Marathon Mom

11 days since Boston and I am just feeling blah! I think it is a combination of post-marathon blues, you know that feeling that you have after working so hard for something and then it is done, starting a new job and the mental exhaustion of that, getting over being sick, a recent injury and lack of good eating for the past couple weeks. I have been running but so far only once this week, I think part of me is still afraid of re-aggravating my injury despite being pain free. I am taking a minute, stepping back and reevaluating what is happening and setting goals to get back to being me. 1) Post-marathon blues: I am not disappointment with my race, it is just a big change to step back from the level of training and focus on something new for a time. I need to focus on what is ahead- a marathon in exactly 1 month, yay!. I will be back to running long runs on Sunday morning with friends and focusing on smart running and some last minute speed work to get my time goal! 2) New job: It ...

1) I don't know if I dare say it, but we are done with diapers during the day, yay! I may not be the best example of potty training but my slow and laid back approach seemed to work. It has been a few months but I didn't push, let her go when she wanted to and then started bribing with animal crackers and for the past month there have been no potty accidents! I am still a little nervous about long car/store trips and tend to resort to pull ups during these. The toughest part, she loves public bathrooms, so much that we have to check them all out and 75% of the time it is a wasted trip. 2) I am obsessed with my new running shoes, Brooks Pure Connect. I bought them to walk around in last weekend in Boston but decided to give running a try in them since I decided to take back the Vibrams. I just couldn't get used to the toe thing! This is my attempt at minimalist running and so far it is good. I have only done a few short runs to not over do things while I get used to them,...

I pretty much summed up my feelings and plans for marathon day in my last  post and based on everything against me I decided to enjoy my weekend and do everything "wrong" before running. This meant wine, food I don't tolerate well (tiramisu from North End, yum!) and a lot of walking around. By the time Monday morning rolled around I was more then accepting of the fact that this race was just for fun, I had nothing to prove to myself (or anyone) and I didn't care about my finish time (okay maybe a little still). My goals were to run pain free, enjoy the course atmosphere and finish feeling good and upright! Anyone who's run Boston knows the race morning logistics are at best interesting. A long bus ride to the start area hours before race start followed by hours of sitting outside in any weather unless you have access to a team bus :) Instead of a school bus I enjoyed my race morning ride on a coach bus complete with bathrooms and best yet it stayed around unt...

Less then 1 day until Boston Marathon and the race should be interesting. I am beginning to wonder if anything else will go against me before tomorrow morning. So far it is 3 strikes, but I am not out… 1 st   I dealt with a leg injury  resulting in an abrupt taper filled with a lot more cross training then I would have liked, a missed 20+ mile long run and only 10 miles of actual running in the last 3 ½ weeks. 2 nd my allergies (or a nasty cold) kicked in big time this past week and settled in my chest. Ironically I first bought Super Lysine the week before Boston last year in attempts to combat the same issue which worked. So I have been hitting the Super Lysine along with cold meds and actually starting to feel better and hoping to be back to normal by tomorrow. 3 rd the weather! Over the past week the forecast has gone up and down ranging from highs of 50F to 80F, cloudy to sunny, and even possible storms. As of today it has settled on a high of 87F sunny and so...

10 years ago today Matt and I were married, it is amazing all the changes and growth we have experienced in that time. About this time is when I started thinking about running my first marathon so it is only fitting that we will be spending the weekend of our anniversary in Boston for the marathon. Up until last Fall the plans were to spend a week or two in Europe to celebrate, but with us both in school we decided that a shorter trip was best. Last September as marathon registration was coming to a close I sent a text "how about a trip to Boston for our anniversary?" to which he replied "sure, sounds great". I was partly joking but the plans stuck and here we are! So here we go, after a strange marathon training taper filled with much more cross training and only 10 miles of actual running in the last 3 1/2 weeks. I can say that my cycling will be stronger this year because of this! I am also proud to say that I tried a new class on Monday, yoga sculpt, and wow ...

Happy Easter, what a great weekend (well besides the crazy over tired 2 year old who missed her nap today)! For weeks she has been looking forward to the Easter Bunny bringing bubbles, luckily for mommy the second store was not sold out yesterday. Who knew bubbles were so popular. The Easter Bunny even hit some eggs around the house filled with money, stickers and a stamper and left a basket with Elmo and Abby socks, Annie's Bunny Crackers and the much anticipated bubbles. We later had an egg hunt with the in laws, which she looked forward to the entire hour car ride and kept repeating "Easter Hunt" which sounded a lot like Pizza Hut. Thank you little girl I am now craving bread sticks from Pizza Hut which I haven't eaten in probably 20 years. This egg hunt resulted in more coins and a basket full of candy. Sister in law also gave her a basket with "only a little candy"! Wow, if a little candy means 2 Kit Kats, a bunch of Reese's Cups and a bag...

I love to run and even on most of my worst runs I look forward to it, but not today. My last run was 15 days ago followed by the possible stress fracture diagnosis 2 days later. It has now been 1 full week that my leg has been pain free even through biking, walking and elliptical workouts. I thought about a short run today but talked myself out of it despite reaching the 2 weeks off. Fear has taken over, not the fear of the run, but the fear of the what if. What if it hurts again with running? What if I re-injure my leg with a run? What if it just doesn't go good like I am hoping? So instead I walked, again. Am I the only one who feels like I am cheating when I walk with the BOB? No matter when it happens there will be hesitation and possible bad outcomes of the first post-injury run. A few more days won't hurt me, well except the mental strain of too many other workouts. I already have plans for a few miles on Saturday, so fingers crossed. This next week also means lots mo...

Now I can look forward to April and anticipate the exciting changes and fun times to come this month. My final day at my old job is the Friday followed by 2 weeks off and Boston Marathon, which I will be running pain free. I also have plans to get my 3rd tattoo during this time and get together with some friends to enjoy my time off. Looking back at March I think I managed pretty well despite the leg injury. The upside was the amount of cross training, but the downside was the lack of running miles, but I feel mentally trained for anything! 138 miles run including an 8K race Bike 13 hours 45 min including a 2 hour spin class with 1000 other people Strength training 2-3x week Elliptical 12 hours 45 min which I have decided is way too much...BORING! 1 swim and 1 pool running Pilates 1x week Looking back I can't complain and think I am doing pretty well adapting to no running. Good news is I remain pain free. So far 12 days off running and hope to be back by this weekend fo...