I Want to Run For Boston in 2014!

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter or received and email from me or read this post about my upcoming race plans, you'll know that I recently entered a contest sponsored by PowerBar for a chance to run in the 2014 Boston Marathon.

My Chicago Marathon time was Boston Qualifying, but registration for 2014 was already filled.  This contest is for people who have a valid qualifying time, but did not get in.

Please click this link to my entry and VOTE! (You will have to log in to Facebook.)  You can vote once a day and please please do (including TODAY. Right now! I need as many votes as I can get.) Facebook voting is open through 11/10 and this is what determines the top 10 entries...so that is 6 days you can vote!!

Then, a panel of judges will select the top 4 stories to win entry to the 2014 Boston Marathon, as well as a bunch of free swag - a customized training plan, VIP race day experience, a GPS watch, athletic gear, etc.  The other 6 in the top 10 that don't win entry to the race also get a GPS watch and athletic gear...so let's prove I'm super popular and get me into that top 10!!

VOTE HERE

Here is the exact story that I submitted to the contest:

COMEBACK
 
During my final year of college, I ran the 2010 Columbus Marathon in 3:28:55. I was pumped to have qualified for Boston – and in my first marathon nonetheless. I distinctly remember sitting in the library debating whether to register and deciding against it. A few days later I had a change of heart, but it was too late; the Boston Marathon was full. My next chance was the 2011 Chicago Marathon.

But that summer I started working full-time as a CPA at a Big 4 accounting firm. I had limited time and energy to train, which resulted in a disappointing 3:58:23 – significantly slower than my Columbus time and a far cry from my BQ standard. I thought I would never qualify for Boston again. I was physically out of shape and mentally done, too. Running was not my “thing” anymore, and I needed to accept that.

But this past January, my best friend convinced me to run the Chicago Marathon again. I thought that just maybe, with her help, I could get myself up to speed (quite literally). I had set-backs and by no means followed my training plan exactly, but I trained better than ever. By September, I knew a PR was attainable (Yasso 800s in 3:17!), but I was still nervous to run another marathon. On race day, I finished in 3:23:15, and proved that I am stronger than I think. My personal comeback felt amazing, and I want to be there for Boston’s comeback. 

And the link again ---> VOTE FOR COLLEEN!!

Chicago Marathon Celebration & Recovery

I think this will be my last of my Chicago Marathon series of posts.  (You can read about the expo and pasta party, RACE RECAP, my playlist, and my fans.)

The post-marathon celebration started pretty much as soon as I crossed the finish line.  As I'm pretty sure I mentioned in my playlist post, putting on Teenage Dream was my first order of business after finishing.  Then I just wanted to dance because I was happy, but I thought these other fatigued strangers would think I'm weird and I guess the movement I considered dancing after 26.2 miles was a bit funky because a few of the finish line workers asked if I was OK.

I made it though most of the chute area, collecting my free beverages (water, Gatorade protein shake, beer) and found Mac.  We briefed each other on our races and tried to spot Angela, but we must have missed her because we when finally got hold of her, she was already at gear check.  I pretty much "ran" there to meet her.  It was obviously more of a shuffle, but I was cruising compared to everyone else because I wanted to be reunited with her after separating around mile 15.

After reuniting with all our fans and hanging out in the park for awhile, it was time to head home for a necessary shower.  I was surprisingly mobile and not having as hard of a time getting to the car parked really far away as I did last time I ran Chicago.

I went straight to my bed after showering, but I couldn't fall asleep.  "Exercise gives you endorphins; Endorphins make you happy." (Legally Blonde)  A few phone calls later and I was at Nookie's with the Conlons for a 4pm champagne brunch.

Yup, that's the cheap stuff.  After the brunch dinner, I was tired but we had more celebrating to do.  Mac, Drew, Michael, and Angela came over and we sat around, ate, drank a little, talked about the marathon, etc.  Then we went to meet up with the Conlons again at Benchmark.  We did do a shot there to celebrate, but other than that I think we were all pretty much wiped out and just sat at the table and ate tots with ranch...probably one of the most amazing combos ever.

After making it out of bed successfully without falling over on Monday, I started the day off with Angela at Starbucks, or should I say "Asha."

