It's Christmas Eve!!!  I just wanted to take the time to write and wish you all a safe and happy holidays!

Looking forward to great things in running and blogging in 2016!

Love

This past Sunday was the fourth Sunday of Advent.  In our church service, the candle of love was lit.  The speaker read,

“Today we have the privilege of being able to look back to the birth of Jesus.  We no longer wait for the coming of the Messiah but we look back to His birth, His ministry, His death and resurrection.  We live in this in-between time as those who have been saved by Christ, who are being transformed by Him day-by-day and are longing for His promised return.”

"O come, Thou Key of David, come

And open wide our heav'nly home ;

Make safe the way that leads on high,

And close the path to misery.

Rejoice ! Rejoice ! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel."

Joy

"Rejoice in the Lord always"!

This third Sunday of Advent is all about the joy in expecting.  Jesus came for love of the world and he will come again!  With just about two weeks till Christmas there are reminders everywhere of the joyful atmosphere.

"O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high,

And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice ! Rejoice ! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel."

Hope

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free

Thine own from Satan's tyranny ;

From depths of hell Thy people save,

And give them victory o'er the grave.

Rejoice ! Rejoice ! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Anticipation

This Christmas season I am going to post a short entry on Advent in the 4 Sundays leading up to Christmas.

This is a running blog, sure, (and there will be plenty of future run-related posts) but I'd like to take the time, in the spirit of the season, to post about something even more important to me than running.

Advent is a season of watching and awaiting the coming of Jesus Christ. At Christmas we celebrate that first coming in human form to make a way for all people to be with God and now presently we await the second coming when Christ will come to gather up all who are his.

"O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice ! Rejoice ! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel."

The candle of anticipation is lit on this day to signify the waiting and watching.

I have been thinking about becoming a morning runner for a while now.  I decided to make my move this month.   

There is one small detail that has been standing in my way...I am probably the opposite of a morning person.  I find the transition from sleep to activity extremely challenging and not to mention I'm super uncoordinated when groggy.  My body becomes its own tripping hazard.

This was a tough one but I finished!

It is kinda hard to believe this was my third marathon.  What a year of injury, recovery, and ramping back up!  I'm not where I'd like to be in terms of marathon performance but this time around was mostly about the experience:  getting myself back out there and putting some miles in.   

I praise God for this experience and keeping me relatively healthy during the process, for all my sweet sweet friends who let me ride their enthusiasm for me and my racing to the start line and beyond, and for my faithful running followers and blog readers who share their experiences and let me learn from them daily!

A couple weeks ago I decided to do my 15 mile run on a one mile loop around my neighborhood.

Why, you ask?

Because...Honestly...

I have been feeling like a crap runner these days.

I know that's not true. I know that running performance is all relative.  I know that I should be happy with how far I've come (I only managed 32 miles last year due to injury!).  Even with all of that "knowledge", I have still feel that something is off in this marathon ramp up.

My runs have been super slow (I mean suuuppper slow) and the process just hasn't felt the same as it has in the past.  I have been distracted by all the details and a little more than intimidated by the distances.  It was starting to worry me that if I couldn't get a solid run in before marathon day,  I would be in for a disaster on the 18th.

I decided to do the loop to strip all the logistics and worries away.

just run.

Surprisingly, it worked out.

My house was the "aid station".  The 4 major streets around my neighborhood connect for a one mile loop.  Of course I switched up directions and I forced myself to only stop according to plan -- running the first 5 miles nonstop then stopping every 2 miles after that.

I think this worked out because:

1.  I was close to home so I knew what to expect.

2.  I had easy access to fuel without having to haul it.  I carried my shot blocks but left water and Gatorade on my porch.

3.  Knowing the route allowed me to zone out and just run. I was able to maintain a steady pace the whole way!

Aside from slight boredom, there were no issues.  It was really good to get my legs moving and get a little confidence back.

Best run I've had all summer. 

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Psalm 16:11

I ran 20 miles today.  It was everything but joyful.

