I Been Here For Years

My 64 days and (roughly) 8 hours of no running stretch finally came to an end this morning with the Winter Classic 5K in Cambridge.  Except I didn't run a 5K...I ran approximately 3 miles.  Despite leaving a full hour before the start of the race to get to Central Square which typically takes about 20-30 minutes to get to by the T we got there so late that we had to jump into the race with no bibs and without making it to the starting line.  We jumped in right behind the trailing police car...this was a come back race for Erin, Robbie, and I so we weren't really worried about the technicalities.  But we were able to run the entire course less the section we skipped.  And minus having to stop a couple times to put Robbie's mittens back on.  Oh, and to pick up the shoes and socks he threw off his feet.  Did I mention it was around 30 degrees out while we were running?  Not sure what you're supposed to do with a kid who is crying because he's cold while he is taking his second sock off.  I think he may need to catch up on some Dual Survival because after the crying I saw today, Cody Lundin would not be impressed.

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The ankle didn't hurt when running, but there was definitely some achiness after the race.  Not so much a throbbing pain or anything that even remotely resembled the original injury but a very subtle radiating pain that would slowly fade in and out every once in awhile.  My ankle is elevated as I speak type, but I think I may slowly be getting back in the game.  But don't call it a come back 'cause, well, you know...

The Bourbon Chase October 7-8, 2011

9:00 AM on a Friday

"The Gang Goes to Jim Beam"

It was a beautiful Friday morning as Van 1 from team Fueled by >51% Corn drove from Lexington to the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, KY to begin the journey that is the Bourbon Chase.  They arrived to shots of bourbon lining the bar.  And our full team ended on Main Street in Lexington, KY amidst booths of bourbon and (my personal favorite) Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale.

Our team of 12 runners ran this beautiful 200 mile relay course that stretched from Jim Beam all the way to Lexington, KY while hitting all the major bourbon distilleries along the way.  The adventure was filled with laughs, mishaps, and killer tunes (think Careless Whisper).  My van, Van 2, met up with Van 1 at Makers Mark.  We took a quick tour of the distillery where we came across one of the funniest scenarios ever.  As we were walking back to the transition point where our 6th runner would pass the baton...errr...slap bracelet to our 7th, we passed by a warehouse full of aging bourbon and two people locked in side.  Yes, you read that correctly, two people were locked inside. As we walked, the front door was being pounded on from the inside with a guy yelling "Excuse me!  Can you open this door?  We're locked in!"  In between fits of laughter, we informed the imprisoned that the door was padlocked.  One of my teammates answered, "Can't you just go out the way you came in?  How did you get in there?"  The gentleman answered, "It said self-guided tour!  So we came in!  Then they came behind us and locked the door!"  I ran to get someone from Maker's while the rest of my van stayed behind to laugh at them some more.  Well, walked briskly to get help.  I mean, I was crying from laughing so hard so my vision was too blurry to actually run.  After a couple of minutes, Maker's managed to get the door opened and the couple came out safely and in surprisingly good humor. 

 After that, we joined the race.  My van ran its first round with no problems - with the exception of the middle earth-type heat our first four runners had to endure.  

9:00 PM on a Friday

"The Gang Sees an Apparition" 

Our first round ended in Perryville, KY where Van 1 took over again and we left to grab dinner and head to the hotel for a nice 3 hour nap.  I should mention here that my van was unfortunate enough to have Cynthia, my GPS, as our navigator.  Cynthia has never liked me.  I'm convinced she is jealous of my relationship with Micah and is doing everything she can to get me lost for good.  Getting rid of me is one thing, but she put the other runners and our hero of a driver in peril as well which is absolutely unacceptable.  In looking for the hotel, she took us down a very dark, very scary road.  We knew something was wrong so Craig, the driver, pulled into a gravel driveway to turn around and figure out what our next move should be.  We were all tired, a little frustrated, and, quite frankly, afraid for our lives so when Craig said "well, that's a little creepy" the whole van was ready to overthrow Cynthia from her oh-so-powerful spot on the dashboard.  We looked up at the barn in front of us and saw something like this...

...Okay, maybe they weren't flesh eating ghosts...maybe it was more like a cherub angel statue watching our every move from the loft a very obviously haunted barn.  Either way, total creepers. Anyway, where Cynthia cannot be trusted good 'ole Google came to our rescue.  We made it to our hotel with a quick stop at Fazoli's for dinner.

3 hours and a nap later, we were on our way to Danville where we met up with Van 1 again to start our second round of runs.  It was the middle of the night so everyone got to enjoy a nice, cool run.  My van peeps blew their times out of the water, and then it got to my run.  

5:50 AM on a Saturday

"Sweet Allie Loses a Leg" 

I felt great starting out.  I knew Leg 23 was a hilly run, but I was ready for it and got off to a nice steady pace.  About 2 miles in, I heard my van cheering me as they passed.  Not 10 minutes later, I heard more vans coming up behind me.  At this point, the road was narrowed to about as wide as one lane and I was a little nervous about cars passing me.  I did my best to get over as far as I could.  With it being 2AM and about as dark as I've ever experienced, I couldn't see where the pavement ended.  I ended up getting over too far to let the vans pass and turned my ankle.  I got up immediately thinking that I could just run off the pain but after a few minutes running became nearly impossible because my foot was swelling so bad my shoe was cutting off the circulation.  As I ran, my arch got so swollen that my foot was actually convex and I was rocking from my heel to my toe.  Uncomfortable, to say the least.  About 3 miles later, I made it to the exchange point and begged for some ice.  Yeah, I said it, 3 miles.  Hardcore.  Not like I had much of a choice, but I was given the Beast Award for that one.  Here is a scientific portrayal of exactly what happened:

Clearly, with all the snapping, popping and ka-powing going on I was unable to run my third leg.  Luckily, our driver (a very handsome, giving man) ran the final leg for me.  

