Ready to Run Again

If you were following this blog, you might be wondering what happened. Did I stop running? Did I quit altogether? Did I run off and join a circus with poor internet access, thus making blogging difficult? No, but for those of you who do know my personal life, you'll know that I have experienced some pretty drastic changes. I'm back and writing because, at last, I feel like I am in a place where I can get back to normal, and part of getting back to normal for me is, evidently, running.

It was around May 2013 that my life as I knew it underwent several major and unexpected upheavals and it's only now that I can report I've reached a point where my life feels more stable. That isn't to say that I didn't run during that time. In fact, as this handy photo demonstrates, I ran quite a bit:

These are racing bibs. You get one for each race that you do. I did a whole lot of racing from May 2013-May 2014

A well-intentioned friend said to me in December 2013 that she was concerned about how much running I was doing. 'I think you're trying to *run away* from your problems,' was her exact phrase. She was right: I was trying to avoid them and running seemed like a perfectly good outlet (and, to be honest, I could have chosen many more destructive outlets). But I wasn't having fun. No race felt really rewarding. I was signing up for events that I ultimately did not enjoy--running on the opening of a new Tampa highway, anyone? While I did a number of trail runs and was lucky to be around a great group of runners who did the same, even that wasn't enough to escape my problems. Training became almost impossible. When I did get out to train, I almost always counted down in my head every step until I was done. There was no real joy, no real improvement, and no solution to my problems.

The same could be said in my personal life, as the events of May 2013 were not easily reconciled, and by May 2014, my situation became even less stable. But still, I kept signing up for races. I did a few blasts from the past: the Jim Kane Sugar Bowl, Beach to Beacon and even revisited my first 10k course with the Tufts 10k. I faced an old nemesis with the Somerville Gobble Gobble Gobble, a race that had not gone so well the last time I did it back in 2006 (I did better).  I was working out--with heartfelt thanks to OutFit Bootcamp, which kept me on track at least a bit--but I wasn't running.

As the locations of these races might suggest, by this point I had left Florida and set up shop in Boston, although my situation was still not stable--so much so that I don't even live in Boston now because in March 2015, I started my first 'real' job in almost a year in Portland, Maine. Working in Maine meant moving to Maine, a burden that I gladly took on because Maine is a great place to live, but one that made keeping up a training plan difficult. And so, running was again on the back burner. Training did not go as planned. However, there was one important change: I ran a race.

On June 7, I completed the Covered Bridges Half-Marathon in Woodstock, Vermont.

It pretty much all looked like this, except for the parts that were even prettier by the river

The course was beautiful, my performance less so. But I still finished, and I even finished in not my worst half-marathon time ever. What I realized from my experience is that I still know how to run a half-marathon, I just need some practice (which should be read as 'miles') to run it better. And I'll need those miles, because I have a crazy plan: next October, I am planning to run two marathons and qualify to be a Marathon Maniac. The marathons in question are the Maine Marathon, conveniently located down the street from me, and Mount Desert Island. Both are in Maine, both should be beautiful, and both should be a lot of fun. I won't go into too many details now, because I'm sure I'll have lots to say between now and then, but I am excited to take on this challenge.

There were plenty of times over the past two years when I questioned my dedication to running and whether I should stop kidding myself about how out of shape I had let myself become. But again and again, I found myself signing up for--and getting excited about--races. While I don't see myself going on the same bib-acquiring bonanza spree as before, I'm looking forward to getting back to a place where running is fun again. Portland helps this, as it is a great city for running, and I'm sure that photos will soon follow. Okay, here's a preview:

I go to places like here when I run now

And also places like here. In fact, this is part of my daily commute.

Back to work! Tonight was the first night of the marathon running plan with a one-hour slow run. And the first day of training is complete.

New (temporary) running blog

I know, I haven't posted in a while. In part, this is because I haven't done a whole lot of running in a while, although since my last post, I did Beach to Beacon in August and the Tufts 10k in October. I beat my previous course records in both of these races--although this is much more of an indictment of how slowly I ran them before than an achievement this time around. Oh well. Take the achievements where you can find them, I say.

Anyway, for the next little while, I am attending an intensive bootcamp to learn how to create web apps. I have noticed that I keep turning to running experiences to explain my experiences with coding, so I have decided to start a new temporary blog during this experience. It's called 'Running Code' and I would invite you to visit me there for a bit.

Upcoming plans include an attempt to qualify for Marathon Maniacs next October/November, so I will definitely be back! See you over at Running Code!

Beach to Beacon 10k: recap

I had hoped to PR this race.  I came nowhere close to PRing this race.  If there is an anti-PR, I almost did that (it was almost as slow as my very first 10k ever!  Maybe slower.  For real).  However, I had also not anticipated that it would be in the 70s with 80% humidity and 2 miles in the bright Maine sun to start.

I began too fast.  Probably I should have slowed down.  However, running at what I was hoping would be my race pace was so easy at first.  It felt kind of like when I PRed on the half-marathon.  So I suspect that I had it in me to make my goal, except that the situation made it impossible.

