Boston...

Just a paragraph to let you know that I'm ok and so is my family!
A very scary and tragic day in Boston, and so horrific and heartbreaking.

I will post a recap at some point because before things got scary many good things happened. I think it important to reflect on the good moments, friends and family and how amazing the running community is at a time like this.

But for now, thinking of those affected and of the city of Boston...

March Recap, LATE and ONE WEEK until Boston!

So I'm late on the recap, per the norm.

Hmmmm March. What the hell happened?

 

Miles run: 165. I'm surprised it isn't higher. Well, I was kinda recovering from Hyannis the 1st week so I think that explains it.

 

Hours of cross training done: I can't figure out how to find that in my dailymile. I can take an educated guess though.... Between yoga, core and a tiny bit of Spin probably close to 20 hours. It keeps me busy, no time to do normal people things, or clean obviously....

 

 

Which is why I have this guy, duh...

Number of times I puked on my shoes- ZERO! Miracle...

 

Number of times I quit running- Once but it was after I fell in the damn snowcovered stream. Legit.

 

Number or races run- ZERO Anyone who has followed my blog knows that this is extremely rare and unusual. In the name of not overtraining/over racing I put all competitive running on hold until after Boston. It wasn't as hard as you would think, all I had to do was remember my months of shitty shin splint pain last year and that was enough to rein me in.

 

Number of treadmill runs- NONE! TAKE THAT!!!!

 

Longest training run- 19

 

Number of nightmares I've had about Heartbreak Hill- One million billion

This shit is in my damn head!

 

Number of colds I have caught 7 days out from a big race- 1. Yeah, I'm coming down with some sniffly bug. Hope it goes away pronto!

FACT

With one week to go I'm feeling fine. A little sick but fine. Legs have been decent (which is amazing for taper time) and despite my random Heartbreak Hill nightmares I feel well adjusted.

Sure, I wish I had about 6,000 more years to get my hill work in but I've really gone above and beyond- hitting every hill in town. Making sure that every single long run had a monster climb in the last couple miles. Even my easy runs have a seriously punishing hill at the end. My endurance still isn't where I'd like it to be, but in reality Id also like to be a 3:08 marathoner and THAT isn't gonna happen either! So it's all good. The forecast looks acceptable and with only a few more workouts to put in I'm feeling as ready as I can be. Bring it on, Boston!

Reginald Doodie, reporting for duty!!

While some of you might consider this to be an irregular blog post for a Friday morning rest assured that it's a solid effort on my part. Hehheh.

My blog is the best. You stumble across it and might be lucky enough to read about period issues, or, like today you might be lucky enough to meet my friend Reginald Doodie.

Yeah. Reginald Doodie. 

I wish I knew the exact details of how he came to life but I know it was due to a wine fueled bed time chat that my sister Kate and cousin Jen had. Needless to say, in true family fashion it immediately took on a life if its own and is now a true legend. I can accept no responsibility for inventing him, but I have embraced the bigger-than-life-force that he has become.... *normal* *not*

Some facts about our friend Reg:

-He is a soldier, Reginald Doodie reports for duty daily. Hopefully before you head out to run...

-A few things make him VERY angry. Jalapenos and gas station coffee come to mind...

-He takes FULL advantage of the GI bill. DUH. 

-Partying makes him a little loose, gotta keep an eye on that...

-If he had a ship he'd spend most of his time on the poop deck....

Dudes, the jokes are endless. ENDLESS.

Kate told me that he was a soldier with one of those twisty mustaches, which I didn't think were too common in this day and age. Little did I know that almost immediately after thinking that stupid thought two exciting things would happen!!

This is Reginald Doodie. On a beer bottle of all things!
I was so excited to find this.
Kate took a pic and instantly sent it to ALL our cousins.Kate and I have been known to text each other after evenings of questionable eating/drinking with "ohhhhhh Reggie...." We both know what this means and have sympathy for the other persons challenges.

This is Reggie in real life.
He works in a bar which made me nervous about the drinks!!
I was so excited to find him... As you can see!
(now leave me alone, Reg!)

Is it strange that we all now refer to our various GI issues by name? No.

And admit it runners, we have ALL had our issues with Reg and his GI bill... You are not a real runner until you have come back from a workout with only one sock (it happens...)

 

When Eric and I run together he has been known to casually ask "So... How's Reggie?" as though he were inquiring about a random Uncle perhaps and not checking to see if I need to find a porta potti! Nothing, I mean NOTHING says epic runner romance like THAT, let me tell you!

 

I would like to make a request to Reggie at this time. Please leave me alone when I'm at mile 7 of a 9 mile tempo run. Please do NOT show up angrily when I'm doing track repeats. And good God, please don't show up when I'm at mile 22 of the Boston Marathon with absolutely NO time to deal with you.

Got it Reginald? In return I will avoid ice cream, lentils, and the previously mentioned gas station coffee.

I refuse to let these issues take a big giant Reg on my marathon day so rest assured that I will be hitting up the pepto like it's going out of style...

And THAT my friends is the myth of Reginald Doodie. May he leave you at peace while you run, or are on a first date, or a long car trip.

 

Adventures and the Final Countdown To BOSTON!

So yes, I have in fact been completely out of the blogosphere for the past couple weeks. I had imagined with Boston looming on the horizon that I would have a ton to say (even more than normal!) But no, that has not been the case. 

So what's been going on?? 

I have been looking at a lot of TALLLLLL buildings!
Eric, Eric's Mah and I went to NJ to see 1,745 of their family members, eat Easter food, and go to  New York! I have never actually been to the city before (I know, I know, so sheltered) so this was a big exciting deal for me. 

My one request was to see the Intrepid. Yeah, I'm cool like that.

Anyway, we had a super good time. We saw ALL the things, walked about a half marathon (no lie) and  really enjoyed the whole time. So fun! I always enjoy a good adventure and was so excited to learn how to shove my way thru Manhattan foot traffic, eat pretzels from street vendors that taste like they have been dragged behind a taxi cab, check out the big piano at FAO Schwarz and figure out what restaurant to go to with 2 vegetarians, 3 people celebrating passover and me. HAH! 

We did manage to run a little during this weekend but it was far from successful. However, I really didn't care as overall my running has been pretty decent.

With less than 2 weeks to go I'm feeling pretty good about everything despite my absolute blogging silence. Technically I am tapering (last Thursday was my last long run, of 19.) I have a few solid looking workouts to go which makes me happy because 2 weeks of "exceedingly easy" runs and I just do not get along. 

So why on earth have I not been blogging daily with my progress reports? I am not entirely sure other than I'm focusing so much energy on preparing that I don't have a lot left over to talk about it. TERRIBLE BLOGGING OMG SO BAD. 

So here is a quick update:

I have had a number of runs that have felt pretty great. After Hyannis I discovered, not shockingly, that my hill endurance had gone to shit. I trained for Hyannis to be flat (which it mostly was) and sought out the few flat roads around here to do the vast majority of my workouts on. I am not going to lie, the hills are still pretty tough. I have run EVERY hill between here and the next county so my effort has been high- but my hill confidence is still not where it can be. I have had some fantastic tempo runs and mile repeats. I have not had any long runs that are total shit. I also have not had any long runs that have felt good, HAH THAT'S awesome...!  My hope is that the good feeling long run will happen at the right time, if you know what I mean! I'd rather not waste it in training after all... I have been doing core work like a boss, yoga, wearing compression, drinking all the water (and all the Scratch) (and some beer) (occasional glass of wine), eating healthy (well, I DID go to M&M world but whatevs...) going to bed early (mostly) and being a responsible adult (what....????) 

It's all just a wait now, and for the next 11 days I'm gonna do my workouts, stay cool and not stress. I plan to run a kickass race. I also plan to enjoy the whole experience because this is something that most people don't get to do. I'm very happy that most of my family is going to get to spend some part of the weekend with me (we have activities planned, it will be freaking legendary.) So yeah, it's the final countdown y'all and my goal in life is to stay cool, not sweat the small stuff and toe that damn line ready to have a pretty fabulous race. We'll see how my plan works out!

An exciting Summer in the works!

Just a quickie today!

On March 1st I decided to enter the very unique selection process for the Great Cranberry Island Ultra (yes, I said Ultra. Yes, I have claimed on SEVERAL occasions to have zero plans to run even a step over 26.2. WHOOPS.)

The process was right up my alley. You put in all the normal info and then answer, in 250 words or less a creative variety of questions. Having no idea what they were actually looking for, I plugged in the first things to pop into my head. And if you know me, you know that could have been a risky move! In the end it paid off, as I made the final cut.

I keep telling myself that this is a GOOD THING, hahaha...

I'm not gonna lie, I am very excited about this race and think it's going to be a pretty awesome mid summer adventure. Also, they claim it is the Best Race Ever- since we ALL know MDI holds that title I very much look forward to having GCI prove me wrong! Can't wait...

I'm actually VERY psyched!

On the same day that GCI announced the lucky 2013 runners Beach To Beacon registration opened as well. After running this race for the past 2 years (and getting in thru the lottery both times) I have mixed feelings. It is a great race, you see a lot of elites, it's a big deal! It is also kind of a clusterfuck. But, it's one a a very few 10K's in Maine and is a helluva good way to see ALL your running friends in one place.

And did I mention that it's 8 days after GCI? Shit.

Silly Race!

At 7:00 AM sharp Eric, Kate (my sister) and I were sitting at our computers hitting "refresh" and knowing that my BFF Angie and Eric's sister (and 6,000 others) were doing the same. Total system overload! With the exception of poor Kate we all had luck- and we are confident that she will get in via lottery. The plan is to wear cute matching outfits (you hear that Eric?) and to make it a social event not a sprint to the finish. It should be a lot of fun!

Needless to say, at the end of the day the calendar was looking even more full and my wallet even more empty. I need to get another job just to pay for my hobby, Hah!