7:00 PM on a Saturday

"The Gang Finishes"

The Bourbon Chase is beyond words.  Never mind just trying anymore, in just over a year I have triumphed 2 half marathons, 1 full marathon, and completed a 200 mile relay race. What's the difference between try and triumph you ask?  Just a little umpf.  I may not be the fastest but I'm labeling this one as a success. 

Oops, I did it again...

I thought I learned my lesson after the Tough Mudder.  If you came up to me and said "hey, let's go run up and down a mountain," I would reply without hesitation "absolutely not."  Do you know why I would say that?  Because it's stupid.  But change the question to "hey, do you want to do a mud race?" the answer is always "YES."  Because, for some reason, that sounds like fun and not stupid at all. 

The eve before Hurricane Irene (dud) was scheduled to demolish the Greater Boston area, Micah and I ran the Spartan Race for the second time.  Last year we ran this race with a group of people.  It was our first mud race and if you were to take out the 32 hornet stings we endured collectively it was a lot of fun.  You ran up the mountain once, went through a few fairly easy obstacles, and ran back down.  Apparently, a lot of people complained that the course was too easy last year.  It seems the Spartan team took these comments personally.  This year was unexpected and ridiculous.  They took out the "girl-side" of the 8 foot walls you had to jump which was not good for Micah or myself since he had to help me over every single one of them.   The barbed wire crawl went from a nice and easy 5-minute army crawl to three sections of barbed wire about 30 yards a piece straight up hill, split up by 6-8 foot walls you had to jump. In mud and rocks.  As if that wasn't enough, they added obstacles.  One of which required us to take a 5 gallon bucket, fill it up with gravel (1/2 for girls, 3/4 for guys), and carry it up and down a hill.  Why do I pay to do this stuff?  The good news is, this is the first of the three mud races I've done where I didn't get stung.  Isn't it sad that this is the good news?

All in all this was a great race, but I wish I would have been prepared for it.  I expected to drive up to Amesbury, roll around in the mud, and have some fun.  Instead I returned home broken.  It hurts to get up, sit down, and breath.  And I know what you're thinking...the answer is yes, I will be back next year.

On another note, we learned Sota doesn't like earthquakes.  We knew that she wouldn't be pleased about Irene, but this is what we came home to after the earthquake the other day...

There are two windows in this bedroom.  The other set of blinds was completely torn down.  Our guest bedroom looked like a murder scene.  And look at Baxter sitting there like nothing happened.  Worthless.

St Pete Beach

Micah and I decided this year we needed a vacation, just the two of us.  So, as continued punishment for failing to complete the duties assigned to him as we planned our wedding and honeymoon, I left all the planning and booking up to him.  I vowed to do nothing but show up to the airport at whatever specified time necessary.  And that's exactly what I did.

Only it wasn't just the two of us.  We have a new friend that joined us on our trip.  His name is Möl, he is from Sweden, and he is a snake.  He first made an appearance in our coffeemaker when my mom came to visit.  Then, he managed to wrap himself around the vacuum cleaner and later slithered his way into a pitcher full of tea.  He ended up in Florida by stowing away in our beach blanket, surprising Micah our first day on the beach.

Not one to hold a grudge, Micah allowed Möl to join in our vacation fun and what says vacation better than Cheez-Its?  Nothing.

I decided Möl needed a taste of the high life and took him to Madfish where he rattled his way onto Micah's entree (with the help of two very bored servers).

And on and on it went.  At first, Möl was just a source of entertainment (and a really good way to annoy one another) but on the third day of our trip, he saved our lives.  Here's the story:

We were on the beach reading our books and decided it was time for lunch.  We had a couple of sandwiches and a box of Cheez-Its in our beach bag ready to go.  No big deal, right?  I mean, growing up we went on vacation every summer and I distinctly remember having a sandwich or two on the beach without incident.  Clearly, my parents never took us to St. Pete Beach.  This beach has the most aggressive, violent birds I've ever encountered.  (The duck at Burdette Park who chased me around the pond when I was 7 comes in a very close second).  As soon as Micah pulled out his corned beef sandwich he had a bird hovering over his shoulder waiting for the perfect moment to snag the lunch right out of his hands.  It looked something like this:

I screamed like a little girl, causing the people around us to laugh and the aerial attack to switch focus to me and my peanut butter sandwich since I was obviously the weaker human of our group.  One bird quickly became 100 (okay, maybe 8) and all I could hear was their evil cawing and the beating of their wings around my head.  I ducked and dove but couldn't shake them.  Micah used this opportunity of freedom to hide his sandwich back in the bag, but I wasn't so lucky.  Knowing I had a back up in the bag, I threw my sandwich as far away from our stuff as I could and curled up in the fetal position.  The birds followed the sandwich and left us alone.  Once the coast was clear and I stopped hyperventilating, we resumed lunch.  Only this time we had security.

Besides being attacked by flesh-eating sandwich-loving seabirds, the vacation was a good one.  We even went paddleboarding!  My experience was slightly more successful than Micah's.

And, for the record, we attempted to continue training but within the first mile running on the beach I stepped in a hole in the sand and twisted my ankle.  Oh well, vacations are meant for eating and lazing not exercising.

MosquiDO's, MosquiDON'Ts

I wish I could be one of those people who woke up early every morning to greet the day with a smile and a positive outlook. I tried that today.  Instead of waiting until after work to run in the heat of the day, I've started setting my alarm clock early enough to run a couple of miles while it's still cool out.  This morning there were two major problems: #1 I have NEVER been a morning person and #2 it was anything but cool.  The temperature may not have hit the high for the day but have you have been tempted to run laps in a sauna?  Me neither.  My goal was to run 3 miles, take the dogs for a cool-down walk, and make it to work before 8:00AM.  Triple fail.

