This past Sunday I ran my third 5K in one week's time. I feel like I reached some sort of milestone... even though I collectively run the distance of all three races quite often. At least I did about a month or so ago.

> My first goal was to beat my old pace (7:14) at least once.

Goal achieved in last week's Heartbreak Hill 5K (7:04 pace).

> My second goal was to support a cause that's dear to me. I lost a loved one to ALS.

Goal achieved in the Sharon Timlin 5K to Cure ALS. Secondarily, I finished this race faster (7:08 pace) than my old PR, though not my new PR. That's ok! I still consider this as another point toward goal #1.

> My third and final goal was to just enjoy my running again.

Goal accomplished by 5K #3. The Brookline Flag Day 5K was a no pressure, fun, family time event. Small field, but I instantly picked out the fast folks. Sure enough, the chick I thought would be fastest kicked my rear, though I would have given her a run for her money had I PRed. I ran this one slower (7:25 pace) than the other two races, but I'm so happy with that time. My legs were jello from Saturday's race and it was steamy hot on Sunday morning at 10:30. Didn't matter. It was so much fun. Watching the kids' race prior to mine was almost as fun as running down Harvard St. in my home town.

I loved my mini goal to run three 5Ks in a week. It was a great time, extremely fulfilling and just what I needed to start a steamy running season. It really did make me want to run more again.

Now to attempt to get up my mileage without blowing my hip apart. Good times!

Today I ran my second 5K in less than a week. The only problem is that my D-tag didn't seem to work. I'm not in the results, which is frustrating. I just complained to Bay State Timing. The good news is that I know I finished just slightly slower than I did in last week's race (around 22:05-22:10), and today's weather was not as kind. HOT.

I have one more 5K to go tomorrow before a break until August. I'll be at the Brookline Flag Day 5K. Here's hoping for a sub 7:00 pace.

I should add that I wasn't trying to plan three 5Ks in one week. It just happened that way. I heard about the Heartbreak Hill 5K first. I love that stretch of road, so I had to run that last week. Then I heard about today's race, which I had to run because I lost a loved one to ALS, and it's one of the few charities I would run for. And finally I heard about Brookline Flag Day festivities. Brookline is my hometown, so of course I registered.

After a season of half marathons and a full marathon, all of these 5Ks are just fun.

Good luck to everyone else racing tomorrow!

I just took 30 seconds off my best 5K time. That feels good. I'm also not one to brag about place, since my place is only as good as the other runners who show up to race, but this is still fun to see:

I've been going through an internal battle over my running lately. I've had some major disappointments in the past few months as well as some major accomplishments, but the disappointments really have me down.

As a runner, you have to know the road never really ends. A bad race is a bad race. You move on to the next one. I've never had a problem doing that, until this season.

Warning, I'm going to complain for a minute here:

First I failed to improve my marathon time, after 6 months of some of the best training of my life and suffering through almost constant hip injury. My hips are fine when I run, but then I spend the rest of my days limping around, everywhere. I know I should see a doctor, but I haven't, and he's just going to tell me to stop running. Still, it sucks to go through all of this training, lose downtime that I could be spending with my husband, limp around everywhere I go, and not even see a one second improvement in my marathon.

Then, I totally bonked my last half marathon. Granted, I use half marathons more as training than racing events, but I love halfs. I feel good running halfs. I stunk up the course on this last one... And I say that knowing that people will say something like, "What are you complaining about!? I'd be happy to break 2 hours in a half!" If you're one of those people, I appreciate your thoughts, but I'm not trying to compare my time to yours. You would be upset too if you lost 15+ minutes off of your best time.

I haven't had the motivation to run at all lately because I've been so disappointed. And yes, I'm still limping around.

Today I may have had a ray of hope. I ran a strong 5K, maybe my best ever, and several people complimented me on a great race when it was over. I think I helped pace them. I have two more 5Ks next weekend, then a break from racing for a while.

Today's 5K reminded me that I do love to run. Maybe I've just been putting too much pressure on myself. In the past few months, I've also left a job and started a new one, which I love and want to do well at. I'm sure that's part of the problem with my running. Running is no longer my saving grace from work, like it was a few months ago. Now I like going to work. I don't NEED to run to forget about the rest of my day.

I have to feel that I WANT to run and I LOVE to run. And I do feel that, just not all of the time lately. To help me make sure I feel that way, I'm going to stop trying to BQ for a while. I'm going to sign up for a half and a full in the fall, but I just want to enjoy them, even if that means jogging. I missed the feeling I had in my first full, when all I wanted to do was finish. I did finish. And I didn't want to stop running. I felt so amazing...

I need to get that amazing feeling back.

Last week I ran my first real PW - personal worst race ever. It wasn't a "worst" by a few seconds or even a few minutes. I ran a half marathon a full 16+ minutes slower than my best half marathon just two months ago. Of course, I'm not buying the photos from my PW event, but I had to laugh at my finish line pictures.

