A running hurrah.

Two years ago, I ran the New Jersey Marathon. I trained through a mild winter with some great friends -- some long-time friends, some new ones -- and ended the training cycle with a memorable New Jersey weekend that will forever live in my mind as one of those really, really awesome times of my life.

Cheers! It was such a fun weekend!

One of the women I got to know while training for the marathon was Gail. We ran together some before the marathon and then had that super marathon weekend away. After the race, we continued to run here and there. And, as it goes with running, when you're out there running 10 (or however many) miles, you talk about pretty much everything. You get to know people on the run and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Gail whenever we ran together.

Fittingly, Gail is right in the middle.

Now, though, Gail is taking off. She's moving away sniff, sniff so her dear friend Elisa put together a running "last hurrah" for her on Saturday.

I think there were 12 of us who came out to celebrate Gail, including most of us from the NJ Marathon crew (and that includes Melissa, who just had a baby!), and a few other running pals. We ran a little more than 9 miles, starting together, but then spreading out over the miles. We all came back together at the turn-around where we chatted for a bit and then spread out again as we got running. We were back together again at the end:

Gail's Last Hurrah! Post-run -- Lara, Heidi, Elisa, Gail, Mike, Ginny, Melissa, Bridget, me, Janis (missing Sheila, Melissa D, and Karyn). Running friends rock!!

 
Elisa did a super job organizing the run and making the whole thing special. She even got the weather to cooperate . . . how nice of her!

It was the perfect way to send off a running friend -- with a run. We'll miss running with Gail, but we're all so happy for her!

So, cheers to Gail! And cheers to running friends! Mine sure are awesome.

Have a great week, everyone!

What do you #RUNFOR?

Running. We do it for all sorts of reasons. And, at different times in our lives, we probably run for different reasons -- some more inspirational than others but, I'd say, all of them real and meaningful to the runners they belong to.

DICK'S Sporting Goods has tapped into the inspirational end of why runners run. Their #RUNFOR campaign shares truly inspirational stories about how running has impacted individual runner's lives.

One standout is the story of Alicia Shay. You may have heard a little of her story at some point. Her husband, Ryan Shay, was a promising long-distance runner who died during the US Olympic marathon trials in 2007. It was terrible -- he had a massive heart attack a few miles into the race and died.

He left behind his wife, Alicia, who is also a runner. She turned to running to work through her grief after her husband died -- eventually starting "Shay Hostel," a communal space where runners live and train. Now, DICK'S is sharing her story.

Check it out:






They have other short films, too, including one about Team Hoyt, which I also recommend you check out.

These kinds of stories can surely do wonders to motivate you on days when you don't feel like lacing up your running shoes, or when you're feeling a little out of sorts. Watch one of the #RUNFOR stories and you'll probably feel pretty grateful for what you have and you'll likely be motivated to get out there and run -- whatever your reason!!

Run on, friends!

Disclaimer: I am not associated with this campaign -- I was sent information about it and decided it was worth sharing.

A week of running.

Finally. A week of good running for this happy runner!

Following the Runnin' of the Green on Saturday, I took Sunday and Monday off to rest my legs. On Tuesday, I was fortunate to get a quick 4.25 mile run in, before my little guy got sick that evening. I am no kind of fan of the stomach bug, that's for sure. But, I am happy that the rest of us avoided getting sick. Phew!

Wednesday was all about taking care of my patient, and he was such a good one, even though he felt lousy.

Smiling through the stomach bug -- but look at those sad eyes!!

Thursday was back to normal and I went to my physical therapy appointment and then for another quick 4.25 mile run. At my appointment, my PT taped my injured area with KT tape so I'm giving that a try. So far, so good!

On Saturday, the boys started swimming lessons -- which they loved -- and I sneaked in a sunny-but-windy run later in the afternoon.

And that brings me to today.

It was cold. It was windy. The route was hilly. We started early.

Yes, this morning I ran 10 enjoyable miles with Bridget and Janis, plus a bonus of 4+ with our friend, Elisa. They were tough miles, but we covered them at a 9:44 pace. Go, us!

Overall, I ran 22.5 miles for the week. That's my highest weekly mileage since the first week of January. January! Sheesh. Yeah, I'm happy to be getting back on track.

My hope now is that I stay on track. I could use a long stretch of good, solid training.

And, with that, I'm off. Have a great week, everyone!

  

Gimme a B!

On Friday, I posted my goals for the Runnin' of the Green 4-mile race. I wanted to run a solid, fast-ish pace. But, I was also a little nervous because I am trying to crawl back from injury. Plus, I'm training for that half marathon and had 8 miles on my schedule for Saturday and decided to run 3 of them before the race.

So I wasn't totally sure what to expect from the race!

Kara, Bridget and me before the race.

I met up with Bridget and Kara to run 2 miles. Then Bridget  and I went out for 1 more mile to give us the full 3 before the race started. My cousins Kate and Josh and Kate's boyfriend, Felix, were also running the race. I was happy to find them before the race and we chatted for a bit before lining up.

When the gun went off, I just ran. I was pushing myself, for sure, but I was also letting myself fall into a good race pace. About a half mile or so into the race, Felix ran up to me and we ran together for maybe 3/4 of a mile or so. It was good to run with him -- but I knew he had a faster goal in mind than I did so I told him to run on because I didn't want to hold him back.

He ran off and I settled into a good pace. I went through the 2-mile mark at 15:32 and felt really strong. Sure, my hip and hamstring were complaining a bit, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had worried it would be. Phew!

For some reason, I had a lot of pep in the third mile. I started passing people right and left and ended up running that mile in 7:18. Huh.

I then held on to the end. I could tell I'd started at a good pace for me because I was not dying at the end! Such an oddity for me -- I'm usually falling apart at the end of races! Feeling strong is a much better way to go.

That's me running to the finish!

I finished in 30:36 gun time, 30:26 net. You know what's cool about that? My second half was 28 seconds faster than my first. Woo hoo!

And . . . that time was a solid B from my race goals. I'd set the B goal of running 31:56 or better (just under 8 min miles) and my 30:26 was just that.

Yes, I fully admit that at 3 miles I was doing the math to see if I could push myself and run under 30 minutes. But, you know what? I'm glad I didn't. While I would have liked to finish closer to last year's time (29:37), I didn't want to make my injury worse. I wanted to run a strong, smart race, not a foolish one!

Felix ended up with a super time, running 29:23! Josh ran 34:16 and Kate ran 44:30; Bridget ran 35:44 and Kara ran 43:16. Yay!

After the race, Bridget and I stuck to our plan and ran an additional mile to get us to 8 for the day. After that, I went home and prepped for a fun St. Patrick's Day party at our neighbors' house. Overall, quite the fun day!

Race stats:

Official (net) time: 30:26 
Pace: 7:37/mile
Gun time: 30:36

First half split (2-miles): 15:32
Second half split: 15:04

Overall place: 155 out of 652
Overall female: 42 out of 383
Age group (female, 40-49): 16

Now, I'm itching for that next race. I only have the half marathon on my schedule for this spring but, jeez . . . I think I might have to add another!! We'll see.

Well, thanks for stopping by -- have a great week, everyone!