June 2014 – Month in review

July 2, 2014ianesenior 3 Comments

Lots of fun times in addition to running this month including a couple of nice surprises.

June 2014 – Nike+ Summary

I reached a new milestone this month. This was the first month since I started running that I ran more than 200 miles in a month (202 per my stats). No wonder I’m tired. This is mostly due to me using Hal Higdon’s Intermediate 2 plan which has more mileage midweek and an extra 20 miler in the plan (1 down and 2 to go as of June 30th). So far all is going well even as the heat and humidity makes the runs more of a workout than normal. I guess training for an August marathon will test your endurance.

The month started with me continuing on the training plan for the marathon but now the distances are becoming greater every week. The good thing is that it is lighter in the morning and with the exception of when I had to travel out of town for work (more on that below) I have been able to run in the daylight and on a few occasions see the sun rise. It’s been fun. I am seeing a lot of familiar faces and a few new faces as I run my usual laps of the park. Good to see some folks out there making their first strides. I encourage with a smile and a wave as I run past as it seems everyone is plugged in but it is paying off now and I get the smiles back. Runners etiquette. Love it.

We finally said goodbye to our BOB Ironman double stroller. Our boys are just too big for this now and I was really struggling to run and push them and keep up with my wife when running. They really had exceeded the weight limit and my eldest son’s knees were pretty much touching his ears. We had lots of fun with that stroller over the last couple of years and we put on a good number of miles together. It was great while it lasted but when casual observers commented that my son was big enough to push me we knew it was time.

Our first stroller run – Memorial Day 2012

Our last stroller run – Memorial Day 2014

On Father’s Day I ran the Gary Papa 5K for Prostate Cancer and met up with my fellow Mickey Miler, Joe. It was nice to meet him and it was a fun day. I travelled down with my father in law and it was good to see him back running races. He is signed up for a few more this year including the Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon in September. Together with my wife, my sister in law and future brother in law we have a full caravan of cars heading down and it should be a fun day.

At the start with my Father in law

At the finish line with Joe.

On Father’s Day we also go to celebrate my son’s team winning the Flag Football Superbowl. They were unbeaten all season. Now I have to start building my son’s trophy shelf. He was very happy and we are very proud of him and how he played with the team.

My little champion

This month also included the Cycle Bucks County event. This was the third year I have taken part in this event and it was a really beautiful sunny day. I opted for the 25 mile route (actually 27 miles) and there were also 10, 50 and 60 mile routes to ride. It was very hilly but a good workout. I did walk a couple of hills (as did many others) as I didn’t want to fry my quads and also as I had a 19 mile run on the training plan the day after.

I earned my ice cream on this ride.

With a net elevation of almost 1,900 feet it was a very good workout. You can see the route here.

We had a pleasant surprise when my in laws offered to take our two boys up to Albany, NY for the weekend to visit family. My wife and I had free time which we had not planned that weekend and we took advantage of having some personal time on Saturday to get some stuff done which we wouldn’t have had a chance with the boys around, go out for a nice relaxing dinner and catch a movie. The next day we could sleep a little later and both get our long runs in. I had 19 to run as I said earlier and my wife joined me at mile 8 and we ran my last 11 miles together. She took me to some places in Tyler Park that I had never visited and some hills I had never run before (probably not planning to run those again either). We then had a nice quiet brunch and then headed out to an evening concert (The Steve Miller Band and Journey). A great weekend.

Running the ‘Covered Bridge Trail’ in Tyler Park. A first for me.

Work took me to Atlanta, Georgia this month (and I will be heading there a few times this year). My hotel was nearer Piedmont Park this time around and the office I needed to visit was next to my hotel. With the exception of my first travel day when I headed straight to the office I was able to run every morning. With my short commute (next door) I was able to get my longer training runs in without getting up so early. I usually commute about 55 miles each way so I have to get up early to get my running in. This was also the first of my big weeks on the training plan and it called for runs of 5, 10, 5, 10 and 20. The sun does rise later as we are further west so I had my headlamp for both of the midweek long runs but was able to finish in the day light. It was warm and humid but good training for the heat I will expect in August.

