about a week ago, my big bro and i decided to run late summer marathon in order to qualify for next year’s boston.   usually i can re-qualify at boston, but since i’ve spent the last year barefoot and pregnant, i haven’t yet ran a qualifying time for next year.   thus the need for a fall marathon.  knowing that boston 2014 will surely be overcrowded, we need to aim to complete the marathon at least 10 minutes faster than our qualifying time to give us an earlier registration period.

normally, a 3:20 marathon would not require too much work for me.   however, just three months ago, i was averaging 12 min miles and 20 miles a week.   i need to run a 7:38 mile for 26.2 miles.  my road to a BQ (boston qualifiying) time is a long one, but i’m up for the challenge.

to add to the challenge, my husband often travels for his job.  this week he is gone for three days and next week he will travel for another three days, leaving me to care for piper.  i’m certainly not complaining since i love spend time with my daughter, but chuck’s travel schedule creates a slightly more complicated training schedule for me.  on days that i know he travels i must either run on the treadmill with piper watching or run with her in a stroller.

yesterday i had a speed workout scheduled, so i opted for a treadmill run since it is more conducive to pace work than pushing a stroller.   thankfully, piper was very content to watch her mom bounce up and down on the treadmill and i was able to squeeze in my workout.

1 mi WU/1 mi CD
8 x 400m with ~0.1m of recovery between each rep
2 x 800m with ~0.1m of recovery
and 2 x 400m at 15% grade (i’m running the mt washington road race so i try to add a little hills to every workout, in addition to my weekly mt sugarloaf repeats)

i should have ran these at or near 6:40/mi pace, i’m still building speed and didn’t want to push too hard.  instead, i ran them all at 7:30/mi.

it’s a long road back to my former fitness level, but i’m committed to getting back to that spot.

i usually don’t run many 5k races, but i have special ties to the JEHH Kringle Candle Chase therefore, i have chosen to run this race since it began in 2011.

although the race is only 3 years old, it has grown to attract over 600 runners to the sleepy little town of bernardston. due to its growth in popularity, the race director added a few new features this year, including chip timing certifying the course with the USATF.

i’m far from racing shape right now but still wanting to participate, i decided to run with my daughter in the jogger stroller. i registered under my daughter’s name, hoping se might win her age group or at least get a tshirt. at registration they gave me a kid’s small cotton tee which was way too big for a 3 month old. thus, my daughter joined the ranks of many veteran runners and started her own personal collection of cotton white tshirts that are too big for her.

today marked the fourth time running with her in the stroller, so i was not sure what to expect. on those previous runs, i would average about 9:00 – 9:20 per mile and my pace would slow considerably if i encountered a hill. therefore, i told myself that i would be happy with a sub 27:00 5k.

i tried to run a mile for a warm up, but the start of the race was delayed and my warm up was about 20 minutes premature. the delay gave me a chance to chat with several running buddies that i haven’t seen in awhile. i lined up toward the back of the pack so that i didn’t hit anyone with the stroller as we took off.

the gun went off and the road was crowded with people. i did my best to steer clear of runners however i clipped the shoes of one runner before i decided to take to the sidewalk to avoid running over anyone else.

the first mile featured a steady, long climb which was a challenge with the stroller. thankfully, it came early in the race and i pushed a little harder. i hit the first mile at 8:27 . since the first mile was mostly uphill and slower, i figured that i might be able to run faster than i expected. the runners thinned out at this point and i had to swerve around people as they slowed and i sped up. i would call out ‘on your left’ as i passed but often runners would have earbuds in their ears and not hear my approach. it was annoying and dangerous. after experiencing this first hand, i resolved that race directors should really consider banning earbuds and strollers from races.

the second mile lost the elevation that i gained in mile 1 so it was faster around 8:00. the last mile was totally flat and i think i covered it in 7:47 or so. the last 0.1 was on a short stretch of gravel road which bounced the stroller around little. i cringed at the thought of piper’s brain rattling around in her skull. thankfully, it was only 0.1 miles and i don’t think we put her chances of getting into an ivy in jeopardy (at least not on this day).

we crossed the finish line and grabbed a bottle of water.  piper slept the entire way.  watch time: 25:13. overall, a very successful first race.

after i run a race, it is customary for me to write a race report.  this year, my boston marathon race report takes on a new meaning.  2013 will always be known as the ‘year of the bombings.’  

boston marathon race report.  

i really shouldn’t have even ran this race.  i only had 9 weeks to go from a 3 mile ‘long’ run to 26.2 miles so I feel like I kind of ‘cheated’ my way in.  i like to approach marathons with seriousness and the intention of PRing but i certainly didn’t approach this year’s Boston with that mindset.  i questioned the purpose of even running, knowing that i would run somewhere between 50 min and 80 min slower than my PR and not even coming close to qualifying for next year. and it would be a hassle to drive into Boston, ask Chuck to care for our daughter while in the city, and then meet up with them after the race.

but, i love Boston.  i love the history, the Wellesley scream tunnel, the bikers cheering at TJ’s parking lot, Heartbreak Hill, the smell of beer on the BC students, the signs that say silly things like ‘if marathons were easy they’d be called your mom’.   so i decided to run simply because i like it.