Then we headed to Fleet Feet.  I actually don't remember why we went to Fleet Feet - I think we just had some time to kill - and found they had a bunch of the official Chicago Marathon gear, so we each bought a post-marathon gift for ourselves.

Angela had to head back to St. Louis, but Michael and Drew were still in town, so we met up and went to Moe's for a Mexican lunch and did a lot of walking.  Fleet Feet had free medal engraving so we dropped our medals off there and then sat very lethargically in Starbucks for awhile.  After they left that afternoon, I lounged for awhile and ordered myself a small Lou's pizza (and no, I didn't eat all of it; I had leftovers for lunch and dinner the next day!)

And for the recovery.....

I was SORE until Wednesday.  I considered going to a spinning class on Thursday, but decided I was going to take full advantage of the "I just ran a marathon and need time off" excuse to not work out while I could.

I did short runs of 3 miles each on Saturday and Sunday mornings...and had a fun full day of tailgating and football at Notre Dame with Catherine & friends.

Even though I love UD and the Flyers, it was fun to tailgate for a real college football team.

My Chicago Marathon Super Fans

I remind my family quite frequently that I had nobody watching me in my very first marathon in Columbus of 2010.  My parents (and all the other aunts and uncles) had a 50th wedding anniversary party to go to that weekend and Columbus is about a 6 hour drive from Chicago.

But they all made up for it at this year's Chicago Marathon!  I didn't expect so many family members to come, but my family sure does love running.  (We even have our own marathon, 2 years strong.)

I'm not 100% sure, but I think they all planned to wear red on purpose.  I knew to look for my family around mile 4.5 first and was told Aunt Mary Ellen would have a red Elmo balloon.  Sure enough, I spotted them all.  I hope they weren't too bored while waiting, but it seems like that got some good family photos in the meantime.  (And obviously they didn't have to wait too long since I was RIGHT behind the Kenyans, duh.)

 They all had really great signs too!

Besides my family, I also had a lot of friends come out and cheer too!  Catherine and Matt were at miles 3.5 and 16.5.

Wondering what a TIGER BODYSLAM is?  Catherine's main track event in high school was the 2 mile race.  If you've ever been to a track meet, distance events aren't nearly as fun to watch as sprints and given the longer distance, the field of competition is pretty spread out.  A lot of times, the slower runners end up getting lapped by the faster runners.  To take care of this problem, at one meet the 2 mile race was called "Tiger takes the Tail" where the runner in last place after each lap of the 2 mile race would be stopped and not allowed to finish the race.

So basically, we decided that for this to happen, the tiger mascot person would body slam the person in last place and not let them finish. I'm glad I didn't get tiger bodyslammed during the marathon.

Steph and Danny were around mile 17-18 I think?  I don't remember that clearly, but Steph was jumping up and down with her sign.

Christina and Jim were around mile 6 with a big pirate balloon and n awesome sign that said "Your feet hurt because you're kickin' butt!"

I tried to remember other good signs, but my brain was kind of fried while running.  One said "Run quietly, I'm hungover" and then all the standard ones like "Worst Parade Ever."

But back to my fans...

I think the most mobile group of fans was Uncle Ron, Uncle Rob, and Jessica.  They were at 16, 18, and 20...as well as the earlier miles 4 and 10.  They used a car, which proved a better strategy than the other group who walked and barely missed me at 17.

Another perk of having fans at the race is that they can take pictures and I don't have to pay for the professional ones if I wanted a picture.  However, this does not improve the quality of how I look while I run.

I really loved my headband...I don't know if I can give enough plugs for how awesome those Sweaty Bands work to hold my hair back and are also glittery and thus, awesome.

I also spotted a few other people I knew along the course which was good to see.  And of course, the other 1.7 million strangers were great to see as well.  So thank you to everyone who was able to come out and cheer!

And also thank you to my fans who were not physically there, but texted me throughout the days leading up to the race and afterwards.  Some of my friends even made signs, took pictures of themselves holding the signs, and then mailed me the pictures.  :)

The Day Before - Expo & Pasta Party

This past Saturday, the day before the Chicago Marathon, was filled with a lot of fun, excitement, and nervousness.  Angela, Olivia, and I headed downtown to meet Michael, Drew, Patrick, and Josh to take the free shuttle bus to the Expo at McCormick Place.  Right when we got inside, we ran into Carly and took a group picture!

