Thursday, June 9, 2016

Tough Decisions.....

AHHHH!  Being a parent and finding/keeping the balance is tough!  So.... MONTHS ago I signed up to go to my favorite Oiselle Bird Camp....I really was beyond excited for this day to come ever since I registered...Well, the past 3 days my anxiety level started to rise to the next level.  I thought I would be ready to leave my baby and my boys home and enjoy myself while running glorious mile after mile,  bonding with my amazing Oiselle sisters, and really just having the time of my life at Bird Camp!! But after many tears, many conversations with my peeps, and writing down my Pro's and Con's list .. I made the tough decision to stay home and be with my crew!  See ... today is the boys last day of school plus Collins turns 8 months old today:


Normally my oldest son says for me to go do things or he doesn't care if I miss a game .... but last night he begged me to be there for his BIG lacrosse tournament this weekend!!  How could I say no to that??  Also... I have full trust in my hubby and his parenting skills but to managing all 3 littles out at a lacrosse tournament over 2 hours away both Saturday & Sunday is a lot to handle!  Plus,  Collins still needs me and still does NOT like a bottle!! 



The breastfeeding alone was the biggest deciding factor....In my mind if I went and had to pumping 6-7 times a day, then store my milk, and worry if she would nurse when I got home a few days later gave me a TON of anxiety!!  I know my teammates would have supported me in ANY decision and would have helped me through the anxiety and stress but right now at this moment in life I feel my little crew here in Delaware needed me the most. 

I may cry a few more times and be uber jealous seeing all the pictures and fun ....but in my heart I know I did what was best for my family!  I am SOOOOOO excited for my fellow Delaware ( and ALL other states ) birds to experience this LIFE changing camp and cannot wait to get together with them when they get back to hear all about it!!!

Right now I am going to go snuggle my little girl with the windows open and listen to the wind blow!

Head Up Wings Out Campers!!

And a HUGE THANK YOU goes out to Rebecca Trachsel and Ashley Fincher for their support and organizing of Bird Camp!!!!

Happy Running!


Monday, April 25, 2016

Post Marathon ...

Honestly...since finishing the Boston Marathon my life has been BUSY!!!  Monday night we went to the fabulous Abe & Louie's for a celebratory dinner with Laura and Julie:

The two of these girls are amazing!!  The positivity and energy they have is something special.  Thank you for the memories and laughs girls!!

And always having my parents and husband there to support, believe, and push me is priceless!  


We meet up with Dave, John, Jenn and Teresa at City Bar for a celebratory drink!  Cheers!!


My favorite part of the night was snuggling with my little beauty:

MMMM taste good!


The drive home Tuesday was not too bad at all.. I made sure to stretch and walk when we made a pit stop.  I could not wait to get home to see my boys!!!!   I missed them terribly and just wanted to squeeze them:

My "middle little" could not wait to get his hands on his baby sister but my oldest just wanted his momma!!  MELT MY HEART!!!


I had to go to work Tuesday night at 11pm ....SO no rest for me!  Work was crazy busy but I think this helped with my recovery!  I definitely wore my Feetures compression socks to run around our crazy unit!

I actually went for a short 2 mile run on Wednesday with my lacrosse team and was pleasantly surprised that everything felt pretty good!  My quads had been pretty sore on Tuesday morning but that all was gone by Wednesday!  I decided to run 3.1 miles on Thursday and then met my BFF to walk 3.5 miles with Collins!  Again...everything felt good!

Back to work...lacrosse practice...games...school... then my middle little made his First Holy Communion on Saturday:

SO PROUD!

I went out yesterday to run with no real plan for distance or pace ... I wanted to take the baby with me but my jog stroller is NOT made for distance runners!  I have had the toughest time trying to maneuver it and find that it is more of a hazard to use!  It has definitely thrown off my gait and my right shoulder is not a fan of steering it!!  UGH!  Suggestions or recommendations are welcomed!!

