Race Report - Fairfield Half Marathon, June 24

I always say I love the Fairfield Half Marathon but I’m not entirely certain that is accurate. The race is in Fairfield CT where my mom grew up and it’s just a couple of towns away from Shelton where we lived most of my life and I still call ‘home’.  It’s always a really nice weekend to relax at my parents place and have their support during the race.  On Saturday, I was treated to an amazing pasta dinner on Saturday night by my Cousin David who just recently graduated from culinary school.  The meal was fantastic and we had some time to relax outside at my Aunt Addie’s house and enjoy a beautiful evening.   

Sunday morning I got up early and after a quick breakfast the family piled into the car including Dad, Mom, Me and my dog Brittany.  This is one of the only races she comes to since she is rather “excitable” in crowds and my parents don’t mind keeping an eye on her while I’m running.  The race started at 8:30 but the sun was already strong so I lathered on the sunblock, waited patiently in the port-o-potty line and got ready for a 13.1.  The course is beautiful with pretty views and lots of gorgeous homes to look at but it’s also quite hilly and  includes many roads with names like Sasco Hill Rd, Mill Hill Rd and the meanest of them all Rose Hill Rd.  It’s also historically very warm it being the last weekend in June so I had to adjust my expectations based on those challenges.

After the Run to Remember in May I felt confident that I would have opportunities to run more hills and work on speed so I could be well prepared for this race and possibly earn a course PR which is currently 1:49:56 from 2009, the year I ran all my best times.  Unfortunately, due to a busy schedule and a pesky cough, I did not get in all the training I had planned for.  I decided to replicate my race plan from Run to Remember and try to stay around an 8:30 pace.  It didn’t take long for the hills and the heat to slow me down and I spent the majority of the race ‘chasing the pace’.  I would slow down on the hills and then find my way back to 8:35 on the way down but I grew very tired the second half of the race and just focused on staying strong and keeping cool.  The last few miles I struggled a lot with the heat but finally found the gas pedal for the last mile and finished strong.  I caught a glimpse of my Dad cheering for me as I raced down the finish shoot and was relieved to see him as I stumbled around the finishing area.  I got my medal and found some water, I drank a little bit and then poured 4 or 5 cups over my head to cool down.  We found my Mom who was keeping Brittany company in the shade and I sat down to catch my breath and recover. 

Lululemon Girls
being awesome

Challenges aside, there are several things that I do really enjoy about this race.  1) The town of Fairfield is incredible and the crowd support rivals most local races that I’ve done.  There are families cheering, handing out water and oranges and most importantly using their sprinklers and hoses to help keep the runners cool.  I could not have completed the race without them.  So, THANK YOU to the town of Fairfield for being awesome while we tied up your traffic and closed your roads.  2) There are several really great bands along the course that I really enjoy listening too, I love a change of pace in music during a run and will happily pause Pitbull to hear a local band rockin out to Mustang Sally.  3) Just like you can count on the heat and hills you can also count on the staff from Lululemon in Westport and Greenwich to be cheering their little butts off blaring music and holding adorable inspirational signs.  I feel especially connected to this cheering section since I’m usually racing in lulu.  They were handing out oranges too which was exactly what I needed.  You see them twice on the course and the second time is right before the aforementioned Rose Hill Drive so the girls gave me an extra push for an especially tough part of the course. 

So each time I say ‘I LOVE that race’ when referring to Fairfield, I must not be referring to the roads, the miles, the start or the finish.  It’s the whole weekend spent with family and friends, the comfort of my parents home, the home cooked meals pre and post race, the support from each person who stood on the course to entertain, cool us down, cheer, hand out water.  What I really LOVE about the Fairfield half, is all the love.  So see you next year, even you Rose Hill Rd.  

Britt and I after the Fairfield Half

If nothing else, this race is a great training course for NYC which will be right around the corner as soon as the summer flies by.  I am almost halfway to my goal of $3500!  Thank you to everyone who has already contributed!  Please consider making a donation to my ALF fundraising campaign.  Visit my fundraising page to learn how: http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/LauraNYC

Deep Breaths

If you read my last blog post you know that I started to feel a little under the weather a couple of weeks ago after running 10 miles in the pouring rain.   I developed a rather uncomfortable cough that almost two weeks later I still can’t seem to shake.  It has cost me many nights sleep, several planned runs and made me feel crappy when I should have been enjoying myself at a friend’s wedding last Saturday.

The cough was gross.  It’s deep, rarely productive and sounds like I am dying from emphysema.   Thankfully, it seems to be much more manageable this week and I am once again sleeping through most of the night without too much hacking.  It could be a cold, it could be allergies, it’s probably a hot little combo of both.  Regardless, I was forced to take a deep breath and remind myself that it is early on in marathon training and I have plenty of time to get better and get back to where I left off.  And I did just that, I literally took a deep breath – mostly to see how my lungs felt, and they felt just fine.  Regardless of how crappy I feel, I’m pretty healthy. 