While in Atlanta I got the chance to catch up with ‘Fast Eddie’ McCoy. He is a big part of the Mickey Milers running team and is a big inspiration to many as well as lots of fun. He met me on Wednesday evening while I was there and took me out for a group run from one of the local breweries (Red Brick Brewing Co.). It was about 90 degrees when we ran and it we hit some pretty big climbs. Eddie is fast and his slow is my fast. I was keeping up but it was a hard and fun workout, especially considering the heat. We shared a couple of beers and then had a really nice dinner at Tin Lizzy’s Cantina in Midtown Atlanta. I will definitely be heading back there when I next visit. The last couple of trips to Atlanta I have participated in group runs. I will be looking into doing another one evening on my next trip as I will be travelling solo next time.

Post 5K run with Eddie.

I finished off the month with a 20 mile long run when I got back from Atlanta. It went well and I felt good even the day after when my boys and I had a crazy busy day together using our membership at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey.

Enjoying time at the Adventure Aquarium

Great times at the Adventure Aquarium

Enjoying a 'Cake Batter Shake'. I claim only 1/3rd of the calories :-)

Enjoying a ‘Cake Batter Shake’ with my boys

Also new this month, for me anyway, were my new shirts from ‘INKnBURN‘. I took advantage of some discount codes online and purchased a few items. I’m really happy with them. I think the shirts are great and they work well as technical running shirts. Very comfortable.

The ‘Healing Mandala’ tech shirt

The ‘Ganesha’ tech shirt

The ‘Rock’n Roll Run or Die’ tank top

It was a busy month and I had lots of time on my feet outdoors both training, running with friends, running with my wife and playing with my boys. I’d say June was a success. Looking forward to the rest of summer.

While I have your attention (if you have stuck with me this far I guess I have) I’d like to remind and ask you if you would be willing to support me in my fundraising efforts for Autism Speaks. As you may know from this blog I will be running the 2015 Walt Disney World ‘Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge’ with Team Up / Autism Speaks. This will be my third year running for this team and I hope to take my total raised over the years to over $10,000. I cannot do this without everyone’s support. If you feel you can contribute I would very much appreciate this. I thank you in advance. You can donate by using this link.

Thank you for reading and have a great summer.

Marathon Training – Week 3

August 4, 2013ianesenior Leave a comment

Week 3 Training

A pretty easy week. It was the first step back week in the program and the mileage is still low, lower than my base training. Perhaps next time I start a new program I will maintain my base until the mileage catches up. For now I will take the rest. Still it’s almost another 25 miles on the road to my Philly Marathon.

I checked the weather forecast (actually 3 forecasts) for Saturday morning. All three had lightening storms forecast so I took my run inside the gym and hit the treadmill for an hour. That was the only day I went off plan by running 6 instead of 5. Not such a big deal and I’ve not been so great on my diet this week for a number of reasons. Back on track for week 4.

In addition to the training I managed to get out on a bike ride with my youngest. I did an hour riding on the canal tow path just before my long run (6 this week). We met up with my wife and eldest son and I ran with them in the stroller so Sunday was very much a family day. Typically we run as a family on Saturdays and this will be more the norm as we approach the longer runs. My kids are great in the stroller but pushing them 8 miles is tough on me and that is a long time for them after a while. There’s only so much we can all manage (especially the guy pushing the stroller).

The little backseat driver

Next weekend we have some family plans we are doing so it looks more likely that I may be skipping the cross training on Monday and running Monday through Friday as I will need to take the weekend off. Not the best and if I feel like it is too much I will probably skip one of the run days. I’m back up to 11 miles come the long run so Friday looks likely that I will be up at 4am to squeeze that one in before work. I hope the weather cooperates this week as the temperatures in the morning are currently perfect for running outside. The sunrise is getting a little later so headlamp running may be back on the agenda soon.

I’ll have to do a blog post about my running in the dark gear as there is a little too much detail to go into in this weekly update.

Thanks for sticking with me on this journey. This years Philadelphia Marathon will be here before you know it and soon I’ll be making my dining reservations(!) for Walt Disney World in January. Lots to look forward to.

A nice weekend and a change of scenery

June 25, 2013ianesenior Leave a comment

It’s been quite a fun couple of weeks. I got back from our anniversary trip to San Francisco on Tuesday and I had a few days at work before I had to head off for a short business trip to St Petersburg, Florida. Sure enough we didn’t waste a minute over the weekend as we tried to squeeze in as much as we could into the time we had available.