The alarm went off and as any self-respecting procrastinator would do, I hit snooze three times.  I finally dragged myself out of bed but the extra snooze hits left me no time for a pre-run breakfast.  Who needs food or water before running?  Not me.  I walked out the front door and ran smack into a wall of humidity.  I was covered in sweat before I even started running.  Trying to muster through the steam, I decide to keep my running on the bike path.  I thought it would be nice to run on the nice quiet path through the trees and past the lake.  Even better, the bike path is paved but there is a nice dirt shoulder that's perfect for running.  Tranquility. 

I knew I wouldn't be breaking any records on this run.  Not only was it too muggy to breathe, but I've taken a couple weeks off running because of a minor foot injury (don't worry, I Googled it and I'll be fine).  But this run was tough.  Glacial, I would say.  And the bugs - oh, the bugs.  About one mile in, a mosquito (or other buzzy-flying thing) started following me.  She stalked my whole life on the bike path.  She hovered around my ears, waiting for an opportunity to enter so she could lay her eggs in there.  I know this to be true because it is scientific fact that this is what mosquitoes want.  See the scientific equation below for proof if you don't believe me.

Well, I wasn't going to just let her in without a fight.  No way.  I did everything I could to get her away.  I jerked my head from side to side, slapped and swatted around my face and ears, and screamed in frustration.  All I managed to do was make whatever small children happened to be near cry.  I was officially slow, hungry, tired, frightening to the young, and a walking mosquito nest.

I went home in defeat with my shoulders slumped.  My run was too slow to take the girls for a walk and I rolled into work around 8:15.  Greet the day with a smile?  Come on.  Get real.  My days go much smoother when I greet them complaining and grumbling one full hour of sleep later. 

Houdini Update

After Sota's last escape (Prison Break) Micah and I completely replaced our fencing in the backyard.  It went from cheap-o plastic fencing to heavy duty wire fencing and t-posts.  A few weeks went by and we had no escapes so I thought we were in the clear.  Wrong.  I went outside earlier this week and found Sota across the street in a neighbor's yard.  I called her over and she came right back (no chasing this time) and I went straight to the back yard to find the area of the fence that had been compromised.  I couldn't find a thing.  The fencing wasn't bent or moved, no holes in the ground...nothing.  I gave her a stern look and told her "you just wait till Micah hears about this."  She was excited.  Micah gives her lots of treats.

When Micah got home, I sent him to the backyard to do a more thorough search of the fence.  He came up empty handed.  Our only other solution was to try to trick her into showing us what she was doing.  It worked after the first big snow (Snow Moat, Snow Problem) and we were able to do fashion a temporary fix until we could replace it, so we gave it a shot.  Micah, Buttercup, and I left the backyard with leashes in hand.  Sota watched us from the porch with a look that said "surely they're not going on a walk without me...wait a minute, they can't do that!"  Before I could even turn around to try to coax her out of the backyard she was up and over the gate and sitting right beside me, ready for her walk. 

It happened too fast to capture on film, so I did my best to recreate the moment.

It was as if the 4-foot gate wasn't even there.  She just floated over it. 

In light of this revelation, I decided I needed to build up some good karma on the pet front.  It just so happened that the next morning on my walk to Alewife I saw a small beagle running around the field without a care in the world while his poor dog-sitter (a close friend of the owner, I learned) stood exasperated on the bikepath.  This poor guy had treats, leashes - the works.  Unfortunately Baxter the Beagle knew all the tricks and avoided getting caught. 

 

 

Again, no camera but this is exactly what it was like

I couldn't stand by without at least trying to help so I dropped my things and caught Baxter's attention when he came close to me.  As soon as he got close enough I started scratching his ears which turned out to be his kryptonite.  He was putty in my hands.

I feel like I have paid it forward from Sota's last escapade where if it weren't for the kind lady willing to cut Sota off at the pass I may never have caught her.  Hopefully if Sota figures out yet another way to escape my good doggie karma will bring her back to me.

Back in the Saddle

It's about that time.  We are officially 13 training weeks away from the Bourbon Chase in Lexington, KY.  Our team is manned up and ready so now it's time to get back in the habit of running.  I wanted to wait until the nice, cool weather went away and the heat of the summer came to actually start training again.  That seemed to make the most sense to me.

In an effort to make our lives more training-ready, Micah and I signed up for a CSA - Farmer Dave's to be exact.  This is our first year purchasing a CSA and even though we've only gotten one delivery, I'm pleased so far.  This week we received bok choy, spinach, lettuce, green onion, garlic scape, rhubarb, pea pods, and radishes.  It was so nice to have fresh produce in the house without having to do any work to get it.  When we  go to the grocery store, we usually buy the boring veggies and a bunch of meat and potatoes (when I say "we" I actually mean Micah - this is his contribution to the family as there is nothing I hate more than the grocery store).  A typical shopping trip would not leave us with things like rhubarb.  As I unpacked our CSA treasure on Wednesday and saw the rhubarb I immediately thought strawberry-rhubarb pie.  Not exactly part of my training diet, but a made-from-scratch pie is good for the soul.  That is scientific fact.  Trust me, I found it on Answers.com. 

Here's my pie, step-by-step:

 

Yes, it is as good as it looks.  But hopefully this CSA will end up being more helpful when making wholesome, healthy meals.  Weekly pies may not be such a good thing for the running...although I could probably get used to it.

Prison Break

Imagine this:

It's about 70 degrees out and you're walking home from running your Sunday afternoon errands.  The sun is shining and you start thinking "today would be a good day to do some yardwork or just hang out on the porch and read a book."  You turn off the bike path, pass the soccer field and the playground, and hit Herbert road.  You look up ahead toward your house and see a dog with no leash walking toward you.  And, wait, what's that behind the dog?  Is that a lady in a bathing suit with no shoes on?  No way.  It's a sunny day and all but it certainly hasn't been warm enough to be hanging out poolside.  She seems to be speaking to the dog but you can't tell if they're actually together because the dog isn't responding.  Not even a little bit.  She keeps switching from a nice "good doggy" voice to something that sounds eerily familiar to Linda Blair.  You think that maybe at one time she liked the dog but is quickly changing her feelings.

