Marine Corps Marathon

Winter in October

October 31, 2011 by Kristy 13 Comments

The title of this post is simply obnoxious. Just 3 short weeks ago I was laying on the beach writing a post called “Summer in October“. Snow in October is just wrong.

Thankfully, Saturday was a planned rest day so I didn’t have to brave the cold and snow for a long run. We did have 2 parties to go to. The first was a Halloween party for Hawk hosted by our dog walker. We decided to swing by at the last minute since it wasn’t too far away. Hawk got 3rd place for his costume. Personally, Matt and I think he was robbed. First place went to a lab dressed as a cop. Totally unoriginal. Coincidentally, the owner of the lab was also the mayor of our town (I had no clue we even had a mayor), so I think she swayed the judges. Come on, how cute is this little lobster? If you care, 2nd place went to a tiny poodle dressed as a clown.

We left the Halloween party, dropped Hawk off, and then headed out to Jersey. We had a mini-Mains birthday to celebrate! We got stuck in terrible traffic due to all the accidents caused by the snow (it took us 30 minutes to go 1 mile). We ended up turning around since the roads were so bad. I was bummed. I was so looking forward to seeing everyone. Happy 1st Birthday Michael! I hope you enjoyed your cake 🙂

The rest of the day was spent catching up on DVR…Amazing Race and Dexter.

On Sunday I went out for a 6-miler around 11:30am. I wanted some snow to melt and the temps to warm up a bit. I felt so bad for all the MCMers freezing at the start. It was probably good race weather once you got warmed up but I’m sure waiting in the early AM was agony. Congrats to everyone who ran the race!

Happy Halloween! We get to torture Hawk again tonight with his costume.

Thankful

October 28, 2011 by Kristy 9 Comments

10/28/11
8 miles / 1:10 / 8:45 avg pace
*Pure exhaustion. That sums up today’s run!

I’m thankful that Matt is coming home today. I didn’t mention this (in case there are any creepers that troll the blog) but he has been away for work for 2 weeks. Two weeks is a long time. I cannot wait to see him tonight.

I’m thankful for lululemon priiti crops. I bought them last weekend and wore them 3 times already this week – for yoga and running. They are amazing.

I’m thankful that Saturday is a rest day. Enough said!

I’m thankful to see the Mains tomorrow.

I’m thankful my hamstring, hip, and glute are starting to feel better on their own. I won’t begin ART until next week but this is a good sign.

I’m thankful that my family is healthy. A year ago my Dad had a double bypass. He is 100% recovered and good as new.

What are you thankful for? Big or small…

GOOD LUCK to all the MCMers this Sunday! I’m very jealous; it’s my favorite marathon. I cannot wait to read all your race recaps next week!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

September 20, 2011 by Kristy 20 Comments

This blog is only about 9 months old so many of you have only seen a brief snapshot of my running. I want to walk down memory lane and show you how far I’ve come in 10 years. This post is not about bragging but about showing you that anything is possible…if you want it badly enough. For me, qualifying and running the Boston Marathon were dreams of mine for the past 10 years. I’m sure people thought I was crazy talking about BQing when I was still hours (yes, hours) away from my BQ time. But Boston was always in the back of my mind during every marathon.

Marathon #1: Marine Corps Marathon 2004 – 5:12
My goal was to finish. I treated this marathon like a party. I stopped and chatted with Matt, I stopped for pee breaks, I stopped for stretch breaks. I seriously spent a half hour stopping.

Marathon #2: NYC Marathon 2005 – 4:36
A huge improvement but I should have done some hill work.

Marathon #3: Marine Corps Marathon 2006 – 4:58
I had a terrible training cycle and my head just wasn’t in it. I was ready to quit at mile 10.

Marathon #4: Marine Corps Marathon 2007 – 4:11
I told you I loved the MCM! I was finally beginning to make some progress here. I was ecstatic with this time!

Marathon #5: Philly Marathon 2008 – 4:12
Oh, I was pissed about this one. It was 15 degrees at the start…I never warmed up and my lungs burned since I wasn’t acclimated to the cold yet. Just awful.

2009: I took a year off marathoning to get married, buy a house, and honeymoon in Europe 🙂

Marathon #6: Pocono Marathon May 2010 – 4:13
I was livid about this race. It was much hillier than I thought (this is the sole reason why I always train for the worst case scenario). I hated the marathon and the course. I had a great training cycle but hit the wall HARD at mile 19. Up until mile 19, I was on track for a sub-4:00 but I fell apart mentally. At this point I was SO SICK of finishing in the 4:1x range.

Marathon #7: Steamtown Marathon October 2010 – 3:58
Redemption! Finally, a sub-4:00! This was a great marathon too. Gotta love the downhills.

Marathon #8: New Jersey Marathon May 2011 – 3:52
We all know what happened here…

Marathon #9: Lehigh Valley Marathon September 2011 – 3:43
BQ BABY!

How did I manage to shave off 30 minutes from May 2010 to September 2011? Hard work and determination. I’m not naturally speedy. I didn’t run track or cross country in high school or college. I didn’t hit the running genetic jackpot. I’m just an average runner who dreamed big. That’s it. If I can do it, so can you.