On Saturday I took part in the ‘Cycle Bucks County’ event for the second year. I had bought my bike (a Trek FX 7.2 hybrid) back in February 2012 and had riden it a few times on relatively flat terrain. What I didn’t expect when I turned up for the 25 mile ride (which at the time was the furthest I had actually riden) was how hilly Bucks County actually was. The ride had a net elevation of about 1,600 feet. I’d only ridden on the flat as I mentioned earlier. At one point in the ride last year as I struggled to get up a really steep climb (Wismer Way) I looked around to see people actually walking their bikes up the hill. I didn’t know that you could do that and I was killing myself trying to pedal up. Needless to say I joined the crowd and hopped off my bike to walk uphill (probably faster than I was actually cycling).

Ready to roll

This year gave me a chance to revisit the ride and test my fitness against last year. I again had signed up for the 25 mile route (there was also a 50 mile, 60 mile and 10 mile family ride) and proudly wearing my Team GB cycling jersey (you have to look the part) I took to the start line. I couldn’t remember where the big hill was or what it was called and to be honest where I was going (I have to thank the kind guy in the minivan who told me where all the cyclist went as I was mid pack but had no visual to the riders ahead) and figured I had just run in San Francisco I must be able to do those hills.

A rare flat section

Well…I found the hill and it again beat me but I think I got further up than last year and I was more than happy to jump off and walk up. No point in getting hurt for a fun ride. as I mentioned before there was almost 1,600 feet in elevation and this was pretty much an out and back course so as they say “what goes up must come down”. I’m not a big fan of roller coasters. I pretty much like to be in control of my speed and direction but let’s just say there were a couple of frightening moments as I plummeted down some of the hills at (according to my Garmin) over 31 miles per hour….WITH THE BRAKES ON!!!

Either I missed the rest stop at half way or there wasn’t one (there was confusion amongst the riders) so I decided to power on home back to the start/finish at New Hope-Solebury High School and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Bucks County (when I wasn’t holding on for dear life trying to slow down). Around mile 23 when I was close to home I had a feeling that I wasn’t going back the way I came been though I and a couple of other riders were following the temporary road markings. At mile 25 with no finish line in sight I began to worry I had caught up and followed the 50 mile riders. I think I had maxed out my comfort in the saddle around mile 22!!! Luckily I was wrong to be anxious and we turned into the school entrance from the opposite side to last year. The route was actually 27 miles this year. Either that or I had got lost somewhere and didn’t know it. Anyway, mission accomplished and I gratefully sat on the grass and enjoyed myself with some of the post race treats on offer.

Mission accomplished

Yes, I’ll probably be signing up for it again (unless I can convince my wife to let me do the Philly Tri next year).

On Sunday I had to take an evening flight for a business trip to St Petersburg, Florida. My wife and I both wanted to get a run in and have time to see the new Pixar movie ‘Monsters University’ with the boys so our solution was to run on the canal with the boys in the double stroller. We got up early to keep to a schedule and left the house pretty much around the same time we leave on a school day with the boys. We arrived at Cramer’s Bakery (our usual start and finish point) and got ready to set off. We hadn’t yet given the boys breakfast before we left although we had packed lunch for later in the day so as I set up the double stroller my wife ran into the bakery and grabbed some treats for the boys.

Wow, all I can say is that if you feed a kid a muffin you hear nothing out of them for at least the first 2 miles into a run. The trade-off I guess is that you cannot do that on every run or the stroller will get too heavy to push LOL but it worked for when we needed it. It was a fabulous if a little warm day to be running on the canal and it turned into somewhat of a nature walk as we spotted (as my eldest son correctly pointed out) herons and dragonflies, families of ducks and geese and at one point 6 turtles resting on a log. Nice.

Nature. Turtles on a log.

Keeping our eye on the clock we quickly finished our run and loaded up the car to head to an 11am showing of ‘Monsters University’. What a great movie for parents and kids alike. I remember seeing the original movie with my wife in the days before the kids but I really had fun watching it with the boys. In fact we were cheering and laughing together. It was great. After the movie my wife and the boys headed off to the community swimming pool and I showered and headed off to the airport.

Our friends Mike and Sully from this years Walt Disney World Marathon

I arrived in St Petersburg late on Sunday night and planned to run and explore early the next morning. Two things were immediately apparent on Monday morning. First, the sunrise was almost an hour later than at home and secondly it was way hot and humid. I got to see a beautiful sunrise as I ran along the bay, taking in the pier along the way. It’s was fantastic to see all the wildlife and the activity by the water. It was hot and I very much appreciated the view but it looked better inside with air conditioning.

