having a bad day, hand me my shoes and tell me you will see me in a hour, I promise to come back much happier. You would score bonus points for having coffee ready when I come home after a run too.

Another thing to be clear about is family. I know I want more children and I adore children. But I also do like to run. I hope you understand that even when I become pregnant with our children I will still run as long as it is medically safe. I hope that you can understand that and be clear about it now. I promise to slow down and take it easy then. And I promise that I will always put our family first before my running.

Finally, do not worry about becoming a super runner. I do not expect you to want to run, or keep running or anything like that. I would love it if you were active, I do want you to stay healthy so we can have a nice long life together. But I am in support of you no matter what you choose that activity to be. I do want you to have something that you are passionate about, I hope you have a hobby that you love as much as I love running, I know that then we would be a great happier team. I promise to support you in every way possible and go to your events just like we go to my races.

Have we covered it all yet? I hope so. I hope you are not scared away by all this, but I just want you to be clear on exactly who I am and what my lifestyle is like. I promise that I love you more than I love running, that it is just a hobby, just one that takes up more time than some other typical ones. I know it may sound like a lot of things but I hope that you still will marry me knowing it all. I understand if it is too much, or not what you really want, I promise not to be offended if you decide you do not want to marry an ultra runner.

I will say though, that runners are very good people. We are often simple, and it does not take much to make us happy. I promise that if you love me and my running lifestyle than I will always love you back and take care of you. There are lots of benefits to being with a runner (I am sure you have figured out a few already). So, I hope that you understand me and my lifestyle and will be a part of it forever.

I Am Back!!!!!!! Unicorn Pace!

It seems like so long ago.

I qualified for the Boston Marathon back in February this year. Since that, a lot of shitty things happened in my life.

And I say this a lot, I have said it all summer, I miss that girl. I have not felt like her in a long time. I look at those pictures and remember feeling free and alive. That day I felt unstoppable and like a running machine. In fact I look at that picture every time I check my ticker on my iPhone to see how many days until my 50 mile race:

(Yes that is correct, DAMN that race is in 68 days!)

So this weekend my ultra training plan called for 28 miles. I knew it would be a challenge getting them in with peanut and some things we had going on. But I was determined to try my hardest to get them done. Saturday I ended up doing 6 miles of hard hill repeats near my sisters house while peanut played with my niece and nephew. That was good. Then on Sunday I headed to the Lexington bike path to do my left over miles of 22...

I ran out of time so I set out kind of late to do my run. I started at a solid 9 min per mile pace and quickly realized I would not finish my run if I kept at it that slow. I decided to try and ease my body into a faster routine. Let's just say mile 2 was a 8:30ish and mile 3 was 8:20ish and then it hit me.

I began to feel good and strong so I thought I would push for 8 minute miles. Much to my surprise I began knocking off miles at sub 8 minute per mile paces!!! I kept looking down at my Garmin in awe and wonder at how it was even possible to be running this fast since only being back a short time.

I decided not to question it too much and just closed my eyes and enjoyed it. I quickly realized I was at unicorn pace. What is unicorn pace you ask? Hehe that's my code word for BQ pace! I have all this Boston marathon gear and peanut loves it because of the big unicorn logo. So now for us the Boston marathon is known as the unicorn race hehe.

So I was at unicorn pace for a majority of my 22 miler. You know at one point about 10 miles in I had this big smile on my face and I got the chills. I could not believe how fast I was running, but mostly I could not believe how physically good I felt. Those chills came over me a few times and each time I could feel my smile getting bigger and bigger.

I was truly enjoying myself like I did in Hyannis back in February. I just kept singing and plugging away at those miles. I looked down at my watch and was shocked that I would finish all 22 miles in 3 hours!

After the run I got terribly sick. Now I know this is not ideal but my stomach was in a revolution lol. I do not think it likes being in such a state of intense running LOL! but I will say this. This run was so worth it. For me being able to feel like in truly back in shape and getting ready to get another BQ this fall will be nice!