I am finally getting back into the running /workout groove.  I am also continuing with Body Pump twice a week to build more physical strength.  To help with my motivation to run, I participated in two 5k’s for charity this weekend.

Saturday, I participated in the 5^th Annual Running Well 5k in Lynnfield, MA.   The race is sponsored by the Calvary Christian Church in Lynnfield. The money collected during the event will be used to fund wells to the poorest countries in Africa. These wells provide drinkable water for schools and thousands of adults and children in surrounding villages throughout the continent.  The weather was in the 70’s at the start of the race.  The course was hilly, but I did not mind.   Hill training is good for me.  It was a nice small town race.

Sunday, Father’s Day I participated in the 19^th Annual Take the Lake 5k. The course travels around Wakefield’s scenic lake Quannapowitt. The proceeds benefit Mass General Hospital Breast Cancer Research Fund. Perfect morning to run around the lake.

After the race, I spend the day with my husband’s family enjoying a  Father’s Day BBQ  pool party.

Last week, June 12, I celebrated my 49^th birthday and 24^th anniversary, Yes, I got married on my birthday.  To celebrate, my husband and I had a nice delicious Italian dinner at Davio’s.  After dinner, we went to North Music Theater to see the musical Mame. The singing and dancing were fabulous.  The lead role (Mame) was played by Paige Davis, star of “Trading Spaces”. She did a super job in her role as Mame.

I hope you all had a good week and a nice Father’s Day.

Today, I ran my first 5k of the season.  It was the New England Pediatric Care 5k .  It was a good run. Now that marathon season is over,  I want to focus on improving my 5k time.     When September arrives, I want to see the 5k finish line….under 36 minutes. By late fall,  I want to see improvements with longer distances.

So, this summer, I am going to work on teaching my body to run faster and not feel like I am going to croak as I increase my speed.  This has been my biggest running hurdle.  I am afraid to run fast.   In addition, I want to increase the length of time I can run without a walk break.    Hopefully by the fall, I can have a stronger running base, tougher lungs and be a quicker runner.

Practice and have patience.

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I had a nice run. The weather was low 50’s and overcast.  During the run, I took a few  quick walk breaks  to allow my  body to be comfortable.   In the future….less walk breaks.

Proceeds …..serves children with complicated special needs

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Last week I was in Florida for a vacation.

After the Boston Marathon, my husband and I visited our winter home in South Boca Raton Florida to unwind.   Being in a warmer climate was ideal,  because  I really  needed the warmth to recover from the  Boston Cold  Rainy  freezing  13 mile run.   After the  run,  I had a dry  annoying cough that lasted a few days.

Our whole vacation was literally spent just sitting.  Every day, we either sat by a pool, television set, plus a dining table to eat.

Today I completed 13 miles   ,,,,The full marathon would have been too much for me to handle.  ………..

It was very  rainy, cold, windy day. .My  worst running asthma nightmare.     Breathing in cold air : …..(  yuck  ….always makes me feel winded.

On the positive side, I am still a Bad-ass!

1.  I was running to bring awareness to Liver Disease.  Great Cause!  

      2. Just getting out there and trying is worth a major  congratulations ….pat on the back. 

3  I was running to strengthen my lungs and overall health

4  I    am going to participate in  more races above 60 degrees…. SUMMER RUNNING!

5   I am still going to wear my celebration Marathon jacket …

6 I have  the courage, spirit and enthusiasm to never give up!     I have come a long way…… I am truly a blessed  runner and women!

6 Tomorrow I am going to Florida for a week

One more day until the Boston Marathon

I am ready to run the Boston Marathon.

I am hydrated and hopefully I have plenty of glycogen in my muscles for the big day.

I visited the allergist, received my shots and hopefully my asthma and allergies will remain in control on Monday.

It is going to rain…… I have my rain poncho, waterproof jacket, waterproof pants, gloves layers

My goals for race day

Finish strong

Finish around 6:45

Have fun

The Boston Marathon is one week away.  I am running with the American Liver Foundation  Marathon Team . I am so excited.

My training went well. Most marathon training plans has a 3-week taper plan. As an asthmatic I need to have a more complete taper so my lungs can recover.  In the past two weeks I ran a few miles, rode a stationary fan bike a few times but mostly I just rested.  I do not want to risk any potential flare-ups come Marathon Monday.

I feel good and I am ready.

I also enjoyed celebrating Passover/ Easter with family and friends.   I hope everyone had a great holiday.

Today, I ran 23 miles.   I have been following the Jeff Galloway’s Training Plan.

I am glad I had taken my long run out to 23 miles because I now feel really good about race day.  By choosing the Galloway training program as my training tool this marathon season I feel I am in a better place to maximize my endurance and performance for the Boston Marathon.  Come race day, hopefully I can expect my body to run 26.2 miles without fading out.    Half-jokingly, I want to finish the race before I see any sweeper trucks sweeping up used papers cups and GU wrappers from the streets!

Time to trust my training.  Now It is time to taper  and heal my body.

Continue reading →

The Stupid Ground Hog has brought more snow to Massachusetts. It has been cold. It’s all Phils’ Fault.  Three Nor’easters in the past 2 weeks!  Spring starts tomorrow!

My  training runs have been going well.  Running on my treadmill has helped me complete my work out; if I was running outside, I may not be able to complete it.