Sunrise in St Petersburg, FL

That night as I was walking to the restaurant I had chosen for dinner I passed by a Kilwins’. This is a chocolatier and ice cream parlor chain that my family and I visit when we are in Sarasota, Florida. Well, I had to take it for the team. There was no one else around to help so I had a nice portion of St Peter’s Mud for everyone who couldn’t be with me (chocolate pieces in caramel)….yum!

St Pete’s Mud from Kilwins’…it would have been rude not to try

So…this meant I had to run to earn my calories back for the next day. On Tuesday I had arranged an 8am meeting so I had to get up earlier than the day before. This actually gave me an opportunity to try to beat the heat. Although the bayfront trail was lit I still put on my headlamp for the unlit areas I was running and headed out for another run. Even without the sun it was still really hot and humid. I ran a nice relaxed 5 miles like I had the day before except this time I ran past the pier and headed out further amongst the houses along the bay. Very pretty. I made it back just before sunrise and had breakfast, showered and packed my suitcase in time for my 8am meeting.

I plan on taking a couple of days off when I get home as we will be down at the Jersey Shore all next week for The July 4th holiday and I want to be rested well so I can enjoy some long runs early in the morning and with my wife and boys as well as some bike rides. I’ll earn my calories for all those boardwalk treats next week. Something I’m very much looking forward to.

I run for health, fun and to be able to have the energy to spend a week with my two wonderful boys.

Life is good 🙂

Family time and relaxation – Memorial Day 2013

May 28, 2013ianesenior 3 Comments

Everyone has their own way of relaxing. Some people like to sleep in late, some like to sit by a pool or spend time at the beach. What do we do as a family? Well, we run 🙂

In addition to being Memorial Weekend and the official start of the summer season this weekend my Wife and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We kicked off our celebrations with a nice dinner at P.F. Chang’s which meant we had chalked up an extra couple of miles mid-week to save our calories for our anniversary dinner. Luckily for us that we did as we were given a free dessert by our waitress for our anniversary and just a few minutes later another free dessert. I like that place for some reason. I could taste the miles with every bite. Ha!

Celebrating at P.F. Chang’s

With our kids staying overnight at my in-laws we started the weekend with a 10K run in Tyler State Park to celebrate our 10 years. The weather looked a bit iffy overnight but we lucked out and started running as the clouds cleared and got some magnificant sunshine. It was nice to run with Shari in the park as we both train there but we have never run together there as someone is always at home with the boys.

10K celebrating 10 years:

10th Anniversary 10K

10K run – great start to our day

After the run we headed over to the Newtown Athletic Club where I had a massage booked (a birthday gift from Shari that I finally got around to using). When asked by the masseuse what type of treatment I wanted I told her that I was a marathon runner and she should use her judgement but I wanted to be able to run tomorrow. I think she went easy on me but it still hurt…but it was a good hurt I think. It was nice and relaxing and I felt refreshed once it was over.

After lunch together we picked up the boys and got together with some friends so all our kids could play together for the evening. While we were at our friends house my friend Mike suggested I look into reading the book ‘Advanced Marathoning‘ by Pete Pfitzinger if I wanted to look into increasing my speed which I had been discussing recently. I look to Mike for advice as he is a long time runner and still a great competitor and he is patient enough to listen to all my questions. We’ll see how this works out.

On Sunday we let the kids sleep in and took our time to get going. We headed to Yardley to run the Delaware Canal with the boys in the stroller for a family run.

Ready for a run

We bought this stroller last year to take the boys out together with us when we run. It’s a great piece of equipment for us. My boys however are growing quick and are testing the weight limits of the stroller and pushing this gives me a pretty good workout (I can still feel my triceps two days later). Luckily the Delaware Canal Tow Path is nice and flat and we managed 8 miles together. The boys were awesome and Shari and I pointed out the wildlife as we ran. Funny thing happened within the first few minutes in that my GymBoss timer (I use for the Galloway method) flaked out on me. Rather than stop and fiddle around with everything on the run I just went with it and ran without my usual intervals. Did pretty well running the first couple of miles pushing over 100 pounds of boys without needing to stop. Something else to work on I guess as I take this time to work things out before the marathon training starts in July.