After getting our bib numbers and t-shirts, we all spent some time exploring, grabbing free samples, shopping, signing the #OWNCHICAGO wall.  We also met up briefly with Mac, Kevin, and Jason.  AND some fellow UDXC alum, Kelly and Allie were working the Sweaty Bands booth, so we got to pause for a picture with them.  I'm glad I have so many running friends  :)

There were about a million gazillion people at the Expo, so it was hard to move and keep track of everyone that we came with.  But eventually, we all met up and made our way back home on the shuttle.

Some of the free stuff I got included: a cowbell, a poster, sunglasses, samples of various energy chews and drinks, and a water bottle.  Angela and I also teamed up and bought 2 pairs of running socks each because they were buy 3, get 1 free.

By about 3pm however, I was nowhere near as excited and energetic as I was a few hour earlier.  I think all the noise and chaos of the Expo got to me and gave me a killer headache.  I got back to my apartment and had about an hour before people would be over for the pasta party.  I needed to clean up a little more and get ready, but instead I just sat in the dark and tried to make the headache go away.  I tried to eat some peanut butter on toast, but threw that up within 15 minutes and then threw up again right after my parents arrived to help set up.

My mom thinks I just made myself really nervous and worked up over the whole event, which is probably true.  But people started to arrive, so I kept taking Tylenol and tried to help set up and mingle.  I couldn't eat much of the pasta, but bread seemed to be good.  And I had made a pumpkin cake (pumpkin bread, but baked in a cake pan and covered in chocolate frosting) that I was able to eat.

So that is the reason I was so hungry by the time I got to the starting line and needed to eat half of a bagel during the marathon.  I did eat a bowl of Smart Start and half pack of GU Chomps the morning of the race, but that wasn't doing the job.

I was glad so many friends were able to come - work friends, running friends, Dayton friends.  And especially thanks to my parents for buying/bringing all the food!...even though my dad was not having fun hanging out with a bunch of 20-somethings.

Other attendees not pictured: Mom and Dad, Mac, his parents, Rachelle, and Christopher

So it was a busy, nerve-wrecking day.  I was sure I was going to wake up Sunday with the same horrible headache and not be able to run well because of it.  But I kept downing the Tylenol, was able to get to sleep around 9pm or so, and woke up in the morning feeling great!

My Chicago Marathon Playlist

Here is my Chicago Marathon Playlist in the exact order that I listened to the songs.  I know this exact order because I did not have it on shuffle...which was fine at the beginning but when I ran into 8 straight Shania Twain songs during my hardest miles, I probably should've just switched to shuffle.  But I did not.  I think a lot of the time I wasn't even focused on the music anymore so I didn't notice as much.

Teenage Dream

The New Workout Plan

People Like Us

It's Time

Here's To Never Growing Up

I'mma Shine

Jai Ho

Yo Te Esperare

Roar

Wake Me Up

The Phoenix

Dynamite

Gangnam Style

Escape

The Bad Touch

Wired to the T

Club Can't Handle Me

American Girl

Cecilia

The Fox

At this point I was about 10 miles in, running through Old Town.
  

Sandstorm

Stacy's Mom

Hey Julie

The Middle

Sweetness

Bleed American

The Great Escape

Love Drunk

Eye of the Tiger

Hold On

Then came my Shania miles.  And Celine Dion.  Canada produces great singers.
 

Man! I Feel Like A Woman!

Any Man of Mine

That Don't Impress Me Much

Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under

Honey, I'm Home

Up!

Love Gets Me Every Time

Don't Be Stupid

It's All Coming Back to Me Now

I'm Alive

Ready to Run

Ready to Run

Yes, Ready to Run came on twice in a row...must have accidentally added it twice, and didn't bother to switch it.
 

The Rockafeller Skank

Footloose

Tubthumping

Shake It

Sk8ter Boi

YMCA

The YMCA was a great idea even though I was not gonna waste energy doing the arm motions while running.  I do regret the fact that the Macarena didn't make it on my playlist.
 

