Let’s be real life is always a balancing act right? Kids, work, working out, volunteering, time for your spouse, the house, laundry, more laundry. As the years go on the balancing changes. For example, when the boys were young and I was a stay home mom- it was balancing finding time to shower and make dinner with feedings, diaper changes and nap schedules. Then they got a little bit older and it was balancing having two kids instead of one. Trying to make their schedules mesh. Then one starts school, one is home and you are doing all the mommy and me activities. You get the idea as years pass by we are just changing the things that are always at a delicate balance. I laugh because Covid has just made the balance like a see saw. Every time we think we are in a good place there’s some sort of monkey wrench thrown into the mix.
Last year for the first time in my years as a mother both of my children were in school full time for the very first time. I had this grand plan for a life of luxury. I would drop them off, have time during the day to train for my marathon, read, write. I laugh, because within moments of them both being in school I started subbing basically full time at school. Let’s be real, I’m not really the take it easy, have a lot of time on your hands kind of person, so this wasn’t a huge surprise. We figured out the balance and it worked out well. I was happy to be at school with the boys and they were happy to have me there. I learned a lot about myself and the fact that I was really ready to go back to work.
Fast forward to July of 2021. Back to work full time- for real. I was a host of emotions- worried that I couldn’t truly find the balance, worried that I couldn’t remain the mom that I wanted to be to the boys. We quickly got into our summer routine and realized…this will work! Not only would it work, it was really important for the boys to see me doing something beyond being their mom. I’m not for one moment saying being a mom isn’t enough. Quite honestly, if you are blessed to be a mom I consider it the number one and most important “job.” That said, it was healthy for them to see me working on projects and doing other things. Once I got settled I realized how much I needed this for me too. So I worked on getting acclimated. The boys enjoyed camp and we got into a routine- a balance so to speak.
Then the balance was thrown out of whack…my dad died. While he had been battling Alzheimer’s for years, this sudden decline and death seemingly came out of no where. Understandably so the balance that we were just holding onto got undone. It would have remained undone but for the fact that school was starting as was marathon training. Time to kick it into high gear when all I wanted to do was nothing at all.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that marathon training began the week after my dad’s funeral. The reason I caught the marathon bug was to fundraise for the Alzheimer’s Association. He was my why for doing this big scary thing called running the NYC Marathon. The week following his funeral I couldn’t have been less motivated to lace up my shoes and run, but I’m a stickler for following the training plan. So in a good way it forced me to get my butt in gear, lace up my shoes and put one foot in front of the other.
Shortly thereafter would come the true test- back to school madness was about to begin. I think we can all agree that September is a crazy month. Everyone is getting back into routine and there are so many new things- new activities, back to school night, etc. etc. Throw into the mix that I had several programs for work in addition to the Jewish holidays along with the back to school madness/marathon training. Oh my goodness- it was a blur!! By the end of each day I am completely exhausted and falling asleep most days when the boys go to bed. But like always, we somehow found the balance and made it work. We still found the time for books and snuggles and movies. We found the time to discuss, highs, lows and buffalos each day. The boys found ways to help me get ready for events at work and we enjoyed more than one golf cart ride together. Was it easy? Heck no. Would I trade it for the world? Also no. Someone recently asked me how I was really doing regarding my dad. The truth is, there are good days and bad days. There are moments that set me off for no reason. I think the crazy schedule and being busy helped. He wouldn’t want me to be sad. He was always hustling and working hard. He’d be happy to know that I am too.
At the end of the day- I couldn’t be happier with my new job or the fact that I get to work where the boys go to school. I joined an amazingly supportive community, where family still comes first. I work hard, mom hard and run hard everyday. All while finding time to read for pleasure- my other guilty pleasure. We’ve found our balance…for now! Until something changes and we work to find the balance again!
Back in 2019 my first “long” race was the Charles Street 12, aka Chuck12. I love the idea of the race starting in Towson, not far from where I used to work, going past the hospital that I delivered the boys, continuing past where I went to law school and ultimately finishing at Under Armour Headquarter in Baltimore City. When I ran this race two years ago it was going to be my longest race to date and I didn’t really know what to expect. But when I toed the line this year, I’ve run a variety of half marathons and a virtual marathon. Plus, there’s nothing like having a real sense of the course. I wasn’t a newbie runner- yet still had that nervous energy as we got started. Even with Chuck 12 being my ultimate favorite race, I almost didn’t go. Last week was crazy- start of school, Jackson’s birthday, big event at work, all on the heels of a long month following my father’s death. But this was a real life racing opportunity, how could I pass it up?
I’m not going to lie, I was super sad and frustrated when racing got “covid cancelled” for much of 2020 and into 2021. I missed the opportunity to have a race setting push me to run my very best and test my training. I ran all the virtual races and it was just not the same. It took seemingly forever for racing to return to Maryland. It wasn’t really until June of 2021 when races started to happen in person. In October of 2020, I “raced” my virtual marathon and then basically had been in maintenance running mode for months, with no real race on the horizon. The June race that I ran was a last minute entry and a really tough course. I was of course happy that I did it- when I was done. Up next was the Frederick Half. This was a race I had deferred from 2020, that was supposed to be in May but was in July. Ugh- Maryland in July is hot and humid. Overall that day proved to be decent weather conditions, but my time was not my best, nor was it my worst. Again, I was so happy that I did it and my husband and sons were there to cheer me to the finish. But really my two racing experiences in 2021 had proven hard and didn’t yield the time results I had been hoping for. So clearly, I knew despite the long week- month- and migraine I was running the Charles Street 12.
