Hi,

First, with today being the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bomings, and with Monday being this year’s Boston Marathon I thought it would be the perfect time to share this opportunity for you to feel the intense passion my friend Roger has for running and for helping find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

Roger is one of the 5 of us who ran the Mainly Marathons Center of the Nation Series back in 2013.

Roger in Wyoming on his self-declared "Boston Strong" day. We all wore blue to support the Boston victims

Roger in Wyoming on his self-declared “Boston Strong” day. We all wore blue to support the Boston victims

The short version is Roger lost 113 pounds in 9 months to run the Boston Marathon and raise money to help support Team Boomer and the important research being done to conquer Cystic Fibrosis.

Roger’s niece Julia has CF and while Roger was morbidly obese and could barely breathe he realized that his niece was also struggling to breathe. But he had a choice to remedy that. He’s been a force like no other I’ve yet to meet in my life. You must go here to donate if you can. He chooses one marathon a year to be his big fundraising effort and this year it’s Big Sur.

Here’s his amazing video:

Best of Luck to you Roger and I can’t wait to see photos from the race! Big Sur is a sight like no other.

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In other big news Duncan got his stitches out yesterday! Yippee!

IMG_2418

And I’ve been eating too many Peanut M&Ms.

There is no such thing as sharing. I don't share my Peanut M&Ms

There is no such thing as sharing. I don’t share my Peanut M&Ms

I was feeling rather sore in 2 spots after the Love Run, my left calf and my right piriformis. So I didn’t run at all on Monday and Tuesday. But Wednesday and yesterday I ran about 4 miles each at an easy pace.

Wednesday easy 4

Wednesday easy 4

Thursday easy 4

Thursday easy 4

My calf still feels a bit achy and i’m actually planning to get in my long run later today, so i’ve been wearing a compression sleeve, and massaging and foam rolling it, and using ice/heat too. After today, I’ll most likely take a few days off completely.

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NJ Half Marathon Goals

So now I’ll tell you about my goals for the NJ Half Marathon in 17 days. I was going to keep them a secret but something compelled me to share. First of all, after 3 years running the full at NJM, this will be my first time running the half there.

Setting my marathon PR at the NJ Marathon in 2014

Setting my marathon PR at the NJ Marathon in 2014

The last 2 races (Cherry Blossom 10 miler and Love Run Half Marathon) I’ve kept a 10 min overall pace with plenty of splits between 9:37 and 9:45. And I was completely in control of my breathing the entire time. I’d probably consider these tempo runs. So, I have decided—barring any injury or crappy weather on race day—that I want to push myself and try to keep a 9:45 pace for the entire race and finish sub 2:10. I’ve run about 35 half marathons in my life ranging in time from 2:05 to 2:54 and only 3 of those were sub 2:10 (2:05:03, 2:07:54 and 2:09:18) So if I can keep to a 9:45 pace I can finish in 2:08. I know it’s going to be tough but I want the challenge. And this course is not only flat, but I know every turn like the back of my hand having run the full marathon 3 years plus doing multiple training runs on the course. I’m not going to be devastated if I can’t achieve this goal but I’m excited about trying 🙂

 

What or who inspires you?

Any fun weekend plans?

Will you be watching the Boston Marathon on Monday?

Hello!

It’s Tuesday already! I feel like I have no time these days which is ironic since my running mileage is practically nothing at the moment. 🙂 Speaking of running, here’s how my first few days of training (Take 2!) have been going:

I ran 1 mile on Saturday and then walked a mile back home. No ankle issues.

1 mile run

Sunday, Duncan and I went on a challenging 2+ hour hike with a bunch of other dogs and their owners. It was a great way to cross-train physically and clear my head mentally. My balance was a little shaky and I found myself using my hands to brace myself when the terrain got challenging and I was super careful where I placed my bad foot to ensure I didn’t twist any part of it. It started to get a little achy toward the end but the next morning it felt absolutely perfect.

at times we had narrow rocky paths to navigate through

at times we had narrow rocky paths to navigate through

That's Chester....the daredevil dog of the pack.

That’s Chester….the daredevil dog of the pack.

I love looking up and watching the sun filter through the leaves of the trees.

I love looking up and watching the sun filter through the leaves of the trees.

Me and the doodle hopping across the the rocks. I kept my feet dry! Unfortunately the doodle misjudged on one of his final steps and one paw landed in the water. He wasn't happy.

Me and the doodle hopping across the the rocks. I kept my feet dry! Unfortunately the doodle misjudged on one of his final steps and one paw landed in the water. He wasn’t happy.

