Coach Jen B

4 more days and I will (hopefully) be crossing the finish line after finishing my 1st marathon!   In preparring for the big day - I looked up an oldie, but goodie marathon clip from youtube today.   I mostly love this little video because it provides me with a good laugh, but at the same time, scares me a little bit too.  I have seen this video on facebook and on Mainely Running before.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Also, if you want to "follow" me on the big day, text tracking is available for the Maine Marathon.  According to the email I received, followers will get a text when I make it to the halfway point and then when I finish.  Here's the link .

So far, tappering hasn't been too bad.  We'll see how I feel near the middle/end of the week when my race anxiety is sky high and I really need that running outlet!   The biggest problem for me is to not eat like I'm running a 20-miler.  I only did 2 - 20-milers in the marathon training, BUT, that is all it took for me to really enjoy those eating days.   I know I need my energy and I know I can't really stop eating, but I am positive I'm not really supposed to eat 5 of these! After apple picking today, I had this urge to bake something, so I went to my old favorite - allrecipes.com for some ideas and this is what I came up with.  Apple Pie Muffins!   They were incredibly easy and tasty to boot.  I know, I couldn't stop eating them.  Here's the recipe with my slight alterations: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 egg 1 cup 1/2 and 1/2 1/2 cup melted butter 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 3 cups diced apples topp

We're here - we have made it to taper time & our long run for the weekend was "only" 8 miles.  Jess and I laughed about that this morning because a year ago, 8 miles was super far for us.   This morning, Jess and I met on the rail trail and got our 8 miler in at 6:30.  I love running first thing in the morning, then I am not worried about when/how I'm going to fit the run in.  Plus, Tucker had soccer at 8, so I had to get it done before his game!  It's funny how fast 8 miles flies by when lately we've been running 16, 18, and 20 - milers.  We finished in 1:09 - jeez, that's nothing.  Next Sunday is the big day - our 1st Marathon!  We are both nervous and excited for this race.  In prepping for the big day, I am going to meet with Stacy tomorrow - our support girl.  Thank goodness for Stacy.  We really wouldn't be able to run this race without her.  She's going to meet us at certain points with our goodies and water.  Love her!  Stacy &a

Getting back to school and into the swing of things has been crazy!  I'm now teaching at a new school (pictures to come soon), in the midst of marathon training, and had jury selection this month.  Wow!  Luckily, I only had to sit in the court room for 2 days and did not (thank goodness) get selected for any trials.  The one awesome thing about jury duty was that we were dismissed early on Tuesday at 1:00.  Which meant, that if I was able to get get home/dressed/out the door by 1:45, I could squeeze in my 8 miles before the bus dropped off the boys.   I had just run 16 miles on Sunday, so I wasn't sure if I should do the 8, BUT looking into the rest of the week with the afterschool/work activities, I knew if I was going to do 8 miles this week - it was going to have to be NOW!  So, I went for it.  I also need to mention that it was 80 degrees and humid as all get out too!  Thankfully I was well hydrated.  I was quite surprised with myself and my average pace for this run (8:4

The moment you've all been waiting for....... ltlindian....please email me at jenniferb@roadrunner.com with you t-shirt preference and information!   Thank you all for entering.  Hopefully I'll have more contests soon!

W hat a run it was!   16 miles is a great feat.   Jess and I did our 1 st 16 miler a few weeks back in the rain on a pretty hilly course.   If memory serves me correctly, Jess and I walked a few times on that run.   The hills were killers, for sure.   This time we opted for the rail trail, my favorite place to run.   It is free of road traffic for the most part, which takes out most of the stress of running.     The morning did start out quite chilly.   As I was getting ready I glanced at the thermometer, which said 40 degrees.   40 degrees!!!!   Jeez.   We went from too hot in a tank top to sweatshirt/capri weather in no time.   I was    stumped with what to    wear.   I knew it was going to warm up, I just didn’t know how much    and when.   I opted to wear my lightweight longsleeve Northface shirt, with a tank underneath, and my black Target fake compression shorts.   I was trying the fake compression shorts out for comfort because they are part of my outfit for the big race!   I

Tucker and I had planned for his 5k debut to be at the Monmouth Apple Fest on 9/24.  Well - that's not going to happen.   I really wanted to do this race with him because it is so low key and close, but since his soccer games (and Coach Ward really needs to be at the games) are scheduled for Saturday's at 8 am, we're not going to be making a Saturday 8 am 5k, now are we?   So now we are on to Plan B - I don't want to wait until next spring for Tucker to run a race, so we are going to do the Spooky 5k in Freeport on October 30th.   Ward and I ran this race last year and it was so much fun!  I loved the costumes and I cannot wait to put together our costumes for this year's race.  I am not sure if we should have a group theme or if we should just wear our own individual costumes yet.   Any ideas?   Oh, and another awesome part about this race?  I think I have my dad convinced to run with us!  Yes, you read that correctly.  MY DAD!  He started running this summer

I really do.   You might think I’m some sort of crazy lady, but having run two days in the rain this week, I’ve decided that it is absolutely refreshing to run in the rain.    I would go as far to say that I would love running in torrential downpours, but who knows.   Maybe I would.   I’m not crazy like the hubby and didn’t run 10 miles during Tropical Storm Irene either.   I bet you thought I stopped blogging, didn’t you?    Getting back in the swing of school schedules for myself and Tucker has been difficult, but I  think  I’m getting there.   The marathon plan this week was to run two 5-milers and an 8 miler, with some cross training, and my long run this weekend.   The Yoga to Run group is doing their 20 miler this weekend, but I did shift my running plan a little to incorporate 2 – 20 milers so I’ll be doing 16 miles with Jess this weekend instead.   Jess and I will do our 20 miler next weekend.   Anyway, looking at my crazy, back-to-school schedule for the week – I knew get