As I was out there riding along on the struggle bus I had a lot of time to think.  

20 miles...4+ hours = lots of time to think

The run started out great. Thankfully.   It was a perfect sunny fall day.  I anticipated sweating but not down to my shoes. I was feeling great.  By mile 5 however, things started to get tough and I started to mentally freak out about how much time and how many miles I had left to go. My right arch and ankle was also starting to flare up -- last year's injury rearing its head.

With all of that going on and the miles prematurely getting slower and slower I was hit with the thought of God's graciousness.

Just out of the blue.  Wham.  God is so good.

I was reminded of how much I have to be thankful for.  I think of grace as giving someone something good that they don't deserve. This is seriously how God deals with me day in and day out.  The verse above came to mind and wouldn't go away.  Out on my run today, I was filled with gratitude.  For everything.  Not just running. 

In the end, it was a hard run but I'm thankful for the experience.  After all, that's what training is all about -- to toughen me up for the real thing.  Boom.

I'm also thankful I got a great shot of these two feathery buddies while out on my run today.

City Turkeys!

It's fall folks!

What about you?

How is your fall running going?

The I'm running long again!  So thankful.

These long runs, however, have come with a new challenge.  

Lately, I have been finding myself getting nervous before these longer efforts.  I don't remember this being the case pre-injury when I was running more consistently.  Well, at least not noticeably the case.  I think I'm getting anxious before runs these days partially because of wanting to be cautious about my ramp-up and partially because of intimidation of the mileage.  I thought about it some at the beginning of the summer and decided that there were things I could do to help me not over-think long runs.

Here are a few things that have been helping me with my long run nervousness.

1.  Map out runs ahead of time

I've found that mapping out my long runs a day or two before takes some of the pressure off.  Running 10+ miles in the city is hard.  You can go through many towns at that distance and it sometimes becomes nerve wracking to map out a good route.  I use Gmap-pedometer to map out all of my routes.  Doing it before the day helps clear my mind and is one less thing I have to obsess about. 

2.  Know where to get water

Staying hydrated during runs is always a big concern of mine.  Planning out my stops ahead of time makes things seem smoother in my head.  Especially in the summer [and because I sweat a lot] I like to make sure I have a plan for refilling my water bottle or getting a sports drinks on my run.  The Boston area has very limited free outside fountains but most of the colleges have public spaces that I can just pop into and refil as needed.  I also don't mind stopping at a store or pharmacy to get Vitamin Water or Gatorade.  

3.  Prep gear ahead of time

This is a trick I use for race day.  I lay everything out the night before:  what I'm wearing, what food I will eat.  I pack my fanny pack and I fill my bottles and put them in the fridge.  The only thing Ieft for the morning is getting dressed and storing my phone.  I can definitely get caught up in the details so having everything laid out ahead of time gives me less excuse to procrastinate getting out of the house.

4. Don't think too much!

"Stopping thinking about it and get out there"!  This is what I tell myself before long runs.  Sometimes, I get way too into my own head and I over-think everything.  What's the worst that can happen?  I get tired and have to call it quits?  I almost always feel better about the run once I've actually started.  Thinking about doing an 18 miler is much more intimidating than actually running an 18 miler.  Trust the training! 

My new gps watch is definitely helping as well.  For shorter runs, I can just go out and literally turn around once the gps reads half the distance.  Longer runs definitely take more planning but I like the flexibility.  With the gps, I can adjust the run on the go and still be confident in the mileage.  For example if something went wrong on the run (took a wrong turn, etc.)  I can see exactly how far I went and choose on the spot to turn back or keep going based on the distance.

How about you?

Do you get nervous before long runs?

What pre-run rituals help you prepare?

Dear Faithful Blog Followers,

It has been a while. I have been struggling with the failing hard drive on my computer for months.  It finally went kaput and I immediately realized that I had been avoiding using it and consequently neglecting my blog.

So, here I am trying to get back on track.

Below is a little of what I've been up to the last three months.

