Coach Jen B

There are other things in life other than running.   Yes, that's right, folks. Today, Izzy and I visited our local farmers market.  Izzy's treat was a strawberry ice cream, and I got lobster, blueberries and some other goodies.   Injury Update: On Monday, I had an appointment with an Orthopedic doctor.  After the examination, he said it really seemed as though I had a torn meniscus and ordered an MRI.  Finally!  That's what I've been waiting for.  The MRI is set for this Friday morning, with the follow up appointment with the doctor the following Friday.  It seems like this whole process is taking forever!  But really, I know, I'm just a frustrated athlete.  Taking time to really rest that knee is best right now. At the appointment, I asked the doctor if this stupid injury had anything to do with my overcompensating with my PF issue.  He assured me it had nothing to do with it, just bad luck in twisting my knee the wrong...

I love getting packages in the mail.   I know, real shocker.  This past week I received an orange box with a tons of goodies inside. What was inside my box? - Perky Jerky - Enjoy Life Seed & Fruit Mix - ProBar Organic Chews - Health Warrior Chia Bars - Caveman Cookies - Garuka Bars - Barbara Llewellyn Granola - Body Glove Surge Gel I will definitely buy these items again:   The Garuka Bars were fantastic!  They are handmade bars with whole peanuts, dried cranberries and raw honey.  I could smell the peanuts as soon as I opened the bar.  It was quite filling and made for a great midday snack.  Each bar had 260 calories and 6 g protein.   I am a huge fan of jerky.  Yes.  I love salty things.  So jerky is often something that just sucks me right in.  These little bags of Turkey Perky Jerky were fantastic.  They tasted fantastic are made without preservatives!  Even better...

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential, LLC on behalf of Mizuno. No, I have not run since the injury .   However, I was doing quite a bit of running up to that point. I was lucky enough to receive a pair of Wave Sayonara's a couple of weeks ago.  Of course, because when it comes to shoes, I'm like a kid in a candy store.  I dig right into them.  Or in this case, I tear open the box, pause for a brief picture taking session, then put them on. At first I thought they felt a little tight in the forefoot.   I need plenty of room for my wide feet and toes to spread out, so I was a little nervous about this.  To be safe, I wore them a few times walking around.  After a few walks in them, my feet were saying " now this is brilliant, let's run! "  And I did.  Only a few times.  But I would definitely describe those runs as brilliant .  The Sayonara gave me quite the ride.   Smooth, comfortable, light, fast. ...

Nothing ever goes as planned.  Right?  This past spring I was feeling great, at the peak of my marathon training, when I received the notification that my application for the Great Cranberry Island Ultra had been accepted.  I had pretty big plans for this Ultra.  It's a BQ'er.  I thought that after Sugarloaf, I'd have time to recuperate then come back stronger to BQ on a super course.  Funny how my heel had other plans in store for me after I jumped off the paddle board.  I had finally wrapped my mind around being able to complete Saturday's 50k with a walk/run, spend a great day with friends and family, feast on a well earned lobster dinner, and camp out on the island that night.  I even wrote the blog post about it, yesterday. Then, shortly after writing that post, I left to pick my daughter up at daycare.  As we were leaving, I bent over to tie her shoes, and POP!  Then instant pain that brought me to the floor (with tears), and ins...

I'm not really sure if I should even do this race on Saturday.  GCI  I have a ton of self doubt going on.  Have I trained enough?  Do I have what it takes to actually complete this thing?  50K?  Are you kidding me?  I've been injured for the past 3 weeks.  I must be insane to think I can do it.   There is an option of an early start - if my pace is going to be slower than 13:30 min/mile.  Hmm... I just don't know.  I just don't know what my body is going to be capable of.  I've never done anything over 26.2 miles and now I'm going to take on 31.1?   My training up to this point Running was going really well until the end of June.  Then all hell broke loose and I was in pain.  I experienced some pain on some runs, changed up my shoes.  Then had a really speedy run in some fun shoes I was testing out and not I'm officially injured.  See that 48 miles?  Not so sure that's Ultra ...

