Race Review: B.A.A. Half Marathon

The logical thing to do a week after running a full marathon is to run a half marathon a week later, right? Well apparently I thought so, because on Sunday morning I ran the B.A.A. Half Marathon in Boston! I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking when I scheduled these two giant races a week apart from each other (#dummy) but once I register for a race I just gotta go for it. No bailing!

The B.A.A. Half (and basically every event sponsored by the B.A.A.) has a huge field of participants, so instead of having everyone attempt to find parking around Franklin Park where the race was taking place, they offered several different shuttles to the starting line. This meant I had to be up and out the door by 5:30AM so I could get to the shuttle by 6:30 and get to the starting line before the gun went off at 8AM. I arrived at the race site around 7:30, which was the perfect amount of time to pick up my race t-shirt, drop my bag off at the gear check, and meet up with Louie and Rachelle before heading to the starting line.

The participant field was roughly 7,000 people, so it took a solid 7-8 minutes between the starting horn going off and the time we were able to even start moving and cross the starting line. The first few miles were super congested and a stop for a bathroom break added 10 frustrating minutes to mile 3 due to how many people were in line - oof! I managed to semi-makeup for the loss of time, though, as miles 4, 5, and 6 were all sub-9 minutes (I usually try to hang around 10 minute splits)! The rest of the race was pretty par for me the course when it comes to running halves. My pace hung around 10:30/11 in the later miles, but as I got closer to the finish and the crowds increased a bit I got a little energy boost and tried to push myself a little harder! 

The last mile took us through Franklin Park Zoo which was so awesome! You could see the zebras, wildebeests, ostriches, cows, and a bunch of exotic birds which was a nice little motivator to push you across the finish line. This being the week after a marathon, though, my legs were really feeling it and the finish line could not come soon enough. As I rounded the corner of the Franklin Park track to the last straight away toward the finish I put everything I had left in me toward crossing the finish as quickly as I could and came across the finish line at 2:24:36. I know that if this race was scheduled for a different weekend I could have definitely done better, but I'm happy with my performance overall. It wasn't my best, but it wasn't my worst either, and at the end of the day I got to cross the finish line at catch one of those world famous B.A.A. unicorns!

One day I'll get to rock one of these beauties on the Boston Marathon medal, but I'm pretty pumped about this one! :)

I really enjoyed my time running this race and hopefully I'll be able to run in a few more of the B.A.A. races in the future. Louie, Rachelle, and I are hoping to participate in the B.A.A. 5K this upcoming April (I was informed to brace myself for an even bigger field of participants for that one!) so maybe I'll also attempt the 10K (and maybe even attempt the distance medley?) to just complete the collection! ;)

On a side note: Louie started a new blog called Whoosh! where he talks about his love of comic books and running! He recapped his experience from Sunday so make sure you stop over there and check it out!

25 Before 25: Accomplish a Multi-Distance Race Series (#13)

Sunday I ran the YuKan Triple Threat Challenge in Rockport, MA with Louie and his girlfriend Rachelle! The Triple Threat is a race series that consists of a 1 mile, 5K (3.1 miles), and a half marathon (13.1 miles) totaling at 17.2 miles for the day. Not going to lie, I was extremely nervous to attempt this race. I haven't been going the long distances that I should be with my training this summer (the longest I went before this race was 9 miles) so the thought of completing 17.2 was pretty daunting. Brett was an amazing support though (I love when he comes to be support crew at my races!), and reminded me that I've run a full marathon less than a year ago, so I'd definitely be able to finish this challenge, no matter how painful it may be. ...and painful it was!

The 1 mile, 5K, and the first 9 miles of the half were fine, but those last 4.1 miles felt like death. My legs hurt, I was dehydrated, I had a headache, and I honestly thought I was going to be sick, but I made it across the finish line (with some breaks to stretch my legs and walk in between - not something I like to do during races for pride reasons, haha) and got my finisher's medal. I usually see medals as awesome souvenirs to remember my accomplishments by, and it's only once in a while that I actually feel that I earn the medal, but that day I worked my booty off and definitely earned it!

I would absolutely do this race again, with a bit more training under my belt. The area is beautiful (but pretty hilly, which may have been the source of a lot of pain), YuKan is a great company, and I always have a great time running with them, even if my legs feel like falling off at the end of the race!

Check out the vlog from the day of the races below!

*I'm attempting to reach 25 goals before I reach the age of 25! Want to see the whole list? Check it out here!

Last Few Weeks of Summer

I've been soaking up what little free time I've had with Brett for the last few weeks and we've been up to some fun things! Last Saturday (July 26th) we woke up early and headed over to Foxboro to watch Patriots practice! I've never seen any NFL event in person, so it was really cool to see the guys we watch every Sunday up-close and personal. Aside from the other spectators being obnoxious (a story for another time), we had a blast!

