Running at Disney, Family Runs, Chilly Runs

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Jen

We are back from Florida! Did you know I was in Florida? I posted a few pics on Twitter and Instagram. We were in Florida for my older brother’s wedding and decided to stop by Disney World a few days beforehand since my daughter has never been there. It just so happens she’s just a few weeks away from 3 years old which means she’s free for meals and entry into the park. Nothing else is inexpensive about Disney, but it was a nice little vacation.

Lunch at the Crystal Palace our first day at the Magic Kingdom

We arrived just a few days after the Disney Marathon/Half/5k. I was a a little crushed that we didn’t plan to arrive a few days earlier so I could race. Speaking of running, we stayed at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and we couldn’t find any decent places to run. My parents were there as well and able to take Currie to the park while we ran, but doing loops around the resort was less-than-enjoyable so we went about 4 miles a day and got the rest of our exercise walking the park, riding rides (screaming at the top of our lungs) and carrying Currie around. I guess I should have asked this beforehand, but does anyone know of good places to run from the Contemporary? I would love to know for future trips!

Dinner at Chef Mickey’s! Although we had the BOB stroller, I ended up carrying Currie quite a bit on vacation.

On Saturday, I was so excited to get in some major miles on the beach on Marco Island, where my brother was getting married. Unfortunately, our rental car didn’t have cruise control and after driving over 4 hours without cruise, my hips were sore so I settled with 4 gorgeous miles on the sand. Thankfully, I was feeling good on Sunday and was able to do 11 miles with my husband, both brothers, and younger brother’s girlfriend. What a great way to start the day. I wish at least once a week that we all lived closer and were able to train together. *Sigh*

After the run we quickly showered and went straight to hair and makeup. It takes pretty much all day, but it’s SO WORTH IT to chat with the ladies and be pampered for a change. It was just wonderful. Of course I had to take a selfie!

My daughter and my sister’s daughter were so cute at the wedding:

Is there anything cuter?

Well, maybe this…

Currie was supposed to be taking pictures of the wedding with my phone while Jeff and I did the video. Let me show you how that turned out:

Want to see up our noses?

And finally, a nice one of my little family after the ceremony:

Early the next morning, we were headed back to Rochester and back to freezing cold temps. I think it was 16 degrees, with a much colder windchill when I went out for my run. I wore 6 layers on top. It was a bit dramatic, but I like being toasty. Talk about feeling heavy! It was worth it!

I’m hoping for some more miles this week, possibly some speed. I have no races on the radar for the near future as it’s winter and I usually let my husband do a the local Freezeroo series while I work on building miles. With windchills below zero for most of this week, I will most likely be on the treadmill. More on that later!

How does your running usually look on vacation? Do you get butt/hip pain when you drive long distances?

Totally Trials Trip Day 2, Part 1

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Jen

My trip to Eugene coincided with a cross-country move, and I’m backed up on blog posting. Since everyone-and-their-mother has already read all the Track & Field Olympic Trials results they can handle by now, I’m going to skip that part (even though it was the most important part and reason for my trip!) and get right into my personal life those 4 days in Eugene.

My luggage came at 8:06am the morning after I arrived. An employee brought it in her own personal car since I called enough times to ask about it and it was labeled “first class baggage”. (Thank goodness for Jeff’s frequent flyer miles once again!) I had just enough time to run about 4 miles. I was kicking myself for not bringing my phone to take pictures on the run. There were so many people, athletes, fans, and locals just hanging around. The energy was contagious and I was so excited to be a part of it! I couldn’t wait to see the action at the track!

When I got back to the house, I had 30 minutes to shower, pack, and be ready for rehearsal for the Oiselle RUNway. Kristin, the team manager, kindly came to get me and the ladies from the Fly South house and we were on our way to the Downtown Athletic Club. Once we arrived I met quite a few of my Oiselle teammates. These ladies are all SO WONDERFUL! I felt a connection with so many of them instantly. We got some coffee and ate some bagels and cream cheese, then it was time to get to work. We did 3 RUN-throughs on the RUNway and we were all feeling nervous, but excited and more confident after having some practice.