Today’s …. LONG RUN ….20 miles …nailed it.

My pace was consistent each mile.

I got up at 6:00am Monday to get my 20 miles in on my treadmill.  The workout went well. I watched a few movies, listened to music, had some snacks, and kept pushing through each mile.

Running on the treadmill

I was not bored.

I felt more comfortable physically…. I wasn’t cold …….

I was not coughing, sneezing, wheezing and my nose was not running.

I never had a migraine or barometric pressure headache…… (My spouse always teases me and asks me…. what the hell is a barometric   pressure headache.

20 miles ……This run helped my self- confidence.

This came in the mail today.  One month to go !

18 miles on a treadmill … Boston Marathon Week 8

Running 18 miles outside, this week was not going to happen!  Since I am asthmatic, winter running always sucks the life out of me.   Cold, windy, snowy, rainy weather is not my ideal running conditions.  Four hours  running in the cold …no.

So, early Monday morning, my treadmill run begun. I chose to do this run as a run/walk to help my body go the distance without feeling dead at the end of the run.

I broke my run down into 4…(4 1/2 mile segments). After each segment, I had a snack to keep up my sugar levels. Having a variety of treats like runner wafers, pretzels, orange slices, chocolate candies, Swedish fish, Skittles and my all-time favorite snack mint and peanut butter girl scout cookies made my run so much more enjoyable.  I love those girl scout cookies!    Grape Gatorade and water provided my hydration needs.

…. Having a Smorgasbord kept my energy up and I was able to power through all 18 miles.

Also, my pre-long run nutrition has been working well.  For the past month, my favorite go to pre-race meal has been Bickford’s Pancake House.  It works! I always order the Dutch pancake or chocolate chip pancakes.  Bagels with peanut butter, and fruit are also a favorite snack.

I also watched the movie Grease to help pass the time on the treadmill.

18 miles done………successful

My splits were consistent.

This week…One long run 18

2 short runs ….30 minutes each

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Last weekend  Massachusetts had an insane wind and rainstorm. I live in Swampscott a coastal town and the streets  by the ocean  had  major flooding due to astronomical high tides  and  storm winds.  We husband and I were very lucky that we never loss our power. Approximately, 80 percent of our town loss power.   Our weekend was spent hanging around the house watching television and  resting.

Beautiful High Tide

Boston Marathon Training Week 7

Long Run 13.1

This weekend I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Florida.    I love Disney races and was thrilled to be able to participate in this race.  Plus, I used this race as a Boston Marathon Training run.

A few weeks ago, I was given an opportunity to run this race. The race was sold out; yet I had good fortune and was able to grab a last-minute race slot that came available. With quick discussions and support from my family, I was registered to run Disney!   My plan was to stay in Disney just long enough to run the race and then return home.  It would be a quick weekend get-way.

I flew into Orlando early Saturday Morning, and went straight to my hotel Old Key West.   Once I was settled in, I took a bus to the expo to pick up my bib number and race shirt. The Expo was held at the Wide World of Sports complex. I walked around a bit and enjoy   the upbeat atmosphere of the Princess Weekend. After the Expo, I hung around the hotel enjoying the beautiful nature grounds.

Later in the day, I enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner and headed to bed very early.  I had to be on a Disney bus at the crack of dawn 3:00am to get to the start.  UGH! 3:00am!
The next morning, Sunday, I woke up very early 2:30am and headed towards the hotel bus stop to get a ride to the race.

At the start staging area, (Epcot Parking lot) there was a DJ playing music to get runners pumped before the race.  We were rocking to the music, it was like a Disney theme party before the race.  It was a funny sight to see all of us dancing to various club music.

Around 4:30am, runners lined up in the corrals. I was in H the last one, so I had plenty of time to hang out before the race started. Forty-five minutes later, my corral was senT off with an exciting display of fireworks granted by all the Disney Princesses. Disney chooses to set off the fireworks for each corral start, so that we all got the same start experience.

The first 4 miles were very flat, as we left the Epcot Staging area and headed towards Magic Kingdom.  Runners were greeted with Disney Princes and Princesses along the course. We then passed the street entrance to the Magic Kingdom, Disney Transportation Monorail Center, and all the Monorails leading to the Magic Kingdom.

The next stop on our journey was The Magic Kingdom.  At mile 5, we ran down Main Street heading towards Cinderella’s castle. There were so many cast members, volunteers, spectators, Disney characters and families cheering us on.   It was an amazing experience to run down Main Street, and to be able to see the beautiful castle without any tourist in our way.  What a great feeling!

After running down Main Street, we ran through Tomorrow Land, Fantasy Land, Adventure Land. Frontier Land and out a back gate heading back towards Epcot.

As we made our way back to Epcot, there were more characters, and cast members along the way to cheer us on. Soon, I was able to see that golf ball, Epcot’s Icon Space Ship Earth.  That meant I have one mile left.  I ran around Test Track, Sourin , Mission to Mars,  Space Ship Earth and out a  back gate to the Finish line.

I got my medal, drank some water and Gatorade and then headed straight to the hotel to shower and head to the airport to catch a flight back to Massachusetts.  I arrived   in Massachusetts Sunday night around 7:00pm and had a lovely dinner.