Coach Jen B

I had HIGH hopes of August being a rockstar month. I really did. But my body had some other plans in store for me. I missed a few key days in the marathon training world. A week that called for 44 miles actually earned a whopping 11 miles. Do I regret taking those days off? Absolutely not! My body was screaming at me to stop and rest and I'm proud to say I listened (this time). I eased back into the running after that recharge week and I'm happy to report that I'm feeling incredible. I've had some pretty fantastic runs this week. Monday - 6 mile progression run at 4-dark o'thirty in the morning! Tuesday - 6 mile hilly run on the "other" side of town - by my new workplace Wednesday - 3.5 mile hilly-ish run on my road!  It's been a looooonnng time since I've run this route.  It felt incredible to be back on my road again.  I was still looking for those weirdos - but I had had my phone with me and was ready to call for help asap! ...

School has officially started here.  I started on Monday, with 2 professional days and then students started on Wednesday.  This now means I am the mom to a 4th grader!  Jeez, where has the time gone? my nephew, Jackson, & Tucker before school  and then the boys getting off the bus  It seems like only yesterday my boy was heading off to kindergarten and I was pregnant with this little girl. an oldie for sure  But enough of this gushy stuff.  Last week, I posted about my incredible Tommie Copper compression shorts review and one of the possible entries was to run a virtual race to squeeze in a run (or many) before the start of school.  I know school has started already in many parts of the country, but believe it or not, there are a lot of schools that haven't even started in Maine!   Four lovely ladies shared their post run pictures.    Thank you, ladies! Jess - showing off the beautiful mist in the ...

After two days of working, I am exhausted!  My eyes are burning, my stomach is churning.  I'm a mess!  But the good news is that I've gotten in two solid 6 mile runs - 1 yesterday morning at the crack of dawn and then 1 this afternoon after school.   Tomorrow is the first student day.  I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  I am so incredibly nervous right now.   And I'm beyond overwhelmed.  There is so much to learn, too much to do.  I know it will all come together.  It always does.  My way to deal with the stress of my new job is to make a list.  The list is getting longer and longer by the moment.  But it helps! How do you deal with stress?   I drink lots of water, run, focus on eating healthy, run, make lists (and start to cross things off!!)  and then set some time aside to enjoy my kids.  Usually a good belly laugh with the kids is enough to help me feel centered again and ready to do more w...

Thank you all for the well wishes last week.  I had a horrible cold hit me like a ton a bricks and it really through me for a loop.  I had a fever for 6 days and sinus infection-like symptoms.   at the zoo  What a way to spend my last week of summer vacation.  Right?  I opted to just take an easy week in terms of running so I’d have some energy left for my kids.  Trust me, spending time with them and having summer fun was far more important than pushing my body.  Plus, I had immediate flash backs to the day when I thought it was smart to run a 10-mile road race with a temperature of 103F.  I didn’t want to end up in a vegetative state on the couch again.   more zoo fun I didn’t even feel too badly about taking the week off.  Really I didn’t!   By Friday I felt good enough to try out a 4 mile run.  After not running since Sunday, my body was telling me to go fast.  I knew that wasn’t a good idea...

In my haste yesterday morning, I posted the winner of my Sprigs Banjees giveaway: But I forgot to share the second part (I'm blaming the fever and hazy head) . For those of you who did not win, Sprigs and I would like to offer a sort of consolation prize.  I have a coupon code here RunningWithTheGirls20 (not case-sensitive) for 10% off orders up to $29.99 and 20% off an order over $29.99 .  The code is valid from now until 11:59 PM EDT Friday, September 14th . I hope the code works for me, because I've been checking out some other fun things Sprigs has to offer. So far, here's my shopping list. Organic Infinity Scarf Aspen Wrap Cardigan Crochet Hooded Coverup Lightweight Beanie (with ponytail hole - not that I need it right now!)  Do you think Ward will notice if they just appear here? I'm pretty sure I can sneak them in the house.  Right? What are you going to buy?

This is my last week of summer and week #11 of marathon training and guess what - I have a fever.  Yep.  I know how to live it up.  Today is day 4 of said fever and I'm not impressed.  It's not a high fever at all - it's hovering in the 100F range - but my entire body is weak, I have green snot, my head is completely stuffed up.  You get the picture.  I hate this! I am the picture of beauty in the morning This summer cold can suck it.  Really, at this point, I don't care about the marathon training.  Well, I do, but it's my last week of summer.   My kid's last week with me to have fun and I'm sick.  Poor guys.   Marathon training was going awesome until Sunday.  I went out for a 5 mile recovery run and about a mile into it, I wasn't feel very good.  So I turned around at the 1.5 mile mark.  When I paused to turn around, I thought my heart was going to burst.   Hmm....that's not a good sign.  I trud...

Ward and I both received some shorts from Tommie Copper to try out.  Initially I was a little nervous that I wasn't going to be able to tell the difference between our pairs. As you can see, I don't have to be concerned at all. Ward's shorts = orange Tommie Copper writing on waistband and Jen's shorts = white Tommie Copper on quad.   These shorts have quickly turned into my GO TO shorts. I really wear them ALL of the time. I wear them after a run - under my skirt!  See, I am still trying to fit in wearing running clothing whenever possible.   Loving them while running!   Even great for ice baths. Yes - this is how I do ice baths in the summer!  And I've been known to sleep in them too.   (nope, no pictures of that!) Have I convinced you how much I love my Tommie Copper shorts yet? I have had IT band issues as well as weak glutes, so after a long run or speed workouts, I turn to my Tommie Copper shorts...

I was recently tagged by TriMOEngr over at Climbing Those Hills for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award .  Thanks, girl! Here are the guidelines that go along with this award - - display the award logo somewhere on your blog - link back to the blog who nominated you - state 7 things about yourself - nominate 15 (or less) other bloggers for the award and provide links to their blogs - notify those bloggers that they have been nominated and of the award's requirements  7 (random) Things About Myself 1.  Reason #1 why I need to stay away from Target.  Tucker and I just polished off this bag.  I hope he ate at least half of the bag. 2.  Izzy still takes a bath in the sink.  In my defense, it's a very deep sink.  Plus she's still happy in it.   3.  I am VERY nervous about starting a new job. 4.  Two days ago we came home with a cat from my dad's house.  I am quite nervous about this cat.  He was actu...

Since a majority of my runs are on the Kennebec River Rail Trail, I usually drive there. That leads me one issue - where do I put my keys? Some of my running apparel has those little pockets, but most of them do not.  That is where the Sprigs Banjees comes in handy. I chose the Big Banjees - because I have been wanting something that would carry my cell phone as well as my keys. There are a couple of "shady" spots along the trail that do make me a bit nervous. Having my phone with me does make a difference in those situations.  I'd rather be safe. I've been wearing my Banjees for a couple of weeks now on my shorter to medium runs and I am really enjoying it. First off, it's cotton. At first, I wasn't sure if I'd like that, but after several very sweaty runs, I've decided that my Banjees is perfect for wiping the sweat away from my eyes. There is nothing worse stinging sweat pouring into my eyes during and after a run. Yuck. Banjees ...

Last Friday I had one of those excellent runs.  It was a slight drizzle, which was a very welcome break from the gross humid weather we've been having.  I woke up just ready to get outside for a run.  You've had one of those runs, I know it.   The rain brought the temperature down drastically and everything just seemed to click. It was during that 4-miler that I decided I was going to dedicate that run to Suz & Allan's Wounded Warrior's Project . Ward should really be ready at the door for me every time I get home from a run.  That's his job, right? Thank you, Suz & Allan for doing an incredible job raising money for the Wounded Warrior's Project.  I think it's a fantastic organization.  I have many service members in my family and I would hope that there would be support for them if they were in need.

Today, I am thankful for: Rainy Days Not only is the rain watering my garden for me, it also provided me with the time to pack up the remainders of my classroom materials that were piled up in the hallway.  Now they are ready to go to school.  Maybe later on today if the rain lets up.  Maybe.  Super Cuts I've been extremely lucky (or maybe they are always slow) - but I noticed that there were zero cars in front of Super Cuts as I was leaving Target.  I took it as a sign to head in there for my back-to-school hair cut.   Tucker was with me as well - so he got one too.  I do love a new hair cut.  Running Buddies This four-legged girl has provided me with some great company this summer.  I look forward to many more runs with her.   this is one happy girl after one of our runs last week Happy Thursday to everyone.  What are you thankful for?