Oiselle Ladies discussing looks for the models

The stage during rehearsal

A few of the "models" chatting between RUNthroughs

After rehearsal and lunch it was time for the track action! I enjoyed the 1500 meter semi-final for both men and women and the women’s steeplechase final. We had Oiselle athletes Kate Grace in the 1500 and Jamie Cheever in the steeple. I enjoyed watching the shorter events as well but it’s more exciting for me to watch middle to long distance races because I can relate! Watching the track action inspired my own racing and I’m excited for the next 3-4 years of competition!

When track events concluded I wanted to hit up the Picky Bars booth with my Oiselle ladies, including Picky-mega-fan Meggie for some samples and to replenish my stash. The bars were as tasty as ever. In fact, I got a bar that had 9 chocolate chips!

I've never had more than 6 chocolate chips until my Olympic Trials Picky Bar purchase!

Showing off my Picky Swag at the Picky Bars booth

From there we headed back to the Hippie House, another one of Oiselle’s houses for the week, and waited to be transported to hair and makeup for the fashion show! The party and fashion show deserve their own post so I’ll stop here for now.

to be continued…

What are your favorite track & field events? Do you tend to enjoy the events that are similar to what you run or the ones that you have never attempted?

Running Shoe Ramblings

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Jen

I’m sitting in the airport, waiting to board my plane for my Eugene! Ahhhhhh!!!! I’m so excited I can’t stand it!

Speaking of the Olympic Trials, I was reading someone’s post on Twitter a few days ago (and unfortunately, I don’t remember who!) but they posted the foot strikes of all the women in the 10k. I was happy to see a lot those ladies have the crazy land-on-the-side-of-your-foot strike like me. Mine’s worse on the right side. This could explain why I demolish all my running shoes. After 200 miles, they are looking pretty bad and by 300 I’m in desperate need of a new pair! They are just TORN UP!

Check out the bottom of my Asics!

And my New Balance 890s!

The exciting news is I just got 2 new pairs of running shoes in the mail. I don’t know why after all these years it makes me so happy to get new running shoes! It also makes me sad to get them muddy for the first time! I used to strictly wear Asics Gel Cumulus. Now I’ve branched out and switching between those and my new favorites, the New Balance 890s. I LOVE the 890s because they are so lightweight! I wear them for workouts instead of racing flats.

Do you get excited to get new running shoes? Do you like getting them dirty for the first time or despise it like me? Do you tear the bottoms up like me?

Airport 5k 2012 – Race Recap

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Jen

I ended up running the local 5k on Saturday. It was at the airport and a very cool race for a few reasons:

They closed down some runways and that’s where we raced! How often does that happen?
The course was spectator friendly and flat. It went up one runway, then back, then up another runway and back.
Frank Shorter was there to give a talk, sign autographs, run the race, and hand out awards!
Entertaining for kids. The zoomobile was there, the US Army National Guard had a display aircraft and there was a kids race.

Post-race posing by display aircraft

Awards happened quickly after the race and there was decent prize money.

We had a neighborhood block party the night before so I ended up eating cheese (on pizza) and watermelon (I have a bad history with watermelon the night before hard efforts) plus lots of desserts and snack foods. Not the ideal pre-race foods but they didn’t effect me so I got lucky! Our friends came to the race site to watch our daughter so both Jeff and I could race. Amazing! We were so thankful!

I lined up on the start line this week, and guess who planted himself right in front of me? Frank Shorter! I was star-struck, but tried to keep my cool. I made a little small talk, he made a little small talk, and I found out he was planning to run 10 minute miles. I was planning to run 5:28-5:38 so I knew our time next to each other was short.

The gun went off and I felt pretty good. I did a 5:24 first mile which was exactly what I was planning. The women’s leader did a 5:13. I’m glad I didn’t hang, that would have been too fast and resulted in a slower time because my speedwork has been lacking. I didn’t see the 2 mile or 3 mile markers, but I obviously slowed down as I finished in 17:32 and second woman. This was 16 seconds slower than my 5k 2 weeks ago, but 17 seconds faster than my 5k last weekend. All courses were USATF certified. The female winner ran 17:11 and I wanted to run 17-17:05 which is probably unrealistic until I do some more track work which I haven’t done in over 3 weeks now.

