I'm going to Boston baby!!

The training that began in August 2013 and culminated with the run of a lifetime in December 2013 finally knocked over another milestone (pun so intended) this past Wednesday.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

It's really hard to put into words how it feels. Nothing that pops into my mind seems to be right. I'm just so darn humbled to be included in this experience. Honestly, I feel like a bit of an imposter sometimes...

I expected to hear from the BAA one way or another by the time I finished my run on Wednesday morning so one might say that I was a bit extra motivated. I got out early because I knew I was going to be able to enjoy this:

It had been a long time since I ran on the Greenway with temperature starting with 5. It was a decidedly perfect September morning for running. I pretty much felt like a rock star the entire run. My plan was to run 6 out and back for a total of 12 miles and meet my RB at the trail head to do another 6 with him. Since we've been averaging in the mid to upper 8's, I figured I could just go hog wild for 12 miles and enjoy and a relaxed pace for the last 6.

It felt so good to see those paces again. I was definitely working hard, but the difference was that I actually felt good and strong. I expected to celebrate in the parking lot with my RB, but there was no news from the BAA yet.

I took a shower and then an ice bath.

Still no news.

Baked a pumpkin spice bundt cake.

Still no news.

Lazed on the sofa with the BTs.

I went into the attic to retrieve champagne glasses for my brother's engagement party this weekend and saw the news when I came downstairs. Maybe they were just waiting for me to bring out the celebratory glassware?

Friday night, I flew out of work as quickly as I could at 7pm to try to catch the last few minutes of daylight on the Greenway. Fly I did. I bound down the trail with thoughts of Boston on my mind. As the world slipped slower into darkness, I felt very primal. I upped the effort in the final mile and tried to empty the tank. 2 awesome runs in the same week?! What is going on....

Yesterday, I squeezed in work, party prep, and a late night dinner with friends. Unfortunately, I tossed and turned all night (so unlike me, ugh!) and did not feel so wonderful on my run today. But, at least I threw down a decent pace.

I plan to do 20 on Tuesday if I'm feeling well tomorrow. This will give me a chance to do 2 20's with a cutback week if I decide to do Marshall. If not, it'll just be a really good start for Rehoboth.

The rest of my day was spent prepping and hosting my brother's engagement party. He got engaged in the spring, but his fiancé finally had some family in town so we decided to do the party this weekend. I did the food (all vegetarian since the fiancé is a veggie), my sister did the decor, and I think it was quite a success.

Party colors:

 Caesar cups with Parmesan cheese bites: 

 Strawberry hearts:

 Zucchini pizza bites:

Cheddar/grapes, Brie/apples, Gouda/apricots:

 Stuffed mushrooms and crustless quiche:

7-layer Mediterranean dip:

Death by chocolate cupcakes:

 I love a good party y'all!!!!!!!! Cheers!

Did you miss me?

Duuuuuuuuuuuude.

Where did I go?!?!

Ok, ok, I get it. No one was really that worried to alert the authorities. In the age of social media, it's pretty common knowledge that I'm alive and well. Just have been super spotty about posting and reading blogs.

It's been a whopping 3 weeks and a handful of days since the Jackson Hole Marathon Roller Coaster. I see-sawed back and forth about even processing the emotions of the race. I'm running in the amazingly beautiful backdrop of the Grand Tetons! Why do I keep running marathons? Look how strong I am to be running another marathon! Why is my body forsaking me when I need it?

I gave myself a week off of running. Mental health break. Physical health break. I spent all week feeling physically broken from my race and mentally broken because I was sure that running again would make me feel so good!

Here's what's transposed thus far in September:

  The first 6 runs were like starting over. I'm not one to get terribly despondent about bad running streaks, but sheesh, I was wondering if I was ever going to feel strong again. This whole summer was about 75% eh and I was kind of counting on fall to whip me back into a happy place.

The just-shy-of-14-miles 14-miler I ran was about the most ugly run I've had in quite some time. Like, snatch-the-phone-out-of-a-passerby's-hand-to-call-my-mom-bad. Or sit-on-the-bench-next-to-the-dog-poop-trash-can-and-cry-bad. And sad because I was wearing my new favorite running garb and I felt so bad:

It doesn't look bad on the Garmin data, but I felt like I was putting in 1000% effort.

But then something happened this week that made me feel like I was easing back into the swing of things. I had 2 5-milers that were relatively painless and I even managed to zone out for a bit during both of them. My body didn't hurt and I felt good about pushing the pace a bit. Phew!

I set out for 16 miles on the crowded Greenway Saturday and managed click off the miles with relative ease. While I'm not feeling at the top of my running game, I do feel much better than I did those 48 hours post-Jackson Hole.

So while I nervously await the BAA's decision about my plans for April 2015, I will continue to stew on the possibility of running Marshall (November 1st) in a few weeks. It's on the fence 50% because of the financial outlay and 50% because I'm not sure how it will fit into my running goals. I'm definitely signed up for Rehoboth (December 6th) and will likely start training for Boston in January if that happens. We'll see.

In the meantime, I have been enjoying the things I missed with early morning training runs.

And I've been crazy about being in the kitchen again:

So much so that I had to retire these guys after a faithful few years run:

And in other random news, I've been dealing with a wicked case of poison ivy? Not sure where I picked it up from though. I run on the Greenway, but not really through the Greenway. And my contact with the backyard has been limited more recently to throwing the pigskin with the younger furbeast:

My arm starting blistering/oozing at work last Wednesday and I took thyself to the nearest Minute Clinic Thursday.

Gross. I was prescribed some steroids and a Z-Pak. Makes me feel like a jilted zombie for about 12 hours a day. Super.



So cross your fingers and toes for me if you are reading this Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning--let's hope that good news awaits me from the Boston front!