Thursday, October 31, 2019

"Are you Janet?! I LOVE YOUUUUU!" 🌵


Happy Halloween! We did most of our Halloween celebrations in tandem with Brett's birthday celebrations last weekend, so today will just be a regular kinda day, but I did get a spider donut from Dunkin' this morning to celebrate.


I got to spend quite a lot of time with Miss Abby on Friday morning. Brett and I commuted in to work together since we were headed into the city together that evening, but since he starts before I do I had some time to kill when getting to campus. Cassie had a class at Orange Theory so I kept her pup company while I waited to head in to work.


As one of Brett's gifts, I got us tickets to the Celtics home opener against the Raptors! I'm really indifferent when it comes to basketball, but Brett loves it so I knew he would be pumped. We headed right in to the city after work and grabbed a couple drinks nearby the Garden before the game.




I've never been to the home opener of a professional sports team before so it was so cool to feel the energy of the crowd! We were up in the nosebleeds (as you do when you're not a billionaire) but it was still a great time. We got light up wristbands with our seats (which you can see in this Instapost!), found the world's LARGEST Trulys, and the Celtics pulled out the W especially for Brett's birthday. 😉



We picked up our pals Erin and Cullen at the airport after the game as they were spending the weekend with us. It was a bit late to do anything exciting when they arrived, but we got to spend all of Saturday and Sunday with them. Saturday morning we spent lounging on the couch and playing Untitled Goose Game. Everyone helped me beat the game and we had a great time because the game is super entertaining! We now all want this shirt:


We also taught Erin and Cullen to play Super Smash Bros and got ready for our Halloween bar crawl in the city! Brett and Cullen went as Ash Katchum and Pikachu, while Erin and I went as Janet and Bad Janet from The Good Place. Brett and Cullen were obviously way more recognizable, but I loved all of our costumes. We had a blast roaming around Boston, and even got to meet up with some of his friends and family as a bonus!



 Hi there 🌵

Getting on the train to The Bad Place!






While the bar crawl was super fun, I think the funniest part of the night was waiting for our train back home. Erin was getting fed up with her Bad Janet wig so she took it off and we all decided to pass it around and take turns wearing it. We were all laughing so hard, I'm sure everyone around us thought we were psychopaths. 😂 Here's the photos I snapped on my phone, but Erin also got a few good ones over on her Instagram that make me crack up every time I look at them.








Good Janet has defeated Bad Janet 😂

We spent Sunday (Brett's actual birthday!) sleeping in, grabbing breakfast, and spending time with his family at home while watching the Patriots game. The whole weekend flew right by and I wish we had more time to spend with our pals Erin and Cullen, but we definitely made so many memories that we will look back on and smile for years to come. We will be seeing them again in February for the New Orleans marathon and I'm sure we'll have a blast down there as well!


👻 I hope everyone has a fantastic Halloween today! 🎃
Do you have a costume this year? If so, what are you dressing up as? If not, what is your favorite Halloween tradition!

Monday, October 28, 2019

#Sub5orBust: Week 1 Training Update (October 20 - October 26, 2019)


Sunday, 10/20 → 3 mile run (treadmill), phase 1 lift + stretch
Monday, 10/21  8 mile run (treadmill) + stretch
Tuesday, 10/22  4 mile run (treadmill), phase 1 lift + stretch
Wednesday, 10/23  Volleyball match
Thursday, 10/24  Rest
Friday, 10/25  Rest
Saturday, 10/26  3 mile incline (treadmill)

Week one of training for my mid-winter marathons went super well! We had friends in town over the weekend for Brett's birthday so I front loaded my week with the bulk of my workouts so I could spend as much time with everyone as possible. Like I said in my post last week, I'm feeling super motivated to put in the hard work this time around. I know that eventually there will be a dip in my motivation (I'm assuming it will be especially so when social calendars start to fill up over the holidays!), but I'm hoping I can keep myself accountable and keep my eye on the prize. We're off to a great start, though, and taking things one work out at a time will hopefully help me stay focused and not get too overwhelmed with how big and scary my goal is!