So What

Raise Your Glass

Hollaback Girl

4 My People

When I Grow Up

If I Had You

And then I finished.  I still had a few more songs on the playlist that I never got to:

Bottoms Up

That's My Kinda Night

Cruise

Aw Naw

See You Again

Five Minutes to Midnight

Hakuna Matada

It means no worries.
 

I Made It

Up All Night

I Want You

Chelsea Dagger

Who Let the Dogs Out

Human

All the Small Things

Sexy and I Know It

Rollout

Yeah

Ghostbusters

Born to Fly

Down

I'm a little upset I didn't get to listen to a few of these because some were specifically suggested to me and are great songs that would've been awesome. 

I tried to put Teenage Dream on again when I got to the last 300m but I couldn't quite get the buttons pressed anD decided just to finish with what was on.  And then I crossed the line, stopped my watch, put on Teenage Dream, and wished someone would dance with me.

But you live and you learn and now I know where I should improve my playlist for my next race.

Race Recap: CHICAGO MARATHON 2013

Well, the Chicago Marathon is over!  I have so much to say about it and don't know where to start, so this will probably end up a little scattered, but I'll do my best.  And I'll also probably have a post every day this week on various events of race weekend (the expo, the pasta party, the recovery, etc.) but I'll try to keep this one to the actual race recap.

Summary/spoiler alert: I finished in 3:23:15!  A PR by close to 6 minutes and Boston Qualifier!

My parents dropped off Angela, Olivia, and I as close as they could to the starting area and we made our way through the security checkpoints.  The weather turned out to be absolutely perfect for marathon running, but the morning was rather chilly.  We were wearing clothes that we could discard at the start line and never see again - to be donated to a homeless shelter in Chicago.  Angela and I discarded our clothes right before entering the corral and a man with a vest that said "Clothing Donations" was on his walkie talkie saying "we are going to need way more bins."  There were mountains of sweatpants and sweatshirts all around.

We also waited in a really long porta-potty line...but glad we did so before the race.  Once we got settled in a spot in the corral, it was time to go within about 5-10 minutes.

The first 8 miles of the race flew by.  It was definitely the easiest/most fun hour-ish of running I've ever done.  Our goal was to start at 8 minute pace for 4 miles and then pick it up to 7:30-7:40.  I don't remember splits exactly, but I think the first mile was 7:49 so we said we could ease up a bit.  The problem was that we were stuck behind the 3:30 pace group which was huge and taking up a lot of space all running together.  So over the next 3 miles, we were still doing about 7:45-7:50 working our way up and around that 3:30 group, but still not trying to go too fast.

We saw so many people throughout the course - the first being Catherine and Matt around mile 3.  I almost missed them but luckily they saw us and called out...and I heard them over my awesome playlist of music which will be a whole separate post because obviously you need to know exactly what I listened to for 26.2 miles.

 

I think I could also write a decent amount on all my spectators and signs, so I will save that for later, but the important thing right now is that I saw my family around mile 4.5 for the first time and I was STARVING (I'll explain why when I write about the pasta party...do you like all my cliffhangers?) so I yelled to my mom to buy me a bagel.

Sure enough, when I saw them again around mile 11, my dad had the bagel for me so I grabbed half and ate it while running.  I took water at every water stop, and Gatorade at I think only 2 during the first half and every station the 2nd half.  Apparently when you lose a lot of sodium, your body essentially starts producing salt, so I had a white ring around my face when I finished.  I also took GU Energy Gel 3 times throughout the race - around miles 9, 16, and 22.

Angela and I didn't talk much throughout the race, but when we did, the conversation went like this:

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:32"

"We should slow down a little and save it for later"

"Yeah, we should"

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:26"

"We should slow down"

"Yeah, we should"

*Pass a mile marker*

"7:34"

"This is comfortable, but we should maybe slow down a little more"

"Yeah, we should"

But we did not slow down.  I personally am glad we did not...hopefully Angela feels OK about it.  I know it is best to run negative or even splits (or even slightly positive splits at the marathon distance since negative/even splits are extremely difficult at that distance), but I also knew that by the time we were at mile 9, I needed to just go with it while I felt good.  And I did feel really good.  Angela decided to ease up a little and dropped back from me around mile 15-16.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto)

Around mile 19, Mac magically appeared.  I was very surprised because he had passed Angela and I around mile 10, but apparently he made a bathroom pit stop somewhere along the way.  He and I ran together for about the next 2 miles until he started to fade back a little.