Stacy and I debuted in our first ever mud run last Saturday at the Dirty Girl at the Amesbury Sports Park in Massachusetts.  I was quite excited to be doing my first mud run, but was a little nervous because I hadn't run all week due to my foot injury.    The Outfit I wanted Stacy and I to sort of match without having to spend additional money on our outfits.  My entry was paid for but Stacy paid for her entry and we wanted to keep the cost down.  So I chose my Sweat Pink tanks for us (since I had two!) and then we each had black skirts.  We did stop at Target on the way down to buy some pink knee high socks, which was not a big deal at all.  Plus, we'll wear them again.  I'm sure!   We also had pink sparkly headbands already, so that was a bonus!  Plus, why spend a ton of money on outfits if we were just going to get covered in much anyway?  Right?   Getting Ready Choosing which shoes I was going...

This week was a big week for our household.  Izzy became a dancer.  She went to a week long dance camp in downtown Gardiner.  The best part was the name of the class was Tutu Cute.  This week, my incredible shy little girl, became a bouncy, happy girl who was showing me all the new moves she learned in class.  Today was the final day of the camp, so families were invited to come in and watch a performance. Today definitely goes down as one of my favorite moments in being able to watch Izzy shine on stage. While I'm on the topic, I may as well share some of my other favorites. I've written before about my love for Spandits .  If you haven't seen what Spandits has to offer, I think you really need to go to their website and check out all of their running clothing and fun prints!  What I love is that this company was created by two incredible runners, who are also coaches.  Their products are tested by athletes of all ages.  Spandit...

We are halfway through summer and I'm already thinking to myself "how did I find time to go to work?"   My days have been full.  My to-do lists even longer.  It's crazy.  Making sure I eat healthy has been at top of my list but I have to admit, sometimes I slip with that bag of chips! When I received my week's worth of Diet-to-Go meals, I didn't have to think about what I was going to make.  I only had to head to the refrigerator and make a choice.  I really couldn't go wrong!  Not to mention, the meals were so yummy!!!   Now is your turn to try out a 5 Day's worth of meals from Diet-to-Go !  That's right.  One of my lucky readers is going to have the chance to win a 5 Days worth of meals fro Diet-to-Go . To enter you only need to comment below with your answer to "Why do you want to win 5 Day's of Diet-to-Go meals?"  Bonus entry Follow Running With The Girls and Diet-to-Go on twitter and tweet th...

While I've been injured, I've been thinking a lot about my own running form. Was it my running form that caused this injury?   How do I improve it?  What do I need to do better?  Should I have Ward video tape me?  Where do I send it?  Should I hire a coach?  Man, I really want a coach.  Darn daycare expenses.   I want to have the perfect running form.  When I am spectating races, especially big ones like the Boston Marathon, I am in awe watching the form of the elite and masters runners.     In this picture Wade is giving me advice.  How to hold my hands and not tense my fingers.  If I'm going to run with the guys, I better be ready for advice.   I would really love to attend a running form clinic .   When I'm running with Ward and he starts to correct me, and I get frustrated:   Lean forward, arms down.   Will I be frustrated with someone else critiquing my running form? ...

I've been wearing compression socks for a few years now and one company that amazes me with the colors, selection, and quality is ProCompression .  Right now, ALL of there merchandise is on sale at ProCompression .  Yes!  This includes their new Neon Calf Sleeves, Team PC Gear (hats and visors!), trainer socks, marathon socks - YOU NAME IT! fun combination!  I definitely recommend it! All you do is head over to ProCompression , load up your cart with goodies, and use the coupon code JULY , which expires August 4, 2013. This makes me so excited because I am needing to load up on some neon sleeves!  And maybe I'll buy Ward something too.  He does love his compression as well!

What's been going on with me.  The short story - I'm officially injured and have been banned from running for 2 weeks by my PT. The long story: A few weeks back we went paddle boarding. I lost my balance and fell off the paddle board and as luck has it, I landed on a huge rock, with my heel.  Awesome.  I kept running.  At first it didn't hurt.  I complained to my chiro when I saw her and she adjusted me, but it wasn't working.  Then I aborted a long run - supposed to be 20+ but stopped at 7.5 miles and called Ward to rescue me.  I continued to run.  Sometimes achy, sometimes pain free.  Then I complained to my chiro again and she said it was time to see a physical therapist.  I continued to run.  Again, sometimes achy, sometimes pain free.   This past Saturday I ran 12 miles mostly pain free (except for weird twinges along my 3rd and 4th metatarsals).  Then Sunday, I ran 1 miles on the treadmill and those twinges...