I want Boston so badly. I started running about 6 years ago and started running Marathon's 5 years ago. My first marathon was hardly more than a whim, a challenge. I'm an incredibly competitive person and a VP at my former job practically dared me to run a marathon so I did. I finished, I was hooked. I ate it all up, I wanted to know everything there was to know about running and of course being fiercely competitive I wanted to be a Boston Qualifier. My Husband's grandfather ran Boston sometime in the 1930's and finished 13th . When I tell his family I'm a marathon runner and they ask me why I haven't run Boston I always have to sheepishly reply that I haven't qualified yet.
It's not that I can't. I know I'm fast enough to run Boston, I just can't seem to keep it together. I have issues. I don't sweat like a normal person. TMI? Maybe, but it's true. Until about two years ago I didn't sweat at all. I never had. Now I sweat but not nearly enough to cool myself down so unfortunately I run, I get hot and I throw up. It's the only way my body can make me cool off. It's terrible. I live in Alexandria, VA about 5 miles from Washington, DC. An area built on a swamp. Heat and humidity are part of everyday life. In the summer I never start a long training run after 5am and am always home and showered in the by 7:30am any later and I lose it. Unfortunately races don't often start at 5am and I seem to have a knack for finding marathons in the midst of the heat. Two years ago I signed up for the National Marathon with the hope that if I trained through the winter and ran a race in March it'd be cool and I could make it. I almost did. At mile 22 I was good to go but then, I lost it. The sun was bright there was no shade and it was either throw up or slow down and let my body cool down. I chose the latter, only it didn't work and I had the unfortunate experience of losing it right before the finish line and the announcer laughing at me as we strolled in one at a time. Looking for redemption in another early spring race I ran the Virginia Beach Marathon this past year. I trained all winter through the record breaking snow storms often getting up and squeezing in my 20 miler before going to work on Friday knowing the storm was coming that day and I'd be stuck inside for awhile. Well Virginia Beach came and it turned out to be an 80 degree day with not a cloud in sight and no shade. Mile 9 came and I lost it all over the place. I'm sure the whole course thought I was the person who showed up to the race that day and had never trained a day in my life. Talk about humiliating. And so it has gone with each race. This past year I decided to change up my training schedule, hoping that more miles would make a difference. I trained longer and harder than I ever had before. The morning of MCM came and it was nice and cool out. I knew I had this one in the bag, that is right up until mile 20 when we were running the mall and sun was beating down on me. The 14th street bridge killed me and I lost it once again.
I hover somewhere around a 4 hour marathon (needing 3:40 to qualify roughly an 8:19 mile.) However on training runs in cool weather when my body isn't overheating I easily run a 16 mile training run at a 7:50 pace without even thinking about it. There is no reason for me to not qualify for Boston except that the weather is never on my side. There is nothing worse for someone as competitive as I am to cross the finish line knowing that it's not good enough for Boston. All I want is Boston. I've seen three doctors all of whom were completely unhelpful. The sports medicine doctor I talked to told me to deal with it or stop running. Unfortunately since I've only met one other person in my life who has a problem not sweating it's hard to find someone with a solution and so I do what any highly competitive person would do. I keep training always hopeful that someday the stars will align and my time will reflect what I already know. I can qualify for Boston and I will.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
daydreams
So sometimes I have really bright ideas and then sometimes, I just don't. I'm a weather stalker, it's true, always have been, always will be. One of my less bright ideas (<-- is that even a proper phrase - probably not but I'm going to use it) is that in addition to stalking my own weather, I stalk the weather for places I wish I lived. Currently the weather locations set on my iphone include Alexandria (where I actually reside), Paris, France (where I would visit every weekend), Barcelona, Spain (where I'll run in March) and then Rome & Messina Italy. The last two are there because in my daydreams I live there. I pick fresh tomatoes and drink full bodied red wines. I smell fresh baked bread and live off of homemade pasta. I walk through acres and acres of olive trees and have fresh cheese with each meal. The reality is I don't live in Italy but in my daydreams and hopefully someday I do.