One of the interesting parts of Chuck 12 is it starts and finishes at completely different places- as you would imagine that are 12 miles apart. I’m so fortunate that my husband and boys still enjoy coming out to wait for hours to see me cross the finish line. So they headed to the finish and my friend and I drove to the start of the race. Funny side story- I wear glasses 98% of the time. Maybe on 10 occasions during the year do I wear my contacts. But for whatever reason for races I prefer to wear my contacts so I don’t have to worry about my prescription sunglasses. If I drop or lose my sunglasses I would much rather it be a $25 pair than a $500 pair of prescription lenses. However, since I so rarely wear my contacts I make a lot of rookie mistakes with them. The car ride to the race proved to be one such time. My eyes were super itchy so I scratched them without giving it too much thought. Until, all of a sudden I couldn’t see so well out of my right eye. I thought at first that the contact was dry and tried to generate tears. Then it dawned on me…I had rubbed my contact out of my eye!! Panic set it. I didn’t have glasses with me and I certainly didn’t have another contact. I searched my eye- maybe it was hiding up under my lid. No luck. I carefully looked all around me. No luck. Well, it hadn’t disappeared so where on earth did it go?? We got to the start of the race and did some more searching in the car. As a last resort, I got out and thought maybe looking from a different angle I might see it. Still nothing. So I was resigned to running with on contact, and a migraine that I was keeping at bay with Excederin Migraine. Now if that doesn’t sound like prime condition to run a race, I don’t know what does. Then I got back into the car. Folded up like a creased up taco was my contact on the seat of the car. I then proceeded to break all the contact wearing rules in the book. Took the cap off my water bottle, dropped the contact in and poured some water on in- willing the dried up little contact to come back to life. All of this is quite entertaining NOW- at the time. Not so much. Somehow the contact sprung back to life and I got it back in my eye. Yes, I know it was completely unsanitary. But short of spitting on my contact I wasn’t really sure what else to do. I’ve considered every in person race leading up to NYC a trial run and so the lesson was BRING EXTRA CONTACTS!! I may even bring and old pair of glass that I’m willing to part with too. Something to think about for sure.
Well, now that the contact drama is behind us I could begin to focus on the nervousness and the fact that generates the sensation of needing to go to the bathroom. So I made a bee line for the porta potty line. One would think that one visit would be sufficient as I really hadn’t drank that much, however there was the half marathon when I assumed it was jus the nervous sensation that I needed to urinate- when in fact I really did and I lost nearly two minutes running to a bathroom in the Magic Kingdom. As a result, I never take for granted that it’s nerves and go to the bathroom as many times as possible before the race. This should be really interesting when I have to spend nearly 5 hours waiting to start the marathon in November.
Let’s chat about the weather. The week leading up to the race was hot and humid until the remnants of Hurricane Ida came through and cooled things off considerably. That translated to temperatures in the 50s to start the race, but still some humidity. Overall a beautiful weather day to run a great course. This was part of what got me out of bed the morning of the race. How could I pass up such a wonderful weather day?? That and I’m in a marathon training cycle. The week called for 26 miles and I still had 12 to run as I had planned for the race to complete my weekly mileage. I’m a stickler for following the plan. Either way I was going to be running 12 miles so I might as well make it part of the race.
Speaking of training cycles- when I ran the Chuck 12 last time, I trained for it like it was a half marathon. Did the proper tapering, etc so I would have fresh legs to run on. As I just mentioned I’m in the middle of a marathon training cycle. So there was no taper and I had already run 14 miles this week, including speed work earlier in the week. The week after the race has a key run of 10 miles. So I’m considering myself ahead of the game with having the 12 miles done early. There are those who say don’t race during a training cycle as racing taxes your body differently than training runs. There are others who would say that two months before the marathon having a race like experience isn’t detrimental. I knew I had two options when I showed up on race morning- treat it like a training run and take it easy or run it like a race. Training my mind to have easy runs was a work in progress for a long time, so it’s definitely not at the place that I could have treated this just like a training run…it was a RACE!
Whereas my goals in 2019 were to finish races, I have more specific time goals now. Most of the time they are conservative. Sometimes, like for Frederick because of the heat and humidity I knew I needed to bring my time goal down to a safe number to not over tax my body. In the end I met that goal, but overall didn’t feel solid during the course of the race. When it came time to plan for Chuck 12, I couldn’t quite figure out what I thought my time could be. In 2019 my time was 1:52:28. At the time, that was 5 minutes faster than what I had anticipated would be my finish time. I was beyond shocked when I finished that quickly, as was my family who weren’t expecting me for another 5 minutes or so. Based upon my utter exhaustion and not tapering I was considering 1:48 a solid finish time for 2021. That would be more than 4 minutes better than last time and seemed like a realistic goal. But my reach goal was 1:42. Now that is a broad range! Six minutes faster would mean shaving 30 seconds or so off per mile from my 1:48 goal. That’s a lot of time. That said, 8:30 a mile isn’t too far off what I was doing when I hit my stride before Covid shut everything down. I’ve never run with a pace group during a race, but I’m intrigued by the idea. There were pacers at the race which got my mind thinking. I lined up with the 1:40 pace group. Yes, I know this is even faster than my reach goal, so I needed to have my head examined. But they looked like a fun bunch. I knew I couldn’t really hang with them, but went out with them for the first mile and then settled into my pace. I continual remind myself that I need to run my own race and pace. But here’s what I figured, I would maintain my own pace that felt comfortable, as comfortable as a pace can feel at race pace and try to avoid getting passed by the 1:45 pace group. If however, the 1:45 pace group came up on me I would run with them and still beat my 1:48 initial goal.
After learning to race and take water when it was offered, Covid had me wearing water to train and race. Each is a mental mind shift. Truth be told, I don’t love carrying my own water, but there’s something to be said to be able to drink whenever you would like. It also allows me to have a nutrition pouch whenever it’s convenient because I need some water to wash it down. All this to say, when push came to shove I opted not to carry my own water. It felt good to be traveling light!!
While the course is advertised as down hill, the first six miles or so have a series of hills. I play mind games as I tick off the miles during a race. At first it’s to get under 10 miles. Then I start adding my mileage. Usually once I get to four miles I’m in a solid rhythm and feeling pretty good. So for this race my mental mind games were to get to 6 and I would be halfway done. Then focus on getting to 8- then 10- then at 11 which is when I call to say I’m a mile out and boom I’m done. It’s really not quite that simple, but that’s literally how my mind was working Saturday. At the end of the day- it’s all about what works for you. This is what works for me! This was the first race in a long time that I wasn’t questioning my sanity. I felt solid pretty much the whole time. That is not to say that I wasn’t extremely happy to see the finish line because I was in fact very happy to finish. But the best part of the finish was that it wasn’t super crowded and I had a great view of the boys with their signs. I was waving and smiling to finish up 12 miles. Who would have ever thought?? There is truly something to be said to having family support at the finish line. Sometimes it’s what gets me there and times like Saturday it’s fun to celebrate together!