That was my Sunday afternoon.  No, not the one walking home from Sunday errands.  I was the crazy lady running the streets in a bathing suit chasing after a dog who suddenly decided she wanted nothing to do with me. After the Newton 10K Sunday morning, I headed home while Micah left for his softball practice.  It was such a nice day outside, I decided to throw on the bathing suit, breakout the lawn chairs, and finish Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres.  There have been a few instances where Sota escaped the yard (Snow Moat Snow Problem) but I thought that there was no way she would try a stunt like that with me sitting right in front of her.  Apparently I was wrong.  I look behind me and I see her pulling our make-shift fencing down with her paws.  I yelled at her and she got down.  30 seconds later, different spot, same move.  Again, yelled at her and she got down.  I decided to take her inside once I got to a better stopping point in the book, but before I made it to the end of the page she was scrambling to get over the bushes.  Without thinking, I launched myself out of the lawn chair and tried to catch her in the air but I only managed to terrify her.  Normally when she gets out, she just goes to the front door or comes right back when you call her.  Since I scared her she refused to come within 5 feet of me.  That's how I ended up 3 blocks away from the house in my bathing suit and barefoot.  We passed someone about a block and a half from the house who asked what was going on.  I briefly explained that my husband's dog (she's Micah's dog when she's doing bad things) found a way out of the back yard and wouldn't come back.  The woman walked off and I didn't think anything of it until about two minutes later I saw her walking toward us.  I told her Sota was afraid of strangers and not to try to catch her.  So she just stood in front of Sota until I could catch up.  I guess Sota decided that of the two options, I was the least scary (I had access to her food and water, which helped a little I'm sure) so she went with the lesser of two evils.  I led her home by the collar and told her she was never going outside again.  Ever.

This whole ordeal really killed the laying out mood, so I changed and focused my attention on fixing the fence.  Micah and I replaced the entire fence with a sturdier wire and t-posts.  Hopefully that will keep the beast at bay.

Lazy Days of "Summer"

I haven't been on a run since Tough Mudder.  Not only was I sore and bitter about the entire experience, but the weather was crappy, and I was sick.  Running just wasn't in the picture while I was congested and coughing.  I kept telling myself that it was allergies but I'm sure jumping into 30-45 degree waters didn't help.

I won't deny it.  It's been nice not HAVING to get out there to run.  It didn't directly effect anything if I skipped a day or two, or ten.  With no major races coming up I don't feel obligated to keep up with the training.

So without question, I have gotten lazy.  Which I can live with (a little) but I'm quickly realizing that my laziness has a serious negative effect on the pups.  We have episodes of this:

With this mixed in:

Sota actually asked for McDonald's the other day.

I need to get these girls outside.

Toughin' out the Tough Mudder

It was cold, it was wet, it was dirty.  And I paid money to do it.  Bruised knees and scraped arms?  Check. Hypothermia?  Check.  10,000 volts running through the bones?  Check.  Orange headband?  CHECK.

In the matter of 10 miles, we ran all the way up the main face of the mountain twice.  Mount Snow's base elevation is 1900 ft and summit elevation of 3600 ft.  The main face is over two-thirds the way to the peak.  You do the math.  Only the first hike up, the "Death March," was considered an obstacle.  This 1.5 mile march up the main face was designed to weed out the weak.  You could feel the excitement  and adrenaline we had built up at the start line rush out of the atmosphere within the first .5 mile.  Everyone stopped yelling and clapping and turned their focus in just surviving.  Once at the top, Micah and I regrouped at the water station and decided that our only goal of the day was to finish the race alive.

After the Death March, the constant up-and-down the slopes were only intended to defeat us physically, emotionally and mentally.  No other march up the mountain counted as an obstacle.  We still had 27 challenges to go.  Along the course we had to trudge through knee deep mud, scale cargo nets, crawl through tunnels, and swim through 45° or colder water.  My personal Achilles was the "Glacier Freeze" - a 25 ft wall of ice and snow that we had to climb straight up.

Photo from www.toughmudder.com

 By the time I was over the wall and down the snowy slope I was frozen from the inside out and seriously considered quitting.  I couldn't feel my hands (I didn't regain feeling in my fingertips until about 1 hour after the race) or my feet and the very next obstacle was running up a hill weaving between hay bales while getting blasted with snow makers and fire hoses.

Photo from www.toughmudder.com

 Doesn't that sound fun?  Micah stopped with me while I caught my breath and talked me out of throwing in the towel.  After the Gauntlet, we headed back down the hill where Micah needed to stop to get a giant boulder out of his shoe.  I spotted a Mylar blanket that was abandoned by another runner so while Micah struggled with his shoes, I ran over to wrap myself in a rescue blanket.  Not a great sign.  If you need something to referred to as a RESCUE BLANKET in the middle of a recreational race, something is not adding up.  I wrap myself in the silvery goodness and almost immediately feel my body temperature rising when all of a sudden I feel a sharp burning sting.  I rip the Mylar blanket off my shoulders to find this:

COME ON!  Are you kidding me?  A hornet?  Why?  Why can't I get through a mud race without getting stung by a hornet (32 hornet stings between Micah and I in last year's Spartan Race)?  So now I was cold, wet, and stung and I still had over 2 miles to go.  I opted out of the next 3 obstacles - swimming through an ice bath (dyed with food coloring, just to be mean),

Photo from www.toughmudder.com

Funky-Monkey bars where you fell into icy waters if you slipped

Photo from www.toughmudder.com

 and a series of 4 12ft walls.