I love to cook, as mentioned earlier, I'm Italian and I read once that the best food you can make is the food you grew up on. It's what you know. I know Italian food. As a bit of a self proclaimed food snob I know good food vs. bad food and I really know bad Italian food. Is there anything worse than biting into a soggy bowl of pasta noodles? The problem is to have good food you must have fresh ingredients and here in Alexandria our farmers market is drying up and fresh ingredients are not easy to come by. The other week Doug & I bought some tomatoes that had been grown under a tarp. Thankful for something still fresh from the ground we looked forward to making some BLT's for lunch that day. Well as is usual this time of year the tomatoes while fresh were not flavorful and we were reminded that it's time to settle in for our winter food. That or move to Italy where they are still growing tomatoes plentifully... oh daydreams.
So you ask, for those of us not fortunate enough to live in Italy, what do we do? Well, I do spend a lot of the summer freezing various pasta dishes full of fresh spring/summer vegetables to keep safe until some cold dreary winter day but that's a post for another time. My go to for this time of year is homemade marinara sauce. Doug loves my marinara sauce as do many other people in my life. It's light and tastes fresh and is full of flavor. I use good canned tomatoes which means I can make this year round. At some point soon I'm hoping to actually begin selling my marinara sauce but for now I just make it by the batch full, give some away, freeze some and eat some. We are fortunate enough to have a vendor at our farmers market who makes fresh homemade tortellini and ravioli each week and sells it at the market. His pastas can be frozen and pulled out all winter long. My fresh sauce over his awesome pasta makes a fresh flavorful meal fit to cheer you up even when it's 32 degrees in Alexandria and 75 in Messina. Now if only I could get my hands on some fresh ciabatta bread... daydreams.
I love to cook, as mentioned earlier, I'm Italian and I read once that the best food you can make is the food you grew up on. It's what you know. I know Italian food. As a bit of a self proclaimed food snob I know good food vs. bad food and I really know bad Italian food. Is there anything worse than biting into a soggy bowl of pasta noodles? The problem is to have good food you must have fresh ingredients and here in Alexandria our farmers market is drying up and fresh ingredients are not easy to come by. The other week Doug & I bought some tomatoes that had been grown under a tarp. Thankful for something still fresh from the ground we looked forward to making some BLT's for lunch that day. Well as is usual this time of year the tomatoes while fresh were not flavorful and we were reminded that it's time to settle in for our winter food. That or move to Italy where they are still growing tomatoes plentifully... oh daydreams.
So you ask, for those of us not fortunate enough to live in Italy, what do we do? Well, I do spend a lot of the summer freezing various pasta dishes full of fresh spring/summer vegetables to keep safe until some cold dreary winter day but that's a post for another time. My go to for this time of year is homemade marinara sauce. Doug loves my marinara sauce as do many other people in my life. It's light and tastes fresh and is full of flavor. I use good canned tomatoes which means I can make this year round. At some point soon I'm hoping to actually begin selling my marinara sauce but for now I just make it by the batch full, give some away, freeze some and eat some. We are fortunate enough to have a vendor at our farmers market who makes fresh homemade tortellini and ravioli each week and sells it at the market. His pastas can be frozen and pulled out all winter long. My fresh sauce over his awesome pasta makes a fresh flavorful meal fit to cheer you up even when it's 32 degrees in Alexandria and 75 in Messina. Now if only I could get my hands on some fresh ciabatta bread... daydreams.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
morning runs with new friends
I'm a morning runner. In the 6 years or so I've been running I've always been a morning runner. I love going out in the morning while everything is still quiet. I like to run in the middle of the street and not worry about cars. In the summer I like to get out and beat the heat and in the winter I enjoy feeling the cool air in my lungs. I typically run my morning runs alone. For the first few marathon seasons I had a fabulous running buddy for Saturday long runs. Long runs with E were the highlight of my week. There are many long run adventures that I could share with you but I'll save them for another time. Three years ago E decided it was time to head back to school and left me for law school. Since that time I've been running solo and missing having some company.
This past Saturday I set out on a 16 mile run. I have to say I was not motivated to head out the door at all. It was my first long run of my new training schedule (I'm in training for the Barcelona Marathon) and it was freezing outside. My weekday runs I run without music but for long runs I attach my nano for a little distraction. I headed out on my run without any particular route in mind but I wasn't worried about it. I've run this town enough to roughly figure out how far I've gone and with my nikeplus I never have to think too hard about the distance. My route was all over the place and by the time I hit the trail I was on autopilot headed back towards home.