Check out the finish line photo at my best event - 13.1 NYC on April 3 (1:40:12) - and the finish line photo at my worst event - Johnny Kelley Half Marathon in Hyannis on May 30 (1:57:48).

Can you guess which is which? :)

Which should come first...

Ok, here's the good news: I'm officially an RRCA certified running coach! Woohoo! I spent Saturday in CPR and First Aid certification, aced both tests and walked out of there with the last pieces of preparation I needed to become a coach. I promptly sent copies of my cards to my coaching mentor Janet Hamilton and received this note back:

"I’m pleased to say 'congratulations coach'. You have successfully completed the certification requirements and are now an RRCA certified coach."

I am so excited to call myself a coach. Any day now I'll be listed on the RRCA website. YAY! Now to create my first training plan. :)

On to the bad news: I PWed in the half marathon! I ran my worst half marathon ever yesterday at the Johnny Kelley Half Marathon in Hyannis. A race that was my PR in February is my flop in May. I'm quickly discovering that I seem to stink at running in temperatures over 70 degrees. I didn't learn this too well last year because I avoided all races between April and October thanks to my wedding and honeymoon. Prior to that I never raced longer than a 5 miler in the summer, so I just didn't know. Now I know. I need to step up the heat training to do well in these warm weather races.

I'm not dwelling on yesterday's race... Just hoping it all pays off for that October marathon. Until then, I'll only be racing 5Ks and 10Ks and everything in between. I don't think I even want to run faster than a 9:00 pace for 10+ miles in the heat. Uggh.

Happy and safe running!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend. I just wanted to wish all of our troops and veterans well. Thank you for all that you do and have done for our country. I look forward to running for you guys again in Run to Home Base 2011!

I've never been a charity runner. As a runner since I was 12, it's hard for me to even imagine using charity as an excuse to run or an excuse to get into an exclusive race. For instance, I will never use charity as a reason to run the Boston Marathon. I'll only be getting in there if I earn it.

Then, one day a few months ago, I received an email from the Boston Red Sox. This local team of mine was asking for runners to sign up for the Run to Home Base 9K. This race would begin on Yawkey Way and end on home plate in Fenway Park. OMG OMG OMG... That's all I could really think. OMG OMG OMG...

Then I saw the price tag: $1,000.

$1,000 to run a race? No, not really. It was $1,000 to run a race for charity.

My immediate reaction was that this goes against all of my rules. Then I looked at what the charity really is.

There are three causes I support regularly for various reasons in my own life.
1. ALS research - This horrible disease has taken someone dear to me. I'll do whatever I can to help this cause.
2. Our troops - These people risk their lives every day so I don't have to worry about mine. My grandfather stole away to WWII at the age of 16 and I still hear the stories today. I have a deep respect for military men and women.
3. Animal welfare - Some people are people people, some are animal people. I don't own pets anymore, but I can't stand to see an animal hurting for any reason. I consider myself a bit of an animal person.

That said, when I saw that the Run to Home Base supported our troops by raising money for brain injury and traumatic stress disorder treatment... I was in. I didn't sign up right away. I still don't like the idea of raising money to run a race. Just seems weird to me. But for such a great cause I couldn't resist. A few weeks later, I signed up.

Not long after, I was recruited to join the Remy Team's race crew. This was a lot of fun and provided me with extra fundraising support, which I was grateful for. Not many of my friends have a money to give to a fundraiser. Not many of my friends understand my need to run either, but that's another story.

The one problem with the Remy Team was all the talk about starting and finishing the race together. This is when it becomes charity running again. I love to RUN. Not dilly dally and fool around for some cute photos. The morning of the race, I skipped out on meeting my team so I could line up near the front of the race.

Race Start

We were asked to get to Fenway early. Then we basically sat there for an hour. It wasn't bad though... had the best seats of my life. :)

About half hour before the start, the announcer asked runners to head to the corrals on Yawkey Way. We had 30 minutes till the start, but I headed over anyway. And waited. And waited. They finally started the speakers, all 50 of them, around 8:00 and we started running about 25 minutes late. Many of the speakers were great and had stories to share... Others were sponsors I could have done without. One racer next to me asked me if I remembered how to run when they were all done speaking. It did feel like forever.

We finally lined up at the start. Me right near the front. And we were off!

The Run

First mile was way too fast - a result of starting in the front. I clocked a 6:52 first mile. It actually didn't feel all that bad, but I thought I'd run this race around 7:30 pace, my last 10K time. I tried to stay around 7:00 but it definitely caught up to me later. Let's just say I didn't have negative splits.

We ran out of the Fenway area, down Mass Ave., over the bridge to Memorial Drive, down Memorial to the right, then looped back to the left, then looped back again to Mass Ave, over the bridge and back to Fenway.

It was a VERY fast run. It went by fast and felt fast. Great flat course with lots of water stops! It was so well organized, especially for a first time race. I just loved it.