Best cheering crew!
Because I’m all about the numbers- how did things shake out?? I averaged 8:35 a mile for 12 miles. Not too shabby. There were 953 participants. I finished 247. So not quite the top 25% but not too far off. There were 479 women who ran. I finished 74th. (PS my 8 year old had counted all the women who finished before me and was able to tell me within one of what number woman I was to finish). In my new masters age category of 40-49 there were 152 women. I finished 17th. So, all in all a solid showing, a good race overall and I can’t wait to do it again next year!! The Charles 12 will always hold a special place in my heart.
There are times in life when we think we are fully prepared for what is to come- good or bad. Having a child- major life milestone- the moment when you know he or she is the one.
Before having the boys I imagined both how hard the experience was going to be and how amazing it would be to hold them for the very first time. Truth be told the experience wasn’t as hard as I imagined- but the feeling of absolute awe of the medical staff and quite honestly of my body remains. And there is nothing that compares with that first look, that first hold of your newborn baby. But then I think back to when we were expecting our second child. How on earth could I possibly love this child as much as my first, the one who made me a mother. Well, you know what when he was born my heart doubled in size and I love them equally- we used to say to the moon and back but now have progressed to Pluto and back, because according to my sons that’s even further so that means I love them even more. Truth be told there is NO way I could love them more. I’m grateful each and every day that I get to be there mother. Yes, even on the hard days!!
Think about other milestone experiences. Going to college- taking board exams- getting married. Generally we think we know how good or bad these experiences are going to be. Going to college- initially a huge adjustment- but life changing. I met my husband there and as they say “the rest is history.” The Bar Exam- I imagined it would be terrible- it was somehow even worse than I had even imagined it would be- but I survived. Hard experiences give us new perspective, a new understanding of what is important.
As we get older the experiences change and evolve. Our kids start to grow, as they are supposed to. They need us differently- they go to school. How exciting for them and they have loved it from the very beginning. I cry every single first day of school. No idea why. But I still do.
There are times in life when we are unprepared for for the emotions that come with an experience. You can see all the signs and know what is coming, but yet the experience still stops us in our tracks. Years ago we knew that the Alzheimer’s diagnosis was coming for my dad. Even though he was still in his 50s all the signs were there. Yet, having confirmation still hurt. It was scary to know what was to come. When you have a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s it is a matter of just waiting for when things start to decline and then decline more rapidly. People are kind and ask how he’s doing- and as the years go on there’s a status quo and then the point when you know things are just going to continue to get worse. There is no real way to answer the question when people ask. The whole time you know the end game. They aren’t going to get better…ever. And then even though you’ve known it was going to come some day the some day comes and it’s time to say goodbye. There is nothing in your life that prepares you to say goodbye to a parent. No book you can read, no other experience you can have to prepare you. It’s raw, it hurts, there’s an ache to my core.
My dad took a sharp decline on Sunday. We had a truly heartfelt goodbye via FaceTime. He’s in Arizona and I’m in Maryland. He told me it was time to “take a rest from his rest and not to be upset”. He told me that he loved me. I ugly cried. I knew that was going to be the best last conversation I could hope for given his condition. But yesterday morning I just knew I needed to go to see him. I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make it in time, but I had to try. So today I boarded a flight at 6:45 AM in Maryland and landed in Arizona before 9:00 AM. I got to spend several hours with my dad. I held his hand. I cried. I told him that I loved him and then the time came to give him one last hug. There have been previous times that we thought were going to be the last time I saw him, but this was it. The very last time. There are no words to describe the feeling.
I realize that for some they never get the chance to say goodbye and in many respects I’m “fortunate,” but you’ll excuse me if I’m not feeling too fortunate right now. I still can’t understand the why my dad had to get Alzheimer’s. Why someone who worked so hard all their life had to have their life cut so short by this dreadful disease. I know I will keep working, running and fighting for a cure that someday others don’t have to suffer this way. We have to and can do better- we must #endalz.
The Longest Day is the Summer Solstice, the day with the most hours of sunlight. Last year, I ran a mile a mile an hour for every mile of daylight for a total of 16 miles as a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association in conjunction with my fundraising to run the NYC Marathon. At the same time, I organized a virtual 5K in honor of the Longest Day and my Dad and several people participated. While I’ve technically completed my fundraising requirement to run the marathon, there’s no need to stop raising awareness and dollars for this important cause.
Very fittingly this year the Longest Day falls on Father’s Day. So I’m back at it and hoping you will join us as we run, walk or skip 3.1 from wherever you are on Sunday, June 20, 2021. You can register here. The rules aren’t really strict- run inside our outside. Walk if you prefer. Have fun with it. I’ll be opting for the 5K option this year and challenging Jackson and Carter to run/walk the whole distance with me. Truth be told, I’ll probably run a 5K first thing and then run walk another with the Jeffrey and the boys. Nothing says Father’s Day like getting moving together as a family!! Much better than the Mother’s Day visit to the Pet ER with the Ruby, but that’s a different story for a different day. Not to worry, she’s fine now.
You can’t have a race without a shirt, right??? This year’s shirt was a creation along with the boys. We learned a lot along the way in creating our design. Like that the elephant is the unofficial mascot for Alzheimer’s Awareness. Why?? Because an elephant never forgets. Elephants happen to be Jackson’s favorite animal so he was all over creating a shirt with elephant’s on it. Conveniently, Carter’s favorite color is purple. So they are both covered in our design.
The Coronavirus pandemic has certainly altered travel, air travel in particular. While we were accustomed to flying frequently with our boys, even when they were young we’ve literally been grounded for a full year. With several members of our family living in Arizona this has been really sad and frustrating for the boys not to see some of their cousins, aunt, uncle and grandparents. I know that we aren’t alone in not being able to see family and travel, so this isn’t a boo hoo you can’t fly/travel post. Rather, it’s a post comparing travel during the same weekend one year apart. What a difference a year makes.