As I was on the trail I came upon a woman who was ahead of me and ended up running up on her heels. Since one of my biggest pet peeves is when people run in your space I had made the decision that I either needed to pass her or fall back a bit. I went for the pass when I heard her say "good morning" as a person who enjoys friendly conversations and is an avid waver I said good morning back and asked how she was. She commented about the cold and we began to talk. Five miles later we were still talking. During that time we had exchanged names and email addresses and agreed to run together again.
We took care of our first planned run this morning and it was wonderful. I love meeting new friends and passing the miles with a buddy. I love finding someone else who isn't afraid to get up and out the door at 5:30 am even in the winter. I have found that some of my closest friendships have developed while running. There's something very bonding about the time spent out on the road training, sharing, laughing and watching the miles fly by. I'm looking forward to my new friendship with H and hopefully many more runs together.
This past Saturday I set out on a 16 mile run. I have to say I was not motivated to head out the door at all. It was my first long run of my new training schedule (I'm in training for the Barcelona Marathon) and it was freezing outside. My weekday runs I run without music but for long runs I attach my nano for a little distraction. I headed out on my run without any particular route in mind but I wasn't worried about it. I've run this town enough to roughly figure out how far I've gone and with my nikeplus I never have to think too hard about the distance. My route was all over the place and by the time I hit the trail I was on autopilot headed back towards home.
As I was on the trail I came upon a woman who was ahead of me and ended up running up on her heels. Since one of my biggest pet peeves is when people run in your space I had made the decision that I either needed to pass her or fall back a bit. I went for the pass when I heard her say "good morning" as a person who enjoys friendly conversations and is an avid waver I said good morning back and asked how she was. She commented about the cold and we began to talk. Five miles later we were still talking. During that time we had exchanged names and email addresses and agreed to run together again.
We took care of our first planned run this morning and it was wonderful. I love meeting new friends and passing the miles with a buddy. I love finding someone else who isn't afraid to get up and out the door at 5:30 am even in the winter. I have found that some of my closest friendships have developed while running. There's something very bonding about the time spent out on the road training, sharing, laughing and watching the miles fly by. I'm looking forward to my new friendship with H and hopefully many more runs together.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Dear Runners World
Below is a letter that I wrote to Runners World after the publication of their November issue.
Dear Runners World,
I love your magazine every month I wait in great anticipation for it to arrive in my mailbox and November's issue is probably the one I get the most anxious for. I run the Marine Corps Marathon every year and every year just around the time your magazine comes out for November my taper begins and I get excited to have your magazine to distract me and pump me up for the big day. This year was no exception. I waited patiently for the magazine and when it arrived I snuggled down into my couch and began reading it. Cover to Cover and I have to say, I was kind of let down. You had great coverage on the NYC marathon and why shouldn't you, next to Boston it's the best. It's the biggest, it's New York City for crying out loud. I'm from NY trust me I LOVE my city but what about Marine Corps. Yes I know you put in a small two page article on the UK marines vs. the US marines but what about the whole race, the Marines behind the race, the countless runners that run on behalf of marines that are overseas fighting for our freedom. The Marine Corps is not NYC. It's not the biggest, it doesn't attract the big names, it doesn't have the big prizes. It's not supposed to. It's the People's marathon. It's a marathon that you can still go on line and register for just because you want to run a marathon. You don't need to win a lottery number or have a fancy qualifying time you just have to decide you want to run and get signed up before registration closes. You run 26 miles with Marines who serve you with their lives and they stand there and continue to serve by serving you water at a water station. You get to run side by side with men that are there to preserve your freedom and you get a chance to thank them. You may run behind a woman with a picture of her husband who is overseas right now serving you with his life and you get to come up next to her and thank her for her sacrifice. This marathon is more than just 26.2 miles through an amazing city it can be life changing and moving and yet you write two pages about the competition between the UK marine runners and the US marine runners?
You were able to make an illegal immigration story your headline in September asking us to feel pity for a man who is outright breaking the rules of this country by living here illegally and yet you can't even dedicate a few pages to honoring a race run by the very people who fight for your liberties. I'm sorry but shame on you. I saw on my twitter feed that you guys were in Chicago meeting readers at the expo, I'm sure you'll be in NYC but I haven't seen anything yet about you guys coming to MCM. Why? It's the 8th largest race in the world. It's run by 30,000 average joes and those average joes are the very people who buy your magazine, maybe you've come before and I just haven't noticed in the 5 years I've been running MCM and if that's the case, my apologies but if that's not the case, I would challenge you next year to honor the Americans that serve you. Come to Marine Corps, come to the Army Ten miler and watch your life be changed. Enjoy having the opportunity to say thank you to someone who goes out and risks their life so that you have the freedom to write your magazine articles. I don't think you'll be sorry.