In 2010 Ashley spoke on behalf of New England Organ Bank
encouraging others to register as organ donors

I mention this because, Ashley Drew, one of our volunteers at New England Organ Bank, has been suffering from Cystic Fibrosis most of her life.  She coughed all day long, couldn't walk across the room without feeling fatigued, missed weeks of school due to hospitalization and could barely breathe.  Try breathing through a straw for 30 seconds or so and you’ll start to feel lightheaded, that’s how she felt all the time.  Ashley was listed for a double lung transplant in December of 2010 and waited 540 days until last Thursday she finally got the call she and her family had been praying for.  A donor had been identified and she would receive her transplant.  Ashley’s surgery went well and while recovery is challenging she is on her way to her own deep breaths. 

When I got this news on Friday afternoon I was so happy for Ashley.  She and her family are incredibly grateful for this lifesaving gift and grateful to the donor and donor family.  They are well aware of how blessed Ashley is to receive her transplant.  There are over 114,000 individuals that are waiting for a life saving organ transplant.  Sadly, an average of 18 people die every day because their phone call didn't come in time.  If you are not already registered to be an organ and tissue donor please consider doing so by visiting www.donatelife.net.  If you have reservations or questions about becoming a registered donor please comment below and I will provide all the answers I can. 

Against my better judgment (and to my mother’s dismay) I ignored my cough last weekend to do a long run on the Newton Hills.  I thought a lot about Ashley and how hard she fought to stay healthy so she would be ready when her new lungs finally arrived.  Strangely, I barely coughed on that run and truly appreciated every breath.  Ashley, this one's for you - Gym Class Heroes: The Fighter

To learn more about Ashley’s journey please visit her blog site Air for Ashley.

Be sure to support my NYC Marathon campaign with a donation to the American Liver Foundation here: http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/LauraNYC

Race Training Check In – 5 months (21 Weeks) out

First of all, if you haven't seen it yet, Eric 'Squatchy' Bristol of Team Chasing Tail created this amazing video of our Reach the Beach MA experience.  Enjoy it!  Team Chasing Tail at RTB video

Now, onto the new post: 
If there is one thing I have learned over 11 marathons, it’s that the race itself is challenging but the real work comes in the months before in order to prepare.  I created a monthly training calendar with a tentative schedule for long runs so I can clearly plan out what distances I will do each weekend.  This is especially important when training through the summer since the weekends become very busy with other obligations.  I find that organizing my training plan ahead of time keeps me in check and allows me to get in all the long runs I need before the race.

This is kind of what I looked like
after Saturdays run.

Since I didn’t do a spring marathon I kept a nice base throughout the winter where I was comfortable with 8-10 miles so moving into the training season was pretty easy.  I’ve been able to increase mileage enough to do some 14s and maybe a 16 in the new month.  I’m in a great spot so the goal right now is to gradually increase mileage and not get hurt.  I’m battling an uncomfortable chest cold right now that I think we can blame on two days of running in the rain.  This past weekend’s run was a great example of dealing with the elements regardless of how unfavorable they are.  Fellow runner/ blogger Jordan Vance is always teasing me when I complain about running in the rain.  I used to avoid it as much as possible but you never know what the weather will be like on race day so when I woke up early on Saturday morning I decided to get my 10 mile run in right away before I talked myself out of it.  It wasn’t all bad but around mile 6 I believe I literally laughed out loud when the rain was pouring on me.  No one else was out running yet (I got out at 6am) and the few drivers on the road must have thought I was insane but I felt tough.  Unfortunately now I just feel sick.  I’m hoping that lots of rest and hydration should take care of it. 

The plan for June is to increase mileage a small amount, try to run some more hills and maybe implement a bit of speed work.  It’s very convenient for me to train on the river each weekend but it’s rather flat and the NYC course is not.  With this in mind, I finally got back to Somerville Road Runners Thursday night run out of Casey’s in Somerville last week.  They are such a great group and I love spending time with them.  The Casey’s course is pretty challenging and a great way to get some hills in during the week.  It’s also a lot of fun to run with the group and enjoy some pizza and beers after.  If you haven’t been before I highly recommend it. 

June will be a very busy month for me.  I have an event of some kind going on every weekend including a wedding, volunteering at the Patriot Triathlon and racing the Fairfield Half Marathon, not to mention mentally preparing for my birthday (look out for that post next month).  The schedule will call for some flexibility but it’s important that I get the miles in because in July I will jump up to 16 and 18 mile long runs that I will hopefully be prepared for. 

There is also another very important component for training for NYC and that is my commitment to the American Liver Foundation.  My fundraising is going well and many of my friends and family have been incredibly generous.  The funds I raise will go toward ALF’s mission of providing education, research, advocacy and support for the 30 million Americans affected by liver disease.  Please consider supporting my campaign and help me surpass my goal of $3500 by race day!  You can make a tax deductible donation by visiting my Online Fundraising Page.  Thank you everyone who has already contributed. 

I would love to hear how others manage a training schedule through the busy summer months.  Leave a comment to share your advice or your struggles with fall marathon training.  Thanks for reading!