New York City Marathon

I am not sure I have the ability to put into words how amazing an experience the New York City Marathon is. 26.2 miles of the biggest city in America. It was huge, it was loud, it was hard and it was a blast. Because I can't put it into words well, I will just share some pictures.

Staten Island


Brooklyn


Queens



Manhattan


The Bronx


Central Park


The Finish!

Summer is now over!

As of sometime after 5:00 today, the seasons changed, and now we are officially in Autumn of 2009. It is actually quite depressing for me, because I love summer, but now that I run, I secretly love autumn, because it is peak running season. We train all spring and summer, prepare for the long autumn run (this year it is the NY City Marathon), and once the weather starts to cool down again, the longest runs are in store for us! Of course, I have already been discouraged by a morning run, because it was in the 40s (which is silly since I ran in the teens all winter long). All in all the change in weather is why we live in New England. It keeps things interesting, makes all the leaves change color, makes us wear different cloths, even eat different food. As much as I love summer, I am sure it wouldn't be as fun if it was all the time! On another note, we lost our little car over the summer. I brought it in for the state inspection, and in order for it to pass, I would have had to make over $1200 worth of repairs. Unfortunately the car is not worth much more then $1000 any more, so we are trading it in for something else. It was our first new car, which we bought for only $9000, so it was hard to believe it was pretty dead, but I guess not that hard since it was a cheap car to begin with (2004Chevy Aveo). Tomorrow we will get the new vehicle, and we are going with every one's suggestion (which was get a Toyota or a Honda), and we got a Toyota. Very exciting! Happy Fall!!!

I think Summer Finally Started!

Probably one of the strangest summers I can remember. It just did not seem to get started. I can't remember a June when so much rain fell, and so little sun light was around outside. I will admit that it makes running easier when the hot summer sun is not really out there. It is a drag though when it comes to the beach. It is July 4th weekend, and it honestly doesn't really feel like it. We have plans for the beach, even thought the temperature is only supposed to top out in the high 70s. Advertisements are already talking about mid-summer, the sun is already setting a few minutes earlier each night. I am just glad summer finally feels a bit like summer, though I still think there is a good 10 to 15 degrees missing outside. Who knows what this means in the later months. Maybe August will be super hot, maybe Halloween will be in the 80s, and maybe Christmas we can have a cook out in the back yard. What ever happens, we will just go with the flow. The summer months means back to the track. This year our track workouts are structured really well. I have been enjoying them, and I honestly feel like I am getting better with my pace! We have been doing some racing, but all training is really focused on the fall. Sarah and I will be running the New York City Marathon, which is really exciting. I keep hearing all sorts of stories, the excitement, the crowds, the fire hydrent water. I honestly can't wait! Happy 4th of July, Happy Birthday America, let's all hope New England gets appropriate summer weather as a birthday gift!

Post Marathon

Life after a Marathon can be interesting. I am proud of the run, knocked 20 minutes of the last marathon time. It was also not as lonesome as I thought it would be because Sarah rode her bike next to me for the whole thing! But post marathon is a challenge for me. The legs are tired, and there really is no reason to work out at all after the marathon, for at least a few days. Then I eat some pretty outrageous meals, with the excuse that of course I can eat as much of whatever I want, I just ran a marathon. Of course after about week, the next set of training has started. Sarah, due to her injury, had starting cross training on the bike and swimming, and is now ready for a triathlon! I still haven't registered, but I have starting swimming, and we are getting the bikes ready, and running multiple days per week. The next big race though, is not the triathlon, it is the Big Man Race! A four mile run, with registration guidelines of 190 lb minimum, and you have to eat a hot dog and beer at each mile! I am looking forward to the challenge! Summer is almost here, which means the beach is around the corner, cook outs are a regular occurrence at 3 Oliver and the grass is looking good!

This time I have to go it alone

It has been a beautiful weekend, today, topping out in the high 80s, which I just love, as I believe I should have been born in the south. I am a week away from Marathon #2. I really have not thought too much about it, but today I bought the shoes I will be wearing for the race, and really seemed to kind of hit me. In a very unfortunate turn of events, my running partner is out of the race (Sarah is a bit injured). I trained all winter for this race, and really can't see any reason not to do it, but I am not looking forward to running the race by myself. 26.2 miles, probably close to 5 hours of running, and I won't have my trusted companion to bother with my rambling thoughts! I know she will still be there, cheering on the side lined, riding her bike, and who knows, maybe even running the last few miles. It is still hard to believe it is just next week, and hard to believe I am on my own!. Wish me luck!

