Because the Race Won't Run Itself..

Last night I attempted to make some homemade pasta and it surprisingly actually came out really good... Definitely something I will be doing again soon.

Now I'm not sure if it was the carb load from the pasta or the fact I went to bed with no intention of setting an alarm and allowed my body to fully rest/sleep... which ended up being 11 hours, but I woke up with a lot of energy. It's funny though, because initially when I woke up, I had ZERO plans to use that energy in anything outside of my apartment. 

After hearing nothing but shoveling outside, and having my mom convince me that I needed to get it done before the rain/ice hits, I got myself together and headed outside for a few hours of shoveling. Mind you, by myself, with a small shovel... The pictures will say it all..

This is what I had to work with..

And I kept having to push this snowbank back since I'm too short

After I had finished the back... I still had so much

Making room around the front of the car

I would hope my Dad would be proud of the extra space

Even on the sidewalk side

BOOM.

Talk about a workout... By the end of this I was in snowboard pants and a Bruins Jersey [yes, I wore the Bruins jersey, come on they have a game tonight!] I would like to take a moment to thank the stranger/neighbor/hockey player "Matt" who stopped and helped me for about 20 minutes with the front side of my car. He didn't have to, and doesn't even have a car in Boston, but was walking by after helping the little old lady who lives above him and asked if I wanted any help. Those 20 minutes of help probably saved me at least another 45 minutes out there. I will say though, as we were talking he a) made me feel old when he said he graduated college in 2011 and b) I found out he was a Habs fan and almost told him he should probably stop helping me. haha. seriously. But we at least shared some hate for the other NHL teams, so I let it slide... just. this. once. though.

Throughout my almost 3 hours of shoveling, I happened to see a lot of people attempting to run down along the beach and I couldn't help but think, "hey I missed running yesterday, I should probably get some sort of mileage in." I'm not going to lie, it was inspiring to see others out there pushing themselves to get a workout in and could only think that they too, were training for the marathon. Just because there's snow on the ground, doesn't give me a solid excuse to not run... So I made my way back inside and got myself together for the run. 

I do have to thank my mom for the "Crampons" that she bought me, as they were definitely a life saver today and made my run not only possible but bearable. 

Crampons... making running in the snow/slush doable

Alright snow/slush... Let's do this.

As I headed out I set my Nike Plus for a short 3.5 miles, and ended up doing 3.75 miles. The only discouraging thing today was, if it weren't for the mounds of snow and slush, my body felt really good and I could've done more mileage. BUT, I was running in my old running shoes and the crampons, and knew it was going to probably affect my stride/normal running pattern, so I didn't want to push it too far, in hopes it would avoid any added insult to injury.

The whole neighborhood out sledding

There were actually a lot of people out still shoveling or walking around, and it was encouraging to hear the many people I passed telling me that it was awesome I was out running and getting mileage in. The smiles on their faces, even as they were working on 3+ hours of shoveling was all the support I needed. Or even the guy on my last half mile who I stuck my tongue out at as he was shoveling his car, in an effort to explain that it wasn't easy to be running in the snow, and his comment back "hey keep it up!" and a smile on his face, and I held my pace for the final half mile. Good to know little things like that can help me with my running.  

Not to mention... it was absolutely gorgeous out!

Please notice the "trail" I was running on... Definitely not the easiest to do!

So I may have said above that there was only one discouraging thing that happened today, but I guess you could say there were 3. The additional events were: 1) stepping in a HUGE puddle completely soaking my right foot... luckily the sun and my stride helped dry it off a lot quicker than I expected; and 2) when I was just about to mile 3 a car comes flying around the corner... and nails a HUGE puddle, which in turn came up over the snow bank COMPLETELY drenching me from head to toe...At least the couple walking towards me found some humor in it... But I just grit my teeth and kept running. The slush/splashes/snow were the inevitable.

So much slush!

I would say overall today was a great day of physical activities and I definitely got a FULL body workout.

Finally home from my run... and still not impressed with being splashed by a car.

