Running While Traveling & Side Notes

I travel a bit for work and his throws off my running schedule. I like to run 3 day during the week, usually Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesday & Friday's are my make up days in case I miss one or it happens to rain on my run day. I'm off the next few days to NYC and to NJ. Tomorrow is a travel day and I'm working late into the night, so no running tomorrow. I'm hoping to get a run in Tuesday morning if I don't work too late the night before. Wednesday looks like a better morning to run. I dont have to in the office until 9am so that gives me plenty of time to get one in. Either way, I will at least get one good run in out of these three days.

I try to pack light and fit everything into my laptop bag, but an extra pair of sneakers just don't fit nicely in there. So I usually have to carry an extra bag just for my sneakers. I usually travel alone, but sometime I am with another coworker and they usually shake their heads when they find out that I packed my running stuff. Most of them know me by now, so it's not a shock. It's more like a "whatever"... LOL

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Side notes:

 I just signed up for a few races coming up in September. All local races. A 5 miler and 2 - 5ks. I'm also looking at a half marathon and duathlon too. I'll keep you posted on those two.

Though, I have not signed up for it yet, I have pretty much decided that an October marathon is going to happen. There are two that I'm looking at. Both of them have a price increase at the end of the month, so time is ticking. I'll decide on which one in the next day or two.

If you haven't seen the article that my work wrote up about me, check it out here. It's pretty cool.

I have to go pack for my trip and get to bed. I have to be up at 4am!!!

 Have a great week everyone!!!

On Top of The World!!

I was asked by my company if they could include a little story about me running the marathon in their quarterly newsletter. My company has these fitness challenges and their hope is to have my story inspire some people. They interviewed me last month for this and the newsletter came out today.

I thought I would share....

Of course being from Boston, they asked me if I would ever run The Boston Marathon. I said yes, but I did not mean next year.....

........but ya never know..... :)

Another Marathon? ..... Maybe....

For those of you that follow me on Dailymile, or have looked at my Dailymile widget, you might have noticed I have put in some long runs these past couple of weekends. Why you may ask? First, because I really enjoy long runs. There is no better feeling to me then waking up and going out for a 10 miler. Two-three years ago I would have never thought that this would be possible. I do it because I can.

The second reason I'm doing these long runs, is that I'm toying with the idea of another marathon. An October marathon to be precise. I'm not one to sit still for long, but one rainy day a couple of weeks ago, I sat at the computer and started looking at upcoming races. I jotted down a couple local 5ks and 10ks that I want to run, then I started looking at the 3 October marathons. I'm looking at the dates and I'm looking at the 18 week training plan that I followed when I did my first marathon. I'm going through my calendar, counting back the weeks, calculating dates, seeing where I am in my long runs..... I'm basically trying to convince myself to run one. So, I decided feel it out by running some long runs. I started out with an 8 miler 4 weeks ago. Then I did the 10 mile trail race the week after. Last weekend, I ran a 14 miler. This weekend, I set out to run 15 miles. I have most of my runs mapped out in my head, so basically know if I want to run a 5 miler or a 10 miler, I know what route to take. I thought I knew a 15 mile route, but at about mile 10, I realized that I was actually 7 miles from my house. That kinda hurt but I figured that would do 15 plus then maybe walked the rest of the way. But when 15 came up, I actually felt pretty good. So I kept going. I tried to cut the run short by going down side streets, but it was mostly a straight shot home.

I'm giving myself another week, another long run, then I'll decide. I just want to see how my body handles these runs. My left knee aches a bit during these runs, which worries me. So there is a lot of icing it. We'll see how it goes.
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I had to travel for work this week, so there was no swimming or biking. But I did manage to get a run in mid-week. Thanks for the swimming advice on my last post. I have talked to my friend and coworker Ernie, who has done a couple Triathlons and he is willing to give me a few swimming lessons. We just need to schedule something. So that is really cool.
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Thursday's Tidbits

Had a couple days off from work this week. Wednesday I spent it with a good friend that is visiting from Florida. We went into Boston to see the Red Sox take on The Texas Rangers at Fenway Park. It was an afternoon game so it made for a really long day. But always a great time at the park! Before we left, I got in a good 6+ miles to start off my day right.
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Whether I'm working or not, I always end up waking up around 5:30am. It was like that yesterday and today was no different. This morning I planned on going to the lake to practice more on my swimming.

That's what drowning my swimming feels like....

I haven't posted much about my swimming, but I have been going over to Webster Lake (or Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg in these parts) at least 3-4 times a week. I got there this morning a bit before 7am and I chugged at it for good hour or so. My swimming still sucks, but I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable with it. I can't go for long distances yet and I ended up getting way too tired too fast. I have gotten some pointers by a few people at work, but I have a hard time applying their tips to my swimming. It's hard. I need to get the whole breathing at the right time and not swallowing a gallon of water thing down pat first. That is my biggest challenge..... One day at a time I guess.

After "swimming", I rode my bike for a good 8 miles around town and went back home. The kids were still sleeping when I got back so I decided to throw on my running shoes and go for a quick one. I did my usual 4.5 miles loop.

I just did a mini triathlon!! And it felt great! Only a couple weeks of this great weather left, I must do this a couple more times! I'm tellin' ya, if I can get past my swimming issue, a triathlon is a definite in my future! I welcome any tips.
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This weekend I plan on running some trails at Douglas State Forest. I joined a couple of local Facebook Running\Runners groups and I'm trying to get a few people that may know the area join me. I have gotten a few responses but no bites yet. Don't really want to run them by myself, but I guess I will if I have to.
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Have a great weekend everyone!!

Dam Trail Race - Damn Disapointment

Today I ran the Dam Trail Race in Oxford, Ma. 10 miles through the woods at Hodges Village Dam.

I'm just going to give a short version of today's events... Races started at 9am. It was already in the 80's hot & humid. This is the first trail race I have ever run so I wasn't sure what to expect.
I started out way too fast from the get go. I was pacing a lady I have raced at other races and I knew she was way too fast for me, but I did it anyways. By mile 3 I was hurting and I knew this was going to make for a long race. I slowed way down to catch my breath. With it being so hot, it just felt like I couldn't take a deep breath that I was looking for.
By mile 5 I took a 30sec break and started walking. This is the first time I have ever walked in a race (not including the marathon). I gave in to that little voice for the first time. Mile 7, I did it again. Mile 9, again. Although it wasn't only me. I was playing leap frog with another runner for the last 5 miles. I'd walk, he would pass me. A mile later, he was walking and I would pass him. It wasn't until the last half mile when I past him and never looked back.

I finished the race 27th place (out of 80 or so) in 1hr and 37mins. With an average of 9:22 min\miles

It's not bad, but clearly not my best. I struggled those last few miles. I can sit here and blame the heat or blame it on never running a trail race before. But I won't. The fact is that I wasn't truly prepared for the race. 

Lesson learned. That's all.

The only good thing that came out of this race is that I met a lot of cool people after the race. We traded race stories and discussed what races we are doing next. I met a guy that is training for a 50 miler. He was telling me how he ran 8 miles just to get to this race. Blew my mind.... 

A tough race today, but a very good experience. I guess I'll take that over not running.

Have a great weekend!!