Here is where you end:

Even better, you don't need to run up the hill at the end!


The course was great (a little hilly, but not horrible).  The support was great.  There were tons of water stops and even ample portapotties at various points.  The t-shirt is great (real wicking fabric!).  Even the running expo was great (2 shirts and 2 bottoms for $33 total).  The people along the route were great, particularly whoever was playing 'I like to move it' around mile 3.  The only complain was the weather, and obviously no one could do anything about that!

I was asked by two EMTs if I was okay.  That is always my acid test for whether I did my best on hot and humid days.

My one piece of advice: if you are doing this run, park at the South Portland locations if that is viable.  They had by far the shortest line for the shuttle bus and it was really easy to get back on 77.  Definitely the best choice I made all day!

Everything is coming together

In 6 days, I am running the Beach to Beacon run in Maine.  Yay!  Maine!

Florida and I are not getting along so well right now.  It's too hot and humid (not surprising).  I got back Tuesday and did get out once for a 6-mile run.  Of course, it was more like a run/walk.  I survived it, but I certainly didn't enjoy it.

I also sat down tonight and did my marathon training plan.  It looks easy.  Maybe too easy.  Much easier than trying to do 6 half-marathons over 9 months, I can promise you that much.  Part of this is because it is a beginner's plan, whereas I had been doing intermediate plans for the half-marathons and the impending 10k.  Sure, there are long runs in the marathon plan, but only 4 that are over 12.  Yay!  And the other runs are relatively short, considering.  Yay!

The best part is that the training plan fits perfectly with when I need to be out of town for work, so I don't have to do crazy rearranging to get everything to fit.  This includes a weekend when I will be in Milwaukee for a conference.  It just happens to be a taper week (only 5M for the long run!  YAY!!!) and I am supposed to run a 10k that weekend.  By even more awesome coincidence, I found one.  It is the Colorama 10k that takes place at Lapham Peak.  Why is it called Colorama?  Because the leaves will have changed!

CHANGING LEAVES!!!!  YAY, YAY, YAY!!!!  Because we don't usually get so much of that here in Florida.

Yep, I'm excited.  As you can probably tell.  Even though I would still prefer being in the Melbourne winter.

It has been forever, I know

Some stuff that happened over the past month:

1) A lot of bad runs as the temperature went up/humidity increased.
2) One very bad half-marathon, during which I felt sick around mile 4 and never got better.
3) One really good 6-mile run on a night where the humidity was low.  That was fun!  So it isn't all hopeless, apparently.
4) An 11-mile run on the treadmill, which seemed endless.
5) I BOUGHT A TREADMILL!!!!!!!  Not the same one as the 11-mile run.  But my very own.  So I can run on it and watch the Red Sox.

Stuff that is happening in the future:

1) I am going to Australia.  It's winter there.  I hope that this bodes well for running.
2) I'm doing a 5k in Australia.  Because hey, why not?
3)  Then I get to do the Beach to Beacon 10k.  I am hoping to set a new PR here.  My goal is under 11:00 mile splits.  Doesn't have to be much under them.  Could be 10:59.  But that would still be a PR.  My current PR is 11:15 and I have spent years trying to break that one.
4) All that's left after that is a marathon.  No biggie.

I am trying to stay positive in the face of much negative with running.  Still working off the stomach bug that hit me during the half-marathon and running has not been going so well since then.  Still trying to remember that it is only one glitch and sometimes glitches happen.  Not doing great with all of these sentiments.

I'm sad that the half-marathon didn't go better for a number of reasons.  The conditions were really good for running (in the 50s!).  The course was really good for running: only one real uphill and very scenic besides.  My stepmother would have done very well if we could have just run the course.  So I was very annoyed at the outcome.  At the same time, it's really hard to run when you're sick and there is a bug going around.  I am not the only one to suffer through it.

The Final Half-Marathon...in this series at least...

All things considered, I got through my training plan pretty well.  No, I didn't complete all of the runs, but I've started to accept that this is okay.  I did what I needed to be in shape for the race.  Unfortunately, I didn't quite make my goal, but the weather was a problem, which is simply one of the hazards of running at this point in the year around these parts.

What was cool is that I pretty much maintained exactly my goal pace for the first 10 miles.  Then it got hot.  With no shade.  Boo.  Many of us complained about the conditions at the end of the race, so I don't feel like it was only me--including some Half-Fanatic people (I didn't wear my shirt, but probably should have).  These things happen.  I was happy that I stayed on track for most of the race.  Plus I got through the whole series!

There is one more on the agenda: a half-marathon in Niagara Falls in June.  I really hope that the weather holds for it!  I'll be revisiting the same training plan as the last time, although I am taking a bit of time off in between.

The most exciting development in my running life is the fact that I got in to the Beach to Beacon 10k, which takes place in Maine on August 4.  The race filled up within 5 minutes of registration opening, so that feels like an accomplishment just getting in.  I truly hope that this will be the 10k race where I finally do well!  This is my most frustrating distance.  I'm sure you'll hear all about it in the coming weeks.