Today, I completed a 15 mile run! Even though I wanted to run twenty miles, I think the fifteen hilly miles did it for this marathon runner. I feel confident about going the distance next weekend. Tomorrow, I would like to run 10 miles, which will probably happen exactly as planned. It feels amazing to be running through the motions of being in my pre-covid career, I really hope later this year and next year I will be racing all over with my run book!
The past few days, I have taken my marathon training for next weekend very seriously so that I do not completely embarrass myself. In Loop the Lake, I am hoping to finish the distance and enjoy being with my people and doing something that I love. Nevertheless, I am planning on using this marathon as training for racing later in the year. These next few months of running are the baby steps to racing again! Here is what the past few days have looked like mileage wise for this lady.
Thursday
5 miles of speed work on hills.
Friday
10 miles of hills! 3 mile warm up, 5 miles at tempo, 2 mile cool down.
Saturday
20 miles in my typical five mile loop of hills on repeat.
On my run, I loved seeing all the fall foliage and listening to music. On my playlist today, it was all AC/DC, Janice Joplin, and Elvis because I just watched the new movie. I usually never race with music, but since I am running for pleasure next weekend I may just end up breaking my rule and run with headphones in. The last time I did the Mount Desert Island Marathon, I did not even run with my phone on me. Tomorrow, I am hoping to run 20 miles again, we shall see!
I am running for St.Jude Children's Research Hospital!!! Please click here for the link to my fundraiser. https://fundraising.stjude.org/loopthelake
Today, I ran five miles in the morning and ten miles at night. That makes my Wednesday a fifteen mile day! We shall see what tomorrow brings. I am feeling optimistic about having a fun filled Marathon next weekend!
Here is a link to my St. Jude fundraiser, I really appreciate your generosity, love and support. https://fundraising.stjude.org/loopthelake
I am running for St.Jude Children's Research Hospital!!! Please click here for the link to my fundraiser. https://fundraising.stjude.org/loopthelake
This month, I will be running the Loop the Lake Marathon in Syracuse New York on Sunday October 16th. I would love to fundraise something for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital as I finish up some training and actually run my 26.2. St.Jude, is one of my favorite organizations to run for as a marathon runner since 2013.
I am very passionate about fundraising by running, for children with significant illnesses to help raise awareness funding and hope. St. Jude completely funds the medical treatments of children suffering from significant health obstacles, which is amazing.
This is my first official marathon that I will be running since before the pandemic, and this is also not a planned marathon. Nevertheless, I hope to run well and contribute to St. jude Children's Research Hospital, this may be the small start to a fabulous year of running and fundraising for one of my favorite organizations. I truly appreciate your kindness and generosity!!
Why I'm fundraising for St. Jude
Thanks to you donors like you, no family ever receives a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food - because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago.
Join me! Together we can help St. Jude change the world!
I love to run for St.Jude!
Today, I ran almost 18 miles and a week out from donating blood. Making the decision to donate blood last week, in terms of running I thought I would be recovered before November if I have a marathon to race. So, I biked over after teaching summer camp out in Baltimore Woods all the way over to the fire department after work. Now, I can cross it off of my list. I totally needed a week to recover before doing a long run. My three huge hills on my long run today went fine, and untimed as I donated blood a week ago. My theme for this week is running through my mileage without timing myself. I am hoping to run every morning, and seeing the sunrise on my second lap. I also want to finish my mileage with an evening run after summer nature camp. The past two weeks, I have counted biking to camp and hiking all day with kiddos as a part of my mileage, but this week I am separating my running mileage and other exercise.
As a marathon runner, I foresee my book being my highlight of the year, but if my world majors happen or a new time standard happen I will love the bonus. It is funny adjusting to covid as a professional athlete, but I am going with the flow!
I just had the pleasure of interviewing, elite marathon runner, Tiffany Costello. Tiffany is a very highly respected elite marathon runner, and I feel so inspired after hearing about her overcoming brain-surgery this year to run the 2022 Boston Marathon. This year’s Boston Marathon will be her first marathon since the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. Hopefully, everyone has a chance to read about Tiffany’s impressive running journey.
Here is the link to our interview:
Being that the weather is nicer here in Upstate New York. Between yesterday’s 1.5 hours of running and today’s 3 hour run, I have definitely finished my 27 birthday miles. Usually, I run my age on my birthday, but there is a huge mileage difference between when I started at 17 to now at 27. This is the first year that I have really broken up my birthday mileage or finished it so late. I think my coolest birthday mileage was the NOLA Marathon for my 24th, and overachieving in the birthday miles. My hardest birthday miles were definitely 19 up in freezing cold Maine on a snowy weekend, breaking it up with half on the treadmill and half running down White Bridge Road to the bridge overlooking the mountains like Mt Washington and the freezing lake. Today, I just lapped my block and did some treadmill work. Doing my ginormous hills around my block is difficult, but I am so used to it. Sure, I would prefer running down a sandy coast with salty ocean air at sea-level with zero hills whilst wearing my run-buns and a sports-bra, but these hills are good for my soul and my quads.
Whenever I feel out of shape, running ten miles will always snap me back. Especially, ten miles of hills.
I feel like no matter what, this year my goal is to run 1:10ish and 2:30ish in the half and full marathon. My other goal is to publish my run book so I can bring it to all of my races and share my journey as an elite athlete in the marathon the past ten years. Of course being on track getting letters next to my name in a non-covid world with furthering my education is also on the goals list. Covid is a bad time to be a professional athlete. However, I know that I will have my time in the next couple years of running and feel valid or most importantly fulfilled. All those years of running hundred mile weeks for months on end just so I could do Olympic Trial’s or run 2:30 in a world major, cannot go to waste. I have been running with a purpose all these years, and I have faith that everything will fall into place! Hopefully, 27 is not too old to run. I think being in the marathon since 17 could either make me very burnt out or make me have an advantage. We shall see which one happens.
These women are so loved by our sport and the world, and should be praised for the times they just accomplished in the Houston Marathon. I am so wowed, impressed, inspired… these times are unfathomable or untouchable so they should both have shrines for being marathon goddesses!
Watching these interviews and videos above, with some others, I circled back to the Valencia Marathon and those incredible standards met last year. I need to soak up all the inspiration in my sport I can find!