So I laced up and went out solo ... 6.2 miles in 45:02    .... GO LEGS! 

Huge congrats goes out to all the Coastal Marathon/half marathon/9k finishers yesterday!!! HUGE congrats to all the Boston to Big Sur finishers!!!!

What jog strollers do you use or have you used??
How do you recover from a race?

HAPPY RUNNING!!

Sunday, April 24, 2016

The Boston Marathon 2016

WOW!!!!  This is going to be hard to put into words but here we go....  Marathon Monday, Patriot's Day, Boston Marathon ...

Thankfully Collins let me sleep and I fed her around 6 am before I got ready to head to the buses at Boston Common.   Our hotel, The Lenox, is amazing and they had a great selection of race day breakfast foods and my morning essential...COFFEE!!!  I had 2 cups of coffee, a cup of oatmeal with honey, a bottle of watermelon Nuun and a bottle of water.  A quick pit stop in the potty and off we went to catch the buses.  Thankfully this year I had bus buddies!!!  Laura and Teresa are amazing, talented and calming women! 

Time to wake up!!

So many runners!!

We saw John at Athletes' Village!!

Laura, Teresa, Me and John!!
As we were standing in the port-a-potty line I ran into a Oiselle teammate!!   She was the exact person I needed to see at this moment..... I was super anxious about the race and questioning my abilities and concerned about breastfeeding ... Connie was awesome!!  She reminded me I can do it and that the shortest, quickest way to my baby girl was to run the course!! 




Another reason why I LOVE Oiselle!!!!

I made my way to the Operations tent and pumped one final time before we walked to the start line!  A HUGE shout out to the B.A.A. on being so "Breast Friendly"!!  Just think 50 years ago women were not even allowed to run the Boston Marathon...Now they are supporting woman who are nursing and providing us with a safe area to pump, hydrate and use the port-a-pot!  THANK YOU B.A.A!!

Pumping selfie!



We then had a brisk almost mile walk to the start... one final pit stop, another cup of water and to our corral Teresa and I went!  Laura was 3 corrals behind us.   The gun went off and it was go time!  I set my watch to only see my mileage and not my pace...I was so nervous I was going to stress over my pace and allow the negative thoughts to attack!  I was worried when I hit the 10k mark because I was already salt covered and feeling pretty dry!  I decided I would walk the water stops and make sure to grab a drink at least one cup ever 1-2 miles... I also did my first gel at the 10k mark!  This strategy seemed to work pretty well.  I saw so many Oiselle teammates out on the course and cheering their heads off for us runners!!  I told myself to just get to Wellesley and to Cowbell Corner where my AMAZING Oiselle cheer squad would be!!!  They did NOT disappoint!!  I could hear the screams and cheers and it was exactly what I needed to fuel me to the Newton Hills!!  I took another gel at 13-13.5 miles. 

I went into the Newton Hills telling myself just get to Heartbreak Hill then it is smooth sailing from there to the finish.  Well.....since I was hydrating so well, my milk "came in/let down" at mile 18.32....  holy moly!  I decided now was a good time to take another gel and cup of water!  Miles 21-24.9 flew by... I saw my friends from Nova timing at the 40K mark and then walked the beast of a "hill" at the Citgo sign!!  ( This overpass literally gets me every year I do Boston) I told myself  "up, down, right on Hereford, left on Boylston and FINISH!!! The roar of the spectators was amazing!!!  I could see the finish line and I knew my family, friends and baby girl were waiting for me at The Lenox!!!  I kept thinking make your boys proud and run faster for them!  The moment I saw my family was unlike anything I can explain:



I wanted to scream, cry, laugh ...all at once!! My mom shout "Go, Go, Go" ... So I figured I must be close to my BQ time!!  3:36!!!  I DID IT!  I re-qualified for next year!! 


HAPPY RUNNING!!!