One thing that I am particularly nervous about right now is that my anxiety has been a real killer the last couple of weeks. It's really disheartening after knowing how hard I worked to feel better this summer that I'm feeling like I'm backsliding quite a bit. I'm nervous it's going to have the same negative impact on my training like it did while I was training for Newport. I am going to try my hardest to fight against it and get my workouts in each week, but I can't help but to feel frustrated and nervous about it (which of course, is only making my anxiety worse 😐). Keep your fingers crossed for me that it subsides without totally zapping my motivation. I really want that sub 5!


Any other runners out there fighting a daily battle with mental illness? 
What do you do to stay focused? 
I would love to get some tips from the running community!

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

#Sub5orBust: My Motivation for my Next Marathons

Running the Newport Marathon last weekend taught me more than any other marathon I've run to date. After I finished the course in 6:01:50, I realized three things:

1. I NEVER want to spend that much time on a marathon course ever again.
2. I am totally capable of achieving faster times. I've had a goal of going sub-5 in the marathon for years and that is VERY attainable for me.
3.  I am 100% ready to put in the work to get faster and become a better runner.

I am thankful that I had such a challenging time at the Newport Marathon. It sounds silly to say but it's totally true. I feel like if I had a similar experience to some of my previous marathons, I would be approaching my training for New Orleans and LA in the spring the same way I always do - lazily. I feel like in all of my past training cycles I would do less than the bare minimum. I would skip runs and feel kinda guilty, but not really. I would never strength train. I would never stretch. And guess what that's gotten me? Feeling nauseous for 20 miles at the Newport Marathon and a 6:01:50 finish. And I'm really tired of feeling so terrible during these long races. I can't do it anymore!

So, with the kick off of another 16-week training season (which ~technically~ started yesterday, but I got a jump start over the weekend), I'm feeling more motivated than I ever have to put in the work and train my butt off for a sub-5. New Orleans is so flat and below sea level, so it's a great opportunity to PR (they even talk about it on their website!). If I can achieve the sub-5 goal on any course, NOLA is a great option to do that. Los Angeles, which is just under a month after NOLA, is a bit hillier, but there are some significant down hill sections and ultimately ends up being around a 465 foot drop from start to finish. Still a good course to try and achieve a PR on as well!

Here are the plans I'm following for this cycle:

RW's Ultimate 16-week marathon training plan for runners looking to run sub-5.00
16-week strength training program for marathon runners

I'll be updating my progress here and on my Instagram stories - I've created a #Sub5orBust highlight on my page so you can keep up with my past workouts as well. I'm really motivated to tackle these next two marathons head on and finally push myself to be a better runner. 💪

Monday, October 21, 2019

Tentative 2020 Race Season Schedule

With the completion of the Newport Marathon last weekend, all of the major races that I had on my calendar this year are behind me and I'm now looking forward to taking 2020 by storm. I have a lot of fitness goals for myself and I do want to become a better runner, and nothing motivates me more than having a packed schedule of races to prepare for. I'm calling this my ~tentative~ 2020 race season schedule because things come up and you never know what might happen, and by no means is this an exhaustive list of every race I will run (local races are bound to pop up here and there!), but for now these are the races that I am hoping to focus on in 2020.



Rock n' Roll New Orleans Marathon
February 9, 2020 - New Orleans, LA

I decided that for 2020 I was going to invest in a Rock n' Roll Marathon Series Tour Pass, which is a program where you pay a flat fee and are able to register for multiple races (there's an option of a 3-pack, 10-pack, or unlimited races). I decided to go for the 3-pack as quite a few of the races I would like to run for my 50 states challenge are Rock n' Roll races, and I felt like I could financially swing 3 in 2020. Our first stop on the ~tour~ will be New Orleans, Louisiana! I've been to NOLA for a really fun 24 hours with my family back in 2015, but I've always wanted to go back with friends, so Erin, Cullen, and Brett (the original #CheerSquad) are all joining me for this race (to spectate, not run haha)! I'm excited for some great live music, beignets, and since the course is super flat, perhaps a shiny new PR? 😏



Disney Princess Fairy Tale Challenge
Enchanted 10k & Princess Half Marathon
February 22-23, 2020 - Orlando, FL