And now that I'm home relaxing, enjoying some of my leftover pasta from last night, my body feels pretty good. Only a little sore from the shoveling, but I tried to maintain the proper shoveling form throughout so that my back/legs/body didn't hurt too too much, and so far I think I achieved that. Now it's time to get ready for the Bruins game and meet up with my friend Danielle to enjoy the game! 

Definitely NOT a fast pace, but I'd love to see what yours would be in snow/slush... I'm keeping positive in that it was decently steady with no superrrrr slow moments.

Hopefully the roads will be a little more clear tomorrow. But I might wait and do my run at lunch again, so I can take advantage of downtown sidewalks. 

Tomorrow's Distance: 4 miles

Tuesday: Rest

Well it wasn't a 12 mile run...

...But it was a 6 mile walk in full snow gear and snow boots walking in the Nemo aftermath.

Somehow last night walking back from the bars, my keys to my apartment were consumed and are currently missing in action. I suspect it was when I wiped out and took a digger in the snow when trying to cross the street with snow piles taller than me.

Realizing that I had no way to get into my apartment, and with a cell phone with no battery, panic started to set in. My poor friend felt helpless as he couldn't do anything to help. Lucky for him, we're still new friends, so I didn't allow myself to have a full on panic attack with tears. But trust me. They were there just waiting.

The funny thing about snow storms is that everyone becomes more friendly. No one was allowed to drive, and no public transportation was running, but everyone was out shoveling and saying hi and meeting their neighbors for the first time. Lucky for me, my neighbors were home and allowed me into their condo to charge my phone and figure out how I was going to get into my apartment.

After trying my back door using the fire escape, and asking the liquor store downstairs if they had any keys (and they did, just not ones that worked on my door) I was finally able to get in touch with my roommate and this is where my workout began.

He was staying at a friends for the weekend, in the South End. As I just mentioned, there were no forms of transportation available so my only option was to walk. In the snow. In the wind. Across the town.

My unimpressed face. 

3 hours later I was finally home and warm in my apartment. It was definitely a work out and I was exhausted from it. As I walked more miles, my snow pants only got heavier with the wet slush that I had been trudging through. 

The only down part on top of all this was the Bruins game being cancelled tonight. Now what am I suppose to do?

Tomorrow is technically a rest day as I was suppose to have done 12 miles today, but I might try and get out and get some sort of exercise in since I didn't get the full mileage in. Come on Nemo... go away.

Rest Day...

Nemo has begun... and I have no work which is kind of nice, but I really wish it would stop since it's most likely going to hinder my running schedule.

I started my day very leisurely and then was invited to go out for some snow day drinks. [The snow storm was getting worse and I live in the best area for this kind of activity, so I obviously said yes]

This was the tap at the bar.... LOVE it.

Needless to say it was an evening of great times, lots of laughs, and randomly running into so many different people that I know randomly through all different walks of my life.

The funniest moment had to have been when I was sitting at the bar and my friend Jon and I had struck up conversation with the group of guys next to us... The one sitting right next to me played the conversation starter game and began asking 'getting to know you' questions. When the question came up about what I do for work... his jaw dropped and was like wait, did you say Bentley? Apparently he is an assistant football coach at Bentley and we had been on the same fields numerous times this past fall.

I also met some fellow B.A.A. Marathon runners and was able to discuss some training and fundraising. It was fun to be able to chat with someone who shares a similar goal with me.

SnowDay Crew and we wore the goggles all night

Tomorrow: Hopefully 12 miles.

Leap Frog.

I'm not going to lie... if someone could tape record or transcribe the thoughts that run through my head as I'm running... I'd probably become famous, or at least win some sort of award for the profoundness that occurs in there haha. Unfortunately for you, the readers,  no one does that for me, so you actually miss out on a lot of the humorous and/or life facts I think of while running. But tonight I was pretty good at keeping mental notes... lucky you.