Photo from www.toughmudder.com

I know, I know.  No one is more disappointed than I am that I skipped some obstacles, but at that point anything involving getting even colder was simply not an option for me.  Give me some warmer weather and I would have been in like Flynn.  Micah, however, went through every single obstacle.  Nearly made it across the Funky-Monkey bars, too, but slipped with 4 bars to go.  He killed half of the 4 Berlin Walls but had to skip the last two because most of the other runners had given up on that obstacle and it took multiple people to get each person over the wall.  The last 4 obstacles were a breeze, including the Electroshock Therapy

Photo from www.toughmudder.com

 where I was shocked 3 times...the third time locked up my knees and nearly threw me to the ground. But that was it, the race was over.  Finally.  Based on the grumblings at the post-party it sounded like the average completion time was somewhere between 4.5 and 5 hours.  Micah and I barely beat our marathon time.

Am I happy I did it?  Yes.  Would I ever do it again?  Absolutely not.  Call me a sissy, but I think I'll stick to the marathons.

A Day in the Life of a Boston Marathon Finisher

I am officially up a marathon and down a toenail.  A decent trade, so I'll take it. 

Our day started bright and early the morning of April 18, 2011.  The bags were packed and our clothes were laid out the night before, which made waking up at 5:15 AM that much easier.  MFNE sprung for a charter bus for the Running for Cover team so we were spared the long lines for the BAA buses to Hopkington.  Micah and I made it to the team bus 15 minutes before it departed.  (Note: Micah and I are never on time, especially for things like races (Sunday Morning) so this was a huge accomplishment for us.)  We climbed on the bus, picked our cushy chairs, used the restroom (because we could), and while enjoying the warmth of our bus we quietly snickered at all the marathon suckers who were stuck waiting in line to be packed like sardines into a cold school bus.  They may have been faster runners, but we showed up in style.  Once in Hopkington, we were taken straight to Athlete's Village where all the Boston runners waited for their waves to start.  I spent the majority of the morning curled up in the fetal position under a blanket to get away from the wind, but Micah braved the cold long enough to get a pretty good shot of our holding pen.

 

Micah and I were in the last wave.  The walk to the start line was about .5 mile away from Athlete's Village.  On the way, there were tons of water stations set up by the neighborhoods and volunteers along the road ready to donate all the "throw away" clothes left by the runners.  Spectators lined the roads all the way from Athlete's Village to the start line and beyond...

The support along the way was absolutely amazing.  There was not a single stretch of the 26.2 miles without spectators.  Micah and I wrote our names on the front of our shirts and people yelled for us the entire race. Allie is an easy name to yell for but Micah got some interesting versions including Meekah, Meesah, Michael, Mick, and Mich.  All attempts were greatly appreciated and extremely motivating.

 We coasted for over half of the race with the exception of one bathroom break (sorry Micah).  I may have taken the hydration thing a little too far...I've never had to pee so often in my life.  Hopkington, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, and Wellesley flew by.  Wellesley was the best thanks to the ladies of Wellesley College.  And no, Micah did not kiss any of them.  I was behind him for this section so I know this to be true.  I, however, cannot vouch for the other guys running in front of us.

  

 We started feeling the burn between miles 17-18.  Newton's hills were harder than we expected, even before Heartbreak.  Like many of the runners around us, we chose to walk the uphills and run the downhills.  By Heartbreak, it got harder and harder to start that running part...And yes, we looked as beat down as the folks in front of us at this point.

   

Our pace slowed significantly between 20-24 miles.  Despite the cheers and high fives, my legs refused to go.  Getting out of Newton was exciting (no more hills!) but seeing the "Entering Brookline" sign made me want to cry.  I forgot about Brookline.  I wanted to be in Boston.  We were able to muster our last bit of strength to finish out the race once we saw the "Entering Boston" sign.

 Finally, the right on Hereford, left on Boylston was right in front of us.  We came around that last left as strong as we could.  Our legs were numb at this point, so it didn't matter.  Lo and behold, my parents had squeezed their way up front and were cheering us all the way to the finish line!

 

We certainly didn't break any records by finishing at 4:56:10 but the Boston Marathon experience was out of this world.  I learned a few things that will help us the next go-around, like how you probably shouldn't beat your best half marathon time when running your first marathon.  And yes, I say first because there will most definitely be a second.  But what will I call my blog from now on...?

More importantly: thanks to everyone's support we have raised $4500 (and counting) for the Melanoma Foundation of New England!  Running the marathon was easy with so many people cheering for me.  I never thought I would surpass my fundraising goal by so much but it's clear that I have the best fans in the world.  Eat your heart out Geoffrey Mutai.

Just a Few Days Left!

Just a few days to go before the Big Day!  I'm practicing telling everyone "yes, I am ready for the marathon" with confidence.  To be honest, I'm not sure if I actually believed April 18 would ever roll around.  While the past 3 months of training have been fun, it's nice to know that the end is near.  It was hard to keep the thought of that final right on Boylston and the image of the Pru looming in the distance when running through a blizzard in the dead of winter.  But it's here, finally!  And right now weather.com is advertising good news for Monday.  Yes, I realize it's April in Boston and you can't ever count on the 10 day forecast but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Partly Cloudy doesn't turn into Rain in the next five days.

Now that training is winding down, I'm in my final push for those last minute donations.  It's not too late to throw some money in the pot to support my Running for Cover team to benefit the Melanoma Foundation of New England!  Just go to www.firstgiving.com/allisonsilletto.  To help you keep your eye on the prize, I will be here in just a few days! 

Boston Marathon Finish Line

Full Circle

It's official.  I've been running for one full year. 

My running career (term used loosely) began March 2010 when a friend of mine, Ronald (name changed to protect the innocent), randomly asked me to run the Cohasset Road Race by the Sea with him on April 11, 2010.  At first I hesitated because my limited running experience left me with only negative thoughts.  I only ran when forced to: high school gym class, basketball practice (suicides), marching band practice (yes, we ran), being chased by a lion while on safari in Africa...you know, only in dire circumstances...But we had just spent the winter learning to ski together so I figured I should give this running-for-fun thing a shot.  Plus, Micah jumped at the opportunity and there was no way I was going to let him have fun without me, even if chances were slim that it would be fun at all. 

Ronald gave us at least 4 weeks notice before the race.  We signed up immediately but in true Silletto fashion we decided we would start training "tomorrow."  Tomorrow ended up being 2 weeks before the race.  I found a 4 week training program online and split it in half hoping that would do the trick.  For the record, it is not recommended to go from the couch to running 10Ks in 14 days.  You should work your way up.  Don't procrastinate. Your body will hate you.  The first run out of the gate was a 45 minute run. It was pouring rain and neither one of us had appropriate running clothes.  We wore COTTON.  Silly newbies.  Minus the wheezing and the pain, running in the rain was surprisingly enjoyable.  The second time we ran, we decided to go for a distance rather than a time limit.  1 mile.  Sounded easy enough.  So easy, we decided to take the dogs along.  We split up because a) there were squirrels and Sota preferred chasing them over running with me and b) I couldn't make it.  I blamed it on Sota but the truth was I ran a half mile and felt like I was teetering dangerously close to death.  (I was in a very dramatic phase last year).

Needless to say, I was not overly confident that I would be able to run a full 10K in less than 2 weeks.  Luckily for me, I have a competitive husband who refused to take no for an answer.  We kept running.  We even ran a nice hill training route through Beacon Hill.  I hated it.
April 11 rolled around fairly quickly.  We got to the starting line and I was immediately intimidated by the fancy running gear everyone else was sporting.  Micah insisted he could maintain a 9 minute mile throughout the race so Ronald and I decided to roll our eyes at him and hang back to run it together.  If you've ever been to Cohasset, you know that it is absolutely beautiful.  It's the quintessential New England town right on the water.  Ronald and I were handling the course well until we got just over halfway to Forest Ave where the course turns left and goes straight uphill.  It was the most demoralizing sight I've ever seen.  There was a collective gasp in the small group of runners around Ronald and me but we managed to muster on through the last 3 miles.  Micah was there waiting for us when we crossed the finish line.  We rushed over to the registration area where they were giving out free hot dogs and saw a small ice cream shop across the street.  6.2 miles deserves a good ice cream cone - and it was SO good.  The feeling I had completing my first race was indescribable and I knew as I was downing my free hot dog that I would be doing this again.

So here I am one year later: 2 half marathons down, and two weeks away from running my first marathon.  I managed to slice 11 minutes 22 seconds off last year's 10K time.  Cohasset was just as beautiful as last year and the hills seemed significantly smaller.  We went to the registration area and there were no hot dogs left and the ice cream shop hadn't opened yet, but that didn't dampen my spirits.  Besides, no hot dogs meant we had to stop for lunch and there just so happened to be a McDonald's on the way home.

The Longest of the Long Runs

A few things we learned on our latest long run:

1.  Micah needs to limit his intake of Gatorade and other sweet drinks.  He dilutes the Gatorade so he can't taste the sweet but still gets the benefits, but if he has too much it upsets his stomach leaving him to contemplate how he will vomit on the T without anyone noticing.  (The conclusion was he would puke in his hat and wrap his hat in his shirt to avoid drippage - in case you were wondering)

2.  Allison will stop at EVERY water station whether she needs it or not.  There were tons of groups running the marathon route yesterday, which meant a water stop every mile or so in the beginning then every two miles past Newton.  In the first 6 miles, I think I stopped at 10 water stations.  Perhaps this is the culprit for #1.

3.  Throw your running shoes away if you've gone more than 300 miles in them.  I decided I was better off risking blisters and wore my new shoes on our run (New Shoes).  No knee problems whatsoever and the blisters really weren't so bad.

4.  Allison is unbelievably lucky to have a Micah.

5.  You DO NOT take Commonwealth Ave all the way into Boston before hitting Beacon St.  You take a right on Chestnut Hill Ave then an immediate left on Beacon which takes you straight to Copley Sq (the finish line). In the real marathon route, you should run by Boston College.  Not Boston College AND Boston University.

6.  There is a Raising Canes near Boston University.

7.  Kinesiology Tape is best if applied properly.  Otherwise it is just a nuisance.  Removal is painful, worse than a Band-Aid.

8. Chipotle guac tastes delicious after 20 miles.

9.  Running is one of the most unpretentious of all the sports.  I plan on walking Heartbreak Hill.  Nobody else running will judge me for this because they have/will be walking it as well.

10.  In addition to Gatorade and water, a lot of the stops had gummy bears, swedish fish, cheez-its, dum dums, pretzels filled with peanut butter, pretzel rods, and starburst.  I wasn't sure if I was preparing for a third graders birthday party or a marathon.  I carb-loaded before the run; I crap-loaded during the run.

And now, here's some pictures from the Hyannis Half Marathon in February...

New Shoes...

So, I haven't been as diligent about my blogging as I would have liked these last few weeks.  A lot has been going on.  Training has been going strong for the most part.  I've had some knee troubles that I'm trying to figure out before the race.  And yes, I Googled it.  Google still says it's Runner's Knee.  I'm starting to think that Runner's Knee is a result of old shoes...

My shoes of choice this year are Adidas Supernova Sequence.  I tried my best to train in my Vibram Fivefinger Bikilas, but it just wasn't happening with all the snow, ice, and cold this season.  Overall I haven't had a problem wearing these shoes but in the last few weeks I've had to cut my long runs short because of knee pain.  It wasn't until earlier this week that I realized that I have run almost 350 miles in my running shoes!  They look fine - tread is still in good shape and the outside structure doesn't at all look like they are 1 year old shoes, but the support is COMPLETELY shot.

Luckily, Marathon Sports is awesome and they carried my exact same shoe.  Now I have to decide if it's worth risking blisters and sore feet running on new shoes in my longest long-run tomorrow to possibly cut out knee pain.  Micah and I are running the last 21 miles of the marathon course.  We will be waking up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday (ugh) to run from Framingham to Boston.  I'll be honest, it's a little daunting to have the start line in a town that I refuse to drive to because it's so far away...  But this is the closest thing we'll have to a dress rehearsal.  Wish us luck!

March Madness

It's that time of the year again!  March Madness is back!  Join my pool to benefit the Melanoma Foundation of New England.  The cost to join is $10 - $5 will go to the winner's pot and $5 will go directly to the MFNE.  To pay via Paypal, simply click the Buy Now button located at the right sidebar (sent to massmas4444@yahoo.com).  If you prefer to pay by check or cash, please email silletto.allie@gmail.com.  Everyone is invited so please forward this information on to your friends!

Join the pool by following the instructions below:

Please join my group, March Madness for the MFNE, in Yahoo! Sports Tournament Pick'em! To accept the invitation, just follow this link. For reference, here's the group information. Group ID#: 7700 Password: allison Good luck!

The Golden Arches of the Finish Line

Sometimes I think my body is beginning to reject this whole running thing.  I'm not talking about the sometimes achy joints and sore muscles.  That comes with the territory.  No, I'm talking about my diet.  You would think all this running would make my body crave healthy, protein and carb-filled foods.  Nope.  Not even a little bit.  I want Chipotle, Diet Coke, and ice cream on a daily basis.  I am weak-willed, so my craving for Chipotle is constantly getting the better of me.  It's gotten so bad that the cashier at our neighborhood Chipotle refers to us as her "favorite couple" and the guy who puts our order together jokes that the guac is like our crack and an intervention is near in our future.  Should we be embarrassed?  Probably.  Will we be back tomorrow?  Absolutely.

We finally made it to the Hyannis Half Marathon - the right place, right time, right weekend, and everything! (Sunday Morning).  We had a delicious pre-race pasta meal the night before and a heart-healthy breakfast that we downed on our way to the Cape (complete with oatmeal and a peanut butter and banana sandwich - yum!).  Despite the snow/sleet that pelted us throughout the race, it was a wonderful run.  Micah and I were both at our best and we shaved 6 minutes off our previous half marathon time!  I even had enough energy saved up to kick it up a notch in the last few feet and beat Micah by a second.  There were professional photographers at the finish line who were able to capture this moment, solidifying my suspicion that I looked like a complete dork in those final seconds.  But I won, daggnabit, and that's all that matters.  After the race, we entered the expo where they were serving the usual bagels, bananas, granola bars, etc but also included some chowder and vegetable soup to help warm up the runners.  As we walked around from booth to booth, waiting for our official time to be posted, Micah looked at me and said "you know what really sounds good right now?"  Without hesitation, I answered "McDonalds?"  He answered "yes, absolutely.  That's exactly what I was going to say."  I don't think we have ever loved one another more than we did at that exact moment.  We gathered our free shirts and water and scampered to the car, desperate for some McNuggets and fries.  Is this our bodies telling us that while we may refer to ourselves as runners (term used loosely), we can never escape our deeply-rooted love for fast food and things that can be deep fried?  Why wouldn't I want to replenish nutrients and energy after a run instead of craving further depletion of my resources?  Perhaps my body thinks this whole running thing is actually a search for pain, and if pain is what I seek then pain is what it will give me.  Regardless, the McNuggets were a delight and nothing will ever beat a large fry and a large Diet Coke on the side.  Now, pass the salt and get out of the way of the TV.  Jersey Shore is on. 

Update: It's Awards Season!

Congratulations to Micah Silletto for winning the Oscar pool.  No, it was not a fix.  It just so happens Micah researched the Vegas odds to make his picks (I know, shocking) and all the favorites won.  Even better news: he donated his winnings to MFNE so the Oscar pool ended up raising $140 for MFNE.  Success!

Sunday Morning

7:00 AM - Alarm went off, hit snooze
7:01 AM - Buttercup lays across my stomach and licks my nose.  I choose to believe this is an act of love rather than a message to get my lazy butt out of bed because she has to pee.
7:09 AM - Snooze went off, hit again
7:10 AM - Sota paws my leg.  Not sure if this is because she wants to play or because she also has to pee.  Regardless, I roll over and go back to sleep.
7:18 AM - Snooze went off, hit again
7:27 AM - Snooze went off, hit again
7:36 AM - Snooze went off, got up, let the dogs outside, began to get ready
7:50 AM - Forced Micah out of bed and gave him some 'tude because he's known about our plans for today for at least a month.  And informed him that we were late.
8:10 AM - Headed on our way to Hyannis, MA for the Hyannis Half Marathon, the first of the Cape Cod race trilogy.  We were prepared with our running gear, oatmeal, granola bars, 3 clementines, 1 banana, 2 bottles of water, and saltines. 
9:35 AM - Pulled into the Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis.  Did not see any signs for the race or anyone else wearing their obnoxious running gear.  Began to get worried.
9:38 AM - Asked the lady at the registration desk where we should go to get our packets for the Hyannis Half.  She smiled and informed us we were a week early, but next week we could get our bibs at the next building over in the recreation area.  Also need to mention, we were not the first to make this mistake.
9:39 AM - I hung my head in shame and apologized to Micah for making him get out of bed.
9:40 AM - Back in the car, headed for home.

Oops.

I don't care if it's February, I'm calling this springtime

For all you cynics out there (Micah) who says it's only a couple days of nice weather, I say NO!  I saw a guy in shorts, sandals, and a sleeveless shirt today.  Normally I would never trust a man wearing a sleeveless shirt outside of a gym but since this guy's saying what I want to hear, I'll drink that glass of kool-aid.  It's spring, dagnabbit. 

Weekdays mean short runs (between 2 and 5 miles) and today is the first day this year I have been able to run a quality short run outside.  Sure I was dodging Lake Michigan-sized puddles

but I will gladly take the puddles over inch-thick-ankle-spraining-icy sidewalks.