You can view the race highlights in the video below by Team Boyce. If you would like to see me struggling toward the finish, check out around 2:40 into the video. I can also be seen at :40, 1:07, and 1:34 of the video.

After the race we ran around trying to get our daughter signed up for the kids run, since she was really excited about doing it. We actually skipped our cooldown! She was so excited to be on the starting line. I positioned myself at the finish and my husband was all set to take video. All of a sudden, my husband lost sight of my daughter (she is VERY quick!) Thankfully, our buddy, Joe, was standing there and spotted her heading the wrong direction. Jeff redirected her and she was off and running in her first race ever!

Currie's first race. Pushing in to the finish to get a low-5 from Frank Shorter!

Currie was so happy to get a bottle of water and ribbon post-race!

Jeff took a video of the kids race, which can be seen below. You can see Currie give Frank a low-5 and he says “ha-ha! I love it!”

Shortly after the kids race, it was time for the 5k awards ceremony. They were really on top of things! Again, no time to do the cooldown. We slurped down frozen cappuccinos and listened to the awards. The women’s awards were initially messed up because they had me entered as a male. That was quickly straightened out and I collected my $100 (first place got $200). Jeff was 1st in his age group and got a family four pack of tickets to the Rochester Science Museum.

Frank Shorter gave out the awards. Very cool experience!

After the awards, we had Frank sign our bibs and Currie’s ribbon. He was a really nice guy. I love runners! What a fun race! While I wasn’t ecstatic about my time or place, I had a great day and was glad the whole family could join in on the race action.

Posing with Frank after autographs!

Our autographed bibs, ribbon and prizes from the race.

Have you met any famous runners (or famous people in general)?

Pre-Race

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Jen

Ok, I made my decision and I’m going to race the local 5k on Saturday. The deciding factors were:

Comments from you! Thanks for the thoughts/advice!
The race is close to my house and awards are scheduled to happen quickly after the race so I’ll still have time to get stuff done for our move.
This is my last Rochester race of the summer before moving to Seattle.
I haven’t done any speedwork this week, and this will ensure I get it done.
Frank Shorter is giving a talk and handing out awards!
My daughter loves to watch me race and cheer for all the runners and there will be entertainment for her before and after.
I’d like to win some cash for new running shoes.

Sign daughter (with help from daddy) made before a race earlier this year!

Today is my pre-race day where I usually run 4-5 miles. I used to try to relax the day before a race and sat around thinking/worrying about the race all day, but I found that doesn’t help – it makes me run worse! So now I take it easy on the running, short and easy pace, but keep the rest of my day as active as ever. Plus, how can you take it easy the day before a race when you have an extremely active toddler?

As far as eating goes, that will be fairly normal too, but I’ll try to avoid dairy since I’m lactose intolerant. Usually I eat a lot of cheese which I can handle normally, but for racing it doesn’t sit well in my stomach. I’ll have pasta with red sauce or tofu with brown rice for dinner and I will try to go to bed early enough to get 7-8 hours of sleep. (dependent on toddler’s sleep schedule). Before bed, I’ll lay out everything I need to race in the morning so when I wake up I’m not digging around waking up the family.

That’s my pre-race routine! Nothing too fancy!

What’s your pre-race routing like? Are you racing this weekend?

Medved 5k to Cure ALS 2012 Recap

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Jen

On Saturday, the day before Father’s Day, Jeff and I decided we would spend Father’s Day morning racing a 5k. Even though Jeff has been on the west coast much of the last 2 weeks and hasn’t been running much in terms of quality, and I’ve been having a hard time adjusting back to east coast time since our Seattle trip, we decided an 8:30am start time would be fine. We both wanted to get some Rochester racing in before our summer move and we had our in-laws in town so we wanted to take advantage of both being able to race.

