Every Damn Hot Mile

Well, I did it! I ran the NYC Marathon and officially checked my dream race off my bucket list. It was an unreal experience that truly exceeded all my expectations. Since I am still on a high from the whole weekend, I thought getting my thoughts on paper would be the best way to capture the experience. Friday, November 3 rd , Eliana, Nicole and I flew to NYC, checked into our hotel and headed to the race expo at Javitz Center. The race expo is the place where you pick up your running bib, get your finishers shirt and purchase any other swag you want from the race. Heading into race weekend my excitement level had been pretty low compared to previous races and I couldn’t figure out why but walking into the convention is where the excitement really kicked in. To be surrounded by thousands of runners who all have to the same goal never gets old. The energy in that rooms cannot be replicated. After we left the convention center, we walked across the street and Eliana noticed...

As of today, I am 3 weeks away from race day! 3 WEEKS FROM RACE DAY!!!! When I decided to take this challenge on earlier this year I had forgotten how exhausting marathon training can be. I was so excited that I would be running my dream race that I underestimated how time-consuming this part of training can be. We have been pounding our bodies for the last 18 weeks and trust me when I say that they are taking a beating. This training has been the toughest for me physically where years past the mental aspect of training has always been my biggest challenge. With 3 weeks left, my new motto is "by any means necessary" . I am doing just about everything I can to make sure I go into race day the strongest I possibly can. I thought this post would center around all the things I do besides running to get me prepared physically for a run. This week was a good representative because I completed 18 miles yesterday. As I mentioned, this has been tough physically and I have been...

So not only is race day 1 month from tomorrow but it has also been over a month since my last post. As I sure most of you can imagine, training for a marathon is just exhausting, especially since we have gotten into the higher mileage. Since my last post, I have completed a 13 miler, 14 miler, 12 miler, another 14 miler and a 16 miler. I skipped last weekend's 16 miler because my leg/knee has been bothering me (will touch on that later in the post). That leaves me with 4 more weekend runs before the big day plus all the mid-week runs. This weekend - 13 miles - when I typed that out, I actually thought ONLY 13 miles. Something as simple as that truly shows me how far I have come in my training that I am thinking "ONLY" 13 miles when just a few short months ago running 3 miles was a struggle. Next weekend - 18 miles - this is "the run" that I have been eying for some time. Not only is this our longest mileage during training, but also serves as a great men...

Today was a big day in training, we did 12 miles and it was my first double digit run because the day I was supposed to do 10, I only did 9 because my body wasn't feeling it. Today was a hot one! Since I don't think I could write coherent sentences right now, I thought it would be fun to share the random and not so random thoughts that were running through my head this morning.   Thank you if you get all the way to the end. There are lots of thoughts as we were out there for a long time . So here is goes.... 3:50 AM (my alarm clock going off) - Why am I up so early? "I don't think it's THAT hot out right now" (BTW, Eliana just kinda laughed) My calfs are sore That was a pretty good first 2 miles Finally at the golf course (they have water fountains and bathrooms there) So happy to be running with Eliana today- feels like old times Finally made it to Spanish River Park (haven't seen the entrance to the park in a few year) This isn...

We are officially in week 8 of training which shocked me when I looked at the calendar this morning...I feel like I just started running! Over the last weeks I have seen minor improvements here and there but this week, for the first week, I felt really strong and that real improvements were being made. I know I have said this in other posts but since this my first race in a few years so I am starting from scratch. Though mentally I know I can run 26.2 miles and I have to trust the training process, my body doesn't believe me yet. Every week, I have been huffing and puffing my way through runs (I mean, the 95% humidity may have something to do with that!!). On Tuesday of this week it rained and I mean RAINED the whole day. I was already thinking this was going to be a day I would have to skip because as much as I feel like a warrior running in the rain (and I do!), I wasn't going to START a run in the rain...not THAT CRAZY! Well, mother nature was on my side this week, b...

This morning I ran 6 miles and while I was running I thought it would be fun to describe a morning in the life of someone training for a marathon. My alarm went off at 4:45 AM to meet my running buddies at 5:30 AM (yes, I know that is really early but you have to keep in mind I am running in Florida in July and the more miles you can get in before the sun comes up the better!!!). 45 minutes sounds like it would be PLENTY of time to get ready for a run, right? All you have to do is get dressed, put on your sneakers and go, right?  WRONG! Stay with me here, my alarm goes off at 4:45 AM. I turn over and look at my clock for a few seconds and realize that I am actually up this early. Roll of out bed to splash some cold water on my face in an attempt to wake me up bit, brush my teeth and start to get dressed. Then I have to walk my dog. So I finish getting dressed and head downstairs to fill up my water bottles for my running belt. Did mentioned I wore a new pair of shoes this mor...