Things That Happened in May

I was a running machine in May.  Perfect weather coupled with some free time means I meet and exceed my goals.  I have this habit of making a cumulative mileage goals every month. In May I was able to power through that goal.  71 miles in the whole month!! 

I also destroyed my 5 miler PR. So maybe not placement wise, but beating my time from 9 years ago meant a lot to me. 

Harpoon 5 Miler 6/4/2005 
1163 (place) 55:35 11:07 509 (place in Division 21-39) 591 (Place in Female div)

Harpoon 5 Miler 5/18/2014

3337 (overall) 52:19 10:28 644 out of 817 (Female 30-39) 

A week later, Memorial Day weekend, Gavin and I decided it would be all about running.  Friday to Monday I ran a total of 18.78 miles. 

Marblehead run

Post Boston Run

Boston Run Revisited

When I was training for my half last year, Gavin agreed to hit the Esplanade in Boston with me.  Honestly I hadn't invested in proper gear at that point. I was still running in old school gym shorts and lets just say there was some friction in an uncomfortable place. I made it 5 miles and I was not a happy camper.

My new favorite site, Gavin and I (Source)

This year my compression capri's have made all the difference in the world. I was always scared to go out in public in tight pants, I have never been one to accentuate my shapes.  They might not be a fashion statement but they really are comfortable.

Running along the Charles River is so nice and there are so many other runners and people out there exercising. People watching and motivation all in wrapped up into one place.

The unfortunate thing about this run is that my watch was low on battery and I went to plug in as soon as it was trying to transfer the information, the watch froze and I lost my data.  I logged in Runkeeper before losing it though, 7.01 Miles in 1:19:55. So far a personal best for that distance.

What's not to love about this view?!?!

Smoothies, Easter and the Marathon, Oh My!

Gavin and I had been talking about smoothies for a while, we were going to hold out and save for the Nutribullet... (Newest version retails $150) A friend of mine at work had just purchased an Oster with the sports bottle attachment and had nothing but good things to say about it. (Retails for about $30) Can you guess which miserly frugal way I decided to go?

And here you have it!

For the money, well worth it.

I also had a coupon at Bed, Bath and Beyond for 20% off my entire purchase, so I picked this bad boy up for around $23.  Don'cha Just Love a Bahgain??

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With our 5K coming up, the one that I need want to beat my PR time, we moved our schedule around to run Sundays instead of Saturdays. Which meant that Easter Sunday was a run day.  With time constraints and getting off to a late start we hit a local rail trail and eeked out a quick 4 miles. 

I might have started out slow but I pushed it in the last couple miles. My Garmin has a virtual partner feature. You set up the time/pace you want to hit and it shows you how far behind or a head of the "runner" you are.  On all of my outside runs, I have never beat my VP, as I have said before I am not a speedy runner.  I set it up to pace me at 10:57 pace... like I said not speedy. 

Look what I did!

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I fear I am burying the lead.  Gavin and I were watching the Boston Marathon last year. We decided that in solidarity to the city that we love we would go back for the same events this year. First the Red Sox game and then out to the streets where the Marathon goes by to watch the runners as they approach the finish line. 

What and amazing day it ended up being. The weather couldn't have been better for runners and spectators and the energy in the air was just all you could ask for on a Marathon Monday. 

Just about 1 Mile to go! 

Look who we met, Carlos!!! He was SOOO nice! 

Walking down the middle of Boylston while they wrap up the race.

Boston Strong and Running On

I am not sure how today will not be an emotional one for years to come, but it is also a day that will remind us all that something broken only grows stronger.  There are so many inspirational stories of victims striving through so much physical and emotional pain, and they are standing strong today. They truly give me motivation to strive harder for that next mile or 10 and make me so thankful for what I have and to live so close to the Best City, Boston.

Although, I had already signed up for my first half marathon 2 days before Marathon Monday 2013, it definitely gave me a push to train and accomplish a goal I had set for myself 3 years prior.

Very excited to be able to attend the Red Sox Game on Patriots Day again this year and as the game empties out onto the Marathon route and watch the runners once again.

Photos from last year...

From our race 4/21/2013

Castle Island Run Behind Gavin

Both Gavin and I are signed up for the Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon.  It is the same weekend that the Rock N Roll San Jose is, so I guess we are staying local this year.