I hope someday that I'll actually gain access to the NYC marathon through the lottery but even when that finally happens (if it ever happens) you better believe I'll still be running MCM the weekend before because once you run it, you'll never want to miss it.
PS - this year is also MCM's 35th anniversary. Would have been a great year to see some coverage.
Wishing all of you runners with marathons still to come the very best.
-Jennifer-
Dear Runners World,
I love your magazine every month I wait in great anticipation for it to arrive in my mailbox and November's issue is probably the one I get the most anxious for. I run the Marine Corps Marathon every year and every year just around the time your magazine comes out for November my taper begins and I get excited to have your magazine to distract me and pump me up for the big day. This year was no exception. I waited patiently for the magazine and when it arrived I snuggled down into my couch and began reading it. Cover to Cover and I have to say, I was kind of let down. You had great coverage on the NYC marathon and why shouldn't you, next to Boston it's the best. It's the biggest, it's New York City for crying out loud. I'm from NY trust me I LOVE my city but what about Marine Corps. Yes I know you put in a small two page article on the UK marines vs. the US marines but what about the whole race, the Marines behind the race, the countless runners that run on behalf of marines that are overseas fighting for our freedom. The Marine Corps is not NYC. It's not the biggest, it doesn't attract the big names, it doesn't have the big prizes. It's not supposed to. It's the People's marathon. It's a marathon that you can still go on line and register for just because you want to run a marathon. You don't need to win a lottery number or have a fancy qualifying time you just have to decide you want to run and get signed up before registration closes. You run 26 miles with Marines who serve you with their lives and they stand there and continue to serve by serving you water at a water station. You get to run side by side with men that are there to preserve your freedom and you get a chance to thank them. You may run behind a woman with a picture of her husband who is overseas right now serving you with his life and you get to come up next to her and thank her for her sacrifice. This marathon is more than just 26.2 miles through an amazing city it can be life changing and moving and yet you write two pages about the competition between the UK marine runners and the US marine runners?
You were able to make an illegal immigration story your headline in September asking us to feel pity for a man who is outright breaking the rules of this country by living here illegally and yet you can't even dedicate a few pages to honoring a race run by the very people who fight for your liberties. I'm sorry but shame on you. I saw on my twitter feed that you guys were in Chicago meeting readers at the expo, I'm sure you'll be in NYC but I haven't seen anything yet about you guys coming to MCM. Why? It's the 8th largest race in the world. It's run by 30,000 average joes and those average joes are the very people who buy your magazine, maybe you've come before and I just haven't noticed in the 5 years I've been running MCM and if that's the case, my apologies but if that's not the case, I would challenge you next year to honor the Americans that serve you. Come to Marine Corps, come to the Army Ten miler and watch your life be changed. Enjoy having the opportunity to say thank you to someone who goes out and risks their life so that you have the freedom to write your magazine articles. I don't think you'll be sorry.
I hope someday that I'll actually gain access to the NYC marathon through the lottery but even when that finally happens (if it ever happens) you better believe I'll still be running MCM the weekend before because once you run it, you'll never want to miss it.
PS - this year is also MCM's 35th anniversary. Would have been a great year to see some coverage.
Wishing all of you runners with marathons still to come the very best.
-Jennifer-
Eat, Pray, Run
So, I've been thinking about starting this blog for awhile. Outside of my husband who is the most important thing in my life, my life pretty much revolves around eating, praying and running.
To give some background, I'm Italian. I come from a somewhat small but loud Italian family. I grew up in a home where food was always fresh, dinner was always home cooked and pasta was a staple. As the only girl in an Italian family my place was often as sous chef in my mother's kitchen and while I probably hated it at the time, I know I wouldn't be the cook I am today had I not had that training at an early age. I find pleasure in cooking for my husband, I enjoy the excitement of trying a new recipe that turns out to be successful and Saturday morning trips to the farmers market is often the highlight of my week.
