Man,... Its been a while....

I know. It's been a long time since I blogged.

I'm sorry. 

.... But not so sorry.

eh...
I haven't had the urge to sit down at type what has been on my mind. For the past year, I have been expressing my thoughts mostly through social media such as Facebook and\or Instagram. If you follow me there, you know what I'm talking about.

With life\work being so busy, I haven't had time to sit down and write down my thoughts. I work with computers all day that the last thing I want to do when I get home is sit down at a computer again. Ugh...


I have been living life for the past year. Since my last post which was about Boston 2015, I have run a few half marathons, two full marathons, a 50k race and even a 100 mile race.

Ghost Train - Finished in 26hrs 27mins

~I actually wrote a blog about this race, just never posted it~

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I have been healthy for the most part. Just battling the typical bumps and bruises expected from these types of races. Currently battling  a bit of Plantar Fasciitis and a bit of Intermetatarsal Neuroma on my left foot. Not too painful, just more of a nuisance. Doesn't bother me when running. It does so more when not running.

Other than that life has been good.

My next big race is Boston 2016. I got in again via volunteering points offered by the Central Mass Striders. How can I say no? :)

Besides being part of the Central Mass Striders (CMS), I also help run a local running group-  Tri-State Running (TSR) in our area. That alone has been keeping me busy. We have been busy organizing runs, events and get togethers for the past few months. Our goal is to get runners from our local area together in one area (Facebook) to meet one another. To build a community where there was none.
In the past two years of our existence we have done a damn good job! We went from 30 members to a good 300 hundred strong!' - and growing!

So... sorry that I haven't blogged in a while, but I'm not truly sorry. I have been living life and doing a lot for the running community lately. Where once I felt alone in running, I now have a family. A strong, close family.

I'm sure I'll blog again. just not sure when,..
For the time being, feel free to follow me on Instagram and\or on Facebook. .. I post almost everyday about running, cross training and\or about life itself. I like to have fun with it.



See you guys soon - Jose

- And So it Burns

Boston Marathon 2015

As you all know, it was a really bad winter to train for the Boston Marathon. Most of here in the east coast and especially here in the Boston area, battled freezing cold temperatures and record setting snowfalls. So it was no surprise when the weather for Marathon Monday called for a cold and rainy day. Why not? We've toughed it out this far, why not one more punch in the gut... LOL

As in previous years, my day started out at about 4:30am with coffee and breakfast to then head out to Worcester to catch the Central Mass Striders's bus to the start line. We arrive at Hopkinton at 7:30 to then hang around til our start times. Elites start at 10am, but for us mere mortals, we get to start at 11:15. Thats a lot of waiting around.

At about 10:30 or so, I start heading towards the start line corrals which is about a mile or so away from athletes village. I meet up with my good friend Chuck, which I had planned on running with, and head on to the start. Chuck and I run about the same pace, so it was cool to have someone to run with. We had talked about running together for weeks so I'm glad it worked out.

It started raining as soon as we headed to the start line

This was Chuck's first ever Boston, so I can tell he was both excited and nervous. He kept telling me that if at any point I wanted to take off on him during the run, to just go. But I kept assuring him that I was with him for the long run. I've known Chuck for almost 23yrs. He is a great guy, a role model and a great friend. I was honored to be able to run with him.

The race starts on time and off we go. For the first 5 miles or so, you are just fighting the crowd and trying to find a good rhythm. Its so hard to do, with thousands of people all around you. We were probably doing about a 9:30min pace at the start.
Even with the rain, there were tons spectators showing their support. It was unreal. At mile 6, a handful our Tri-State Running group were out there showing us some love. It was awesome to see them out there.

We ran good throughout the race. I know at times I wasn't feeling it and thought to myself that if I were running alone, I probably would have stopped to take a breather or two. At mile 11, I had side stitches that were killing me. But the fact that I was running with Chuck kept me going. He showed no signs of being tired or hurt. If he did hurt, he did a good job of not showing it. I at times was dying inside... LOL..

Once we approached the Newton hills, we kept mentally preparing ourselves. "We got this man"... "Nice and steady",.. "Just a few bumps and then it all down hill"..., we kept saying to each other. Anything to keep us going at this point.

Half way up Heart Break Hill at about mile 19 or so, I catch a glace of a tired and cold, but beautiful lady standing in the rain. It was my mom. Standing next to her, my proud father. I told Chuck to keep going and that I would catch up. I had to stop to greet them. I gave them both a hug and a kiss and wanted to chat for a sec, but my dad snapped a picture and said "Go, go, go!!" ... so off I went.