Let me take you back to March 14, 2020. This is the time when literally information was updating by the hour as to what you could and couldn’t do, what you should and shouldn’t do and anxieties were really high about making the right choices when in all honesty we didn’t really have all the information we needed. The plan had been for me to fly to Arizona with the boys (at the time 4 and 6) on Saturday, March 14 and return on Wednesday, March 18. I went from being nervous about flying with both boys by myself to concerned that air travel might get grounded while we were away. This wasn’t so out of the realm of possibility as international air travel had been halted. What to do? If you’ve read my other posts you know that my Dad suffers from Alzheimer’s. Between school schedules, crazy hot summer weather in Arizona, etc March is the ideal time for us to visit and generally when we do. We considered moving the trip to the summer. But in my gut, I knew that if we didn’t go in March I wasn’t quite sure when we would have the chance to get the boys out there to see him. Thank goodness we went, come June the metrics were off the charts in Arizona and there would have been no visit!
Backing up a little bit and to give a point of reference, I flew on October 11, 2001. Yes, literally one month after the tragic events of September 11th. The airports were eerily quiet. And there was still a great deal of uncertainty, new security measures were being introduced. It was a very different time in air travel. Now back to 2020. I was filled with nerves about traveling. We of course were not at this point wearing masks. And as we know, kids touch EVERYTHING. So I was like a drill sergeant in the airport. Some might say this isn’t much different from my normal approach in the airport. We were trying to sit as far away from people as possible. Wiping everything down with Clorox wipes, sanitizing the boys’ hands after the touched anything. On every TV were updates about Coronavirus that just added to my concern in taking the trip. The airport was significantly quieter than usual. Clearly people were staying home! While that made things easier for me, it also made me question what in the world I was thinking flying with the boys. With the concern that flights might be grounded I rented a car in Arizona for the day we were scheduled to return. I was planning ahead…you know in case I had to drive from Arizona to Maryland with my boys. While this sounds like a great adventure, can we think just for a moment what that would have been like?? Thirty six hours in the car…oh my!
Ok, so back to March 14, 2020. No masks. No new purifying systems on airplanes. No new sanitizing procedures. So I just wiped everything down when we got on the plane and literally hoped for the best. To be fair, at that time I really didn’t have a full appreciation for COVID, none of us could have predicted the tremendous impact that it would have on our lives or the number of lives that would be lost. We flew Southwest and so I flew three across with the boys. We were somewhat protected as we didn’t have anyone else in our row. Snack and drink service still happened. Fast forward to March 18- four days later. We are still not wearing masks. Trying to stay as far away from people as possible. Hand sanitizing and wiping things down like crazy people. Here’s the first change- no snack/drink service on the flight. Changes were afoot to keep social distance and safety while in the air. This is somewhat laughable considering how close together we all sit on an airplane but it was the first step. In hindsight I feel extremely fortunate that we made this trip. It was like the last hoorah so to speak before we would hunker down and be home for months on end.
For the last year, we have literally gone no where. I mean, not no where, but beyond our pod family we haven’t seen anyone inside without masks. But for going to school, we haven’t been going other places. I rarely go into a store. Online shopping is my jam. We are one extreme in regards to staying safe and stopping the spread. But it became time that I needed to make that trip to Arizona again. So it meant that I was going to have to fly. Cue all sorts of anxiety. I haven’t been that close to people other than my family in a year. And let’s be honest, I was never too excited sitting that close to people anyway. Fortunately, in my role as a substitute teacher had the opportunity to get vaccinated. So in essence, I know in my mind that I should be protected, but again I feel like we don’t really know about the vaccine and ability to transfer the virus, whether you can still get the virus and be without symptoms. I worried about bringing Covid home and giving it to my family. Needless to say, the weeks leading up to what would amount to less than two days on the ground in Arizona were stress filled with what ifs and concerns about flying. Of course this is Spring Break time and everyone is apparently ready to go on vacation.
My flight to Arizona was on Friday, March 12. Why is this significant? Literally one year ago that was the last time the boys were in school for that school year. The two weeks to flatten the curve that turned into home until August. There have been so many reflections on what the year has meant and how are lives have changed. I subbed like usual and then drove to the airport. You know, how I recently posted talking a good game about not having mom guilt about traveling. Yeah, I’m still working on that one. I was filled with mom guilt about leaving. Yes, I knew they would be fine and have fun with my husband! When I got to the parking garage I noticed how crowded it was, like “normal.” Ugh. I masked up and headed to the terminal. A pleasant surprise there was NO ONE in the security line. As in not another person. Amazing, maybe the airport won’t be so crowded I thought. One noted change in the year since I had flown- rather than had you ID to the TSA Agent you slide it into a card reader. An image then appears on the Agent’s computer. He asked me to remove my mask to compare the photos. I took my ID and I was on my way. Now to get something to eat. The tables in the food court area were more spread out. There were of course reminders to wear your mask and keep your distance. There were dots to stand on to order food in an attempt to keep people distanced. I’m not going to lie, some of this seemed silly to me. I 100% understand keeping distance, but seriously we are about to all sit on top of each other on an airplane. I quickly got my food and rather than sit at a table picked a bench further away from people so I could hurry up and eat. I had pre-packed snacks for the flight but stopped to get water and a soda for the flight. As I approached the gate areas I noticed it was VERY crowded. Lots and lots of people!! I detoured to get an “adult beverage” and sit away from the gate for a bit. FYI it’s against federal air regulations to consume your own alcohol on a flight. Before I knew it, it was time to board. My goal was to make myself seem undesirable to sit next too. I joke, but seriously, I really didn’t want that middle seat to be full. Jokes on me because it was a FULL flight. Out came my face shield. While it was definitely toasty in there, I felt like it was providing an extra level of protection that put me a little more at ease.
I must say that plane itself felt the cleanest I’ve seen a plane in a long time. With that said, I tried to touch as little as possible. I only removed the bare necessities from my bag to use during the flight. Some of this, I’m sure is just my personality. Others were completely comfortable with flying. There were even families with children. The flight crew were clear about expectations regarding wearing a mask and that means over your NOSE and MOUTH. The only food service provided was water and pretzels/brownie bites. I’m not going to lie, it was the longest five and a half hours of my life. I was ready to jump off the plane when it landed. Again, the jokes on me as they had trouble getting the cabin door open. It’s much funnier now, then it was at the time!
Sunday, March 14 time to fly home. This flight was at 1:20 PM Arizona time. I was curious to see what I would find in the airport at a “prime” flying time. While the airport was crowded, security again was light and quick. Unlike in Baltimore, I had to hand the TSA Agent my ID for him to examine. Mask down to confirm I was the person on the ID and then through security. The terminal was PACKED with people. Again, I grabbed a quick bite to eat and tried to get as far away from people as possible to eat. As luck would have it this flight was also FULL. I was feeling a little less anxious about it as I knew I was just over four hours away from home. Face shield on. Kindle out. Let’s do this. I must again commend the flight crew as they were diligent in making sure folks kept their masks on properly. The limited service of water and a snack were offered. No problems with the door when we landed to I hit the ground running to get out of there! Much to my surprise at 8:30 at night (which felt like midnight) the airport was hopping. The main security check line was LONG. I was truly surprised to see so many people in the airport.
I recognize that others have been flying for work and pleasure without having missed a beat over the last year. But for someone who has basically been no where but home this trip felt like flying for the first time all over again. I must admit that I’m curious to see what precautions stay in place going forward with air travel. I imagine that it will continue to get more and more back to “normal.” I’m just not certain what “normal” looks like in a post Covid world.
I’d love to hear, have you been traveling? How have you found the experience? Share in the comments below!
Well, this week of training looks a little bit different for a few reasons. Reason number one- it’s TAPER time. Time to rest those legs a little bit so they are fresh for “race” day. Truth- I stink at taper. I’m not great at dialing it back when I’m all revved up and ready to go. BUT, since I tweaked my knee a little bit during my twenty mile run I’m seemingly forced to take it easy and properly taper. Amazing how that works, isn’t it?? I made the executive decision not to do the speed work that my training schedule identifies as the key effort this week. Speed work doesn’t allow me to “baby” my knee a little. Mileage goal is twenty-six miles. My plan is to get the twenty-six miles in during the week but honestly will be pleased if I get a few solid five plus mile runs in without any serious pain.
Monday, October 5
It was a buys morning- errands, flu shot, etc. My knee while feeling better is still not completely “normal.” I decided to keep it to the treadmill so I could control pace and not have the severity of the pavement. Started with a one mile while to warm up and test the waters so to speak. Then I moved into a very controlled, nice and easy three mile run. I was less concerned with pace and more concerned with overall how I was feeling. Knee felt good- I wouldn’t say great. But I’ll take it.
Tuesday, October 6
Another busy morning! Parent’s Association Meeting at 9:00 and subbing starting at 11:30 meant that I had to get my workout in BEFORE dropping the boys off at school. I started with a half hour of strength training, focusing on my upper body and finished it up with a two mile walk. While it’s not quite the same as getting my run in, I still felt accomplished before truly starting my day and getting the boys off to school!
Wednesday, October 7
Geez, this is a busy week. Today I have a much overdue eye exam!! You know what that means another early morning of getting up and getting it done before taking the boys to school! That also meant getting on the treadmill. I’m so thankful for our Covid treadmill purchase. The upgrade to a newer machine has been much appreciated. Decided to focus on distance today and see if I could get up to five comfortable miles on my knee. Winner, winner, chicken dinner. They weren’t fast but they felt good. T-10 days to the marathon…this is really going to happen!!
Thursday, October 8
In case you missed the common theme of the week….it was busy!! Another morning PA meeting meant either getting up at the crack of dawn to run or waiting until after my meetings to run. I opted for the later because I wanted to run outside rather than on the treadmill. I didn’t really have a definite distance planned. The goal was 3-5. 5 miles done! Felt good. Pace was good. Single digits to race day!
Friday, October 9
Sub day! 5:00 wake up to hit the treadmill. I like to mix it up with a program every now and then so it isn’t just straight running so that’s what I did today. Four quality miles before heading to school. Feeling like I’ll really going to be ready next week for 26.2. It still seems completely crazy to run a marathon solo- but you know what- let’s do it!
Saturday, October 10
The weather was perfection. The calendar suggested 5 miles and that’s what I had planned to run when I left the house. But I felt good. Pace was good. Weather was good. That meant I called home mid-run to say I’ll be a little bit longer. Rock n Roll was doing a Remix Challenge this weekend of a 5K and a 12K. The 5K was more than covered yesterday so I figured if I was thinking about five I may as well run 7.5 to complete the challenge. Mentally, I knew that having one more longer run in before having a light taper week would be reassuring that I was feeling good. So 7.55 it was and it felt GREAT!!
Sunday, October 11
Sunday- family fun day!! Today we headed to Lums Pond State Park as a family to meet up with a friend for a socially distanced outside outing. The boys loved it and I enjoyed it much more since I wasn’t trying to run over tree branches!! By the time we got home it was mid-afternoon and the rain had started falling. I had just under two miles left to complete my weekly mileage goal so I hit the pavement with the light rain falling. Nice and easy two miles to complete the week! Looks like I have another running streak going…day 5!
So the last week of training is coming. I’m physically and mentally prepared (I think) to crush my 26.2 on Saturday. My family has been super supportive the entire time and the boys are now really excited to create the perfect “finish line.” While it will certainly not be NYC stay tuned for next weeks re-cap when I will (fingers crossed) be a marathoner!!
It’s hard to believe that my virtual marathon is just a little over one month away!! So far, training has been going well. Other than some moderate hip pain I’m feeling good. I’m also still continuing my running streak that started way back at Memorial Day!!