Tomorrow’s post will focus on what I did physically and mentally to shave those 30 minutes off.

Do you have big running dreams? Share them!

Friday Favorites

April 29, 2011 by Kristy 10 Comments

4/29/11

3 miles easy

28:38

9:32 avg pace

All I have to do now is run the marathon!

We leave for the shore tomorrow morning, stopping at my parents to drop Hawk off. My parents live about an hour south of where the race is taking place and we initially were going to sleep there and drive up on Sunday morning. After reading reviews on marathonguide.com about the not-so-reliable shuttle buses, we decided to get a hotel to be closer to the start. Otherwise, we’d have to get up around 3am. Eeek, that is just too early!

Friday Favorites time! And you probably guessed this already but it has to do with marathons!

Best Crowd Support – NYC Marathon
I’m sure Boston has similar crowd support but NYC is amazing! I felt like a rock star! There was never a point when someone wasn’t cheering for you. I got a brief glimpse of what it must feel like to be celebrity 😉

Most Efficient Expo – Marine Corps Marathon
I’m not a big fan of expos. I like to get in and get out. The Marines pull off a great, efficient expo…especially for such a huge race.

Most Scenic – Marine Corps Marathon
I must say I’m somewhat biased. I lived in DC for 3 years and fell in love with running there. It’s like a perfect (running) tour of the city.

Best Race Shirt – Philly Marathon
Another great race (again, biased…it’s my hometown) but the best part is the race shirt. A long-sleeved, DRI-fit tee that actually fits! Meaning I don’t give it to Matt to wear. They even have XS. Score!

Best Pre-Race Amenities – Steamtown Marathon
I walked out of my hotel room and boarded a bus to the start. We started outside of a middle school so we got to wait inside and remain warm. Bottles of water were handed out and the school cafeteria was even selling food! It was the most relaxed and calm I have ever been before a race. I literally didn’t have to think about anything.

The NJ Marathon does not have runner tracking. I promise to tweet, FB, etc. when I’m done. THANK YOU for the wonderful comments this past week. They mean so much to me. I will be thinking about all of them on Sunday. Go big or go home!

April Races

March 10, 2011 by Kristy 4 Comments

3/10/11

7 miles tempo

1:02

8:51 avg pace

1 mile warm-up, 5 miles at 8:41 (~ goal marathon pace), 1 mile cool-down. Done on the dreaded treadmill. Ugh. Each week I say no more treadmill and then the rain forces me inside.

Onto fun stuff…I have 2 races coming up in April! I haven’t raced since the Philly Half Marathon last November so I’m looking forward to it. And it’ll be good prep for the NJ Marathon on May 1.

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler – April 3
So excited about this race! This has been on my “races to do” list for a long time. I love 10-milers because you can run faster than half marathon pace but not all out (and I hate to run all out, hence no 5 or 10Ks for me). I usually do the Broad Street Run here in Philly (a very popular 10-miler – super flat and fast) but this year it’s the same day as my marathon. Bummer. So the Cherry Blossom is filling my need for a 10-mile race this Spring.

The race uses a lottery system for entry, so I was very lucky to get in on my first try. I love running DC races. Matt and I lived there for 3 years after college and it’s where I began running. I could run the Marine Corps Marathon every year and never get bored.

My PR for the 10-miler is 1:23. I think I can beat that on April 3 🙂 Fingers crossed!

Penn Relays Distance Classic 20K – April 17
I ran this race back in 2009. This race is pretty interesting. They don’t promote it so you don’t receive any reminder emails about next year’s race. Trying to find the active.com site to sign-up is difficult. Back in 2009, less than 200 people actually ran the race. It’s supposed to kick-off the Penn Relays but I wouldn’t call it much of a kick-off! Do I love it? Absolutely! The race starts and ends at Franklin Field, on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. Since it’s such a small size, the race director literally yells for everyone to gather on the street (there are no seeds) and yells go! No fuss whatsoever.

Funny but true story…since there are so few runners, you can imagine that everyone gets pretty spread out by the end of the race. I was coming back through Penn’s campus (towards the finish at Franklin Field) and I was following a girl up ahead of me. She was pretty far ahead and turned so she was no longer in my view. When I eventually got to the turn she was no where to be found. Uh oh. I wasn’t sure which way the race went but I knew the general direction. I asked a Penn security guard if he saw any runners with bibs go by. He looked at me like I had 10 heads. Not so helpful. So I went in the general direction back to Franklin Field. I have no idea if I remained on the race course or not. Can you imagine being completely alone during a race?!?!

My friend Jimmy also ran the race that year. He almost got lost but was smart enough to pick up his pace so he had someone in front of him to follow. He is running the race this year too. We are both writing down the last few turns of the race just in case…

Two weeks after this race is my marathon so I decided to not race the Distance Classic. I’m going to use this race as a marathon-paced run. I don’t want to risk going all out 2 weeks before the marathon (especially since this race is only 2 weeks after the Cherry Blossom 10-miler). Call me conservative but I wouldn’t want to jeopardize the marathon that I worked so long and hard for.

Phew…long-winded race explanations, huh? I must be excited 🙂