January 19th - I know I know - 3 days off!!!

I decided to take a rest day on Sunday, ending my 16 day streak. I was very tired and I just wanted to sit down and relax and watch some football with Dad. We won't disguss that. Anyway, Monday was my last day of winter break, well, it should have been. So I decided to enjoy it and just relax for the day. Tuesday, we had our snow storm and it wasn't very good to run in, so I decided to take another day off. Well, it was time for me to get my Half Marathon butt into gear. I decided to run on the treadmill after classes on Wednesday and incorporate some weight training. Well, a lot of good that did. I only made it 2 miles before my legs started to turn on me and tell me they didn't want to run anymore. I decided to walk around the indoor track a couple of times to cool off. I lifted some weights and I did some leg exercises as well. I tried to get back on the treadmill to get in another 1.11 to finish off the 5k but I couldn't do it. My legs were too dead. I hope this doesn't affect my performance at the Fudgcicle 5k on Satruday. This week hasn't been too good to me, hopefully I am able to kick it back into gear and get back into the training.

(I hate these things!!!)

Januraty 15th - Tewksbury - Fudgcicle 5k

I woke up this morning at about 6. At about 6:30 I ate two pieces of toast with peanut butter and had a glass of OJ. Let me tell you, it made a world of a differnce. At the end of today's race, I felt great! Anyway, my dad and I arrived and found Jessica, who was putting up signs. I hoped out of the car and helped her put up the last few signs. We made our way back to the start where I paid my dollar and then chatted with some people before the start. I sat in the car for a little bit to warm up before the race. At this time, it was 3 degrees farenheit. Still not a "REAL" fudgcicle race because it wasn't below zero, but it was still very cold. Most of us were bundled up in full face masks and gloves and multiple layers. I had a head band and gloves on with 2 shirts and a wind breaker. As I started my face was going numb. My head wasn't very cold so I took my head band down and put around my face to warm up my chin. At the same time, I could barely feel my toes. Well, what was I to do? I continued to run the race and tried not to think about it. Joseph Ferris caught me and Amanda and he started to run with us. We chated most of the way. Amanda took the lead for a while; however, as we rounded about mile 2.5, Joe and I picked up the pace to sub eight minute miles. About a mile before that, I took off my gloves because my hands were getting too hot. I noticed that there was frost building up my arm hairs and my facial hair. I didn't realize why until the end. The sweat was freezing up. We all looked like snowmen.

(BRRRR!!!)

This was a fun race today. I improved my time from last week by almost two minutes. Great Race today. Can't wait to do it all again next week!!!

January 14th - Training - Lowell - 4.75

I arrived in Lowell at about 3:40. I had told Kelly I'd be ten minutes late to our scheduled 3:30 run. She asked if she should just go ahead and I'd catch up with her. I told her, she could do what she wanted, but I asked if she would wait so that I can run with her, and when I'm done, come back for her so I could add on a little mileage. Well, we ran to the Rourke Bridge and when we were about to go up the stairs, we slowed to a stop because they were covered with snow. Fortunately there were foot prints already made, so we followed them.

(Better than nothing!!!)

We made our way up the stairs and much to Kelly's dismay, she couldn't remember if she locked her car. I decided to take her key and run back and make sure it was locked. She continued going and I picked up the pace to catch up to her. We met up at Dunkins on Middlesex Street because we both had to relieve our bladders!!! (I know, Kelly, I'm a dork!!!) I continued on our run and tried to get a lead on her so that later on I'd could go back and get her and add some extra mileage. Well, she kept up pretty well and when I was done, she was only about two minutes behind me. Anyway, as we made our way over the School Street Bridge, I had to make a choice, go on the road or go on the snow-filled path. Well, I made the dumb choice by jumping into the foot or more of snow and having to extend my strides to get through. I thought it was going to clear up but it didn't. It was never cleaned up. I ended up having to climp up on top of the snow and jump onto the shoulder of Riverside Street. For those of you who don't know, that's the boulevard (RT 113). I made my way down and as I got onto the path, I tried to pick up the pace so that I was under ten minute miles. I did that and made my way to the finish, and of course, even though I was alone, I made sure I said, I SEE DUNKINS!!!!

(MMM COFFEE!!!)

I was on my way back to get Kelly when I realized she was very close. I ran a little passed her and then turned around, caught her, and gave her our keys so she could start our cars while I finished off with 4.75 miles. I had about a tenth to go so I just wanted to finish it up. Kelly said she felt good running. She took her inhaler before we started. She said this time, it wasn't the breathing that was the issue, she got really hungry, and her stomach kept tightening up. MMM FOOD!!! Other than that, she said her run was good. My run was great, except for jumping in and out of snow banks!!!