As I raced up the last hill, I had nothing left. I couldn't pick up my feet. So I started walking and ate my last Cliff bar. I convinced myself to at least start a light jog up the hill which helped. Somewhere near the top of Heartbreak I saw the TV news interviewing some guy. I find out later that night that Forest Gump would make a cameo in this news report:

"I just felt like Running"

As I slowly go over the top of Heartbreak (mile 21) started walking again. "Ugh, here we go again" I thought to myself. This the exact same spot where the last two Boston I crapped out. I walked for a bit, but it was cold and the wind really started to pick up. So I started a slow jog again just to stay warm. By mile 22, I started feeling a bit better. My legs weren't as heavy as they we were at mile 21.
As I approached mile 23, I glanced down at my Garmin and realized that I was 27 mins from the 4 hour mark. I'm not that good at math to begin with, and during a marathon is probably not a good time to start calculating a pace\time equations. But after having visions of my math teacher reciting "My Dear Aunt Sally" theory, I realized that if I stayed at this pace and not walk, I can probably make it under four hours.

With that in mind, I got a second wind like no other. Where my pace had been closer to a 10min mile since I stopped to see my parents, I had picked it up to an 8min pace. At mile 24 I caught up with my friend Chuck and I patted him on the back and as I gasped for air I let out "C'Mon Chuck, we can still make it!" .... all I heard was "Go. Go get your sub four"... That was all I needed to hear to go on.

Those last two miles were a blur. All I remember were the chants of "Go Beardman!!" and "Run Forest Run!"..... I just put my head down and focused on the next step. The crowds got louder and louder as I approached Hereford St.. As I made that right, I remember getting those thoughts of "I can't believe that I'm actually here" like I did those two previous years. This is where it all felt real.

Left onto Boylston and I heard someone scream out my name. My TSR group, the same group that had cheered me on in Framingham at mile 6, where there, screaming with excitement! I can't tell you how good that felt!!!

Someone snagged a grizzly picture of me on Boylston!

My Garmin had gone into power save mode so I had no clue what my time was, but I knew I had to be close. As I approached the finish line the time for our wave read 4:05 so I was unsure if I got the sub 4, but as I crossed and finally stopped my Garmin it read 3:59:29 !!! Did I get it??

I saw my wife and daughters shortly after as they were calling for me and my wife informed me that she got the text result and I had indeed got my sub 4!!! 3:59:27 !!!! The rain, the wind the cold did not matter at this point!! I finally broke 4 hours at Boston!!!

But after a few pictures with them, the cold, rain and wind did matter. I was freezing!!!

Me and my two beautiful daughters

My friend Chuck came right behind me with an impressive 4:01 for his first ever Boston !!

Chuck really knows how to get the crowd roaring!!!

I am so honored to have run this race with my friend Chuck. He was a big part of my life when I was 17-18yrs old when I went into the Navy. I respected him and always looked up to him. It was recently through our running club that we reconnected again. When he ran his first marathon back in the fall of 2014, he sent me a massage saying how much I had inspired him to run his first marathon. It felt like my life had come full circle. Chuck is a great athlete, a great runner and an around great guy. Proud to call him a friend. 

Congrats Chuck on fulfilling a lifelong dream of running Boston!!!

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Another successful marathon in the books. This for me is marathon #9. Already feeling the peer pressure of doing a fall marathon. I have gotten a few FB messages about running the MCM in DC. Haven't decided on anything yet. But the likelihood of marathon #10 happening in the fall is on the positive side. I just dont want to decide right away. But the fact remains that I would like to do Boston again next year. The excitement about this race pulls me in every time. Just hoping the stars align for next year for this to happen.

As always, I want to thank my lovely wife and daughters for putting up with the crappy weather and hanging out at the finish line for hours to see me cross. They mean the world to me and I thank god everyday for making me the luckiest man alive. 

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Three days later, my legs are slowly recovering from the race, but the cold, wet weather of that day finally took its toll on me. I'm currently battling a cold that just wont quit. And the sucky part about it is that my boss in in town this week, so I have to suck it up and get to work. It it wren't for that, I would have taken the week off. Ugh...

oh well... Thanks for reading. til my next adventure!!

- Jose

Three Weeks til Boston... and Beyond

Three weeks til Boston and the carb loading begins with this:

Sam Adam's 26.2 Boston Brew!!