The sun got pretty intense, so we stopped into Bass Pro Shop to wander around and cool off for a little bit. There's a shooting game in there so we had to try it out. We even made it a little interesting by placing a wager on it - whoever got the least amount of had to do pushups in the middle of the store. Check out the vlog from that day to find out who won! (You can probably tell from the thumbnail... but you should watch anyways! ;) )


Last week I took a Creativity in Counseling course as a summer elective. It was a week-long intensive, meaning I went to class for 7 hours a day for 5 days, and then it was all done! (I have the rest of this week to finish the course work, but the class is all done meeting.) I have to say it's one of my favorite classes I've taken... ever.



I went into the class with no real expectations of what it was going to be like, and came out of if with such a better understanding of myself and how to connect with the people around me. If you have the chance to engage in art therapy in any way, I highly recommend it. It has the potential to make you see things in a multitude of different perspectives.

Saturday, Brett and I went out to lunch with his friend Kyle at Szechuan Garden (#chinesebuffetlife) followed by some delicious Black Cow ice cream (which I successfully spilled all over myself when I crunched the end of the cone... typical) and a marathon Mad Men sesh (We're so close to being all caught up with the series! This is one of the only shows we'll sit down and watch together without one of us skipping ahead). It was a solid way to spend a rainy Saturday!

Brett accompanied me and acted as support crew at my race(s) on Sunday (which I will post about later in the week) which was LIFE SAVING because I was basically falling apart as I crossed the finish line at the end of the day. It was good to spend the morning with him because he had to move back to his place closer to his work in the afternoon. We won't see each other until next week at some point which is sad :( but we had a wonderful summer together with lots and lots of memories! <3

Work life will be seriously ramping up soon with trainings, retreats, and beginning of the year prep. I'm going to try to sneak in a beach day or two before retreating inside for the season, and eat as many ice cream cones as I can before the homemade ice cream stands close for the winter. I wish summer would never end, but I guess we have to have the winter (UGH) to appreciate the summer, right?

How have you been spending/how will you be spending your last few weeks of Summer?

Running for Ribs

On Father's Day my parents and I went to Rock n' Ribfest in Merrimack, NH! It's exactly what it sounds like - a festival of BBQing, rib cooking, music, and awesomeness! There was also a 5 mile road race that my mom and I ran together. We weren't aware of it, but it was actually the National Championship for the 5 mile distance, so the place was packed with over 2,000 runners, including many elite runners!

My dad was taking photos at the Start/Finish line and managed to find us in the crowd as we passed by! He acted as our awesome support crew - even though it was the day to celebrate him, he was still working hard to make sure that we had everything we needed to make our race successful. Talk about the best Dad ever, huh?!

The race itself was nice and flat, save for a few hills at the beginning & mid-points, but it was hot with very little shade, so the pavement had us cookin'. We both managed to finish with decent times for the conditions, though! I also saw multiple 9-10 year olds just killin' it on the race course, as well as some super parents passing me while pushing multiple children in strollers. #champs

After the race was over, we had some time to kill before heading into Ribfest and sampling all of the barbeque deliciousness. The whole event was on the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, so we decided to pay the Budweiser Clydesdales a little visit!  

These horses are HUGE but seemed to be very good-natured. I think they're *very* used to attention from people and the snapping of photos, as they appear in commercials and even go on tour every so often! So essentially, we were hanging out with celebrity horses.

We walked around an enjoyed the sunshine and company of our new animal friends for a while longer before finally heading into the much anticipated festival! We went through the gates as soon as they opened, and technically we were still a few minutes out from the cooking from really getting started, so we explored a bit and came across a local high school robotics team showing off their basketball playing robot.

(I wasn't kidding.)

Once the rib chefs put their first racks on the grill, we headed over to grab our lunch. There were lots of different rib joints there from all over the world (including Australia!) competing for the Rock n' Ribfest trophy, so we had a pretty hard time deciding which place we wanted to try.

However, we decided to go with the places that both seemed to have a decent trophy collection: Jack's Downhome Barbeque from Virginia, and Gator BBQ from Naples, Florida!

We got a half rack of ribs from Jack's and a pulled pork sandwich and BBQ chicken from Gator BBQ:

We all sat in the grass, listened to the bands play, and shared the delicious barbeque feast. Both places made awesome food and everything was devoured pretty quickly. I knew that Ribfest was an annual event in NH, but I had no idea it was this awesome! I'll definitely be returning in the future. It was such a gorgeous day and it was awesome getting to spend it with my parents on Father's Day!

I DID IT!!! ING Hartford Marathon 2013 FINISHER!

I can officially say that I've ran & finished a full marathon! I've been training for months for this race (really since I finished playing lacrosse in college), and I'm so happy to say that I've finally conquered this goal! 

I painted my toes the colors of the marathon to get psyched!