Family stroller run:

Family stroller run

When we do the Canal run we park at Cramer’s Bakery in Yardley so we have a place to grab a cup of coffee when we finish. With the boys we promise them a treat from the bakery if they are good during the run. It’s amazing how good boys can be when you promise them a cupcake or a brownie. Anyway, we finish up the run and park the stroller at the bike rack next the bakery, choose our treats and sit outside the front of the store to eat and drink before heading home. As you can see by the photo below Asher must have worked hard during the run as in addition to his brownie he needed to take Shari’s bagel…he needed the carbs I guess?!?

Parked outside the bakery post run

Enjoying post run treats

So how far did you run kid?

So, how do you follow two days of family runs? You get up at the crack of dawn on a holiday and head out for a bike ride. I got up at 5am on Monday morning, hitched my bike to my car and headed out for my first outdoor ride of the season.

The bike rack is back on the car. It will be there for the summer now.

I headed out early to the canal path where we ran yesterday. It was a little cooler than I had planned but other than really cold fingers I was pretty much appropriately dressed. I wore my new Team Great Britain cycling jersey for this ride. The ride itself was fine. 20 miles from Yardley to New Hope and back. It felt good. I have a 25 mile ride in a few weeks on a very hilly course and while this was flat it was still a good test for going long. I’ll deal with the hills when I get there. Below is the ride summary.

Yardley to New Hope ride:

Ride route from Yardley to New Hope and back

I finished my ride and got back home around 8.15am so Shari could go out for a run. The boys were still asleep when I got home so I had a nice cup of coffee and a bagel with peanut butter and honey. Now that was a treat.

Wearing my new Team GB jersey

Micah – who wore it best?

Once Shari got back we got the kids, our picnic lunch and headed out to the Philadelphia Zoo for the afternoon before heading back for a family barbeque.

It seems like we did a lot with all this running and biking but to me it was a great relaxing weekend and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 🙂

Hope you all had a good holiday weekend too.

Also, as a quick reminder, now that Memorial Weekend is behind us here’s an activity for next weekend (and through July 31st). Great fun for a great cause with great prizes. Check out the great medal too. Everyone who enters receives this specially designed medal!

“Where’s Dopey” Medal

As it is a virtual run you can run/walk this 5K anywhere in the world before July 31st. You can head over here to sign up. Don’t forget to send your photographs in to be eligible for one of the prizes.

Running for a cause other than yourself

April 30, 2013ianesenior 3 Comments

On Sunday my wife and I ran a local 5K race to help raise funds for my friend Mike as he trains to race for Team USA at this summers Maccabi games. Anyone who knows me knows that if I have a plan I stick to it somewhat religiously. If someone in our family talks about weekend plans in the future I pretty much look up my calendar and see what run I have planned. I guess that’s my nature. My wife would tell me to loosen up a little. I guess it’s my profession to be measured and disciplined but sometimes you do have to have a little fun. Of course when I am at Walt Disney World it’s all fun.

Anyway, with a week before I run the New Jersey Marathon I am hitting the last part of the taper and resting up for my best efforts on May 5th and I was being extremely careful in my preparation as this is my ‘race’ for the year where I am going for a goal, but this was for a friend and I wanted to make sure I was there to support. I wasn’t going to run hard during the race but take it nice and slow to keep loose and have fun.

The weather was perfect. Clear sky, light breeze and cool temps in the 50s. I dropped my eldest off at his Sunday morning class and took the double stroller to run with Asher (and his Best Pal).

Taking it nice and slow with my race crew

Shari and I both wore our new ‘Boston Strong’ shirts and we were glad to see that many of the people there were also wearing Boston gear. Runners are their own support group.

I started at the back as I was the only one running with a passenger, mind you I was lucky I noticed just before the start that I was on the wrong side of the start line which would have put me at the front…oops. Shari went off with the main pack and ran a new 5K PR (just over 24 minutes). As the say in Boston she is becoming a ‘wicked fast runnah’. She makes it look good.

My little red haired ‘wicked fast runnah’

I took it nice and slow chatting with Asher all the way and asking him to tell me the directions of each of the arrows on the course. He was a good navigator and I made it back to the finish line running 10 minute splits. Asher was more excited to see his Mommy at the finish line although he had fun peeking through the window in the hood of the stroller to make sure I was still there during the race. Mickey, I am pleased to say, behaved beautifully.

Asher with Mommy and his Best Pal

We made it to the finish line. Asher already re-carbing for his next event.

After the race was over and we had said goodbye to everyone we headed over to Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee (me) and a treat (Asher) as promised. It seems I do run on (or at least for) Dunkin’.