This past weekend was my last of my longest long runs (say that 3 times fast) ... The Boston Rehearsal run. 21 miles on the Boston course, from Hopkinton to Boston College.
The day started out on the "wrong foot" as I was about15mins late for the bus that takes us to the starting line. Ugh!... The sad thing is that I was up early, I was just dragging ass around the house and couldn't get my shit together. It was just one of those mornings I guess. But at least the 30 or so people on the bus waiting for me were cool about it. They could have just left me behind :)

We started the run shortly after taking a group picture.

Picture credit : Pete Hogan

It wouldn't be New England and it wouldn't be right, if of course it didn't snow. Why not? Soon after we started running it started snowing. Nothing big. It wasn't sticking to the ground, but the flakes fell just about the entire run.

The run itself was awesome. I ran it with 4 of my good friends from my running group Tri-State Running. We ran together up until Heart Break Hill where I took off to challenge the infamous beast. These guys will kill their marathon! They did awesome!!

Three of them doing their first Boston, the other doing the Providence Marathon in May.

So with three weeks left, there is nothing left to do, but to mess it up. So I'll be sticking to plan as much as I can and avoid any injuries. I have been getting my miles in pretty much throughout my training, so these last few weeks should be that bad.

My only goal in Boston is to run it under 4hrs. I came close last year (4:01)... and it bothers me. I'll be running it with my friend Chuck (pictured above). Him and I are about the same pace and his goal is the same as mine. So hopefully together we can push each other towards that goal. I can't wait!

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I know I shouldn't be looking past Boston, but I have a few races lined up. One only three weeks after  Boston - Ragnar Cape Cod. Which my friends and I are doing as a 6 person ultra! So training will continue even after Boston. Two weeks after that I have another race that I'm hoping to get in,..  then in June I have 7 mile race up Mount Washington that my friends and I got in via lottery. 

Woohoo!! So super excited about the next upcoming weeks. Physically, I feel good, but I am a little achy here and there. So I need to make sure I run smart the next couple of weeks.

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I haven't been keeping up with my blog as much as I would like. I think I say this every time I blog. But life has been getting in the way. Not saying that in a bad way. Life has been good. Just busy.

I'll leave you with that for now. I'm sure I'll blog again. But if you want an almost daily update of my training and of other stuff I post about... follow me on Instagram - AndSoitBurns.

Til next time!!

- Jose

Winter Training Sucks!!

Everyone that knows me, knows how much I hate winter. As soon as daylight saving times ends in November, I become grumpy winter Jose. Just ask my wife... she'll tell you.

Sure the cold weather and snow make for some epic frozen beard pics.....

It's cool the first or second time.... but not when its everyday...

......But enough is enough!!!

February and March are my high milage months of my training. Long runs vary anywhere from 12 milers to 20 milers. Already in the past couple of weeks we have been hit with record cold temps as well as record breaking snowfall! 79 inches so far in the month of February with more coming this weekend!!

Luckily, I have been able to get my long runs in (so far). But it has been either during a snow storm, just before the a snow storm and\or in freezing cold temps.

It's good to have friends as crazy dedicated as me

Thats not the worst part though. It's dealing with the dangerous conditions. Not only icy roads and the snow, but people in cars that either can't see you due to high snow banks or them driving like maniacs on already dangerous roads! My friends and I have had some very close calls. Just a week ago my friend Kristen and I were at a lost for words at how close a speeding car flew by us!

Why not run on a treadmill you ask? For one, I dont own one and second I'm not paying a gym membership. Plus... I dont really know how to use one. I've run on them only 4 times in my running life. They have all been different and every time I had to ask for help to turn it on. Not embarrassed at all (ok maybe a little)... So outside it is for me. And it's where I would rather be.

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Now there are rumbles of the Hyannis Marathon\Half Marathon, that is scheduled on Feb 22nd, might be canceled. According to their website it's still on, but with the approaching storm this weekend and another one possibly mid week, the local police dept is concerned about the safety of everyone involved., runners and volunteers. Legit concerns, but sucks for everyone that signed up and trained for it. A large number runners from our local group, Tri-State Running, signed up for the half, including myself. With a few doing the full. I was going to use it as part of my training for Boston, but to do so, I swapped my long run (19 miles) that weekend for this weekend instead. Would love to "just do" 13 miles this weekend..

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I did escape the snow this week for a bit. Worked out of our NYC office where there less snow than back home. I was able to get a few good runs while out there. A good 9 miler through Central Park and then a couple of miles on the The High Line or the Park in the Sky as it's also called.

