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!

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!!!

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!

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!

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!

www.oiselle.com

RAGNAR RELAY DC - ULTRA

BEST ADVENTURE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!   If you ever get a chance to do a Ragnar Relay I highly recommend it!  It was SO much fun combined with hard work, pushing to the limits, no sleep, and many, MANY laughs!!

We started off our adventure by packing everything as neatly as possible while living in a big white van with 7 people ... 6 of whom are runners and will probably start to smell after a few hours!!

6 different running outfits .. All Oiselle of course!!  Then I crammed everything into Ziploc bags to minimize stink after my sweat legs of the race!

 I packed a ton of food, TP, water, NUUN, blanket, pillow and was ready to go!

We all met at Dave's house and loaded up in our van:

Team Glutiators on our way to get our final teammate Laura!!!

I LOVE this girl!!  She is such a blast and so positive it is contagious!!

:Laura rocking the night gear!

It was about a 4-5 hour drive from here to our hotel in Frostburg, MD since we made a few pit stops (yummy dinner and Joanne Fabrics for much needed van accessories )!!  We settled in to our hotel and tried to get a good night sleep since we would be living in a van for the next 24+ hours!!

Our mascot Steve!!!!

Our start time wasn't until 12:30 on Friday so we had plenty of time to get up, eat, decorate and head to the start of the race.  Team Glutiators ready to rock ... John was runner #1 and I was runner #2 .. our first transition was super easy since leg 1 was around the lake and the transition was right across from the start!

John set the pace and tone for the day ... Looking super strong!

Seriously...started off with a STEEP 2 miles of climbing followed by a wicked downhill!

Trying to stay calm before my first run!

I was really leery on how well organized this race would be considering it is 200.5 miles long and starts in Cumberland, MD and runs to the National Harbor in DC.  I was pleasantly surprised with it!  I  honestly think we had such a smooth time with logistics and exchanges because of our amazing driver, Byron aka JUICY!!

I was super excited to see my team at the end of my first leg!!  Laura was runner #3 and her first run was the HARDEST leg of the entire race!  1700 ish elevation gain ... it was such a difficult leg that the runners all got a belt buckle at the end of that leg!

Laura KILLING that beast!

Dave was runner #4 .. he is a  SUPER speedster and nailed every single leg he had!

Then runner #5 was Jen W.... climbing that dirt road to her first exchange.

Our final runner #6 was Jenn B ... She had the highest mileage with one of her legs being 11+ miles!

But she is a superstar and flew through her legs!

#BEASTMODE

Our team worked really well together .. we all encouraged and supported each other and made sure everyone had what they needed.  Right before my 2nd leg ( which was called "What the Hill ??" ) I was hitting an energy low and really nervous about how I would climb this mountain :

THANK GOD for my crew because they had a ice cold diet coke waiting for me at the bottom!  Also Byron was a miracle worker and helped massage out my angry piriformis!!!  I felt a tug and a pop in my left butt cheek/hamstring area as I was climbing that hill.

Also heaven sent is Erin from Lucky Girl Cookies!!  Her chocolate gingerbread cookies were the perfect snack and really help stave of the nausea I was having between my runs!  The natural ginger was awesome. Look ... how cute are the little sneakers??!!

One of the hardest things for me was nutrition ... I really focused on hydration and did a great job with that but the fuel was much harder for me.  I survived off of dark chocolate covered pomegranate and acai berries, organic bread with natural PB, picky bars and pretzels.  I had some fierce nausea and the thought of food made it worse.  Jenn B. gave me some mint essential oil for my water and that really helped.  During my overnight run we stopped in this general store and bought their last case of water, chocolate milk and hot tea ... plus I got a powerball ticket:

Sadly it wasn't a winner!

Dave ready to kick asphalt!

I managed to take a 30 min nap around 0200 when Jen W. was running and it really was just the right amount to get me through the night!  Once the sun was up my body was ready to go.   It was also a lot of fun to check off our boxes on our van window:

Our first leg down!

Oh yeah ... and to add of "kills" to the window too ... Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture but we had close to 250+!!

One of my favorite highlights was running into my Oiselle teammate Mary:

I LOVE her and her Team Pudding came in 1st Coed 12 person team!!!!  ROCK STARS!  

Team Glutiators KILLED it too and we place 2nd Ultra team and 16th overall!!!!!!!!!!  With a time of 27:25 for 200.5 miles and countless memories made!

Here are some more of my favorite pics:

Representing the Bear Glasgow Y:

My MIZUNO Wave Rider 17's ( I packed 3 pair of mizuno's but stuck witth my riders ) and my Jasyoga legs up:

My final leg completed in the pouring rain with another STEEP mountain to climb the final 2.5 miles!!:

Jen W super happy to be finished her final leg also:

My favorite Superheroes,  Jenn B. and Laura!!!!!

While Jenn B ran her final leg of the race we hurried over to the finish line so we could all run Jenn in and cross the line together as Team Glutiators!  EPIC experience and I cannot wait to do it again!

I really enjoyed the beer and pizza afterwards and chatting with other teams!

CHEERS RAGNAR to an amazing adventure!

Anyone else ever do a Ragnar Relay?  

Happy Running!