Monday- September 14
Well, the boys are both back in school physically so I had a choice to make…do I continue getting up at 4:30/5:00 in the morning to run or do I run after I drop them off at school?? I’m not going to lie the extra early mornings for the last two weeks were definitely taking a toll. So I opted to run after I dropped them off. By running after drop off I can run outside vs. on the treadmill. Not that I mind the treadmill but with fall temperatures coming why not take advantage of running outside?? With my key run already done for the week over the weekend this week is filled with a number of 3-6 mile runs. Monday started out as a five mile run and I finished up closer to six. It felt good to be outside and to not have the time pressure of getting done and racing into the shower and out the door for school.
In a weird change of events my left hip is now feeling sore vs. my right hip. I’ll do a better job of stretching this week with my new found time. I also broke out a new pair of shoes. I realized I needed another pair in rotation or I was going to need a new pair right before the marathon. While I haven’t had to break in my New Balance Fresh Foam 1080v10 I still wouldn’t want to take them out of the box and run 26.2. That said they were perfection for today’s run, so I probably could take them out of the box and run a marathon!
Tuesday- September 15
Back outside for another great run. I wasn’t sure how far I was going to go when I went out the door anywhere from 3-5 miles. Finished up with a nice five mile run. I love the fact that the air is a little bit cooler. It adds pep to my running step!! Finished off the morning with a solid 35 minutes of lifting. Strength training is so important, especially as the miles continue to increase. Still have that moderate hip pain. I’m keeping an eye on it and making sure to add some stretching.
Wednesday, September 16
Oh my my hamstrings and hips are super tight. Rather than run first, I started with 30 minutes of Yoga for Runners to loosen everything up before heading out the door. By modifying my schedule to run after I drop the boys off for school I’ve truly been able to take advantage of the beautiful weather. To keep things fresh I mixed up the route again today. I’m continually amazed at how many different distance combinations I can get by altering the route just a bit from my house. Another solid five mile run.
Thursday, September 17
Thursdays mean I should run and strength train. But truth be told I tweaked something in my back on Wednesday so I kept it to just a run. A nice and easy 3.1 outside. A whole week of beautiful weather has lead to lots of extra outside time!
Friday, September 18
Early, early run this morning. After learning late Thursday night that I was subbing at school on Friday I knew I wanted to get my run done before school. Schedule called for 5 miles but based upon timing I completed 4. No big deal- that’s the beauty of a flexible schedule. At this point in the week I have 23 miles done and 7 miles to go to meet my 30 miles for the week. So I’ll just add a mile to Saturday or Sunday and I’m set. Back on the treadmills for a 5:00 AM run. But that also meant I was back with Bosch Amazon!! Watching Bosch on my iPad has been a game changer for my time on the treadmill. It seems to fly by.
Saturday, September 19
Truth be told on Friday after school I was a whole new level of tired. I wasn’t even sure going to bed early was going to do the trick to allow me to get my five miles in on Saturday morning. But ah the beauty of a good night’s sleep. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go! It was COLD. As in temperatures in the 40s in the morning. This is my sweet spot for temperature when I run. While it’s a little cold to get started once you warm up it’s perfection. I was feeling extra motivated because I got to wear my new Alzheimer’s Association Team shirt for my run. With four weeks to go before my virtual marathon- channeling my inner why is KEY!
Sunday, September 20
Sunday runs are nearly always my short runs. It’s my “rest” day after all. So a quick two miler to keep my running streak going. 121 days and counting!!
Week in review
Early in the week my hips were tight and bothering me. This is likely because of a 36 mile week last week, including a 14 mile run. I was careful to continued strength training but also stretching to help loosen up my hamstrings and hips. By the end of the week I was fortunately feeling relief. It’s hard to believe that the marathon is now less than a month away. Must stay healthy and avoid injury!! Looking ahead the week of September 21 brings more speed work as the key effort and the week of the 28th a 20 mile run!!
The weeks are definitely flying by as the training progresses. Running last week’s 12 miler as a race was a major effort-it’s back to tempo runs, training runs, speed work but no more racing until virtual race day.
Crazy hair…don’t care…run done!
Monday- September 7
Well, it was a BUSY week and weekend full of back to school and birthday celebrations. In addition to being all around tired on Monday morning I was dealing with a migraine. Fortunately, it was Labor Day so I had a little bit of flexibility with timing my run. So while I’m normally an up and done with my run kind of gal that wasn’t the case for the speed work scheduled for today. Instead I ran midday which is highly unusual. My right hip and calf were tight so I wasn’t quite sure my body was going to be up to speed work. However, after my one mile warm up I was ready to rock and roll. 800×6 at 8 minutes a mile with an easy quarter mile in between each to recover, followed by a one mile cool down was apparently just what I needed. With nearly 7 miles under my belt I felt better and was ready to continue to tackle the week.
Tuesday- September 8
Back to rising before the sun to get my workouts done before school. Continuing with my routine of strength training on Tuesday and Thursday mornings after a 2 mile warm up. I followed my easy two with 30 minutes of arms with Tracey Steen, Move Daily Fitness. I used my Terra-Core in conjunction with weights to also work my core. My box also got used. I love that as soon as it became clear that we were going to be home indefinitely in March that I slowly but surely stocked up on the things I would need to continue strength training at home!!
Wednesday-September 9
Most of the runs this week are easy miles as I’m doing a virtual half, which is really going to be 14 miles on Sunday. So today was an easy three. I was feeling some tightness in my pesky right hip when I finished so I added twenty minutes of yoga for runners when I was done running.
Thursday- September 10
Another early morning treadmill run. As I’m consciously trying to have at least two days of easy two mile runs with strength training I began my 5:30 with my run. Followed it up by twenty minutes of arms and core. Arms and core are my go to for strength training since I’m using my legs for so many miles!
Friday-September 11
Moment of truth…both boys are back physically in school today. So the question is do I still get up at 5:00 AM and run or wait until after I drop them off?? I have a whole bunch of errands that I want to run so I still get up early. If I didn’t have a fourteen mile run planned for September 12 I would have run 9.11 miles in honor of September 11th. Instead, I ran 9.11km which equates to 5.66 miles. My schedule had originally planned for three miles but it was important to me to somehow physically honor those who had lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
Saturday- September 12
Fourteen mile run today!! This was also a virtual Half Marathon with my Alzheimer’s Association teammates who were all slated to run the NYC marathon this year. While we are all over the country it was fun to come together to channel our why and run “together.”