A very unique run indeed

The High Line is a park that was built on NYC old elevated railway. It's truly amazing to see! If you ever come to NYC, please take the time to visit this park. It's free to enter and an easier way to get from one block to another without dealing with traffic. It's very beautiful come spring and summer time.


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The break was good, but back to business, back to the snow. Need to whip out 19 miles Saturday morning before the storm. I will be running 6.5 miles in the AM to meet up with the running group to then run 12.5 with them. I'm glad someone else planned and mapped out a run for Saturday. Just takes the thinking out of it for me. I just show up and run.

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Is summer ever coming??


-til next time

-Jose

What I've been up to....

Man... it's been a while hasn't it? My last post was back in September after my friends and I completed Spartan Beast. ... So what I have been up to? Where have I been?


It's been a busy couple months for me. My work schedule has been a little crazy as of late. Been traveling a lot more than I would like. So getting runs in have been interesting. I haven't been at 100% with my running either. Aches and pains have gotten the best of me. But I managed to train and whip out a marathon in Kansas City at the end of October. I ran the full as my wife ran the half.

This was an eventful race. Loved Kansas City!!

I rested up the month of November. My legs were telling me it was time to sit on the bench for a while. I was expecting to get a time waived entry to Boston through Central Mass Striders by Mid December (Which I got!!) ,... so the rest was needed before I started for that training. I'm still not 100% so I have been very careful about my pace and my mileage lately. I'm working my back slowly.

In my "downtime", I have been putting time and energy into our local running group, Tri-State Running (I have been doing a little blogging for the group). I posted about this group before. As one of the founding members of this group, I have been busy helping organize runs, meeting people and promoting this club. We still hold our weekly Tuesday night pub runs, we have had Halloween Runs, Thanksgiving Potluck Runs, a running clinic (with Rick Muhr) and we recently had a Ugly Sweater run... what an awesome time that was!!!

This will be an annual tradition guaranteed!! 

This once little group is not so little any more. The local towns have noticed us and they know who we are. Other running groups have come down to run with us to see what we are about. I've been told that we have sparked some interest and raised a few eyebrows in the local running community. It's been a lot of work, but soo worth it!

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2014 has been a good year for me. Two full marathon and three halfs were completed along with many other races and PRs. The running group has been a blessing. I have met a lot of people and made many friends. I can't wait to see what 2015 will bring!!

In the meantime, I'll try to update this blog while I train for Boston. I would like to blog once a week if possible.... 

Do you Instagram?? Follow me... my Instagram is all about running and has become more of my status update than any other social media venue. 

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Thought I would share a video that I made for Tri-State Running

enjoy!!

 til next time!!!

Conquering the Beast

This past weekend I made the three hour drive to Killington, Vt. to take on the Beast. The Spartan Beast! Now before this weekend I had only done one Spartan race ever. I really had no desire ever do one again. But back in January over a few beers with some friends, I apparently agreed to sign up as part of their team for this race. Yay for beer muscles!!

My friends Kristen & Jim

In a blink of an eye, September was here and there I was at the staring up at the Beast,

You cant see it, but there is more up in them clouds!!

then taking off at the starting line with a smile on my face.

*A nervous smile 

The biggest challenge of this race was the mountain itself. You went up and up and up and up. And when you were tired and thought you were done, you went up and up some more. Not sure how true this is, but someone mentioned we went up about 4000ft in elevation. If we didn't, it sure felt like it!!

The first few obstacles were the traditional Spartan obstacles., wall climbs, barbwire crawls, bucket carry,.. the fun stuff. But the one that took me off guard was the swim obstacle. You swam out to a bridge and then went up a rope ladder then swung across some ropes up the bridge, then you jumped off and swam across. Here is a video from last year that I found on YouTube to get the idea. Anyone that knows me, knows that I have a fear of swimming. But for some reason, I figured I would conquer this fear by proving I can do this. My friend Kristen decided on the burpees instead of the swim. Smart move on her part cause 30 seconds in my swim I new it was mistake. The water was 50 degrees and my arms were tired by the time I got to the ladder. I climbed the ladder but was only able to swing across two of the ropes. My arms were jelly! And I still had about 30 ft to swim to get to the end!!! At that time race officials were yelling at everyone to get out of the water. There was a CODE RED. Someone was missing and they were sending in the dive team. At that point another swimmer must have notice me struggling and asked if I needed help. Thank god! I don't know if they ever found the person that was missing.

After this event there was more mountain climbing but I was freezing this time around. If it was 70 degrees at the base of the mountain, it was 40 degrees at the top. I was miserable for a while just from being cold and wet.