I was actually pleasantly surprised with how even my pacing was for all of the race.  Yes, I died off the last 10k, but not nearly as much as I could have (or did during my previous marathons).  I ran it pretty exactly according to my plan.  Since I knew I wanted to beat my time from the Columbus Marathon in 2010 and I knew my splits from that race at the 10k, half, and 20 mile marks, that's what I was comparing myself to.  I was 1:40 ahead of pace at the 10k, which worried me a little because I was afraid maybe we did go out a little too fast.  But actually, I remember thinking I was only 40 seconds ahead...not a minute and 40 seconds.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto) 

And it's a good thing I did think that because at the half, I was 58 seconds ahead of my first half of Columbus.  And knowing myself, if I would've thought that I went from being 1:40 ahead of pace to only 0:58 ahead of pace, that might've mentally screwed me up a bit...but what you don't know can't hurt you.

After we hit the halfway mark, my plan was just to make it to 20 as fast as I could, knowing that no matter what, the last 10k was going to be miserable.  I wanted to/thought I could be at mile 20 between 2:31 and 2:34.  My brain was shut down at this time, but I think I remember being there right around 2:32:00 - 2:32:30, which was 2 to 2 and a half minutes ahead of my Columbus pace.  I didn't mentally put that split into my head though because I thought they recorded a 20 mile split with the chip so I figured I'd look later, but I guess not.

(professional photo by MarathonFoto)

Where I started to really struggle was around mile 18.  I knew I had about an hour or so to go and knew I could do it, but that's where I did start to experience some mental doubt in how fast I could realistically do those last 8 miles...I went from feeling pretty awesome to not so great pretty darn quickly.  I made the decision to walk through the next water stop I saw and that I'd walk through each one after that, which is also exactly what I did in Columbus.

So I would run all the way to the very last Gatorade person at each water station, take that cup, and start walking while I drank it and then take one of the very first cups of water, drink what I could, and make myself start running.  I imagine each stop was about 30 seconds, but really I had no concept of time.  I once again surprised myself with the fact that I really did make myself start running ASAP after drinking my liquids.

The last mile was pretty much the worst thing ever, especially "Mt. Roosevelt," the small hill within in the final 400 meters of the course. By this point I really knew I was going to finish in a great time though, so that made me push throug that final mile. And I saw Aunt Bernadette  saying "you're doing it!" Because she knew I would PR.

And then I finished!!

 (professional photo by MarathonFoto)

So I have a lot more details I could share and want to share, but those will come later this week because I've done enough rambling for now.  Basically, the race went as perfect as it could have and my pacing was better (more even...not quite as much dying at the end) than I could've ever expected from myself.

It's Chicago Marathon Weekend!

It's finally Chicago Marathon weekend!!

I've been spotting these signs around the city:

Angela and I talked last night about everything marathon-related.  We went through exactly what we have packed (or what she has packed and I have set aside in my bedroom), our pacing strategy, when we will take GU, etc.

I did really easy 3-4 mile runs on Wednesday and Thursday (and I had done 4.5 on the treadmill on Monday).  I was downtown for my run yesterday because I decided to run straight from the office after work, so I ran over to Grant Park to look at some of the marathon preparation already going on.  I decided to take some tourist photos.

After the run, I quickly showered back at work and walked to Old St. Pat's Church for the Crossroads Runners pasta party!

The food was awesome, so I had to have 2 plates.  Luckily, pasta and bread are my 2 favorite foods.  And tomorrow night I'm hosting a pasta/sign-making party for my friends and family that will be running or coming out to cheer us on!


Today is a rest day and tomorrow I'll do a super easy 2 mile shake-out run right when I wake up.  And then go to the EXPO!  That's one of my favorite parts of races.  Hopefully I won't spend too much money there...

The weather forecast for Sunday is looking really good for marathon running!!  High of 65 during the day, so probably around mid-50s at the start.  And NO RAIN...if the weather people are correct, which isn't always the case.

I'll be pretty busy all weekend, but I'm sure I'll be posting on Facebook and Twitter!  And tomorrow, I'll have a guest post from Mac with his thoughts on training for the Chicago Marathon.