The goal of the run…1) practice nutrition, 2) practice hydration, 3) work on putting together a longer route to build up to 26.2 miles and most important trying to set a pace at 9:00 – 9:10 minutes per mile. While the first year or so of my return to running saw me working diligently on bringing down my per mile pace it seems so counterintuitive to me to work on slowing down. Nevertheless, I know that I cannot maintain my normal pace for a full 26.2 miles and need to slow it down so I can go the distance.
Temperatures were ten or so degrees warmer than last week for the 12 mile run and with more than 90% humidity. While it was only in the mid sixties the air felt heavy! But I was good to go- my Spibelt was loaded with water an my Huma Gels and water. I’m not going to lie, working on trying to keep my pace slower was hard. Not only that but I dropped one of my gels along the way so I only had one for the entire run. Granted, I ate a good breakfast before I left but I certainly could have used that extra gel around mile 9. This was my longest consecutive run to date. I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll say it again- so much of running is mental. Mentally, when I run long distances I count down how many miles I have left vs. how many miles I’ve completed. I always find the miles above ten to be harder for some reason. So I worked my way from 14 to 10. Awesome, because normally when I get to four miles I feel like I can run for forever. My pacing was till faster than I would have liked but it was manageable. Mile 5 I decided to take some nutrition. That’s when I also discovered that I was missing one. Live and learn to plan better for storage! Mentally the next big marker for the run was mile 7 because it was the half way point. Then getting to mile 9 with only five miles to go and finally getting to 12.5 because that’s the home stretch.
In the end I had a good run, but it wasn’t nearly as great as the week before. That said I learned a good deal about needing more nutrition, putting electrolytes in one of my water bottles and slowing the heck down a bit! PS this fourteen mile run was actually the key run for the week beginning with September 14. However, with following the concept of least effective dose to training I opted not to run 13.1 over the weekend and then do a 14 mile run during the week. So technically, this was a double dip run.
Sunday- September 13
It’s my “off” day. Translation- I ran two miles at an easy pace to continue my run streak that is now up to 114 days. I’m not sure when it will stop. Actually I’m pretty sure it will be on October 18, the day AFTER I become a marathoner!
So that is week seven in a nutshell! Moving onto week eight with my key run already done! That means I’ll make up the thirty miles for the week with a variety of distances.
Run happy!!
Save the date- October 17 is the day I’m planning to run my 26.2!!
Stay in the loop- never miss an update by subscribing today!
Week six of marathon training began in August and finished up in the first week of September. Generally, my preference is to run my key run, or the most important training effort of the week at the beginning of the week. However, this week was different for a number of reasons: 1) Back to school, 2) my son’s birthday and 3) a virtual 12 mile race on Saturday. While I didn’t run my key effort until Saturday, I managed to set a good routine and maintain it during the week despite all the other things going on.
Monday- August 31
The start of the week brought a touch of Fall like temperatures. While sunrise isn’t until 6:30 ish I was up and ready to hit the pavement as soon as it was bright enough to be safe. While it was the beginning of the week, but the end of the month I had a particular month goal that I wanted to hit with my morning run. The cooler temps were amazing for my nearly 6.5 mile run. After doing so many runs on the treadmill getting some outside time felt good!
Tuesday- September 1
Today, I was back on the treadmill and super early. It’s my son’s birthday so I wanted to get my run and strength training done before he got up. He of course had a different plan and woke up half a mile into my run. Today was supposed to just be a two mile run- continue the steak day. But I ran the half a mile. Greeted the birthday boy. He got to see all the fun Harry Potter decorations and then he joined me downstairs for the rest of my run and lifting. Rather than do two miles I finished up with 2.5 and then did twenty minutes of core and arm work to finish up the morning.
Wednesday- September 2
First day of school!! This is important because it means I need to run, shower, do all the first day of school picture excitement etc. and leave the house by 7:30. Challenge accepted. I coined today’s run five at 5:00 as I was up at 5:00 to run five miles. Solid, easy paced treadmill run before the back to school fun.
Thursday- September 3
My goal this week has been to get my workout in and get showered before the boys get up. Thursday’s schedule called for a two mile run to continue my run streak and then strength training. I’m working diligently not to let the strength training go by the wayside as the mileage increases and the back to school schedule gets crazy. Mission accomplished. Up at 5:00 again. Two miles check. Twenty minutes of arms with Tracey Steen of Move Daily Fitness and in the shower by 6:15 AM.
Friday- September 4
Run streak day 105!! As I have a twelve mile virtual race tomorrow, the plan was for a nice and easy three miles on the treadmill. I enjoyed some more Bosch on Amazon Prime and got my run done. Slowing down my pace on the treadmill runs has been key. I’ve been more focused on stretching and listening to my body to hopefully remain injury free. Ready to start the day.
Saturday- September 5
Virtual race day!! The Charles Street 12 was my first BIG race in 2019. I hadn’t run more than a 5K in…hmmm… 20 plus years. When the race turned virtual this year, I knew I still had to do it because it kick started my desire to run longer distances. Conveniently the key run this week for my training plan was a 12 mile run so this was a two for one run! When I woke up on Saturday morning the weather was perfection. With temperatures in the mid to high 50s and moderate humidity it was a beautiful day to run! I’ve gotten much better about eating before my longer runs and taking in some water. So I got up with plenty of time to eat and digest before hitting the road. Out the door by 7:30 AM.
Funny story about the Charles Street 12 from last year. I had estimated my finish time to be 1:57. Instead I came in closer to 1:52. So that meant my cheering section wasn’t ready for me and I called out to them as I was approaching the finish line. This year, my goal was 1:42 or approximately 8:35 per mile. That’s been my average mile pace for half marathons so I figured that made sense for a 12 mile run. However, over the last 18 months I’ve learned that I’m a cooler weather runner. Cooler temperatures (honestly the cooler the better) agree with me and make it much easier for me to run. The temperatures in the 50s clearly agreed with me after so much heat and humidity this summer and instead of 8:35 a mile I averaged 8:14 a mile and finished in 1:38:45. While not the same course as last year, I’ll happily take a 14 minute improvement in time.