Still smiling.. and yes you'll see the neon green jacket a lot
(it's an awesome running coat for night runs) 

Tonight I only had to do 4 miles, and I felt really good. I headed out around 6pm, right from the office, not allowing anytime to get home and become lazy. My run tonight acted as my "de-briefer" from the busy day at work of to do lists, discovery, and deadlines. And let me tell you... running up Huntington Avenue, putting myself in the midst of several different colleges was an easy way to not think about work.

Blurry... but it was pretty much my view
with the addition of hundreds of college kids/cars going by

I'm not sure if there is a competition between the local colleges and universities for obnoxious students, but Northeastern is putting themselves in the running quick (please see yesterdays blog if this statement confuses you). Now I know I'm guilty of texting and walking, but I at least think I have it down to an art form... NOT  these students. You would think they were drunk (which hey, maybe they were considering tomorrow the snow Apocalypse is going to hit and Menino has shut down the entire city so they probably don't have classes. Actually, I definitely saw some students with the typical college thirty racks walking around... I'm talking about you, Keystone..), but anyways... when I'm running, I typically try to work around the people ahead of me, and if they're on the left, I'm going to run right... WELL.. that apparently is NOT the way you do it walking near Northeastern. Their style is more a Russian roulette type of style, like one where you might even have your life on the line... I swear if one more person all of a sudden jolted to the opposite side of the sidewalk, you know.... the spot I was about to run.... I might just start acting like Vince Wilfork and take someone out (and maybe even do a little dance after).

Pick a side people I have a pace I'm trying to maintain!

One cool thing about tonight's run, besides the fact that I was actually keeping up at a faster, more consistent pace, was that I was also playing a little game of leap frog with the Number 39 bus. It was interesting passing the bus, getting passed, and then re-passing the bus. I don't care if it had to stop to pick people up; stop at red lights; and deal with traffic... I definitely won. [I mean seriously, I had to deal with the drunk-texting-sidewalk-hogs, which is way worse than any amount of traffic]

So I was feeling good about my pace, right up until I hit my halfway mark... and then it happened... some other female runner was out and she FLEW by me.

Talk about a motivation killer. It wasn't even like she was a little ahead of me... she literally... flew... by.. me... Before I could even figure out what had happened she was already out of my visibility further up the sidewalk.

After a moment of self-pity...

 I told myself it's probably better I start having people do this to me on my runs... 1) for motivation to push myself to a faster pace and 2) to prepare for the marathon... please, I'm no qualifying time participant... the passing is going to happen for the entire 26.2 miles, might as well get use to it... to a point.

When I was done I looked at my gps and I had finished my 4 miles in less than 42 minutes, which was a big 'F you' to my Nike Plus which was it's predicted finish time for me... ha ha Nike plus, I beat you! :)

Oh boy...I guess I can even find competition with an iPhone app.

But as I've said throughout this post, I felt good tonight. My body felt good, and I felt energized, which was refreshing after having run 6 miles yesterday. It's giving me hope that I really can do this if I keep to the training schedule. For the first time ever, 4 miles felt short... awesome.

I honestly don't think you could've asked me at any point in my life to date that I would expect to be doing what I'm doing right now, but here I am... doing it. It's a good feeling. Which is something I think we all need in our lives... something to feel really good about.

I've also been pleasantly surprised by some of my supporters who have donated so far. You know who you are, and your support is beyond appreciated and I will continue to thank you a million times over. I kept reading fundraising posts of other participants who said their supporters helped motivate them, and I don't think I truly understood that until recently.

To my supporters... Thank you. You really are helping put the extra push in every mile. 

Now... to end my night.... already feeling good about my workout. I come across this waiting for the bus... talk about something to bring a smile to your face... some people.

Just your typical man with a unicorn mask, purple spandex and rainbow leg warmers...
WHAT?!?!

Tomorrow is a rest day, which I'll enjoy to the fullest... especially since my office decided to close completely for the day. I'm thinking a Bar Method or Yoga DVD workout will be in order along with a lot of stretching, icing, and resting... I'm looking forward to it!

IF by chance the snow isn't as bad as it's suppose to be, or if it at least allows me to get on a sidewalk, I'll be attempting my first "distance run" of my training... 12 miles... Oooofff... I'll keep you posted!