March Madness

For obvious reasons March is a pretty exciting month each year of my life (the obvious reason being my birthday is in March). Not quite a milestone age this year, but it is as close you can get to 30! I was not sure how I would feel turning 29. Turning 28 was a little tough, but it still had enough distance from 30 that it wasn't a huge deal. 29 was not so. It did kind of mess with me a little. Makes you realize you can use the whole "I am young" excuse any more. Very rarely are there 29 year olds on MTV. Most hip young celebrities have calmed down (or disappeared) by 29. For many of the ages within the 20s, you know people who either are still in college (just taking a few extra years), grad school (which really there are people of all ages in grad school), and/or still "trying to figure things out". It is rare however for 29 year olds to be in this situation. All of that aside, I think it has been a pretty smooth transition. Thanks to the sweetness of my babe, I actually celebrated my birthday for an entire week, not just one day! Like every year, St. Patrick's Day precedes my birthday, which means it seems everyone is in the mood to celebrate. And to add to all of that, winter ends, spring begins, and life can get back to normal with cook outs in the back yard, sun light after work, beach on the weekends (I know that is still a few months away), and not having to wear ten layers of cloths to go outside and run! Happy March, Happy Spring, let all the snow melt away, and not return for at least 9 months!

I know winter will end soon...

...but it was yet another day of running in the cold! Over the last month or so we have endured running in single digit temperatures, with wind chills I won't even mention! We are running on ice, on snow, in the morning, after work, no matter what time it is usually in the dark! I even grew a beard for a little while, mostly because of a bet but I do think my body was subconsciously trying to keep the face warm. This last week was a bit of a tease. We were having a recovery week, not running as much and yet the weather was great. There were days were the high temperature made it almost to 60, and the lows never dipped below 40. Needless to say as the nice weather kept coming and the weekend drew closer, I started to get excited for a nice almost spring 10 mile run this morning. Unfortunately that did not happen, as it was in the low 20s this morning, and we ran along the East Bay Bike Path, which has got a lot of nice cold wind to add to the already cold temperature! It can't last forever though. With global warming, and the inevitable ticking along of time, winter must end. I already shaved the beard, and I am ready to see leaves again.

Bermuda Triangle Challange

This past weekend, Sarah and I embarked on one of the most challenging running events we have ever done so far. Even more challenging then the marathon! We set out to escape the bitter cold and snow of Rhode Island to the beautiful island of Bermuda. We have never been to Bermuda, and I must say it is a wonderful place to visit. In January it is between 66 and 70 degrees outside, both during the day and at night. It is perfect for running, and enjoying the outdoors again for a few days. The tropical vegetation, and amazing clear blue water makes you seem like you have escaped to a far off land, even though it was only a two hour flight from Boston.

The running however, was hard. There are way too many hills on the island, and we were running up and down the hills all weekend. The challenge consisted of three races. This is not something I have ever tried to do before. The first was a one mile "sprint". There was a heated competition between Sarah and I in this race, and we both did great with 7:18 and 7:35 miles respectively. We were both hoping for 8 minute miles, so we were pumped with these times.

The next day we set out for a pretty difficult 10K race, which is about a 6.2 mile run. We set a good pace, and had to deal with some intense rain and even more intense hills. We were proud of our time, but still had the longest race left to run.

Finally, on the third and final race, we had to find the energy and strength to run a half marathon, 13.1 miles. I had no idea that I would be so exhausted from the first two races. My body hurt, my legs were stiff, and after the horn blew, I did not think I could even make it 1 mile, never mind 13.1. After about 3 miles, the stiffness went away, but after about 2 more, the pain started. We did finish, but the pain reached that of which we had felt during the marathon around miles 17-19. What made this challenge so hard, was getting to the race, and being exhausted at the starting line! It was all worth it though. A beautiful place, a great challenge and a wonderful, relaxing vacation.