January 13th - Hudson, NH - Training - 5

I had worked 12-4 today and decided that I wanted to continue my running streak to make it 2 full weeks of running. I had eaten food right after work (I gotta stop doing that!!!)

(They are soooooo good!!!!)

I decided to go home and take a hot bath to help my back out because it has been hurting a little bit. This was perfect. It gave me time to digest my food and it helped my back heel up a little bit. After I got out of the tub it was about 5:15. I got dressed in my running clothes, put on my vest and head lamp and headed out. It was about 5:30 when I started my run. I planned on doing 5 miles. I started around my neighborhood the same way I started my 3.5 miler from last night. After a few miles I made my way onto the main road for about half a mile. It wasn't too bad as I had on my vest which was blinking orange and my head lamp which was blinking the regular color of a flash light. Plus, I had my hand flash light to shine on the road for extra visibilility. I made my way back to into the T-Bones parking lot and back into my neighborhood. I was at 4.1 miles when I decided which way I was giong to go to end my 5 mile run.

(ALWAYS MADE FRESH!!!)

I was at about a 9:55 pace in the last mile and I ended down hill then flat. I picked up the speed significantly and dropped a minute in my pace. In turn, my average pace went from 9:57 to 9:44. This was an awesome last mile and I'm glad that I finished strong. I needed this run and I'm glad I got it done!!!

January 12th - Late Night Run - 3.5

Well, it was about 9:30 when I decided that I wanted to go for a late night run. I decided to let my dinner digest a little bit longer seeing that I had only eaten an hour prior to my thought of going out for a run. I ended up leaving my house at 11:03 PM. I planned on only doing a 5k. I decided to do the same route my dad took me on 2 weeks ago when we did our 3.5 miles together. It was a boring route because I kept running around the same area; however, it got the miles in and that's all that counts. It was almost mind numbing as I kept running around the same streets.

(That is how I felt the entire time!)



As I was about mile 2.5 I could feel the urge to go to the bathroom. I figured it would pass as I kept going. It passed for a few minutes; but, at mile 3, it came back. Once I got to my street at about 3.2, I had to decide if I should just stop at my driveway go down the street and back to make it the entire 3.5. I decided quickly that I was gonna finish off the 3.5 and run all the way down the street. I am deffinitely glad that I finished my 3.5, but it felt more like 14 miles, if you catch my drift. LOL. (Jason, you got mentioned in my blog!!!) haha!!! Anyway, it was a slower run because of the snow that wasn't cleaned up well on the side streets. There wasn't much traction in some spots because there was so much snow. It was a good 3.5 miles and I'm glad I got that in to continue the streak!!!

(I could have used one of these during my run!!!)

January 11th - Long - 7 miles - 1 big hill

Today was a good day for me. Unfortunately, Kelly had a headache, so she had to cancell our planned four mile run around the boulevard. I took this opportunity to get in my long run for the week at home. My planned long run was with Amanda was supposed to be tomorrow; however, she had to cancell too because one of us would have had to drive to the other one's house in order to run together; and with the amount of snow we are supposed to be getting, it isn't a good idea.

(Not sold in stores!!!)

So I planned on doing six by myself around Hudson. I knew a 6 mile route I could do with a decent hill. New Bedford is coming up in about 2 months and I need a few decent hill workouts.

I made my way towards my old elementary school which put me at 1 mile into my 6 mile run. I mad my way towards the street with the big hill. The beginning wasn't bad, a few rolling hills in the beginning and then came the big incline!!! I was ready to take this hill and feed it to the bottom of my running shoes. I didn't slow my pace down too much while going up the hill. It wasn't too bad in the beginning. I didn't really start to feel the incline until I made it half way up. Then it sunk into my legs and back. After I made it up the hill, there was no where to go but down. I made my way down Burns Hill Road and onto Wason Road. I then decided that I'm going to add on a little bit extra to make it 7 miles, my scheduled long run for the week. I made my way down Wason Road, and with no shoulder it was very difficult to run, especially at 5pm when everyone was getting out of work.