We ran a little over two miles tonight, just to get the blood flowing.  The first loop we averaged 10:22 min miles.  The second was 8:14 min miles.  The difference?  1 squirrel and 1 dog at the .0001 mile marker.  Sota hasn't seen a squirrel in over 2 months, so when we saw this jerk running across the electric lines I knew we had a problem.  First she stands on her hind legs and whines.  Then the screaming begins.  The sounds that came out of this animal rivaled those of a mob of 12 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert.  Cars slowed down to see what the problem was.  Mothers hugged their children closer.  Micah and Buttercup walked away like they didn't know us.  I dragged her away from the squirrel and settled her down to the point of only semi-embarrassment, just to the point where Micah would wave at me if I said hello.  But she looked for that squirrel for the rest of the run.  She dragged me through bushes, snow banks, and puddles for the rest of the mile ready to pounce on anything that moved.  Needless to say, once we were back at the house she was thrown inside so Micah and I could continue on our run sans crazy monster dog.  Add desensitizing my neurotic pet to small critters to my list of things to do.




Yay spring. 

It's Award Season!!

It's my favorite time of year!  And with all the snow we've gotten recently, this is the perfect excuse to curl up and fit in as many movies as I possibly can before awards night.  I've got a list of the movies I need to watch before February 27 so I can make my "educated" Oscar picks.

So, join my Oscar pool and see if you can beat me!  I am an Oscar-force to be reckoned with.  It's a double win, donate to the Melanoma Foundation of New England and enter to win some moolah for your movie knowledge!  Each entry is $10 - $5 will go to the winner's pot and $5 will go to the Melanoma Foundation of New England.  Payments can be sent through Paypal to massmas4444@yahoo.com or email me at silletto.allie@gmail.com to get my info to send a personal check.  The Oscar pool can be found at http://www.funofficepools.com/. 

To join, just click join pool.

If the link does not work, copy http://www.funofficepools.com/joinpool.php?Passed_Pool_Key=09f483ef2f2 into the address field on your browser.

• Pool Name: Silletto Charity Pool
• Password: allison
• Type: Oscar Pool -- select a winner from each category, win the points if you are right.
• Description: It's Oscar season! This pool will support the Running for Cover Boston Marathon team for the Melanoma Foundation of New England. Sign up for $10, half the registration will go to the winner's payout and the other half will be donated to MFNE.

Please note all entries and payments must be entered by February 27 at 8 PM EST to be eligible to win.  Email me with any questions!  Good luck!


And now, here is a good example of what Micah and I looked like running yesterday afternoon on the snow and ice packed sidewalks.  Watch Sota as she runs past Micah...

Faceplant.

Snow Moat, Snow Problem

Another week and a 12 mile long-run down.  As most of you already know, we have gotten a ton of snow the past couple of weeks.  The best bet for finding a safe, non-icy long distance route is to stay on a main road and go out and back which makes for an exceptionally boring run.  And, because of where I live, Mass Ave would be the only road with enough sidewalks to make a long run out of.  Running on Mass Ave means running through Harvard Square and, for whatever reason, I never have good runs when I run through Harvard.  To combat the unknown sidewalks, Harvard, and the cold, Micah and I split yesterday's long run between running outside and on the treadmill.  It worked out well, except running on the street right after getting off the treadmill is not easy.  I felt like I had sea legs and was a little wobbly on our way back home.

My running stories this week aren't really worthy of a blog so I'm going to turn this over to my two dogs, Minnesota (Sota) and Buttercup.  Sota is master of escaping in general and the mounds of snow in the backyard has made it even easier for her to figure a way out.  The neighbors had piled the snow from their driveway over our bushes and into our yard, giving her a bridge to get out.  When I saw what they had done, I hoped that Sota's fear of everything would keep her in the yard.  Unfortunately, Sota is afraid of everything but snow and jumping.  In lieu of a run on Friday, I decided I would knock down her bridge and shovel a moat in between the bushes and our yard.  After an hour and a half of shoveling and excavating of ice blocks, I had a pretty nice pathway.

Surely this would keep Sota's tricks at bay.  I was very proud of myself and decided my hard work was certainly deserving of some hot chocolate.  This sense of accomplishment was short lived.  I was inside for all of two minutes before I heard barking.  From the front porch.  I opened the door and there was my little Houdini.  Smiling and taunting me with her unbelievable escaping abilities.  The only way I was going to be able to put a stop to this was to figure out exactly where she was getting out.  I put my snow gear back on, took the girls outside, walked on the other side of the fence and called her.  Please note that in the photo above that there are no trampolines of any kind in our yard.

Unbelievable.  This isn't even fair.

Baby, it's cold outside

January in Boston = Cold

As you are dodging snow banks and icy spots on the sidewalk, it's easy to think to yourself, "self, what is wrong with you?  It's 29° out here.  You could be watching Jersey Shore in your cozy living room.  There's lots of unfinished business between the ladies of the house and Deena is definitely going to add to the trainwreck-nicity that makes the show so great."  (I tend to ramble and make up words when I talk to myself.) But this is what I've signed up for.  Unfortunately, you have to get through January to make it to April.


We've had two snowstorms so far, so Micah and I finally broke down and joined a gym.  Planet Fitness at Porter Square.  I can get there by walking, driving or public transportation so there is officially no excuse for skipping trainings now.  And now I have equipment readily available to start training for the Tough Mudder 2 weeks after the marathon.  It's not a 26.2 mile race, but there is mud and toughness involved so I need to be ready.  I was really excited walking into the gym because I noticed that each treadmill had its own tv.  There are only about 15 channels to choose from, but it beats staring at the timer for an entire run.  However, I ended up running a 12 minute mile pace because going faster made the screen bounce.  A girl can't watch Kind of Queens and Adventures of Old Christine on a shaky screen.  To remedy the situation, I moved to a bike.  Technically Wednesday is cross training day so this justified my move.  All I can say is I hope I get better about running in front of a tv.  I'm not sure if I will make it outside for an 11 mile run this Saturday and based on my first run at Planet Fitness, it will take me the entire day to watch tv/run. 

For the record, I never watch either of these shows.  I only cared because they were on.