The Disney Princess Half Marathon has been on my running bucket list for YEARS and in 2020 I'm finally going to run it! Cassie and I are going to be taking on the Fairy Tale Challenge together, which is the Enchanted 10k on Saturday and the Princess Half Marathon on Sunday. My mom will be joining us for the 10k as well! We'll, of course, be running in costume (it's basically a requirement for RunDisney events) and I can't wait to show you who we decide to be for each race! I'm not planning to PR on either of these events because my main goal is to have fun, take pictures, and meet characters throughout the race. Disney also just revealed the medals for the Fairy Tale Challenge and I am PUMPED!




In March I will be heading out to the West Coast to run my California race - the Los Angeles Marathon! I thought this would be the perfect California race because Brett has a bunch of family in the area so it's an extra excuse to go out and see them. It's also right around Spring Break at my job so work will (hopefully) be super slow and easy to step away from for a few days. I'm excited to be a part of such a MASSIVE race (a quick Google will tell you there's around 21,000 people that run this race) and to have family around to celebrate!



Los Angeles Marathon
March 8, 2020 - Los Angeles, CA

The next stop in my Rock n' Roll Marathon tour will be Seattle in June! Seattle has always been a city that I've wanted to visit anyway, so I knew that this was the race that I wanted to run for Washington. I've been told that hills on this race are pretty killer, so I'll need to keep that in mind when I'm training between March and June. Either way, I'm sure this is going to be a super fun city to run through and to visit after the race! Cassie will be joining me in Seattle for her 50 states challenge and she has a friend that we'll be staying with, so I'm sure that's going to be an extra layer to the awesomeness of this trip!



Rock n' Roll Seattle Marathon
June 7, 2020 - Seattle, WA

This year is the year that I'm going to be putting my name in for the Chicago Marathon lottery! Today is actually the day to submit your name, so I'm anxious to hear if I'm in or not. I know a lot of folks are in the same boat as me (non-guaranteed entry life) but it's an awesome opportunity to potentially be able to run a World Major marathon in 2020. Keep your fingers crossed for me!



Chicago Marathon
October 11, 2020 - Chicago, IL

If I don't get into Chicago, I'd like to attempt a DOUBLE, which is when you run a marathon in one state on one day, and then a second marathon in a different state on the next day. Crazy? Yes. A smart way to save money and knock out two states in one trip? Also yes. I'm looking at the following double if I don't get into Chicago:



Baltimore Running Festival Marathon
October 17, 2020 - Baltimore, MD




Atlantic City Marathon
October 18, 2020 - Atlantic City, NJ

And the final stop on my Rock n' Roll Marathon tour for 2020 will be Las Vegas. I've always wanted to run this race because it just sounds SO COOL. Running down the Vegas strip at night? The only event that Las Vegas will shut down the strip for? How awesome is that?! I think this race will be the perfect way to cap off the Rock n' Roll Marathon tour and very likely, my year of marathon-ing.


Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
November 2020 - Las Vegas, NV

What races are you hoping to run in 2020?

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Race Review: Amica Newport Marathon 2019 🏃‍♀️


Last weekend I ran my 12th marathon - the Amica Newport Marathon in Newport, Rhode Island. I deferred my entry to this race in 2018 so Newport has been a long time coming and I'm glad I finally got the chance to take on this course. It's been a while that I haven't had to travel for a full marathon so it was a great change of pace to not have to coordinate flights and accommodations the weekend of a marathon. It was an extremely chill race weekend compared to my most recent marathons!


Friday night Brett and I decided to order Chinese food and watch our favorite show, The Challenge. My fortune cookie had a piece of advice for me that I thought was extremely appropriate for my pre-race nerves: Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes of the goal. No matter how many times you run 26.2, it's always scary. Your mind is racing with all the things that would possibly go wrong as you're running that distance, and it's easy to fill your head with doubt. You have to keep your eye on your goal of the finish line in order to get through! I thought about this quote a lot while I was running on Sunday and the moments leading up to the race.


Saturday morning I had some time to kill before heading down to the expo to pick up my bib, so I watched the live stream of Eliud Kipchoge attempt the sub-2 marathon. I loved the fact that he was running this exhibition the day before the marathon as I knew it would be so inspiring and it was. As he was coming down the home stretch to the finish line I was tearing up alone in my bedroom. 😂 So inspiring and motivational.

When you try to share your excitement with your non-runner boyfriend 😂

I headed down to the expo a few hours later. I was pretty surprised at how small the expo was! I was imagining I would be spending a bit of time wandering through booths but it was one small-ish ballroom with tables for bibs, 2-3 vendors, and a table where they were giving away past race shirts and pint glasses (which of course, I snagged a few). I picked up my bib (lucky #13), bought a few gels, and went on my merry way. I'd say I was there for a total of maybe 10-15 minutes. For the size of the race field I was definitely expecting more from the expo, but it got the job done.


I spent the rest of the day Saturday popping by Brett's cousin's wedding reception, packing snacks and a cooler for race day, and just trying my best to get mentally prepared for the next day. Nerves are always so high for me before a marathon, so I did my best to try and relax and stay off my feet. It was so nice to be able to be at home the night before a marathon for a change. That probably won't be able to happen again for a very long time, so I tried to enjoy that perk as much as I could! Before I knew it, it was time to set my race day alarm of 3AM and lay out my flat runner - the traditional pre-marathon ritual!

Newport was my first marathon as an official Marathon Maniac and I was super excited to finally run in my yellow singlet! 💛

Brett and I were up bright and early to make the trek down to Newport. There is no parking at the start/finish line, so you're required to park a couple of miles away and take a shuttle to the start. Every single communication about parking we received said to GET THERE EARLY and BE ON A SHUTTLE BY 6AM AT THE LATEST. Me, being a chronically early human and avid rule follower, was more than willing to oblige. We arrived to the parking lot around 5:15 or so where I finished getting myself ready before we hopped on a shuttle at 6. I got my first "YEAH MANIAC" ever on this bus and I was already buzzing with excitement!


We got to the start area in time to watch the gorgeous sunrise with everyone else. It was beautiful to feel the excitement of all the runners around me and to watch the sun come up as a massive group. We also got there in time for me to be a part of the Maniacs/Fanatics team photo! It was great meeting a couple of folks before the race. 3 of them had run Hartford the day before (superheroes), and the one second from the right actually went on to be in the top 10 overall (we waved at each other as he was closing in on mile 26 and I was almost at 14 haha)! It was super great to have my first experience meeting everyone and bonding a bit before the big race.

Go team!




Brett helped me warm up and stretch before heading over to the starting line. It was great to be able to have him there to keep me calm and crack jokes with me before heading out. He's a trooper for getting up so early on his day off to come spend time at a marathon! Before we walked over to the start we had to take a couple of "before" photos on the beach. It was too beautiful not to!




Then it was time to get running! There was a waved start to this race but I did not have to wait long after the 7:30AM start time to cross the starting line myself. According to my watch I crossed the start at 7:36 so they were great at letting folks get started as soon as possible. It did feel a bit crowded through the first two miles and I did have to do some weaving around walkers and such, but I'm always appreciative when a race can just let people get started. Nothing worse than having to wait in a corral! 



The first half of the course is the half marathon course, so there are a lot of folks that you're running with for the first 13.1. Through this first half you run through downtown Newport, past some extremely beautiful mansions, and along the coast. If there's anything this course is, it's breathtakingly gorgeous. Something I didn't expect, though was how freaking hilly the course was! For some reason I always think running by the ocean means running on a flat course, but I always forget that when you're in New England, that's really not the case. 😂



My favorite part of the course was miles 5-7. We ran along the coastline of Newport and it was incredible. There's an entire stretch of the course where the waves are crashing up against the seawall and if you run too close to the side of the road you're for sure going to get splashed. It was amazing to experience that! I tried to capture some photos as it was happening but they do not do the experience justice at all.






Shortly after mile 7 you start running past some serious mansions. You're definitely reminded where you are miles 7-12! The water stops through this stretch were also great. Many of the folks took time to have a theme to their aid stations. I saw a 50's theme and a couple of Patriots themes, and everyone had some really great energy!



Unfortunately around mile 5 I started to feel really nauseous. I was hoping that over time that the nausea would eventually subside but it hung around for 20. Freaking. Miles. All I could honestly do was do my best to enjoy the scenery and the race experience to the best of my ability. There was a couple spectators and fellow runners who were cheering for all of the Maniacs throughout the entire course and every time I came across one it gave me an extra boost. I also distracted myself to see how far along in my marathon I was at the exact time Eliud Kipchoge would have been finishing his marathon. Spoiler alert: it was nowhere near 26.2 miles 😂


One of my least favorite parts of this course (and any course that does this) was that it run right by the finish line where the half marathoners were ALSO finishing their race. I always hate when races do this because it's just so cruel seeing other runners getting to STOP RUNNING and you still have 13.1 more miles to go. 😂 Also, when I was coming into this section of the race, the MC said something to the effect of "Welcome back half marathon runners! Lucky for you, you ran the EASIER half of the course. The second half of the marathon course is WAY HARDER." Which, you know, is exactly what you wanna hear as you're about to embark on the WAY HARDER section of the race... Read the room, MC! 😬



I saw this sign and instantly died laughing because it reminded me so much of this Family Guy clip 😂

As promised, the back half of the course was far more difficult. After the half marathoners broke off the crowds reduced SIGNIFICANTLY and the course turned in to much bigger hills with little to no tree-coverage, so I basically melted in the sun for 13 miles. Luckily I got a boost of energy when I saw Brett at mile 15.5. I really needed the encouragement at that point because I was 10 miles into feeling sick with no end in sight, and so much more of the course left to go. It's always so amazing how much a familiar face can push you to keep going!


The sun really got to me on the back half. I always really struggle when there is no shade on a really sunny day, and add in hills, nausea, and a lonely, spectator-free course, it got really tough to keep going! Brett, my parents, and Cassie kept me motivated over text. Apparently Cassie and Hanna showed up about 10 minutes after I saw Brett at 15.5 (just missed them!) and hung around until I crossed the finish line - such great friends! 💗 The hills mile 18-24 were absolutely brutal but as soon as I conquered the final hill at Surfer's End, my nausea *finally* subsided and the motivation to keep running and getting myself to the finish completely took over. Brett, Cassie, and Hanna sent me the below selfie to keep me motivated and let me know that I had people waiting to cheer me in to the finish line!


Finally, after 6:01:50, I crossed the finish line of the Newport Marathon, got my 12th marathon medal, and crossed Rhode Island off of my 50 states challenge! ✅

Immediately took my shoes off and threw my flip flops on after finishing.
This will forever be my #1 marathon race day tip. 😂


It was so good to finally be done with this race. This was definitely up there in my most challenging marathon experiences (comparable to Youngstown in June 2018) and it taught me a lot of things. I've come to realize that I don't want to be out on a marathon course that long ever again if I can help it, and that I need to dedicate so much more to my training than I have in the past. I want to hit my goal of a sub-5 marathon. I want to set a new PR. I want to be such a better runner than I have been proving to be in my last few marathons and I know that I can. Even though this race was SO difficult, I left Newport feeling so motivated to do better. My next marathon is in February so I have a lot of time to prepare and I plan to take advantage of it.


After a bit of time soaking up the finish and chatting with Cassie and Hanna, we hit the road back home while jamming out to Third Eye Blind, which we've officially dubbed as 90's emo. We spent the rest of the day lounging on the couch, watching Red Zone, and eating Chinese food again. We started the weekend with it, why not end the weekend with it as well? 😂


Overall this race was difficult, beautiful, and so well run. Even though I'm a back of the pack runner, I felt supported by the race organizers from the moment I picked up my bib to the moment I came across the finish line. The views on this course are unlike any other I've experienced to date. My experience on the Newport course was not an easy one but I know it's a race that I'm never going to forget. I totally recommend folks give the Newport Marathon a try for their Rhode Island race! Just make sure you prepare better than I did. 😉

A close up of my finisher's medal!