I ran this race mostly with my friend Kristen. This race was important to her because it would  complete her trifecta of Spartan races. She is the real Spartan. I was just the dummy that singed up for it one drunk night :)  .... I wasn't doing it for me or for time. I was doing it to help her and to just do it.
The cool part about the race is that our spouses got to walk around parts of the course to meet us. Nothing like hearing their cheer and seeing their faces to brighten up our day. Plus they had food!! Killington offered free gondola rides for the spectators so they even met us at one of the bases at the top of the mountain.

Long story short (or just to cut it short)... 15 miles - 8hrs and 20mins after starting off with a smile, I crossed the finish line, wet, muddy, bloody and achy, but with an even bigger smile! Never have I wanted a race to be over like I wanted this to be over! I was ready for some beers and some food!! This is THE toughest thing I have ever done to date!!!

Tri-State Running members - runners and supporters!!

Thank goodness for our spouses for being there. Having them there made crossing that finish line that much sweeter! Couldn't have done it without their support.

I'm just glad that we got it done before the sun set. There was still people on the mountain when it got dark out!

Oh hell no!!! It was tough when it was light out. Can't even imagine it in the dark!!

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Final thoughts:

It was tough race. Like I said, THE hardest thing I've done to date! But I'm glad I got it done. I'm glad I didn't get hurt. I'm glad I didn't die. Besides the scary swim and some tough obstacles, I had fun chatting with my friend Kristen and with other runners. I use the term "runners" loosely. There was not a lot of people running this course. I know it's tough to actually run during some parts of the race, but there were plenty of sections that you could have. I ran when I could and I could have ran more than what I did. But I kept reminding myself that I wasn't doing it for time, I wasn't doing it for me. It was frustrating at times as my competitive nature kicked in and I wanted to just take off, but I didn't. I promised I would stick with my friend Kristen and that was what I did.

Would I do it again. I dont think so. I really don't care for these types of races. They are well organized and are very popular, but honestly, I enjoy running a lot more. I think I would rather do a marathon every weekend than to do this race again.

The medal they gave was sweet!! A lot bigger than their normal medals.

But then they also gave me this:

A third of the trifecta medals.

.......only a matter of time before my OCD kicks in.

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Next up:

20 miler this upcoming weekend

Harwich Cranberry Half the weekend after

KC Marathon is less than a month away!!

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Til next time!!

It's been a while!!

Hi there... It's been a while. So this is what's been going on since the last time I blogged.

Still training for Kansas City Marathon. I'm coming up on week 14 of my 18 week training plan for this marathon. This up coming week is suppose to be a cut back week with a long run of only 12 miles. Unfortunately for me this weekend I am doing Spartan Beast in Killington, Vermont.

 A cut back in mileage, but not really a cut back work out. I'm honestly nervous about this event. I'm hoping to just finish it without getting injured and stay healthy for the marathon.


In the past few weeks, I have raced a few 10Ks, 5 milers and one 5k. PR'ing in each one of those races by a couple minutes from previous races. My favorite race being the Level Renner 10k which hosted top runners from all the local clubs in the area. There were some fast people at this event. I ended up 42nd over all with a PR of a couple minutes.

Scott Mason Photography snapped a wicked cool pic of me at that race:

This guy does an amazing job with his pictures!!

Two days later I ran Running with the Wolves 10k, with double the amount of people racing and I ended up 13th over all with a time of 43min. No PR, but right there with the last one. And a fun time with friends!

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What else?

Our running club (Tri-State Running) has exploded in members lately. Last count on Facebook, we have over 215 members. At our last Pub Run, we had Newton Running pay us a visit and let us try some of there shoes for our run.

That night we had over 50 runners running the streets of Webster, Ma!! The most ever!! 

I am overwhelmed at how many people showed up. What started out as just two people looking for company on a run has turned out to be much, much more.  Even the President of the Central Mass Striders, the states largest running club (which I am a member of), also showed up that night. 

I think we are starting to make a mark of the local running community ;)

We have huge plans coming up for this club!!

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Next up?

My next race, after Spartan Beast, is the Harwich Cranberry Harvest Half, on Oct 5th. I'll be tapering then, so it will be just an run versus a race for me. This is the last half of  the Cape Cod trilogy halfs that earns us a jacket for doing all three. So in reality, I'm just doing it for the jacket. The first one was the Hyannis half. The second was the John Kelly Half which was also my wife's first half.

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Looking forward to going to Kansas City. I'm more excited about visiting some friends than the actual race. It will be a good time no matter what the outcome of the race.

til next update!!!