boston is my hometown race.  i can visualize nearly every mile of the course and i can recall the sights and smells of each town.  i love this race.  marathon monday is my christmas day.  it makes me happy, it makes me feel part of the bigger running community.  i feel closely connected to joanie benoit when i run down boylston and i share k.v. switzer’s battle when i cover the course.

therefore, when i heard the blasts just two blocks away from the finish line i felt personally attacked.  i had just met up with my husband and daughter and we looked at each other in disbelief that the blast could be the result of a bomb.  we saw cops and EMTs running toward the sound of the blasts and we immediately moved away from the blasts.  we were carrying a small child and our first instinct was to protect her from the crowd.

i’ve gone back and forth on what this year’s marathon means.  i often think that people who try to wiggle their way into tragedies are disrespectful to the individuals that were personally affected by the tragedy.  therefore, i’ve been cautious not to overstate my proximity to the event.   on one hand, i went back to work on tuesday without shrapnel in my legs so i wasn’t *really* affected by the bombing.  on the other hand, my shoes crossed the finish line that exploded a mere twenty minutes after i touched it.  i spent hours worrying about numerous friends that were still on the course until we heard they were ok.

it has been hard for me to process this event.    i’ve blamed myself for putting my 10 wk old daughter so close to a bomb because i selfishly wanted to run a stupid race.  i’ve also been filled with pride that i was part of the historic race and that i belong to a tight-knit community of determined runners.

the bombings have also robbed many runners from their accomplishment.  many marathoners finished their first boston or set a new PR.  both of these accomplishments were hard-fought and  won, but are overshadowed by the news headlines of the attack.  we feel guilty for thinking about the actual ‘running’ of the event because it takes the emphasis away from the victims that lost lives and limb that day.

regardless, i am still proud to have ran boston 2013 for many reasons.  i am proud that i was able to complete a marathon just 10 weeks after giving birth.  i am proud to say that i have kept my identity as a runner and individual in addition to becoming a devoted mother.  above all, i am proud to be a boston marathoner.  

i learned early in my college career that cramming doesn’t really work.   thanks to prof kline, i realized that you cannot learn a semester’s worth of IRS code in one night before a final, even if that night includes liters of mtn dew and 10 hrs at the library.

yet, in the last few weeks, i’ve decided to ‘cram’ for the boston marathon.

my daughter was born a mere 10 weeks ago.  i spent a week in the hospital recovering from that event before i could resume running again.   i hadn’t run more than 10 miles since august.  knowing that this is a crazy task to undertake, i still thought i could stretch out my long run to 20 miles in just 9 weeks in order to run my 4th boston marathon in a row.

i told myself if i could run 20 miles a week before the marathon, i would allow myself to run the race.  i was able to run 20 miles last saturday.

even though i’m more than 10 years away from the college scene, this week i’m mimicking the bad habits of a college freshman by cramming for the boston marathon.  i don’t expect to get an ‘A’ and i don’t deserve one because i haven’t put in the work.  however, i’ll be happy to just to participate on race day.

let’s just pretend  i’m ‘auditing’ this class for the experience and not getting a grade.

when i crossed the finish line of the 2010 boston marathon, i looked at two women next to me and i asked them a question as we walked through the finishers’ chute:  ”what’s more painful:  running a marathon or giving birth?”

they both answered quickly, “oh, this is.  running a marathon is way harder.”

they lied.

on january 31, 2013 chuck and i welcomed our little daughter into this world.  i had a relatively easy labor and delivery, yet it was still the most exhausting experience in my life.  i started having contractions at 9am on january 30, but they didn’t really hurt until 3pm that afternoon.  however, that pain continued until 2:40am.  i’ve never ran a marathon that lasted 12 hours.  i’ve also never been so sore the day after a marathon that i could only muster a little shuffle around the birthing center.

however, like a marathon, within a few days after giving birth i completely forgot about any pain i experienced and only remembered the feeling i felt after the event.  joy.  pride.  excitement.

i’ve done many cool things in my life:  hiked in the remote backcountry of alaska, climbed mt mckinley, ran marathons, visited many countries.  however, giving birth to a beautiful little girl is definitely the coolest thing i’ve ever done.

i look forward to the many adventures we will together.

now that i’m 36 weeks pregnant, running is rather difficult.   i try to run at least 3 miles a day, but my joints are not used to carrying the extra weight and i am often sore for hours after my easy little run.  additionally, my body is producing the hormone relaxin, which helps joints flex and expand, which is very helpful when the body needs to give birth but it isn’t very helpful for running.

thankfully, we’ve had some snow in the last few weeks and i have been able to snowshoe/run/jog/walk the snow covered trails of nearby mt toby.  although running on snow can be slow and difficult, the snow provides enough shock absorbency to ease the blow of my extra weight on my ‘loose joints’.

i’ve taken the dog out for a few adventures on mt toby and we’ve had fun playing on the beautiful snowy trails.

even though i’m frustrated that i can’t run like i normally do, i am taking the time to enjoy hikes in my local area that i might not have otherwise explored.