As I was running, I realized that not that many women had passed me. I thought there was a chance I was in the top of my age group, but I wasn't entirely sure. I'm also not even sure I like that stat at all. How well I place really only depends on who I'm running with, right? So if no one good runs, then what does that tell me about me? Nothing. It is fun to place near the top... especially when telling family who don't know the difference between a 7:30 and 8:30 pace. I'm Just not sure place matters much to me personally.

In any case, I kept chugging along and my quads started screaming. I am only 3 weeks out from my marathon, which had me limping for a week. So really only two weeks of more comfortable running before I went out and ran this all out. I didn't care much though... It was fun. :)

Race Finish

As we headed down the back way to Fenway near Jillian's, I started trying to pick it up. I didn't have a lot left in the tank, but I got the pace back up to 7:00-7:10 after dropping down to the 7:20s. One chick passed me, but she was nice and cheered me along. I appreciated that and didn't mind that I couldn't keep her from passing me. My legs were screaming. I wished her well and was happy to see her passing some dudes ahead of me. Go girl!

Then we turned onto Landsdowne, I knew I could go faster, but it hurt. Know what kicked me in gear? A spot of pink in the corner of my eye. Another girl was sneaking up on me. Oh nononononon. I may not care what place I'm in, but I'm not letting someone draft off me only to kick my butt in the last quarter of a mile. So I found 5th gear and took off.

We turned sharply into Fenway... me, pink and this guy who I leapfrogged back and forth throughout the race. We then turned sharply onto the warning track near the Green Monster.

OH MY GOD!!!! FENWAY! THE FIELD! ALL OF THESE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!

Fenway seemed packed to me, even though it wasn't at all. I can only imagine how it feels to be a player. I felt like a rockstar or something. So cool.

Now I'm on the warning track, having cut off a few folks (sorry!). Then I did whatever I could to get faster and faster and a little faster. I pulled away from my merry crew... Only to get passed by a Prefontaine wannabe in, where else, the last 10 feet!!

Oh well. It was FABULOUS to run that race.

Fenway and the Troops

I was sad to be done, but awed by Fenway. I slowly walked around and started seeing soldiers along the way. I shook every hand and thanked every one of them for all that they do.

Before the race, I wrote names of military men that I know all over my arms. When I had to dig down and get those quads moving, I just thought about my grandfather, the men who lost their lives in war and those who are in Iraq and Afghanistan now. It was an honor to wear their names and an honor to raise money to help them recover from the stress they have to bear now. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

As I approached home base, I saw Army Chief of Staff General George Casey. I got to shake his hand. It was so cool to meet him... Even if I did miss actually STEPPING on home base as a result of that handshake. Only me. My husband will never let me live that down.

I'll just have to do it again next year. :)

Final tally on fundraising - $1,070!

I loved the experience of this charity run. I loved helping that cause. I loved the race. And I'm happy to be able to share photos and videos of it all with troops in service now. If you want to support our military or just wish some great people well, check out the Facebook Group for B Company 412th Aviation Support Battalion (B Co 412 ASB). The real heroes!

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and give thanks to our troops!

You don't realize how much you miss your blog until it's taken away from you. FatCow took several weeks to get its act together and finally fix whatever problem was keeping my posts from showing up. I'm grateful for the fix, but not at all happy with how long it took.

Anyway, quick recap...

• Still recovering from Providence Marathon, sort of.
• Ran a nice fast 9K yesterday and raised $1,070 for the Run to home Base! Awesome finishing in Fenway Park. Just awesome. More to come on that later.
  
• Have my CPR certification this weekend to make my RRCA certification official.
• Getting ready for the Hyannis Half this Sunday! Hope my quads feel better by then.

I'm always finding races I want to run. So I'm starting a list..

Dipsea (CA) - Did anyone see the story about this race in the May Runner's World? I have to run this race, even more so because Dipsea is so hard to get into. I may fly to California just to mail in my registration the day it opens.

London Marathon (UK) - It finishes at Buckingham Palace! Plus I'd get to visit London.

Mount Washington Road Race (NH) - 7.6 miles up 6,288 feet. Last 50 yards is a 22% incline. I love a challenge though I'm sure I'd be cursing myself during the race. Only way in is lottery. No luck this year, but I'll keep trying.

Eugene Marathon (OR) - I was inspired by Steve Prefontaine long before I even cared that much about running. He made me want to run. Now I want to run the marathon that finishes on his track at Hayward Field. I almost chose to run this marathon on May 2, 2010, but opted to stay local and run Providence. Next year... who knows!

Hood to Coast (OR) - This relay race takes place in my mom's neck of the woods. I want to run it with her. Just have to get her to run more than 20 feet!

Athens Marathon (Greece) - How awesome to run the original marathon route and finish in the birthplace of the Olympics?

Safaricom Marathon (Kenya) - My husband will see this and think I'm nuts, but this list doesn't have to be entirely sane. This marathon takes runners through a game reserve in Kenya. I don't think I'd have a shot of winning any age group prizes, but to run amongst the Kenyans in their own country... awesome.(test)