When I started my run it was light out; however, I knew that I would still be running by the time it got dark; therefore, I made sure I had a vest and head lamp and flash light with me so that I could be seen from all angles; although, apparently not everyone wants to be seen while on the road. Some idiot is speeding down with not headlights on. That is one of my biggest pet peeves, when people don't turn on there lights at night!!! I made sure I was visible, he should have too. Anyway, I kept going down the road where I came upon a street called "Empire Circle" I assumed that it was a cul-de-sac. I ran up the street, it was a nice incline, and indeed it was a cul-de-sac. I came down the hill hitting mile 4. It wasn't too bad of a run so far. I made my way down Wason Road and towards Market Basket and onto Lowell Road. I made my way onto the main road and knowing that I still needed to add I little bit more to make my 7 miles, I went down and back a side street and in and around a few parking lots. I made my way back towards T Bones (oh those yummy bacon cheddar fries) and a finished strong with 7 miles just before my street.

(I love this place!!!)

I deffinitely felt like I could have gone much longer, but I want to stick to my training schedule and 7 is my max for the week. Glad I got that done and over with!!! 

January 10th - Training - 4 miles with Kelly

Again, Kelly and I met up on the boulevard. We started at the boat house parking lot and made our way over the rourke bridge. This time, we started at 3:30 so it was much lighter out from start to finish. It was such a relief not having to worry about wearing the vests or head lamp. We made our way through the traffic and we continued running down middlesex street. I made some videos with my dad's new flip video, but I'm not going to upload them here. I'm a very impatient person. (LOL!!!) We continued running and the wind was about 3-5mph against with us. That side of the river was nice; however, we always like it when we are back onto riverside street, because that means we are almost done. This is a song that I love to play in my head when I'm halfway done a training run or a race.

(WOAH WE'RE HALF WAY THERE!!!)

It's a very motivational part of the song lol!!! I like to play it in my head when I'm in a race. We made our way down the boulevard and onto the path in broad daylight. Man, do we have guts or what? lol. Personally, that route never gets old to me; however, we are going to change it up a bit because I need to start blogging about different routes. We made our way to the finish line and completed our four miles strong. It was a slower run than usual. It took us a little over 50 minutes but we made it. Yay!!! lol!!!

January 9th - Race - Freeze Your Buns off 5k!

I woke up this morning at about 7:30. Got out of bed at about 8 and woke up my dad. I ate my signature, toast with peanutbutter for breakfast with a glass of OJ. It made a huge difference because after todays race, I didn't feel like I was going to pass out. Phewwww!!!! As I made my way towards mile one I noticed that I was going way too fast. I had done a 27:20 the day before, and I was on pace to do a 24 minute 5k. I slowed down towards the very end of the mile so that I would be able to give more in the next two miles. As I was making my way around the first loop of Nashua High School, the lead guys past me. (It didn't bother me at all.) The lead girl and then my dad also passed me. (NO JOKES JASON!!!) I went around on my second lap as they were on their third. I started chatting with a woman named Kim and we were together that entire lap and then a little into the third. I soon took off and we said good luck to each other and that was that. It was about 2.6 miles into the race that I was done my last lap and straight onto the finish. I had been taking it slow the entire race so I could give a little extra at the end. My dad had been running back to get me and we ran in together. At about one tenth to go, I picked it up and took huge strides to finish the race strong. Even the guy I passed right at the end said "WOW!!!" as I ran by him. That was a great race and I'll be looking forward to doing it again in 2 weeks.

(I think my stride was about double that!!! jk!!!)

January 8th - Race - Fudgcicle 5k

This morning was awesome. I ran the first Fudgcicle 5k of the season and it happened to be my first Fudgcicle race ever. It was an awesome turn out. There was a record of 87 runners tonight, WOO HOO!!!
http://coolrunning.com/results/11/ma/Jan8_Fudgci_set1.shtml ... You can check the race results there.

This race was really nice. I stuck with Jess for a little bit. Then picked up the pace a tad around mile one but fell back to about 9s - 9:30s around mile 1.5.... I have been doing slow training runs, so I thought I'd be able to compensate today and pick up the pace. It wasn't a SUPER SLOW race, but it is much slower compared to the 5ks I'd been doing in the summer. I felt great the last half mile. I picked up the pace a lot and at mile three when my watch reset to my new pace, I was doing a 6:46 pace to try and catch Jessica. I had told her that if she beat me, I'd buy her breakfast. Damn!!!! She beat my by 15 seconds. Oh well!!! It was a fun race and the breakfast was awesome! This is an awesome race for only $1. If anyone is interested in running this race, it's every Saturday at 8am located at 320 Pleasant Street, Tewksbury, MA. (Tewksbury High School) Come and join us, it's only one dollar per race and the breakfast at deli king is delicious and affordable. Let's try to make the record and reach 100 people.

(They cook a good breakfast. I can't wait til next week!!!!)

January 7th - Training - Another 4 on the boulevard

I met up with Kelly again at about 4:30. I made sure I had our vests and head lamps so that we could be seen while on the other side of the Rourke Bridge. We almost got hit by a car. We were blinking, we reflected, and not to mention my head light was blinking right into his wind shield...

(There should be more of these signs out on the road!!!)



After we hit the Hess Gas Station, Kelly had to walk a little to catch her breath. Her asthma was kicking her ass, well techinically it was kicking her lungs. hahaha!!! Anyway, she rested up a little while I stayed in front but not too far ahead. We made our way over the School Street Bridge and onto the other side of the river. It's an awesome feeling once we get across the School Street Bridge because now we know we are almost done. This would be so boring and tedious on the treadmill. I like the scenery. It's so much easier when you are outside. We made our way down, and onto the path. About a quarter of a mile on the path, I always say, "I see Dunkins," because it's my way of knowing how close I am. We made our way down the path and finished at a little under 48 minutes. This was a slower run than yesterday; however, it was so much colder. I kept telling her, "it's going to be even colder for tomorrow's fudgcicle race at 8am!!! We had a great run and I'm glad we got in the miles.

January 6th - Training - 4 on the boulevard

Again, Kelly and I did the boulevard loop. This time, we added half a mile to make it 4 by running right from the boat house parking lot. I enjoyed this run. We took it nice and easy, which is what I needed after my 8 miler yesterday. We only had to stop once, that damn traffic. Coming off the rourke bridge is probably worse the the highway traffic during rush hour. I'm glad we don't have to follow the stop lights and stop signs. It's not very fun stopping in the middle of your run. After we crossed that traffic jam, we continued down middlesex street up and passed UMLowell.

(That's more of an obstacle course!!!)

We hit one mile on that road and Kelly kept on going. Just a little passed the Hess gas station Kelly said, she was pushing for two miles straight through and I said "Great, we are very close to two miles." The two mile mark hit and she continued running as if she had never stopped. We made our way over the school street bridge and onto the side walk. The beginning wasn't bad but as we passed McDonalds, the ice covered the sidewalk. The other two days we ran, we jumped over the guard rail and ran on the shoulder of the road. I figured it would be melted by today. It wasn't. We ran on it for a little bit and I kept slipping around so I jumped the guard rail and continued on the road. Kelly stayed on the sidewalk. Once we passed the snowy, icy part of it, she said, "that gave me a chance to slow down."

(Good Job Kelly)



 Props to her for going this far all in a row. Shortly after, we hit the three mile mark and she continued on running. We hit 5k at 35:22 which is good for her. We kept running down the boulevard and we hit the path. It was so nice. The lights were bright and shining and it looked awesome. Kelly said, "It's so romantic, should we like hold hands lol." I thought that was funny. We made our way down the path and hit the boat house parking lot at about 3.87miles. We ran across the parking lot and back to make the 4. This was an awesome run for Kelly. SHE MADE IT THE ENTIRE WAY WITHOUT STOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of her. I love this loop. IT NEVER GETS OLD!!!!!!!!!!

(GREAT RUN TODAY KELLY!!!!!!!!!)

January 5th - Training - 8 in my town

This morning, I woke up at about 8:30 AM. I laid there a while waiting for 9 o'clock to get up and out of bed. I texted Amanda to see if she was coming over for a pre-run breakfast. She had just woken up, so she ate at home and I had some toast with peanut butter.

(It was so yummy!!!)

I had a glass of OJ with it, and that was it. Amanda soon arrived and we streched a bit before our run. She had 3 shirts on, long spandex pants, gloves and ear muffs. I wore two shirts, a wind breaker, long layer 8 pants, gloves and ear muffs. We began our run from my driveway. We made it onto the main road and about a half a mile into our run I had taken the gloves off. For some reason, my hands just get too warm while running. I put the gloves in my pockets and continued running. We made the first mile in 9:25, about 35 seconds faster than I had planned. I could deffinitely feel that last few days of running after the first mile. We slowed it down after that. We did anywhere between 10 and 11:10 for the next 3-4 miles. At about mile 2-4, I was feeling pain in my legs. If Amanda wasn't there, I deffinitely would have wanted to cut the run short and just go home. Thanks to her, I continued my run. We were chatting the whole way which made the run more enjoyable. Around mile 4 I started forgetting that we were running because I was completely into the conversation. It was then that I looked at my watch and realized we were already at 4.6miles. It felt like we just started that mile. That's always a great feeling. Especially after hitting the half way mark. After that, it's all down hill. Well not literally. We didn't have too many hills in this run. On or two decent inclines. The rest were slow inclines but not much of a hill to us. Even towards the end of the run we didn't feel the inclines that much because we were moving much quicker. We picked up the pace in the last two miles. It felt great. Towards the end of the run I was feeling slight pain again; however, as we were only 1/4 of a mile away from the finish, we picked up the pace a lot and finished our 8 miles strong. I didn't feel any pain immediately after. It wasn't until I sat down in the chair at home and had to get up again that I was a little sore. All in all, it was a great run and I had a great time. I'm glad I got that in. Now I just need to work on a little speed and I will be golden.