Sunday, April 17, 2016

BOSTON MARATHON WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a quick recap of the past few days here in Boston!!

We are staying at our home away from home.... The Lenox !  I cannot speak highly enough about this hotel and the incredible staff and management!!  Dan Donahue is fantastic and truly goes above and beyond!  Sid and Pete are like family and make magic come true!

I went for a quick 2 mile run Saturday morning then cheered for all the BAA 5K runners!  I caught these two speedy friends in action:
Jenn killing it in her Oiselle singlet!

John looking strong!!

We then went straight to the expo and packet pick up!!  OH MY GOODNESS this is really happening:  PHOTO overload!

 








Fun at Sam Adams


FEETURES love!!
I had an amazing lunch with Feetures runners and the BEST Mary Mac!!!

Nuun meet up!



A girl and her Poppop!!

Dinner in the North End followed by Mike's Pastry


Started Sunday with a nice Oiselle meet-up and shakeout run!!  I love my Oiselle sisters and the bond that we share!!



Jessy and I are both 6 months postpartum!!!


After my run we went to Saint Cecilia's for mass and blessing of the athletes! 





Two of my biggest fans!!!  I am very sad my boys are not here to share in this amazing weekend with us but school and their sports keep them busy!!


See ya tomorrow!!!!


Future Boston marathoner!!



Good luck to all the Boston marathon runners!!!!

Happy Running!

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Less than 1 week....

I cannot believe that the Boston Marathon is less than 1 week away!!  I swear it feels like I was just there and 14 weeks pregnant!  This year is exciting and terrifying all at once.  I am excited to be back running the 26.2 distance again and terrified that I will suck!  Boston is a beast and the downhill can eat your legs right up ... but the spectators, the course, the volunteers, and MY FAMILY waiting for me at the finish will help me put a smile on my face and hopefully fly through the streets from Hopkinton to Boylston!

I had my last long training run on Sunday and felt better than amazing ... 13.1 miles in 1:35:10.  This was one of those runs were everything just came together perfectly.  Lets hope and pray the same thing happens on Monday!!!


I will have this beauty waiting for me on Boylston!!  Yup,  rolls are definitely in this year!!


See ya in Beantown!!

Happy Running!

Monday, April 4, 2016

Boston 2016!!

Well HELLO THERE blogging world!  If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you know what I have been up to... but for those who do not follow, here is a quick update!  So we were blessed with our 3rd child back in October and we had a beautiful baby GIRL! 




And now she is approaching 6 months old!  SAY WHAT! The time has sure flown by!!  With my older boys school/sports/life schedules, a newborn, marathon training, working night shift, and coaching HS lacrosse ... blogging definitely took a back seat.  


Sooooo since the Boston Marathon is 2 weeks away I figured I should update my plan!  Training has been going well and adjusting to my crazy "mom of 3" life had been awesome....but I have to say I am nowhere near where I want to be for a PR race!  Training wise my runs have been pretty great, my pace isn't too far off from where I need to be but it has been a balancing act to try to fit in my long, long runs ( anything over 13 miles ).   I had a solid 22.5 miles last Saturday that felt amazing and I did it in 2:57:01 that time includes a 7 minute breastfeeding break ( hubby brought kids to park where I was running,  I hopped in fed the baby and ran right back out ).  Breastfeeding has been going great and luckily I have a great supply even with marathon training.  I have to be honest,  this was a huge concern for me and I was not willing to risk my milk supply or miss a feeding for a long run or a goal time!!  So I have accepted that this year Boston will be my comeback marathon but probably not a PR race for me! Will I finish?  I hope so.  Will I have fun?  Heck Yes!  Will I embrace the experience and seeing my fellow Oiselle runners?  Absolutely! 

There are a lot of factors that I am still worried about but I know once we get to Boylston Street it will all be worth it!

Who else is running Boston this year??

Are you where you want to be in your training?

Happy Running!


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