I am also a Christian. I was raised in a Christian home and grew up in church but my faith is so much stronger than the church I'm affiliated with or the traditions I grew up with. My faith is very real to me and very much a part of the person I am.
Lastly, I'm a runner. I did not start out as a runner I was a gymnast. I loved and still do love gymnastics with all my heart but the problem with being a gymnast is that there's a shelf life on it and at 18 my shelf life ended. I was in terrible pain and no longer had the will power to train through it. One of the saddest days of my life was the day that I walked out of the gym for the last time. I spent most of college enjoying the freedom of not training. It was a new concept for me and I think I took a little too much advantage of it. When I graduated college I faced the harsh reality that I had abused my body in just about every way possible and it was time to get myself back on track. As a person completely untrained in any organized sport I did the only thing I knew how to do, I put on a pair of shoes and started to run. It was slow and short at first but soon I was up to running a half hour or forty five minutes. In 2006 I signed up for my first race. An 8k. I had no idea if I even ran that far on a daily basis but figured I'd give it a try. It was fun, I loved being back in competition and being a part of something again. I was hooked. That year I signed up for my first marathon. The 2006 Marine Corps Marathon. I think back now to my training at that point and just shake my head. I had no idea what I was doing but I succeeded. At the end of that race I called my best friend who also ran the race and we both agreed that we would never do that again. The next day we both changed our minds. We were hooked. I have since completed seven marathons and have no intentions of stopping anytime soon.
So this blog is a blog about all three of these things. Sometimes I will post new recipes that I have tried, sometimes I'll post about ways God is challenging me and sometimes I'll just post about running. It's probably good for me to at this point be honest about the fact that I am stubborn and incredibly opinionated. I often offend people without meaning to so if I write something offensive I apologize now. At the same time you'll notice that I left one of my other passions politics off of this blog. That should hopefully keep me from getting too opinionated and offending people without meaning to. I hope you enjoy this blog and welcome any comments you might have.
To give some background, I'm Italian. I come from a somewhat small but loud Italian family. I grew up in a home where food was always fresh, dinner was always home cooked and pasta was a staple. As the only girl in an Italian family my place was often as sous chef in my mother's kitchen and while I probably hated it at the time, I know I wouldn't be the cook I am today had I not had that training at an early age. I find pleasure in cooking for my husband, I enjoy the excitement of trying a new recipe that turns out to be successful and Saturday morning trips to the farmers market is often the highlight of my week.
I am also a Christian. I was raised in a Christian home and grew up in church but my faith is so much stronger than the church I'm affiliated with or the traditions I grew up with. My faith is very real to me and very much a part of the person I am.
Lastly, I'm a runner. I did not start out as a runner I was a gymnast. I loved and still do love gymnastics with all my heart but the problem with being a gymnast is that there's a shelf life on it and at 18 my shelf life ended. I was in terrible pain and no longer had the will power to train through it. One of the saddest days of my life was the day that I walked out of the gym for the last time. I spent most of college enjoying the freedom of not training. It was a new concept for me and I think I took a little too much advantage of it. When I graduated college I faced the harsh reality that I had abused my body in just about every way possible and it was time to get myself back on track. As a person completely untrained in any organized sport I did the only thing I knew how to do, I put on a pair of shoes and started to run. It was slow and short at first but soon I was up to running a half hour or forty five minutes. In 2006 I signed up for my first race. An 8k. I had no idea if I even ran that far on a daily basis but figured I'd give it a try. It was fun, I loved being back in competition and being a part of something again. I was hooked. That year I signed up for my first marathon. The 2006 Marine Corps Marathon. I think back now to my training at that point and just shake my head. I had no idea what I was doing but I succeeded. At the end of that race I called my best friend who also ran the race and we both agreed that we would never do that again. The next day we both changed our minds. We were hooked. I have since completed seven marathons and have no intentions of stopping anytime soon.
So this blog is a blog about all three of these things. Sometimes I will post new recipes that I have tried, sometimes I'll post about ways God is challenging me and sometimes I'll just post about running. It's probably good for me to at this point be honest about the fact that I am stubborn and incredibly opinionated. I often offend people without meaning to so if I write something offensive I apologize now. At the same time you'll notice that I left one of my other passions politics off of this blog. That should hopefully keep me from getting too opinionated and offending people without meaning to. I hope you enjoy this blog and welcome any comments you might have.
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