I ran a Ragnar Relay.

I signed up for the Bay State Marathon.

I climbed a big mountain!

More updates on each of those things coming real soon.  First, I need to buy a new computer. Blogging on my phone is no fun.

Happy running!

And today...the 119th running of the Boston Marathon was as inspiring as ever. 

We got out early and were glued to Flotrack Twitter feed all morning.  We watched as updates of race after race and wave after wave started.  We squealed as American's Desi Linden and Dathan Ritzenheim held the lead for a time!  And, we howled as the women's lead pack passed and Meb threw fist pumps our way.  

How can you not love the Boston Marathon! 


I'm thankful that the rain was the only drama today. The rain started to come down steadily as you can see in the last few pictures and sent us home earlier than normal. It was a great day to race; cool and overcast. We saw a good battle with Caroline Rotich of Kenya winning the Women's race and Lelisa Desisa winning the Men's. The top American Women finishers were: Desi Linden, 4th, Shalane Flanagan, 8th, and Adriana Nelson, 13th. Top American Men: Dathan Ritzenheim, 7th, Meb keflezighi, 8th, and Matt Tegenkamp, 11th.  

I'm so proud of all the runners who came out, struggled and finished the marathon today. You are all such an inspiration to me. God bless you all.  

Boston Marathon Weekend 2015!

I was definitely a marathon groupie all weekend long. It started Friday night with a visit to the Expo and Meb Keflezighi's talk on his recently released book, Meb for Mortals. Saturday opened with another visit to Old South Church for Chris MacDougall's talk on his new book, Natural Born Heroes and ended with a second trip to the Expo and site seeing on Boylston street. I love marathon weekend especially when the weather is so nice out. The city is filled with such happy, fit people!

Below are a few of the pictures from the weekend.

Tonight at run club we paid tribute to those injured in the events at the 2013 Boston Marathon.  We started out with our usual 5k fun run and ended with a candle light vigil and moment of silence for those injured and lost.

It was simple and meaningful.  Being a runner in Boston it is especially meaningful this week as we look forward to this year's marathon.  The memories from 2 years ago have touch us all in some way.  I was glad to be a part of this small beautiful tribute. 

We Run Together.  Boston Strong.

I unintentionally turned last week into a sort of rest week.  

The original plan was to make it a cut back week and run about 7 miles or so.  With all the activity and sleeping in (shh) I only managed to complete 2 runs of 2 miles each.  No matter... I will make it up this week.

Holy Week is the time of the year we Christians remember Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection to glory.  It is marked by services of remembrance and joyful gatherings of family and food!

Here are a few pics from my run last Saturday. 

Gorgeous. Peaceful. Fun.

 

Found myself off the beaten path.

Wandering how I'm going to get out. :)

Frozen Reservoir

Happy trails!

Running on the snow is really growing on me.  It is an adventure with every step.  At first I was skeptical about going out on such an unsure surface after my recent injury but so far it hasn't been so bad.  Running on the snow may even be helping me.  How, you ask?  Well...

1. You have to go slow!   
Now that I'm running again, it is so tempting to do too much too soon-- to go too fast... take on too many miles.  Running in this crazy weather has forced me to slow down and has kept me on my training "plan".  For example, I went out the other day and it was 14 degrees with -1 wind chill.  I was scheduled to do 1 mile and believe me nothing could have tempted me to go farther in that craziness!  I was feeling good so if the weather was nicer, I don't know that I would have stopped at just 1 mile.  Good thing the weather was horrible. :)

Out of the blue my winter vacation gave way to some hardcore winter running!

These photos were taken a week apart.  How funny is life.

Winter running vs. tropical vacation?  No contest!  I will choose the warmth any day but it does feel great to know that the snow can't stop me! :)

Right before Thanksgiving, I decided to take a break from Physical Therapy for the holiday season.  The goal was to reassess at the beginning of the year.  I was just going to back off of the scheduled sessions but still perform my exercises at home and continue to build up slowly with the run/walk regiment.