We did our pre-race run to the local running store and signed up to save $5 off race-day registration. Then, since our daughter didn’t nap and went to bed by 8:45pm, I was able to go to bed at a reasonable hour and was excited to get at least 7 hours of sleep.

Right as I was drifting off, I heard fire truck sirens. Lots of them! Getting louder! Then I saw the lights go by our house. Next, I started smelling smoke through our open windows. I stayed in bed for awhile, but Jeff went downstairs a few minutes later and I had to follow. The trucks were parked in front of our house! The were firefighters all over our street, searching for a fire with flashlights! This is a common theme in my racing life-something strange always happens the night before a race and I end up getting little sleep.

After all the commotion, I didn’t get to sleep until around midnight. At 3:45am our daughter woke up to use the potty and didn’t go back to sleep until it was time for me to get up for the race. For some reason, I didn’t feel too tired at the time. I went through my usual pre-race breakfast of a peanut butter sandwich, about 40 oz water and a cup of coffee and we left for the race about 70 minutes before the start.

It was a warm morning and about 65% humidity and we were joking about something just not being right in the air. Jeff and I both felt nauseous and sluggish on the warmup. I lined up about 6 rows back. Usually I line up in the first or second row in Rochester races because I’m usually top 20 overall. Today I sort of got pushed back. Jeff offered me a spot on the line but I didn’t take it.

The gun went off and I spent the first 400 meters dodging all the people who started ahead of me, plus a few random people who started behind, sprinted in front of me, then cut me off and slowed down. It was the strangest race start I’ve had in Rochester! I finally got out of the mess and joined the lead ladies after the first quarter mile. By the half mile point, I was already feeling out-of-my-groove and tired and was wondering where the mile marker was. Uh-oh! Usually I feel strong through the first 2 miles and the last mile is where I start to struggle, but can always keep it pretty consistent through the last mile because it’s just one more mile. Today, was a whole different story. Things just weren’t right from the beginning. I hit the one mile surprisingly fast, maybe 5:23, just like the Fremont 5k, but felt much worse. I knew I’d be slowing down. The next mile was 5:47. HELLO JEN… WHERE ARE YOU?!

I found myself mostly daydreaming, and trying to maintain 3rd place to win some money. I ended up 3rd woman, at 17:49. I was hoping to go around 17:05 so it was a little disappointing, but not too much. I really didn’t feel like I had it in me today for some reason so it was easier to handle mentally I guess. Jeff also got 3rd place so we both won $75. Nice little Father’s Day cash.

Struggling toward the finish

Getting my award, caught in awkward pose.

frontier field horse made from baseball mitts

Horse covered in baseball mitts!

Make Things Happen

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Jen

I came across a quote from someone on my Twitter feed yesterday, that said something to the effect of “if someone wants an excuse they will find one.” Though I heard it before, it really stuck with me through the night and into this morning. This morning, just like last week, I woke up before 6am to get my workout done before my daughter woke up. My foot was bothering me because my navicular bone was rotated. I was tired. I was very unmotivated. I didn’t even have enough motivation to make coffee, so I didn’t. I went out for my run anyway.

When I arrived at the track, the college groundskeeper was standing in the infield. I really don’t like an audience when I’m running so I thought about scrapping the workout. I thought, “there’s an excuse”. I did my first set of track work. The groundskeeper moved up to the bleachers at that point and was just sitting there watching me. A little creepy, but not threatening. I thought I should quit. Again I thought, “there’s another excuse”. Though I had no pain when I was running, standing between sets made my foot feel a little pinched. I thought about stopping. Again, “just an excuse”. The sun came out and it started feeling hot. I had finished most of the workout. One more set wouldn’t make or break me, right? “Hello, excuse!”

I finished the workout happily and dry heaving, something I haven’t experienced from a workout in a long time. I looked at my splits and they were better than goal pace. In my training shoes. In a workout that I almost stopped countless times.

You can have excuses or you can make things happen. Today, I made things happen.

I'm training hard so this pace will feel easy again!

