Coach Jen B

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania until 1990, when my family decided to move to Maine.  We make it a point to go back and visit family about once a year... but I've never raced in Pennsylvania.  Well - I checked that off my bucket list at the Runner's World Half and Festival!  I actually checked off my first FOUR PA races in one weekend!  How about that? The TRAIL Race! rocking my Sparkly Soul Headband, Spandits Inferno Shorts, ProCompression sleeves and pc racers & my Altra Torins This year Runner's World added a new race to their running festival - a 3.8 mile trail run, which brings to total running mileage to 26.2 miles!  I felt honored to participate in the first year of adding a 4th race to the festival. The Trail Race took place Friday afternoon at South Mountain Park.  David and Lacey took us over in the vans - which was rather awesome!  Not having to worry about how to get there, where to park!   pre race self...

A new Maine race is on the scene and it rocks!  This year was the inaugural LL Bean Twilight 5k in Freeport.  Like all LL Bean activities, this event was well organized.    I didn't run.  I was too late to register.  BUT, the kids were able to run the fun run and Ward was able to run the 5k.  Which meant I was more than happy to be there as the #1 spectator and photographer, wearing my Spandits   (go buy some and tell Kelley and Sarah I sent you!) of course and making Izzy dress like my mini-me.   LL Bean has the Camp Sunshine Event that was taking place on the LL Bean campus throughout the day.  If you aren't familiar with this event, it's an incredibly cute family event sponsored by LL Bean to raise funds for Camp Sunshine.  We didn't make it down earlier in the day; however, since we were heading down for the race anyway, we took a few minutes to enjoy some of the festivities prior to running.   ...

This weekend was a very busy weekend!  It started out around 6:30 Saturday morning - when I got up to get ready to help out with a local 5k - after that we were off to Tucker's soccer game - then to my sister's house for my nephew's birthday party - to Freeport for a little belated birthday shopping for Ward - then to my dad's house for dinner - then home around 6:30 pm.  It was already dark - and I HATE running in the dark - so I settled for 1 mile just to keep the October Run Streak alive.  I brought Pepper along for protection, and my cell phone.   But let's back up to Saturday morning's 5k.  This was the first time I really involved in organizing a 5k. I had helped before by measuring out a course, but that was it.  This time I went to organizational meetings and actually had input.  My job was to map out the course.  AWESOME!!!!  I was so excited!   Then I had Ward make mile marker signs - which I put out, along with co...

Running an obstacle race has been one of those races I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.   Add in some mud , in the middle of the summer , in the Boston area , and the name Dirty Girl and I am sold.   A few highlights of what The Dirty Girl 5k is about: -        women only -        for all ages and athletic abilities -        untimed, obstacle course -        teams are encouraged -        music -        adult beverages post race Now if you want a good laugh, check out the names of the 12 obstacles you will find along the course.   The names make me a little nervous but make me laugh even more.   I cannot wait to get down and dirty with my girls with these obstacles.   - Stairway to Heaven - Networking - Utopian Tubes - Get Over Yourse...

But not from teaching.  I only have about 30 or so more years to go until I can do that! I'm talking about 5ks.  My first recorded 5k was over five years ago at Unity College and my finishing time was 31:08.  And last Thursday I ran my last (yeah right) 5k at the Gasping Gobbler with an official finishing time of 21:24.  That's right.  In 5.5 years, I've taken nearly 10 minutes off my 5k time.  It's hard to believe where I started and where I am now.  To be honest, I've made so much progress in the five years, it's hard for me to see that there is any more progress to make. Can I really ask for more?  Last week I finally made the decision that I was going to run the Gasping Gobbler on Thanksgiving morning.  This was the first Thanksgiving in a very long time that I wasn't hosting Thanksgiving Dinner at my house which meant I could actually run a race in the morning before heading off to my in-laws house for the day's festivities. ...