Overall, I felt great during the run. I did begin to experience some hip pain about half way through. But it wasn’t anything that wasn’t manageable. My right hip has given me problems off and on. I’m acutely aware of it and continue to try to loosen my hamstrings and strengthen my core and glutes to take the pressure off my hip.
My cheering section created a finish line for me to run through and were waiting to cheer me on and give me my medal upon completion. Family support is amazing and means so much to me as I continue to train for the marathon!
Sunday–September 6
Truth be told, I ran the twelve miler like a race and not like a training run. I was feeling it a bit on Sunday morning. My right calf was sore and the week was really catching up with me. Sunday runs are normally my shorter and easier days just to keep the streak going so I laced up and went out for a one mile out and back (two mile total) run. Once I warmed up a bit I felt great and I was glad to get the run in before the birthday party celebration!
Review/Looking ahead
While overall I’m feeling good, I’m not struggling with the mileage I need to begin focusing on marathon pace for runs. Running a half marathon and running a marathon are two completely different things. The additional time of effort and overall mileage does strange things to our bodies. In an effort to make the marathon day go as smoothly as possible I’m going to begin slowing the pace down for tempo runs to more like 9 minutes a mile. For the week of September 7 the key effort is a speed workout. But for the week after, week of September 14 it’s a 14 mile run. However, the Alzheimer’s Team for the NYC Marathon is doing a virtual Half Marathon on Sunday, September 13. Since I would normally do my key run on that Monday the 14th I’m moving it up one day to the 13th. This will be the first run where I intentionally focus on tempo rather than running it like a race. A marathon is more than the 26.2 but rather all the miles leading up!!
I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face- having a training plan that is flexible is key for my mom life schedule!! This is the last week of “summer vacation” also known as the never ending spring break. So this is the last week for quite some time that I’m going to have any real flexibility in my day. That means getting up earlier to get my run in. It also means having to juggle my distances from one day to the next to get all my miles in. Having one key effort each week and knowing I can make the rest of the miles up any way I please keeps training fun and less stressful!!
The key effort for the week of August 24-August 30 was speed work and the total mileage goal was 28 miles. On the heels of the trail race last Sunday, I purposely planned to keep Monday light. While I would usually get my key effort in on Monday I pushed it to Tuesday this week.
Monday– August 24
All things considered for the day after feeling like I was getting chased through the woods for nearly 7 miles I feel good. I had originally penciled in 2 miles to kick off the week to keep my run streak going and to give my body a little bit of a break. Since I cut my half marathon to a 10K I didn’t feel like I needed quite as much of a break. Still kept it light and the pace easy because I was a little bit sore. I have this reoccurring pain in my right hip that I’m constantly keeping an eye on. I ran 3 nice and easy miles on the treadmill to kick off the week.
Tuesday– August 25
Key effort run!! Speed work is still not necessarily my most favorite thing to do. It pushes me well outside of my comfort zone, but is SO CRUCIAL for form, drive and ultimately helps with overall pace. The key effort this week is 800X5. To this I added 1 mile warm up and at least one mile cool down. Additionally, I ran a 400 or a quarter of a mile in between each 800 (half a mile) to catch my breath. My goal for my 800s is 4 minutes. I’ve found that doing speed work on the treadmill gives me the most control to hit my target paces. All in all I finished up with 6 miles and felt great. The 800s are work but I’m feeling good with the effort!
Wednesday– August 26
I got outside today!! Again, I had penciled in three miles for the day but wound up doing four instead. I was feeling good. While the pace wasn’t super fast it was still decent. For the last several weeks I’ve consciously been working on slowing down my pace and lowering my heart rate. Not every run is a race and “slower” runs are critical pieces to the training puzzle. Four miles with an average pace of 8:28 per mile works for me.
Thursday– August 27
Back on the treadmill. After a busy morning of crossing things off my to do list I didn’t get to exercise until mid morning. My right hip and hamstring are feeling sore/tight. So before I ran I did about a half hour of yoga. This concentrated, focused stretching has proven to be most helpful when I find myself getting tight. Schedule called for four miles. I somehow turned that into 5.29. No idea why other than I was feeling good after warming up with yoga and trying to stretch out this last week of the month to meet a larger overall mileage goal.
Friday- August 28
We had a lengthy laundry list of items to do today. I knew we needed to leave the house by 8:30 AM (PS this is an hour later than we will have to leave for school), so I had to get my run in early to allow enough time to shower and get everyone ready. While the pacing and my watch were totally off for timing purposes, I got another five miles in and another episode of Bosch on Amazon Prime.
Saturday-August 29
It was a rainy and humid morning. While running in the rain doesn’t scare me the humidity is not my friend. That said, and I’m not complaining about the treadmill because I love it (and anything is better than trail!- but I was getting a little bored with get on and run. Despite some glute and hip soreness I opted to push the envelop with a hill program. I’ve officially used the programs on the treadmill more in the last five months than in last 18 years combined. While the hills KICKED MY BUTT- it mixed up the run and kept me on my toes. I chose a 60 minute program. That equated to twenty 3 minute segments. Some were certainly easier than others. And the doubles at full incline and top speed left me sucking wind, but it also made me appreciate the recovery segments that much more.
Sunday- August 30
Sunday, rest day. I joke. Today was my 100th consecutive day running (at least two miles each day, almost always more)!! When I started my streak back in May I would have never imagined that it reach trip digits. Now to see where it can go. Another big milestone was hitting 800 miles for the year!! I originally set a goal of running 1000 miles this year. COVID hit and my miles increased and it became clear that barring injury 1000 would be “easy” so I upped the goal to 1255 or 2020 KM. It will be a stretch but I’m feeling confident that I’ll get there!
As a reminder- I run for those who can’t. I was scheduled to run the NYC Marathon on November 1. Despite it being COVID Canceled I committed to do the training and to running a virtual 26.2. I run for my dad, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s several years ago. I run to raise awareness and important dollars to find a cure. Please visit my donation page for more information.
