"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.