Asher ‘earned’ his treat after all his hard work during the 5K

Once I have completed the New Jersey Marathon next week I will be getting ready to hold a virtual 5K to raise funds for Autism Speaks and hopefully get closer to achieving my fundraising target for the 2014 Dopey Challenge. (Watch this space, the medal looks awesome).

Raising funds for charity sometimes feels harder than the actual training itself. In addition you feel a little extra pressure to make sure you achieve the goals you set out for yourself so you don’t let everyone down. It’s tough and hopefully your family, friends and colleagues understand why you repeatedly ask for sponsorship.

When I decided to run the Goofy Challenge last year I actually signed up for the race before I signed up for a charity. I had made the choice to run the Goofy well before I signed up for the event. It was after I had registered that I began to think that running such a high profile event made me feel a little like I was showing off and I thought that it would be more of an achievement if I ran for a cause other than my own ego. Around the same time that I registered my niece was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. This led me to join up with Autism Speaks and run with them them at Disney. I had run enough miles for myself it was time to run for someone else. I had the shirt below made for the occasion, although it will need to be updated this year as I go from Goofy to Dopey 🙂

My 2013 Goofy shirt courtesy of ‘One More Mile’

The back of my shirt for ‘Team Sadie’

If you would like to follow my progress please sign up to follow this blog. If you would like to contribute to the cause you can do so using this link.

My goal is stay healthy through running and go onto raise funds for other events in the future. My hope is that in 2015 (a long way off I know) that I get to run the Boston Marathon for Autism Speaks if they have places for the event. I’m not a ‘wicked fast runnah’ and this may be my only way to that great event. I know that if I get there to run for others that will be my personal BQ.

Thanks for reading.

(If you want to follow and support my friend Mike you can do so at this link)

It takes two…

February 18, 2013ianesenior 1 Comment

Okay, so I am a bit late posting this for Valentine’s Day but still worth a thought or two. Here is an article that appeared on the Huffington Post site last week. You might recognize a couple of people (hint….Picture ’26’).

Although the article is very general it does highlight a good point. Since Shari and I started running we have to juggle our training with our commitments to work and to our family. Many times when I was training for my first marathon would I get up at 3 a.m., strap on a headlamp and do 18-20 mile training runs so that I could get back in time before Shari had to head out for work. Even now I do the ‘early’ shift at the weekends, getting up at 5 a.m. or earlier so I can get my work out in be back to look after the boys or take them to an activity so Shari can work out and we don’t lose our day or time with the boys. In fact last year we splurged on a quality running stroller so we could take the boys with us on our training runs so neither of us had to miss out. We put at least 50 miles on the stroller together (although I was the one pushing it and getting the extra workout).

Ocean City, NJ 2012

But there are those rare occasions when we do get to run together. Seldom do we train together (as we are always on different training plans) but we have and do try to find races where we can run together. Yes, there is the odd race where we want to PR and we decide ahead of time to run our own races, but we try to find races where can run side by side for the entire length.

As well as being good fun (we are known to ham it up for photographers just a bit) it does offer that rare time when we get to spend time together not watching TV or a movie and away from social networking and we are really doing something together as a couple. Okay, so we are lucky that we both like to run and I’m sure that it would be different if only one of us was interested but it sure is great to share in the experience with someone who shares your life. They just get it.

Last year Shari and I ran the LiveStrong 10K and the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon together to see if we could do it based upon our different running pace and we did it. I sometimes push the pace but Shari can hang with me so that is good. It also allows me to take some races easier as a PR is not the be all and end all for me. We also ran the Hershey Half Marathon together and of course the Walt Disney World Marathon together. I guess we help push (or drag) each other along. I was a little under the weather at Hershey and Shari got me to the finish (she killed me on the hills that day) and she admitted it was good to have me run with her during her first marathon (although there were a couple of times when she put both earphones in and ran on the opposite side of the street!!!)

Hershey Half Marathon 2012

Bottom line…the best thing about running is that I have a partner who can stick with me, share the highs and lows and put up with my incessant chattering with fellow runners. At the end of the day we stay healthy together and spend what really is quality time together. Hopefully in the process we are setting a good example for our boys.

Thanksgiving 2012

philly2goofy

…and all the miles in between

Menu

Widgets

Search

Stroller

June 2014 – Month in review

Marathon Training – Week 3

A nice weekend and a change of scenery

Family time and relaxation – Memorial Day 2013

Running for a cause other than yourself

It takes two…

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: