Coach Jen B

Ward warned me.  He said "it's a beautiful day, are you sure you want to do a speed run on the Rail Trail?"  I assured him that it was the "best" idea.   I wanted to go to the rail trail mostly because the majority of the trail is flat.  Yes, there are some "bumps", I definitely wouldn't call them hills especially after some of the road races I've done this year!   I haven't put a lot of speed work into my running, so today was the day. My goal was to get a baseline - 2 miles of speed and the rest (whatever it turned out to be) was to be recovery.  The McMillan Running Calculator says I needed to do my tempo run with a pace between 7:40 - 7:56.  Hmm....good goal for me, I think.   Before I started running, I decided I was going to stop and reset my Garmin between each "set" so I would know exactly what my pace was for each segment.   Here's what I did: 0.5 mile warm up - 4:09 (pace - 8:18) 1 mile speed - 7:00 0.75 mil

I've been thinking that my routine was missing something.  I just wasn't sure what.  I know that cross-training is important for runners mostly because the constant pounding on the road just wreaks havoc on the body.  To help out with the aches and pains from regular running, and because of an IT band injury last August, I see a chiropractor on a monthly basis.  I look forward to the adjustments and feel incredible after each appointment.  But I know I needed something else.  Biking?  When it gets warmer and when I actually get the tire fixed on my bike, I'll consider doing more.  But the locking bike shoes/pedals that Ward insisted I get for my bike really freak me out.  I've fallen off that bike more times than I care to admit right now.  Perhaps I'll be a better biker this season.  I sure hope so.   Then last night I received an email from Terry, one of the founders of Yoga to Run .  She and her friend, Jen, are starting a 16-week program aimed at helping 5k-10k

I've been a big time slacker this week.  I had so many plans - like painting, cleaning up the garden, catching up on paperwork, blogging, run, and hang out with the kids and friends.  Well, I ran and did get some hanging out with the kids and friends in.  I guess that will have to be good enough because break is over.  The good news is that there are 38 more school days left. I hope everyone had a fantastic easter.  I hosted a brunch here for my little foursome, aunt & uncle, and Ward's parents.  Before brunch, I did manage to get in a quick 3.5 miler.  I needed that run. I love brunch so it's always a fun cooking experience.  I completely forgot to take pictures but today's menu included: - ham - hashbrowns (unfortunately I broke my food processor by shredding the potatoes in it today, oops!) - frittatas - 3 types: cheese, spinach, and sausage - pumpkin scones - blueberry scones - strawberry/rhubarb pie & my aunt brought up a fruit salad After bru

Well, spring break week is almost over and we finally had a nice day.  I started off my day with an early 10 mile run with the girls along the Rail Trail .   While I love running the Rail Trail, I also enjoy the convenience of parking in the Hannaford parking lot which means pre-run pee breaks and post-run grocery shopping.  Nothing like doing the grocery shopping after running 10 miles.  Not only do I look awesome (not really) and smell incredible (not-so-much), I'm absolutely starving and want to buy everything.  The only way for me to avoid caving in to my hunger, I bring my list and make sure to follow it. Some of the items on the list were for dinner tonight -- Fish Tacos.  Tonight was the first time I ever attempted to make them and I must say they were delicious.   Recipe: 1 lb Haddock (cut into smaller pieces) 1/2 cup flour 4 eggs 1 cup panko baking dish/pan coated with spray Toppings: broccoli slaw diced tomato salsa (tonight I used pineapple salsa) shredded cheese (

          I’m not going to lie.   One of the reasons why I’m a teacher is the vacation time.   With any luck, April break has beautiful weather and makes me long for summer.   I started off my vacation with a much needed 8 mile run on the rail trail.   It was gorgeous weather.   Saturday morning I met the girls on the rail trail for a 9 mile run.   While it was a bit chilly in the beginning, it was still a great run!   After the Race the Runways ½ at the beginning of April, we’ve dropped our mileage back to allow for some injury healing and we’re going to increase our long runs again in prepping for the next ½ at the end of June.   The beauty of the half marathon at the end of June is that it is going to be held on the rail trail, the exact location of most of our long runs.   After the run yesterday, Ward and I took the kids to Bailey & Orrs Island with his mother and grandmother.   While it was quite windy, it was still nice to get out and do something.   Ward & Tucke

Awesome give away!   Check out this blog for details!  She's giving away a used Garmin 305, spibelt, and a super cute t-shirt.   Good luck!

What a week it's been!  And it's only Tuesday.  I still have to get through Wednesday, a very long Thursday (1/2 student day then conferences until 7 - ugh), and Friday (a very early Friday - with a 7 am meeting) and then conferences until 10).   But, then it's vacation. I don't know about all of you, but my head was absolutely overloaded today.  It was filled with this jumbled mess of - IEPs I need to write, IEPs I need to score, other student issues, conferences, bills, and what to do about the chickens!  How did I deal with it?  I went for a run. Let me tell you, that run was the best idea I had all day.  I came back in a better mood, more focused, and almost have action plans for everything that was clouding my head. Plus, I got to run in a t-shirt and shorts.  THAT by itself makes me so happy.  Oh, and that there are 40 more school days left til summer.  Oh thank goodness!

Yesterday was our group run.  I absolutely love our group runs and look forward to them every week.   However, yesterday's run kicked my butt, big time.  The cold I had all week reared it's ugly head yesterday morning.  Needless to say, I went to bed very early last night, along with taking some medicine. This morning, I woke up feeling like a different, and much healthier human being.  So, I ventured out to redo that 7 miles from yesterday.  With a clearer and head and chest and a gorgeous blue sky, the run was perfect.  I was taking it easy for the first 3.5 miles.  Then I saw this woman come running toward me in the opposite direction and I was impressed with her pace.  Something inside of me clicked and I turned around (I was turn at that point anyway - it was just meant to be, I think) and I ran behind her.  I decreased my pace from 8:30/8:45 to 7:45/8:00 while tailing her.  She was the motivation I needed!  I stayed behind her until she turned around and headed back tow

We have shirts!   Three out of the four of us read the SR blog.   In her blog, there are several pictures of her wearing a white shirt that says “Run like you stole something”.   When SR sold shirts, she didn’t sell any with this saying.   That’s when Stacy said that we should make our own shirts.   She found the tech tees on roadrunner.com and knows somebody locally who does printing.  Now  we all have our “RUN like you stole something” shirts!   Stacy brought them to our long run (7 miles) yesterday on the rail trail.   Here’s the back of mine!   Thank you, Stacy!!! 

I bet you thought this was a running blog.     Not today.    Today, Ward and Wade were gone to intall on    Northhaven and of course I was at school.    Since our chickens are free range chickens and have been since last summer, they were out and about, until that nasty fox came around and took away most of my chickens.   How do I know it was a fox?    Because my neighbor saw it happen.    He said he came over and chased it away.    When I went down the coop, there were four scared hens in there.    Poor girls.    I told them I was sorry and I shut the coop door.    I am not naïve.    I know chickens have many predators and that our chances of having one (or more) of those predators take our chickens away was fairly high.    I was just hoping that we would be lucky. We’ve had them for just over a year now and I’ve gotten a bit attached.    It’s hard to not get attached, especially when they give you yummy, delicious eggs and when I go outside, they come running to me.    While I

The past few days at work have been a bit stressful and I really needed a run today.  It seemed as though the closer I got to my house, the harder the rain came down.  I had made up my mind that I was going to have to suck it up and head to the gym to run on the treadmill.  Now this is a big deal to me because I have been quite proud of myself for having braved the Maine winter weather and have done a majority of my runs outside.  By all means, I am not saying that running on the treadmill is a bad thing.  I actually do enjoy it, but I also enjoy saving money. As I was getting ready to head to the gym, I realized that the rain had lessened to a drizzle and I quickly changed my mind.  I was going to run outside and I was pumped.  It was 40 degrees with a drizzle, so it was definite hat weather.  I do love my new hat.   Tonight was my first run since Saturday's half marathon, so my goal was to just take it easy and do my quick 3.5 mile route on my road.  I was able to complete my

Saturday really seemed like a normal school day because I was getting up at the normal time (5:20) and I my destination was Brunswick.  The only difference was getting 2 extra people up and ready before heading out the door.  Okay, really 3 extra people because normally I just put a jacket on Izzy and strap her in her seat and drop her off at daycare.  Adding Ward and Tucker into the mix was crazy!  My goal was to be in the car, driving away by 6:30.   When I looked at my watch as we were driving away, it read 6:32.  Not bad. We didn’t have to worry about dropping the kids off anywhere for the race because the race times were staggered enough and we had my dad, and Ward’s parents coming to watch.  Thank goodness for that!  All four of us were registered to run races yesterday.  Tucker and Izzy (I only registered her because I didn’t know if Ward was going to have to run with her to encourage Tucker or not) were registered for the Kid’s Fun Run, Ward was registered for the 1 mile, and I