He is very excited about training all ready, which is great for me and gets me motivated. Yesterday we went down to Castle Island in Southie.  He tried to start the run with me, but I could tell I was going just a little slower than he wanted so I told him not to worry.  He then became my slowly shrinking carrot.

As long as I meet my distance goal, I am not going to beat myself up over the pace.

And who is going to argue with the calorie burn! 

It is a little crazy that I see this 75 Thoughts Every Runner Has While Running this morning while flipping through Facebook. It isn't terribly far off from where my head was at, only there were lots of other runners and lots of puppies.

Then I joined some of my girls to watch the UCONN game and have jalapeno mango margaritas and taco night. Which was followed up by this...

Unfried Froyo! So delicious! 

Sunday FunDay's for Running

With a new pep in his step Gavin is volunteering to run with me outside! This weekend we parked in Cambridge and ran along the Charles River for a little change  of scenery and a relatively flat training ground.

I started out great and about 4 miles in I realized that the shorts I had chosen has very irritating seams. Not to get into too much detail, but I made it to 5 miles and change but had to cut the run short, walking back to the car was not great. Gavin of course kept running, I was so impressed for a guy that hasn't been out running in a while.

Running along the Charles is so nice, there was a great breeze and always something to look at, even if it is just to people watch.  There is no shortage of scenery, the Cambridge skyline on the first leg and the Boston Skyline on the second.  The other great thing about it at least the course we took, is there is rarely a need to stop for traffic.

It was nice having a running buddy.

Where did this week go?

Alright so after walking across the entire city of Boston twice on Monday. I have been incredibly lazy.

Not joking, across the city, from Congress Street (Barking Crab) in Southie, alright barely Southie, to Fenway Park (Standing Room "Seats) and then back to the Barking Crab. Saving on parking is overrated. My pedometer (cheap one that my work gave me) had over 16,000 steps I guess it is only about 8 miles.

Alright now that it is all out there, "Anne, really, you signed up for 13.1, suck it up!"

Here are a few pictures from Memorial Day.

 

First time we had been back in the city since Patriots Day... we will have to stop a bit longer next time.

One of my favorite places, BPL! Strong!

I do enjoy a good selfie (my freakishly long arms are put to good use)

We were on the Bud deck... so far not my favorite SRO tickets

I just really loved this guys camera! 

Enough said, first thing in the AM I either hit the treadmill or run outside!

Motivational Trickery

Workout: Treadmill 3.61 miles / 40 minutes

I wanted to run the Run to Remember today, but I waited too long and it was sold out by the time I got around to it. Congrats to my friends Carlyn, Pat and Amy for running today! Note to self, register earlier next year.

So my run wasn't what I was hoping for, but it is the farthest I have gone on the treadmill in a while. Also, I am still running on old sneaks, so there is that.  I felt good through the beginning of the run and at 30 minutes I hadn't even taken the sweatshirt off the front of the treadmill.  I think some of it had to do with how good I felt, and the other part was not being bored out of my skull with what was on television. 

When I am in the gym in the mornings I try to be a good sport and I put the news on.  I am not sure if it is trying to keep up with the story changes or reading everything they say but my ADD kicks in and I can't focus on anything except, when will this be over?  If I am watching an hour drama or a movie then it is much easier for me to get lost in the story line. 

From what I have been told running is mostly mental. I truly believe that your mind gives up before your legs do. I haven't made it to miles in double digits, yet so I feel like the mental game is yet to come.  It makes a difference when you are checking out the sights somewhere new. Races are also that much more motivational, with all of the other people around you and generally there is a cause reminds you that a few miles is nothing compared to what other people are going through. 

Running along the Cape Cod Canal

The weekend after volunteering at the Ragnar Relay, and running along this made 5 miles go by quickly. 

The Sagamore Bridge

I tend to play head games with myself to get to a certain point.  If it is good song or the surroundings or something on the television. Would I prefer to be outside with sights to see all the time? Of course! New England, although it has some great places to run with beautiful surroundings, weather and convenience is a factor.

Today was a trifecta of feeling good, good music (very important to me) , and entertaining movies that I had seen before on television (What Women Want, and The Proposal). Not gonna lie, when I found out that The Proposal was going to be on next I got a little extra pep in my step. Sandy and Ryan running around the North Shore of MA pretending it is Alaska, oh so entertaining! 