Duncan in action

Duncan in action

hiking

we hiked near this cute little babbling brook

labradoodle

dirty doodle post hike

This morning I got up at 6 am and I ran another mile pain-free. Then I took the doodle for a ride in the Subaru to the park and we walked around for a bit. So far so good!

photo 5

another mile….pain free!

photo 1[2]

photo 4[1]

I might actually turn tomorrow’s 2 miles into 3…livin’ on the edge! With the hike on Sunday and the early morning walk today Duncan is exhausted! Good thing because I’m meeting my running peeps after work tonight to go over some details about our upcoming Ragnar Relay. I promise I’ll get a very useful post up about relay races and best way to approach them. I’ve done 3 already and have learned quite a lot!

sleepy doodle

sleepy doodle

I’m loving Forest(er) and have already put on 300+ miles in just 3 days. I went to my folks house over the weekend and snapped this shot from their porch.

photo 2[2]

Inconvenience VS Adversity

The other day as I thought about all the inconveniences that I was experiencing (small stuff) like nails in tires, car breakdowns and such, I reminded myself that I am lucky that is really the worst of it for me these days. Compared to some true adversity happening with close friends and family and in the world in general. I mentioned back in this post about my friend whose mom was just recently diagnosed with ALS. Well if you have seen the ice bucket challenge (#IceBucketChallenge #StrikeOutALS) going around on Facebook it is to raise awareness about the illness and encourage people to donate to the ALS Association. I was challenged by my sister-in-law and accepted! Here’s my little video… (I did donate but ice bucket part is what makes this campaign so viral and attention grabbing so I agreed to do both. apologies ahead of time about the video….it was unrehearsed and i didnt’ have time to make it too polished).

If you feel compelled to participate please share a link to your video in the comments. I’d love to see others continue on this campaign and the awareness that it’s bringing to a dreadful disease. And please donate if you can. ALSA.org

So how’s your week going? Is there a specific charity that you are passionate about?

It’s Tuesday!

How are all 5 of my loyal readers doing today? I slept 10 hours last night! The extra shuteye is FINALLY kicking in. I feel human today and no longer zombielike. As I mentioned yesterday I replaced my 5 mile run today with a 30 minute cardio session at the gym. I spent 20 minutes on the rower and 10 minutes on the elliptical. Just enough to break a sweat and feel like my arms and legs worked. My heart rate was in the 115-130 range which is on the lower end but just what I set out to do. Unfortunately I have to say I don’t think I’ll ever have a “rower’s high”. Its running that I love and my highs will most likely come in the form of a “runner’s high”.

That brings me to the wild afternoon break I had at work. I went outside to get some air when I realized something was happening in front of Macy’s (Herald Square on the corner of 34th and Broadway….for the non NYC people the spot that all the marching bands and floats appear during the TV footage of the Thanksgiving Day Parade) In honor of the impending 1 year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, Diana Nyad, of “I swam from Cuba to Florida” fame is swimming for 48 hours straight and raising money for AmeriCares. You can view a live stream of her swimming and donate if you want here.

nyad photo 3

They had a big banner in which you could write a message to Diana and since I love Sharpies I left her a message…

do what you love and make a difference

do what you love and make a difference

Well who knew I would AMAZE myself at my own words. That just makes so much sense. And this is why running has so many meanings in my life. I’ve made a difference in myself through my love of running as far as self esteem goes. I’ve also made a difference by fundraising for organizations that are close to my heart like the Melanoma Research Foundation and Stupid Cancer. And I’m trying to make a difference here somehow on this blog. I know some of my friends have been inspired by my running just as I was inspired by Lisa. Oh and if you don’t know that story you can always just watch this video.

So there you have it….my WOW (words of wisdom) is the title of this post: Do what you love and make a difference.

It’s hard to believe that it was 80 degrees on Tuesday September 17th when i ran my half marathon in South Dakota and just yesterday they were slammed with over 3 feet of snow! Talk about a complete 180 in just 2 weeks!

I didn’t run today. I started my day volunteering at an Autism Speaks fundraising walk. I took photos.

photo 1

Then I relaxed and did a whole lot of nothing for a couple of hours. My schedule gets crazy for the next 5 weeks and I just wanted to shut off and do nothing for a bit. But then I got the doodle’s “you’re putty in my paws” look and I took him for a walk through the woods and around our local park. I was hoping the Autumn colors would be emerging but it’s hit or miss here and the area we went today was still pretty green. So I wore a colorful shirt to compensate:

photo 4

photo 2

I thought the leaves are supposed to be changing ma?

photo 3

dramatic

After dinner I took a quick trip to Target for some grocery items. I ended up grabbing a halloween costume for Duncan too! (I bought both but am leaning toward the tuxedo).

photo 5

Tomorrow the plan is to be out the door about 6:30am to get to my running spot at sunrise. I’m planning on running 14 miles along the boardwalk and underneath the Verrazano Bridge. It’s time to get excited and start visualizing the start of the NYC Marathon.

Hope you are all having a nice weekend. I’m off to bed.

Question: Which costume should I make Duncan wear? Tuxedo? Pirate?