Incredibly sad and shocked...

I simply have no words to describe this feeling. I just learned that a running friend passed suddently the other day. Mark Barry was 57 yrs old and a truly inspiring runner. I first met Mark through Athlinks. The website matched us up because we had done so many of the same races (it actually matched us as rivals....even though he runs a 6/7 m mile to my 11-12!). Right from the start, I could tell Mark was a great guy who loved life and loved running! We began crossing paths at many Rochester area races and would discuss where we were at with training and what was up next. He competed in everything from 5k's to marathons and found success across the board.

Mark was always offering supportive and encouraging words and would commend all who simply got out there and ran, no matter how fast. I enjoyed this about him. He was never condescending just because I was a slower runner, he just offered encouragement and congrats on any running accomplishment.

As I train for the 2010 NYC Marathon, an event Mark ran in 2008, I will think of him and all the joy and dedication he ran with over the years. Mark, my NYC marathon is dedicated to you friend. I know you will be there in spirit.

Marathon Training...Week 3!

Today began week 3 of training! Whoo Hoo! I can't believe it's here....it seems like just yesterday that I checked my status and found out I was accepted!

Things are good so far, I am mixing my running with lots of cross training and athletic conditioning classes. Cycling and Body Attack are my new best friends! I want to train as smart as possible this time around! My feet are still bugging me, but I'm working through it and treating them well when they aren't running me around! Lots of heel pain, but I keep stretching and working it in the hopes that one morning I won't wake up feeling like I'm walking on stumps!

Mileage this past week: 17 mi
Long run: 6 mi

This week brings two 3 mile runs, one 5 mile run, a 5K on saturday, and an 8 mile long run on sunday. Sweet!!

Happy Running!

Boilermaker 2010 is in the books!

What a fantastic weekend for running! Boilermaker 2010 was a great time with great friends! This year boasted a record number of registrations (13,086), finishers (11,600), and multiple broken course records (men & women)! My 4th Boilermaker was certainly not a PR, but was still a rockin time! The run was yesterday morning and it was a nice, comfortable 60 degree morning, no real humidity at the start....which was a nice change from the 95+ with heavy humidity from the previous week! Unfortunately it didn't stay that way!

We headed to Utica on saturday, hit up the expo for our race stuff, and then checked into our hotel. The weekend began as a comedy of errors as we took every wrong turn and scenic route we could find....not purposely of course! After checking in, we picked a place to get pasta and headed out to dinner. After a very eventful dinner (Utica residents are VERY interesting....) we headed back to the hotel to get in some pool time then off to bed!

After turning the wrong way down 2 one-way streets, and really upsetting a cop, we arrived at the pre race shuttle and headed to the start line very early (6:15 a.m.) and had about an hour and 45 min before the start. It was nice and relaxing to be there early and have easy access to the bathrooms and the starting area. It was great to watch the people just pouring in throughout the morning (nearly 12,000).

The wheelchair gun went off at 7:45 and our gun went off at 8am. It only took 4:30 min to cross the start this year....last year it took us 10:00 min to cross. I felt ok starting, was moving well until about 2-3 miles. The humidity just crept right in and I felt myself begin to overheat. It was way too soon for me to start having issues! Fortunately, there are 25....yes, you heard it, 25 water/ice stations along the course and with the help of cold water on the back of my neck and ice in my hands, I was able to bring my temp right back down and keep moving. I ended up walking a bit in the section through the golf course because it's a very long, winding uphill and I just didn't have it in my yesterday. I had a minor issue halfway up the hill around 4 miles because I took my GU shot at a water stop and nearly hurled it right back up! They totally would have taken me off the course! :) Ooops! I also started getting chills around 7-8 miles, but I knew I was close, so I pushed it through to the finish.

I went through the finish line and there was an older gentleman in a suite standing there who shook my hand and said congratulations, great run. I figured he was a race official....later on, I found out it was Senator Chuck Schumer. Ha, I thought he looked familiar, but I was a bit delirious when I crossed!

After making my way through the finish area and over to the post race party, I grabbed my lunch courtesy of Price Chopper, and went to find my friends. I love my friends, they had beers in hand and ready for me! Nothing like partying with 40,000 of my closest friends after running 9.3 miles! I will say that the sun was high yesterday and after running for 2 hours and then drinking beer, we were starting to feel a bit ill! So, we left the party around 11:30 and headed back to the hotel to jump in the pool. Just what we needed after a long run! Awesome!

All in all, it was a great weekend with friends and runners and I can't wait for next year! Already checking on hotel reservations! :)

Next up....Marathon training! That will be the rest of my summer!

Keeping Up!

OK, I keep putting this blog on the backseat because of all the craziness right now. Unfortunately, my running has been on the backseat as well....not so great!

NYC Marathon training officially began this week, 17 weeks to go! I can't believe it! Yikes!

Boilermaker is this weekend, this will be a SLOW training run. No PR's this weekend! I'm not nearly in the shape I need to be in for this run, but oh well, here goes nothin!

School is over and our house if officially on the market (yes, we are moving....not sure where as of yet), I can refocus on getting myself back together. Get back to the gym, get back on top of my work, and figure stuff out. Running is certainly going to help me find some clarity in life!

Now, if only we could get out of the 90's.....I'd like to run without getting heat stroke!