Tomorrow: Rest Day
Saturday [pending snow]: 12 miles

A New Lunch Break...

Last night this whole marathon thing started to become even more "real" to me. As I walked into the Garden prior to the Mumford and Sons concert (which was awesome as a side note), and worked my way into the Bruins Foundation Offices, there sat an envelope with my name on it: my official entry form into the B.A.A. Marathon.

I didn't waste anytime getting this filled out, but I can't lie stating I wasn't a little shaky filling it out. 26.2 miles... 26.2.  That's all that keeps going through my head through each of my workouts. 

When I woke up this morning bright (well maybe not so bright) and early (definitely early) I looked out my window to see that it was still snowing and not very bright out. I knew at work that nothing was going to be extremely pressing (or at least I was hoping) and originally decided when I left my apartment that I would force myself to run right after work downtown. As the day progressed, and I saw the sun outside, I couldn't help but make the decision to go for the 6 mile run during my lunch hour (talk about motivation to make sure you finish within an hour or so!).

[side note, I know I said 5 miles yesterday was today's distance but when I re-read my running schedule, I was a week off, and actually needed to be running 6 miles today]

The weather was perfect. The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, but one that felt refreshing and not an added barrier to the mileage, and there were plenty of other people out there running as well. I decided to run down along the Charles and I will most definitely be doing that again soon. 

Today as I was running, my mind was doing it's usual laps around everything going on in my life, but I decided to actually focus on 'how' I was running around mile 2. I worked on making sure my stride was straight and not my typical waddle (haha) and also started to take notice on how I was pumping my arms and took caution not to cross them across my body but to "pick my pockets" as track had taught me so long ago. I've noticed as I add more miles I tend to start crossing my arms as I run, so I'm learning that will be something I'll need to work out to make sure I'm getting the most out of every stride and pump of my arms that I take. 

Overall today's run went pretty well. I learned that I run faster when there are people around me (I blame my competitiveness), which I'll have to make sure I don't push myself too hard at the beginning of the race due to so many people around and then die at the end of the race; and I also learned that Berkeley students might be the most obnoxious people on the sidewalks ever. [If you go to Berkeley, I'm sorry I'm not sorry]. Seriously kids... MOVE when you see not only someone running, but even other people who were just walking! They just stand outside their buildings, smoking their cigarettes, clueless to the world around them. But, for now I'll just look at it as practice at dodging other people during the race.

The 6 miles were done in about 1 hour 2 mins, which I'll take considering it's about 5 minutes faster than my 6 miles last Saturday (again not necessarily going for speed as much as endurance and being able to finish this race). The upcoming snowstorm I'm afraid is going to hinder my long run on Saturday, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's not as bad as they're making it out to be. 

And my day wouldn't be complete without a typical comment from my best friend... Thanks Shana :)

Tomorrow's Distance: 4 miles

And also a visit to my Bentley field hockey girls to check in on their off-season workouts!

[pray for no snow this weekend!]

"Rest Day"

This morning I enjoyed being able to sleep in a little later than usual and get my day off to a leisurely start. Although Gus Gus wasn't wanting any of that and continued to play with a straw in my bedroom for a good half hour before I locked him out so I could get that extra 45 minutes.

I'm optimistic about my 5 mile run tomorrow morning, as my legs feel good, and so does my mind. The only thing I'm slightly concerned about is that it's suppose to start snowing around 3am... and also continue to snow randomly throughout this week. Since it's my first full week back though I don't think I have the time to 'slack' off per say, and will just have to push through it, throw on the crampons from Cabellas and get the mileage done.

Right now I'm 9% for my donation amount, which I think is a decent start considering I've only had the link and emails going for less than 24 hours. Thank you to those who have already donated... it truly means so much to me!

Tomorrows Distance: 5 miles

Donation Link!!!

Here's the wonderful website link for all you awesome people willing to donate to help me reach my goal!

Stephanie's Bruins Foundation Donation Page

Any and all size donations will be GREATLY appreciated!!!