Happy Friday!!

A Look Back at My First 2 Marathons

With the Chicago Marathon coming up IN 4 DAYS, I decided I should write a little about the 2 other marathons I have finished.

Columbus Marathon 2010:

Alex and I decided during the spring of our senior year at UD that we would train for the Columbus Marathon in October.  We were set to be roommates during our 5th year and thought this would be a good way to keep in shape since we wouldn't be running for UD that year.

(I know, I've already had this picture on the blog, but I think it's one of our best.)

I was coming back from an injury that had me confined to cross training during the spring, but slowly began to build up mileage throughout June and July.  By the time I was back at UD in mid-August, I was having no pain while running and was so happy to be back on campus and able to run with Alex and the younger UDXC girls.

Alex and I talked about running and the Columbus Marathon A LOT.  It was the first marathon for both of us, so it was a great learning experience.  I think one of my favorite discussions was about what form of energy supplements to take while running - the gu, the gummies, etc.

Here were my race splits:

I ran the race exactly as I planned - start at 8 minute pace for the first 5 miles, pick it up for as long as I can, and then I drastically slowed down over the last 10K.  I remember miles 6-18 were all between 7:15 and 7:35 and I remember thinking that the half marathon in the middle of my marathon would've been right on a PR.

Terrible picture, but it's the only one I have.  I had no race spectators so I had to ask a random lady to take my picture after I finished.  I was super pumped to have finished my first marathon in a time that was significantly under the BQ time - 3:28:55.

Chicago Marathon 2011:

I registered for the Chicago Marathon in February during my 5th year at UD.  I had been a spectator at the Chicago Marathon every year since I was a junior in high school when my cross country team volunteered at a Gatorade station along the course and really wanted to run it.

My training was decent in the earlier part of the summer...and then I started a public accounting job.  The longest run I got in during that summer was 17 miles on a Saturday morning in mid-August.  And then I went to work for a solid 14 hours that day.  I got very sick one day about a week later at the end of August due to being over-worked and after that, I think I didn't run at all for a solid 2-3 weeks.  Then I tried to get in a few more runs, but by that time, it was too late to get in any real training.  Needless to say, I was not prepared for the race and had gained about 10 pounds in just a few months due to the stresses of my job and minimal exercise.

I remember thinking the first few miles were OK, but by the time I started heading back south from Wrigley, so about 6 miles in, I could tell it was going to be a rough day.  From these splits though it looks like my first half was fairly decent...then I crashed and burned.  My mom told me I looked a lot better when they saw me around mile 18 than I did around mile 10.  I think by that point I knew I wasn't going to finish in any great time, so I just did what I could to finish and experience the race.

(sign made by Rachelle)

I had lots of spectators at this one - Mom & Dad, Catherine (Matt was running too!), Rachelle, Bailey, Jim & his sister, and a few aunts, uncles, and cousins (Aunt Bernadette & Uncle Rob were running too).  The best part though was that right when I finished, I crossed the line and almost fell over in Christina.  She told me she would be working the finish line (she was a PT student at the time) to help runners and luckily I found her right away!  And then the worst part of the day...walking a gazillion miles from Grant Park to wherever the car was parked.

And now I will have even more spectators at this year's Chicago Marathon!!

M&M's and FaceTime

It's finally marathon week!!  There are so many mixed emotions about this week going on in my head right now.  I'd say mostly excited and nervous.

 

(BTW, that's probably the worst part of the course - when you run over the bridge on those metal grates.)

I'm excited because I know it will be a fun weekend - especially going to the expo on Saturday and I am hosting a pasta party in the afternoon/evening for some friends and family.  Angela and I have been talking even more recently about our plans for the weekend and the race and that always makes me very excited!  We have our awesome matching outfits, of course.  And we are going to try to each make the exact same playlist to listen to while we run.  I consider making playlists to be one of my better life skills.  But this also means I need to get that iPod situation figured out.  So I'm not sure yet if it will work out, but it's an awesome idea.

But obviously I am nervous also.  I am not always mentally tough during races, especially in the last half when I start to feel worse.  But this is why I'm glad I'll have Angela with me.  We'll try to make it as fun as possible and push each other to finish the race as fast as we can.  Ideally, that will be faster than my time from the Columbus Marathon 2 years ago - 3:28:55 - but I would also be happy just to qualify for Boston again, which would mean under 3:35.