:)

It's Official - I Have Signed up for a Fall Marathon

After much thought,.. After much soul searching, I have finally decided that I'm doing a fall marathon and I have chosen which one I'm doing. If you follow me on my personal Facebook, or follow me on Instagram, you already know. I plan on running the Kansas City Marathon.

I will be running the full while my wife will run the half.

Why Kansas City? I wanted to do something different. I wanted a destination marathon. Plus, we've been meaning to visit some friends out in Kansas (about 25 miles away from the race), but never have been able to put something together. I figured this way we can finally get our butts out there and at the same time, we can spend some time with them. This marathon being on Saturday makes it perfect! We can go out there a few days before, Spend time with our friends, race Saturday, and then have the rest of the weekend to hang out with them.

I'm hoping for a great memorable weekend! 

I have yet to lay out my training plan, but I have been following friends plans that are running fall marathons. So I'm on the right track. As I type this, KS Marathon is 75 days away. I say bring it!!

KS or bust!! Follow me as I train for this marathon! Woot, woot!!! And yes... Marathon beard is already in progress!

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Have a great week!!

My New Plan

The other day I went out to lunch with my friend Sandy. We went to one my favorite places, Bill's Pizza, located at the start of the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton.

Stock photo

Sandy is a 3 time marathoner, a Half Ironman finisher and has numerous other race finishes under her belt. In other words, she is one hardcore lady. But most importantly, she is my good friend.

Over lunch we were discussing races and running (what else). We discussed upcoming races including her 4th marathon, Chicago. Which she is running for TEAM PAWS by the way (donations are welcomed). I admitted to her that I want to do a fall marathon. I know I said I wouldn't do one. But as fall marathon training is picking up, I'm starting to feel left out. I still plan on running with those who are training, just was going to avoid anything over ten miles if possible.Which she then said I'm suffering from FOMOOM (fear of missing out on Marathon) or something like that ... LOL. It's funny, but not funny because it's true.

I feel lost without a goal. Without something to shoot for. Someone suggested to me I just do a couple of halfs. That's all good and dandy, but I feel like I can do a half any weekend, you know?.... It's not challenging enough.

Ok.... not that brilliant....

So I have come up with an idea. I have a couple marathons in mind that I would like to do. One, not all :) . My plan is to run with those who are doing a marathon. I will train with them. I want to feel it out. I want to see how my body, my feet hold of on some long runs before I actually decide on doing one. Not sure when I'll decide, but I guess I'll know when I know. Once I decide, then that will determine which one of the few I have in mind I'll do.

That way, ONE -  I'll have a goal to shoot for. TWO -  if I dont decide to do one, then at least I know that I gave it a try. I'll feel better trying than not. If anything, most of these marathons have a half option. I can always switch and still race if I need to.

So that's it. That's my plan. We'll see how it works out. Keeping those fingers crossed!


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Dont forget you can still vote for me to get on the cover of Runner's World Magazine:
Click HERE to vote! (you can vote everyday! wink, wink,..)
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Have a great week everyone!

Tri-State Running

I'm soo behind in my blogs... :(

Last Saturday, we debut our running club shirts at the Running with the Beavers trail race!

Some of us did the 5 miler, most of us did the 10 miler.

Tri-State Running for those that dont know, is a running club that was started by myself and my friend Joanna as a way to get local runners together. Through Facebook, it started out with 10 runners and has exploded to over 170 runners in less than 6 months. And growing!!

We had ordered our shirts a while ago, and they just happen to be ready the day before this race so we picked them up and distributed them the morning of this race. Since our inception back in October of 2013, this is the first time that we raced as a group at a race. The shirts just happen to be a plus! On July 12th 2014 Tri-State Running became official in the running world! We came in 3rd place as a group in this race!!

I am so proud of being part of Tri-State Running. It's a local running club that we started when there was none in of the surrounding towns. Not only has it benefited me, but others as well. No longer will runners from our community need to run alone. Through our FB page they can find other runners to run with or share training plans with. It's free to join and we plan to keep it that way.

I see a bright future for this club. We have many plans in the works. Stay tuned as we share our Journey with you!

If you happened to be from our local area (MA, CT or RI), please join us for our weekly Pub Run. It's a laid back easy 5k or 5 miler. The choice is yours. Its not a race and we leave no one behind. Then join us after for some socializing and some drinks afterwards. More info on our FB page.

Find us on Facebook!!

Hope to see you local runners at our runs!!