January 4th - Taining - Boulevard Loop

Today, I did the blvd loop again with my cousin Kelly. This time, we stretched a little bit more before and after. We did our normal walk to and across the bridge and across the street. We do this as a warm up, and so we don't have to stop to wait for the traffic.

(Wouldn't want to dodge that while running!!!)

Kelly is just getting back into running, so we are taking it very slow. These runs are nice for me because I feel great and refreshed. I loved running slow with her because it gives me a chance to help someone who is slower than me (not too many people) pick up the pace or reach a goal. Today, she was able to make it the first full mile without stopping. That is a great accomplishment for someone who hasn't run in over two months. While she walked, I used the opportunity to run ahead and run back to her to increase my mileage as well. The entire loop is approximately 4 miles. We walked the first .57 miles and then ran the last 3.5. I'd say she ran 1.75-2 miles of it and walked the rest. But hey, she said she would have been rolled up on the couch watching t.v. if she wasn't out there running, so credit is deffinitely deserved. These days are getting longer very slowly. Both times we've run, we have been caught in the dark towards the end of our run. Luckily, at that point we were on the path; however, one of these days we will be starting at a later time, and we will need to wear our reflectors.

(Already?!?!?!)

January 3rd - Training - Boulevard Loop

Today, I ran 3.5 miles with my cousin on the Boulevard Loop. We started at the boat house on the blvd in Lowell and walked across with Rourke Bridge and crossed the street as a little warm up. Then we began our run from there. We made our way all the way to the School Street Bridge (Pawtucket Bridge) and went over it and back onto the blvd. We made our way to the path and ran on it the rest of the way. This totals 3.5 miles right to where our cars are parked. Kelly, my cousin, is just getting back into running, so we took it slow and averaged a little over 11s on this run. I don't care how slow I go, as long as I get my miles in.

January 2nd - Training - 3.5

So, I got home from work and I asked my dad to go for a run. This would be his 367th day in a row. He said yes. So I dragged him out for a 5k. We ended up doing 3.5miles. According to my watch, I ran faster than him, longer than him, and fished before him. LOL!!! That's the garmin for you. (We ran the same route). I felt great after that run. I'm glad I went out and ran that with him. I need to get in my miles because I'm in training for my first half marathon. It's going to be fun! I can't wait until March.

January 1st - Double Race Day!!!

So today was a very good day for me. I raced my 2nd 10k in 56:07, 3 minutes and 56 seconds faster than my first 10k (Bridge of Flowers). It felt great. I ran pretty much the entire race with Jess Costa. It was great to have someone to talk to throughtout the race. We ran solid 9s almost the whole way. I was very impressed with my time and happy that I was able to break 1 hour.

After that was done, I made my way ALL THE WAY DOWN MAMMOTH ROAD, to run the Millenium Mile... After that nice 16 mile drive, I registered for the race. Thinking it was only $15, that's all I brought with me inside. I went to sign up but it was $18 on race day. So, I had to run back to my car to get more money. Taking a good 15 minutes, I stood in line and waited to sign up. I then went back to my car to put my phone and keys away and jogged to the starting line. Waiting for the gun to go off, I chatted with my friend Michele and her friend Jeanine. We waited a few more minutes for the gun to go off. Finally, we slowly jogged to the starting mat and then we took off. I started off at a 6 minute mile pace. I said to myself "This is too fast." I had planned on running 7 flat or better. Well, as I was running, I turned to Michele and said, "this isn't as easy as I thought it would be." As we passed the 1/2 and 3/4 markers, I looked down at my watch and realized I was doing a 6:39 pace. That was awesome. I picked up the pace in the last quarter of a mile and finished off with a 6:25 pace. My actual net time was 6:27. That was very surprising to me. I did not think I could break 6:30. That day for me brought two awesome accomplishments. I had a great start to the year of 2011.