I was just doing my daily Google News reading and came across an article about the marathon with this picture:

And now I know what my next goal is after this marathon.  To run another marathon dressed as an M&M.  Because I definitely have a yellow M&M Halloween costume from a long time ago (as long as my mom didn't get rid of it like she did with the BEST Halloween costume ever - but that's a story for another time...like in a few weeks when it's Halloween).  My roommate Lauren and I really love M&M's and go through bags of them way too quickly.  And when I go to my parents' house there are always little dishes of M&M's scattered throughout the house.  Thus, this happens and I tweet about it:

And now for a recap of my runs the past few days:

Friday - 4 Miles

Nothing too special...just ran on the lakefront after work.  It was so so humid out so that was not fun.

Sunday - 8.5 Miles

Now this is the type of running weather I love.  It was about 55-60 degrees at 9am when I left to do a long run.  This was way way shorter than my recent long runs!!  I was at my parent's house in the suburbs and was glad to do a run out there since almost all of my runs have been on the lakefront and that just gets boring after awhile.  I set out to do 8-10 miles, but didn't even bring a watch, so I was going completely on estimates.  I knew once I got to the YMCA that was about 2 miles, but after that I did not have a super accurate idea of how far I was, so I finished the run and mapped it at 8.5 miles which I was happy with.  I have no idea on pace, but I think it was decent.  I just tried to make it as relaxing as possible to enjoy it and not get stressed.

Total for last week: 21 Miles

Monday - 4.5 Miles

I worked until about 7:30pm and then went straight down to the gym in my work building to run on the treadmill.  Nobody else was in there (obviously - people are only ever in there before 8, at lunchtime, and right at 5) so I put my music on without headphones.  I am such a rebel.  Then I decided that was boring, so I called Grace on FaceTime.  And then I called Nick and he kept me distracted for about 2 miles.

Then I called my mom on FaceTime and she kept me occupied for the rest of the run.  This was fun to do and only slightly awkward to talk like this while I ran.  So I don't know how often I'll be running on a treadmill when nobody else is in the gym, but when I am, FaceTime would be a nice way to pass the time.  So if anyone wants to sit on their couch and chat with me/watch me run, let me know.  I did 4.5 miles at 8:30 pace so it was really relaxed and my legs feel great today.  I just need to keep them like this for the next 5 days.

What is your favorite candy? - I have a lot but M&M's are definitely up top.

What do you do to pass the time on the treadmill?

Help Support the Crossroads Runners!

As you might know, I'm running the 2013 Chicago Marathon through the Old St. Patrick's Church Crossroads Runners charity program!  There are over 90 team members, each with a goal to raise at least $1,000!  (And many have already raised way more than their goal.) That's big big money!

 
I decided to run through the group this past January after going to Mass at Old St. Pat's throughout the prior couple months.  I believe my mom had told me she knew someone who did it and then it was mentioned at mass one week, so I went to the information session.  I was already planning to tackle the Chicago Marathon anyways, so why not do it for a good cause?

AND I thought it would be super cool to make some new friends.  Especially new running friends because usually I just run solo.  By signing up for this charity group, I was able to do Coach Brendan's Chicago Marathon training group - which included weekly Saturday morning long runs and his training plan.  I haven't really stuck to his plan, but I did go to a few of the group runs and will be joining them tomorrow morning for our longest training run yet!!

I unfortunately have not yet reached my fundraising goal of $1,000.  Please help me out!  But really, it's not me that you're helping - it's all the people that will benefit from the above programs.  TAX DEDUCTIBLE.  I know, I'm a CPA.

Donate to Old St. Pat's Crossroads Runners!!

Crossroads Runners is one of Old St. Patrick's outward expressions of living our faith through serving  those in need in our city, our country, and across the globe.  We are looking forward to achieving much more than just finishing the race.  Together we can assist our neighbors who desperately need help.

Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated and to everyone who will!  And of course to everyone who has already supported my marathon training adventures in other ways...which you are doing just by reading this post.  Having  people that care to read about my training (and other nonsense) is good enough for me.  :)