The weekend itself was a bit hectic. I took Friday off from work because we had originally planned on leaving in the afternoon to head down, but Nick's classes ended up taking longer than anticipated and there was traffic EVERYWHERE (stupid holiday weekends...), so we didn't end up getting down to Hartford until about 8:40, just in time to pick up our bibs from the expo, which closed at 9! Apparently, they ran out of shirts before we got there, so we had to write down our mailing addresses to be sent to us later. *sigh*

Our hotel was a bit sketchy, but luckily we only spent a grand total of about 8 hours there, 5 of which were spent sleeping. After checking in, we ventured to Bertucci's for a carbo-load dinner of pasta and bread. When we returned we all pinned our bibs to our race-day shirts and set out our outfits & shoes like a bunch of kids excited for the first day of school!

Of course, I had the most colorful outfit :)

We got up before the sun at 5:30AM, did some stretching and fueling, and headed over to Bushnell Park where they had a bunch of race-day festivities. I had my heart set on buying a 26.2 sticker for my car, so I tracked down the merchandise tent and got my hands on one before the race began.

Pre-race photo!

Waiting at the starting line!

The start time snuck up on all three of us! We headed over to the starting line about 10 minutes before the race began. The energy of the crowd was awesome and got us so psyched to start running! Nothing feels better than the anticipation before a big event! It's also great interacting with other runners who are just there for fun and to accomplish personal goals. It's pretty true what they say about running - it's hard to understand unless you're a part of the community. There are so many awesome and amazing individuals in the running world that you can't help but become addicted! It's great to be involved in such an awesome sport & community.

We *officially* got going around 8:15 AM. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for this race - sunny and about 75 degrees. I was a little worried as I tend to attract rain on race days, but everything worked out in the weather department!

The course itself was gorgeous. It took us through the city as well as into nearby East Hartford, a cute residential section of town. The residents of East Hartford were so incredibly supportive and awesome. So many people were out on their lawns cheering, handing out waters and food, holding awesomely hilarious signs, and just genuinely caring about the runners that closed down their streets for the day. We made it a point to thank every person who was cheering us on as we ran by, as well as all of the amazing volunteers along the course. All of the people at the water stops, all of the aid bikers, all of the police detail, and all of the spectators - without them it would have been much tougher to get through all of those miles!

Louie, Nick, and I all stuck together throughout the first half of the marathon. We chatted, danced, and kept each other sane for about 14 miles before we got separated. My legs and feet were sore after about 12 miles, but I didn't REALLY start feeling it until about mile 22. That's when my left hamstring & calf seized right up and basically screamed at me to stop. But I didn't. In fact, I didn't stop running the entire race. I wanted to run a marathon, not walk one, so that's what I did. The only time I stopped to walk was when I got water/Gatorade at the water stops, and as soon as my cup was empty I continued running.

The last 4.2 miles were rough. I was in so much pain that on the verge of tears almost the whole time. I wanted to stop. I wanted to quit. But I kept telling myself Riley, you can do this. You've worked so hard. You're so close. You're almost there. Do it for the ones that can't. Do it for the ones you saw get injured along the way. Finish the race for them, no matter how badly it hurts. I tried to focus on every part of my body that wasn't in pain. Like my hands, or my ears - anything to not think of the waist down. I tried to think of how good it will feel to accomplish the goal I worked so hard for, and how good the weight of that finisher's medal will feel around my neck. Although all of those things sound silly, they actually helped push me through to the end.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:34:20! It felt awesome to hear the announcer say my name as I was coming in under the arch.

All of my results!

I got one of those awesome space blankets you see marathoners get, a water bottle, a little swag bag, but they ran out of finisher's medals before we finished the race. *double sigh* SO frustrating. One of the best parts of running races is to get that medal. It kind of "seals the deal" of completing the race. It was pretty disheartening to find out they had run out, but they said they would place a rush order and mail out finisher's medals to whoever did not receive one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it comes soon! Louie, Nick, and I are already planning on getting together for drinks when our shirts and medals come in, so we can take post-race pictures! (Of course.)

At least I got my sticker to brag about it, right? ;)

This whole experience was extremely positive. There were absolutely times where I wanted to give up, times where I didn't feel like running, and times where I doubted myself, but that feeling of accomplishment at the end of the race was unlike anything I've ever felt before. I'm looking forward to running many more in the future!

Here's a vlog of our adventures in Hartford (as well as a review/rant at the end). This is when the "wound" of not receiving a medal was still fresh and I was still clearly frustrated,  so forgive the negativity!) Hope you enjoy!

July Goals

I've finally returned from my vacation and gotten back into normal life with normal working internet! HOORAY! Here are my goals for the month of July...

I feel like this is a good balance between relaxing summer goals and productive professional and personal goals. Definitely feeling confident about this month!

Last month I only set two goals for myself - to read 2 books and to complete every obstacle at the Superhero Scramble. I completed my reading goal with A Dog's Purpose (review coming tomorrow!) and Whiskey Sour (the first book in an awesome murder mystery series - can't wait to read the others!). I didn't complete every obstacle at the Superhero Scramble, but I can definitely say that I at least attempted all of them and gave them my best shot (more detail here) which I'm proud of. I'd say that my June Goals were a success!

I'm happy to be back blogging again. Things got hectic there for a bit, but a good hectic. I have so much more to blog about, so keep your eyes open for more posts coming this week! :)