Tag: Endurance

What Shakespeare has to say about Twitter, training & racing

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I love Twitter. Some, like my husband, might even say I have a Twitter “problem.”  I don’t think it’s a problem, really. I just don’t want to spend a day without being able to check my Twitter feed – even if it’s only a quick skim. I look forward to reading the ideas, the information and the experiences shared by my fellow tweeps. How is it that I get so much from a seemingly disjointed collection of 140-character musings? In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Lord Polonius (in a rather funny and ironic twist in the dialogue) says to the King and Queen, …

PHUNT 50k Race Report

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I woke up this morning, put my feet on the floor, and struggled to stand up. Ah, yes, I did run that 50k yesterday. Now I remember. My quads are almost useless, as I have to use my arms to pull myself up and help myself down. My right leg wants to know exactly what I did yesterday because the ITB is tight, my shin is on fire, and my cranky tendon is, well, cranky again. But, I crossed the finish line in yesterday’s PHUNT 50k in a just a breath under 6 hours (5:59:32 to be precise). Was it …

From 2009 into 2010: Places, races & goals

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In terms of my athletic goals and experiences, 2009 has been an excellent year. (It’s been a great year for other reasons as well, just not necessarily central to this blog :)). I have met some of the coolest runners and triathletes,  some of which I have been fortunate to develop relationships with, others who passed through my life for a day, as I did through theirs. So many smiles, so many words of encouragement. Peace, love and light to all of you in 2010! I’ve enjoyed interacting with all of you here on my blog, on twitter, at races …

5 days to my first ultra: The PHUNT 50k

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In five days, I will run my first ultra marathon. I’m feeling a little apprehensive about it because I’ve been on a self-directed mission of nutrition sabotage since my birthday. Cookies. Rich meals with lots of fat and bad carbs. Wine. Lots of wine. Sadly, I’ve been feeling it lately in my runs and workouts. I’m hoping that I can reverse course over the next 5 days and get myself back on nutrition track. (So far this morning, I’ve been successful. I’ve thrown out the leftover Christmas cookies, and ate a hearty bowl of oatmeal.) Other than my nutrition derailing …

The Streets of Philadelphia

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My husband John, my sister-in-law Tracy, and I ran the Philadelphia Marathon yesterday, along with 7,465 other marathon finishers. The Philly was Tracy’s first marathon ever. For John and I, this was the first race we’ve ever done with more than 1,000 entrants. Including the half marathon and the 8k, there were about 15,000 runners in yesterday’s events. The last race I ran had about 600 runners. The collective energy of that many runners along with the thousands of spectators was invigorating, contributing mightily to a successful race day for all three of us. Philadelphia is a special place for …

Three dogs, one beautiful morning, and 14 miles of flow

 Shady, one of my three dogs, woke me at 5:30 a.m. She was whining because she needed to use the doggie restroom, a.k.a., outside. She was ahead of my alarm clock’s schedule, which wasn’t set to go off until 6 a.m.    As I shuffled to put on some warmer clothes to take them outside, my dogs clustered around me. Mag’s tail banged loudly against the wall as he waited (impatiently) for me to be ready to take them outside and feed them. One of Mag’s nicknames is Mag-the-Wag because we are hard-pressed to find a time when that tail …

Satisfying the demands of reason and emotion through gradual adaptation and 1% improvements

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I’m antsy. I’ve got work to do.   It’s been a week since the half iron distance triathlon. The soreness has faded. The feeling of accomplishment is there, but I can’t help feeling that I want to do better, go faster, be stronger. My basic goal for the triathlon was 6 hours, and while I accomplished that goal with a time of 5:55;37, I secretly (or not so secretly) wished I would do better–like 5:45 would have been great. I had wanted to place in my age group, but was 4th (by over a minute). My rational mind knows that I …

Arriving at one goal: The half distance triathlon

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Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.  ~John Dewey Sunday, October 4th was the day I have been working toward for five months: my first half iron distance triathlon. Race day began as most race days begin: EARLY! While I had been tossing and turning since 2:34 a.m., I did not officially rise out of bed until 5:01 a.m. The race was scheduled to start at 8 a.m. Even though the venue was only 20 minutes away and I had already packed everything I needed, I wanted to get up early enough to eat something solid, and arrive …

Dreams, courage, and guts

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There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream.  ~Author Unknown I rolled over and looked at the clock. It read 4:15. The alarm hadn’t gone off yet because I had set it for 4:30 a.m. John was sleeping, so I tried to be as quiet as possible as I headed to the bathroom to start getting ready for the day. I looked out the hotel window: rain. As I brushed my teeth in the darkness, I thought about what was in store for us that day: John would be running his first ultramarathon: …

TrekWomen Triathlon Series, Mount Snow: Event Summary

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 The TrekWomen Triathlon was held at Mount Snow on August 9, 2009. It was a sprint tri, with a 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 2.1 mile semi-trail run. A portion of the proceeds benefitted breast cancer research and Team Survivor. There were a total of 185 finishers, who included cancer survivors and first timers who have overcome great obstacles to get to the finish line.One woman had undergone a heart transplant and was participating in her first triathlon. Wow! If you were looking for inspiration, this race was a great place to find it. I was teary eyed in …