How do you squash your excuses? How do you pump yourself up for a workout when you just aren’t feeling it? Isn’t Twitter awesome for workout motivation?

Time to Get Serious

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Jen

2011 was an awesome year of racing for me. I believe I ran 17 races (including 2 marathons and 2 half marathons), and won 12 of them. I got PRs in almost every distance and I never felt a sign of burnout or injury. I had the negative Cleveland Marathon experience, but I immediately began training for the Columbus Marathon and was able to push it out of my mind for awhile. My fitness kept improving and I was able to get my 5k PR of 16:40 at the USATF Niagara 5k Championships in Bergen, NY.

Racing to a PR in Bergen

A few months later I had another disappointing marathon experience in Columbus and that’s where my running took a negative turn. I have not been able to get my mojo back. I haven’t lost my love for running, but I definitely lost my love for fast workouts. The workouts that once got me excited and kept my running interesting filled me with dread and negative thoughts.

I decided it was time to take a few months of easy running, no workouts unless I got the urge, and just occasional races to ride out my previous year’s fitness as long as possible. A few months turned into 6 months, and I found myself feeling like 2011 happened a lifetime ago. My current trip to Ohio has come with some soul searching and I feel that it’s finally time to stop feeling sorry for myself and my situation and time to get tough again.

Last night I went out to feel like my old self again. I went to my high school track (though it is in a different location than when I lived here) and set out to do 5 sets of 5×200. I ran the 2 miles there with my flats in hand, at 7pm when it was still near 80 degrees just to find there was a football scrimmage going on and I couldn’t get on the track. I was really disappointed, ran back to my parents’ house and dropped off my flats, then finished my “10k a day“. I decided right then I was going to get up at 5am this morning and get after my workout at 6am.

When my dad woke me up at 5:40am I was feeling full from last night’s indulgences, exhausted from a sleepless toddler, and unmotivated for a track workout. However, I forced down a peanut butter sandwich and a half cup of coffee plus a large water and was out the door by 6am. On my warmup I was sluggish and groggy but I kept a positive attitude. I witnessed a beautiful sunrise and made it to the track before a single car arrived at the school. It was 50 degrees, clear skies, and little wind. I nailed that workout like I’d never stopped. The whole process brought tears to my eyes. I truly got a little weepy on my last 200, knowing I’d completed an entire workout, faster than expected, and felt good the whole time.

Matchy-matchy at its finest! Oiselle apparel + New Balance shoes!

I came home to a supportive dad who didn’t complain even though my late return (7:15am) made him a little late for work, a sleeping daughter and mom, and a feeling that anything might be possible.

Mother’s Day Run

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Jen

I love being married to a runner, but it definitely makes my training harder. Every Sunday is a challenge as my husband usually sleeps in after working late and I hang out with our daughter. When he gets up, he usually does something fun with our daughter while I clock some miles solo or he does a run with his running group Roadkill Racing and I wait to run when they’ve finished. If we both do long runs, it’s hard to fit everything in because we always have full schedules on the weekends.

On Mother’s Day, I planned to run long-ish, maybe 10-12 miles solo, but the day had other things in store. We had a wedding and family stuff scheduled all day and my only opportunity to run ended up being with my little lady in the jog stroller. We left straight from my house, which takes us on some pretty rugged terrain. We only made it 6.54 miles due to my little girl’s desire to be done, but I’d say we could count it as about 10 miles, right?!

2 year old in jogging stroller, reading a musical book

Check out the trail! It uses every muscle in my upper body to keep the stroller on the trail and out of the weeds!

I was happy to get the 6.5 miles in on such a hectic day. The great thing about post-collegiate running is I can make my own schedule and move workouts to days that fit better with my life. Gonna do about 12 miles tomorrow.

Happy mommy and daughter after Mother's Day run

Do you struggle with balancing life and running? Are you okay moving workouts to another day of the week so they fit your life better? Do you want to come to Rochester and help me push my daughter on these trails?

The Local Elite

Live/Laugh/Love Running

Tag Archives: running moms