 

Running around Castle Island in Southie.  

What do you do to get through so that you don't cut your workout short?

Boston Strong... Marathon Monday 2013

I don't think it would be right, as someone that lives in the Boston area and as someone who is trying to break into the running community (they seem like a very welcoming group... not sure breaking in is necessary), for me not to mention the Boston Marathon 2013.

This was the first year I was able to enjoy the festivities. Patriots day is a holiday in Massachusetts only, and I have never worked for a company that gave me that day off.  Gavin (if you didn't read my bio piece... we are engaged) bought tickets to the Patriots Day Red Sox tickets. (Goooo Sox! FYI, the Sox won that day). The Red Sox always play on Patriots Day (affectionately termed Marathon Monday).


From Marathon to Athens as a messenger to let everyone know that a war was over... I am sure that Pheidippides never thought for one second people would do this for fun and sport. Especially since he died very shortly after he made it to Athens... or so the story goes.

The Boston Marathon is steeped with tradition and as an international event, people come from all over the world to run 26.2 miles from Hopkington to Boston. As I have said before running is a singular act but there is a huge community behind the sport. Everyone is supportive and for the most part not out for blood. Even when people are in it to win it, once they are done they are willing to give back.

Our Marathon Monday...

Gavin and I went to the game at Fenway Park, and not only was I so inspired by all the folks that were running a crazy distance, but I was still high from signing up for my first half marathon. I also had a few friends running it and was hoping to catch a glimpse of them close to the finish line.  Now for those of you that don't know Boston geography, Fenway Park is less than 2 miles from the finish line at Copley Place.

We made our way to Kenmore Square (google maps... is a great resource) and then kept walking through the mass of people.  They expect 500,000 spectators at the Marathon, and that is over the length of the course, but a LOT of people want to be close to the end to see their friends and family, as well as complete strangers running. Then about 2pm a venue like Fenway dumps 30,000 more people onto the streets of Boston, that is my long winded way of saying that the sidewalks were packed.

Oh man I didn't expect to be so long winded... If you are still with me, so sorry.

We reached the '1 mile to go' sign and a minute later my friend's little sister ran past us.

She isn't in the picture, but it wasn't long after that we saw her go by. Once we saw her we gave up our spot at the fence to walk closer to the finish line. When we reached the Mass Ave bridge I noticed that police had stopped the runners, even in my post game state (I mentioned I like beer... ) I knew something terrible must have happened, they don't JUST stop the Marathon.

 I definitely felt the need to help protect my friends little sister and find out what happened and make sure she was alright. I started running on the sidewalk towards the finish line. I stopped when I saw a spectator on his phone who looked like he was getting news and asked him what happened.

"You can't be serious, a bomb at the finish line?"

This is when me being a little bit knackered was seriously regrettable. Cell service was jammed... I wanted to get a hold of my friend to see if her sister and husband were alright. A flood of text messages were coming to my phone but I wasn't able to get messages back to people... runners that had just made it 25 miles without a way to get a hold of their families just milling about or corralled. It is hard enough to regroup after a normal race but this was chaos.

After I collected myself, I got emotional, we were able to get a message out to a runner's husband in North Dakota that she was alright, if nothing else.  It was amazing to see the residents of Boylston who opened their homes gave away sweatshirts and did all they could for the misplaced runners.

As far as the first responders, police and all that were at the finish line, the city couldn't have asked for a better group of people.  They are all truly heroes!

I tried to declare 4/20 Give a Cop a hug day, mainly because I was able to give my friend, who is a cop who was also in Watertown on 4/19.  Not to mention he was also a runner on 4/15 and was able to see the whole tragedy full circle. I know that 4/20 has another meaning and it is also the anniversary of when I met one of my best friends and his wife.  Lets face it I am old and I am much more likely to hug a cop than to smoke anything. So in my mind the day has a whole new meaning.


To the families that lost loved ones during this week long tragedy, my heart goes out to them as well as the victims who were injured.  It was a tragic event and I can't think about it without getting a lump in my throat.

Boston has been and will be forever Strong, wicked strong if you will. I am proud to be part of the Boston/Massachusetts community and part of the supportive running community.